Going back to cfbstats.com and looking at some more of Kentucky’s statistical splits, it’s apparent how consistent (in this case, it’s a good thing) UK’s passing game is. Home, road, winners, losers, conference, non-conference – you can pretty much pencil these guys in for 250 or so yards every time they play.
Interestingly enough (and I wouldn’t have expected this), you can say much the same thing about the Wildcats’ passing defense. One way or another, Kentucky looks to yield somewhere in the neighborhood of 190-200 ypg in the air.
Where the splits are far more dramatic come in the rushing game, at least on offense, where there’s a notable dropoff against conference opponents, opponents with a winning record and opponents that are ranked. Some of that may be attributable to injuries, but some of that simply has to be the result of playing better defenses, no?
Some of the differences on the rushing defense splits can no doubt be explained by UK having Arkansas (338 yards gained) as an opponent. But the Hogs are only one of five teams to whom Kentucky has yielded over 200 yards on the ground this season. (By comparison, the most Georgia has allowed an opponent to gain rushing the football is 190 yards, by Tennessee.)
All of that would seem to indicate that if Bobo sticks to his overall game plan of seeking balanced performance running and throwing the ball, he ought to be able to succeed. Georgia’s defense needs to make sure it clamps down on the UK running game (if Rafael Little can’t go Saturday, that would make the job easier). Kentucky is going to get its yardage in the air, and its points (note the tail off in the month to month stats, though). The goal should be to keep UK under 30 on the scoreboard. If the Dawgs do that, the rest should take care of itself.
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