Kentucky Wildcats Offensive Players to Watch vs. Mizzou Tigers
The Missouri Tigers will host the Kentucky Wildcats in Columbia on Saturday to kickoff November, as the two teams will matchup for their 13th all-time meeting.
In the second game last season, the Wildcats pulled away with a 35-28 win over the Tigers in Lexington to build a 8-4 all-time series lead over Mizzou. The teams first met back in 1965 before clashing again in 2012 when the Tigers arrived to the SEC.
The Wildcats entered 2022 with high expectations after a 10-3 record last season and a win over the No. 17 Iowa Hawkeyes in the Citrus Bowl. But after being ranked as high as No. 7 with hopes of an appearance in the College Football Playoff, Kentucky has lost three of its last four and will be unranked headed into Saturday against Mizzou.
Let's look at three players Mizzou will need to have its eye on.
QB Will Levis
Levis, who has been been projected as a first-round draft pick this spring, has fallen a bit below the high-flying expectations he had entering the campaign.
The former Penn State Nittany Lion took full advantage of his opportunity as the go-to guy for the Wildcats last season. After combining for just 102 pass attempts with three touchdowns and two picks in his first two seasons, Levis stepped in as a transfer at Kentucky and went 233-353 passing (66 percent) for 2,826 yards, 24 touchdowns, and 13 picks.
This season, he's thrown for 1,733 yards and 13 touchdowns but is second in the SEC with eight interceptions.
He also proved his dual-threat ability was not something to be ignored, as he had 107 rushes for 376 yards and nine touchdowns last season. But this year, he's found the end zone just twice with his legs.
However, the Tigers held him to just 10 of 18 passing for 179 yards, two total touchdowns, and a pick last season, leaving lots of room for optimism.
RB Chris Rodriguez Jr.
Rodriguez Jr., whose 1,379 rushing yards last season was second in the SEC behind former Mizzou Tiger Tyler Badie (1,604 yards), was fixing to not only be one of the conference's top running backs this season, but one of the country's best.
And while injuries have held him back from reaching similar numbers this season, Rodriguez Jr. has shown that, when healthy, he's still an elite-level running back. He totaled 22 carries for 126 yards in the loss to South Carolina on Oct. 8 and 31 carries for 197 yards and two touchdowns in the win over Mississippi State the week after.
While Levis struggled last year, Rodriguez Jr. absolutely gashed the Tigers on the ground in the matchup last year. He had a season-high in carries (27) and rush yards (207) while adding two scores on the ground and one through the air.
The Tigers could look to take advantage of Rodriguez Jr's. slight ball security issues this season. He fumbled twice against Mizzou, losing one of them. In total, he had six total fumbles and lost three.
Rodriguez Jr. also finished the season off with five-straight gams of 100 rushing yards or more. He had 16 or more carries in each contest.
As Kentucky's clear workhorse back, Rodriguez should Mizzou on full notice Saturday.
WR Tayvion Robinson
Robinso leads the Wildcats in catches (29), receiving yards (403) and is tied for first in touchdown grabs (three).
However, the inconsistency of the Kentucky offense has plagued him as well. Most of Robinson's production has come in two games this season, as he totaled six grabs for 136 yards in the season-opening in over Miami (Ohio) and seven catches for 147 yards and two touchdowns in a win over Northern Illinois on Sept. 24.
Aside from that, he's failed to top 100 yards in a game this season and has four finishes with 27 yards or less.
Despite the struggles, Robinson still Kentucky's leading receiver and has shown he's capable of breaking open for a big performance.
You can follow Zach Dimmitt on Twitter at @ZachDimmitt7
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