Kentucky players to watch against Auburn

Kentucky is hitting the road for the third time this season. The Cats are hopeful that this result goes much better than the last two. After some poor first half performances, UK found itself in a big hole against South Carolina and Georgia. This team will attempt to make the third trip away from home a much better one.

Auburn (4-4, 1-4) will host Kentucky (2-5, 0-5) in a battle between two teams at the both of the standings in the Southeastern Conference. The Tigers finally got in the conference win column last week thanks to a bunch of field goals and a Arkansas turnover party in the fourth quarter. UK is still looking for its first league win and is currently riding an 11-game power conference losing streak. Both head coaches are feeling some real hot seat pressure and need a win to even have a chance to salvage this season in November.

For Kentucky to end this long losing streak, some individual players will need to step up and have some big performances. These are the Wildcats that KSR will be watching closely tonight.

A great matchup for Kentucky’s passing game

Cutter Boley has been on fire ever since Kentucky pivoted to a pass-first attack with a heavy, heavy diet of short passes. In October, the redshirt freshman turned into the player that everyone projected him to eventually become when he was a recruit at Lexington (Ky.) Christian Academy.

Over his last three starts, Boley is completing 69.5 percent of his 39.3 passes per game with seven total touchdowns and 101 non-sack rushing yards. The quarterback became the first Kentucky passer since Andre Woodson to throw five touchdown passes in a game last week. Offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan is putting a lot on Boley’s plate and the young player is delivering. The second-year player just went consecutive SEC games with 300-plus total yards on offense. This program hasn’t had that since Mike Hartline in 2010.

Kentucky will need another big performance from No. 8 on Saturday night.

Auburn’s defense is outstanding against the run but has struggled against the pass (No. 80 in yards per dropback, No. 93 in EPA/dropback, No. 111 in passing success rate). The Cats are positioned to attack Auburn’s biggest defensive weakness over and over again. We should expect them to do just that.

Handling Auburn’s pass rush is a big concern but good things will probably happen when Kentuckys drops back to pass. Kentucky will need to throw the football to score points on Saturday. A good game from Boley could mean the end of a long losing streak for Kentucky.

Kentucky’s unproven cornerbacks will be tested

DJ Waller Jr. will miss his seventh consecutive game on Saturday. Kentucky has been without their starting cornerback all season. Terhyon Nichols has started every game in his place but will also be absent from the lineup against Auburn. This means that UK’s thin cornerback depth will be tested against the Tigers.

Nasir Addison, Grant Grayton, and Kevis Thomas could all be in line to play snaps at outside cornerback with JQ Hardaway holding down the other spot. Expect Auburn’s offense to attack Kentucky’s inexperience when the dropback to pass.

How Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops and defensive coordinator Brad White attempt to protect their cornerbacks will be something to watch closely. What you don’t want is these players in man-to-man situations on an island like last week against Auburn’s talented wide receivers.

Odds seem very high that Kentucky will play a lot of zone in an attempt to keep everything in front and to not put too much pressure on these young cornerbacks. How will that affect the rest of the defense?

Auburn is starting a new quarterback and has been struggling to throw the football (No. 118 in EPA/dropback, No. 119 in passing success rate, No. 126 in yards per dropback) all season. That cannot change on Saturday. This offense struggles to score. Kentucky must protect their inexperienced cornerbacks. What do they have to give up to accomplish this?

More touches for Kendrick Law

Alabama wide receiver transfer Kendrick Law has generated 328 yards from scrimmage this season on 27 touches. The former top-100 recruit has produced Kentucky’s biggest passing plays all season and has forced five missed tackles. Since the move to the quick passing game in October, the senior leads Kentucky in yards after catch (187 yards on 11 receptions) by a large margin.

Good things have been happening when Kentucky gets No. 1 the football. The Cats must continue to find ways to get him the rock. An opportunity for a big game will be there on Saturday.

Auburn has struggled against the pass but this secondary has also had issues tackling. The Tigers have a defensive backfield that has missed 38 tackles through eight games this season. That’s 4.7 missed tackles per game. Law could turn a couple short throws into big explosive plays. That could change the game.

The SEC transfer has been Kentucky’s most explosive player all season. UK must find ways to utilize him against a passing defense with some holes.

Kentucky has to fit the run

Much of this game will come down to Kentucky’s defense. Can this group have a bounce-back performance after an ugly game against Tennessee? Outside of the Texas game, and for moments against South Carolina, things have been ugly for Brad White’s unit. The Cats will be without two cornerbacks on Saturday. That could make life difficult. However, this is an Auburn offense that has not scored more than two offensive touchdowns in five consecutive SEC games.

With a new starting quarterback and some injury situations at wide receiver, a run-heavy game script is expected. Auburn tailback Jeremiah Cobb has received a heavy load the last two weeks and that likely will not change on Saturday. Kentucky must hold up.

In last year’s 24-10 loss to Auburn, UK allowed 361 non-sack rushing yards after linebacker D’Eryk Jackson was injured. The run defense never recovered after that injury. Alex Afari Jr. was asked to step into the starting lineup at a new position and struggled. However, the senior has been much better against the run this year.

Kentucky enters Saturday’s contest ranking No. 11 in non-sack rush yards per attempt, No. 38 in EPA/rush, No. 44 in rushing success rate. The Cats have been sound against the run all season. Texas (71 non-sack rushing yards on 2.8 yards per attempt) and Tennessee (119 non-sack rushing yards on 3.7 yards per attempt) both struggled to get going against this front. Afari has been much improved and is a big reason why this run defense is having a bounce-back.

Auburn will try to attack the strength of Kentucky’s defense. Afari and the rest of the front must continue to do what they’ve done all year. Slowing the run game will be critical in this matchup.