5 biggest concerns Auburn should have about stopping Kentucky
Auburn is set to get its 2020 season underway Saturday against a Kentucky team that’s capable of creating some noise in the SEC East. The Wildcats aren’t an ideal opening week opponent, but this is still a very winnable game.
That is why the Tigers are favored by 8 points, after all.
With that being said, Gus Malzahn and Co. can’t take this game lightly. Many media members have put Auburn on upset alert.
Below are 5 of the biggest concerns the Tigers should have about stopping the Wildcats.
1. Kentucky brings an impressive run game
When going on the road to take on a formidable SEC opponent, a team needs to be able to field a run game that can take pressure off the quarterback. Kentucky brings that aspect to the table with a dominant offensive line and a trio of impressive running backs.
The Wildcats return 4 of 5 starters along the line, including preseason All-SEC picks Drake Jackson and Darian Kinnard. That plethora of experience can help tremendously when trying to control the line of scrimmage. But there’s also the talent in the backfield.
Lynn Bowden Jr. and his 1,468 rushing yards and 13 scores are gone, but the trio of Asim Rose, Kavosiey Smoke and Christopher Rodriguez Jr. at running back means success can be had on the ground. The trio combined for 1,975 yards and 18 touchdowns while averaging 6.2 yards per carry in 2019.
2. Auburn’s losses in the trenches
If Derrick Brown and Marlon Davidson were back, the potential for Kentucky’s success on the ground wouldn’t be concerning. Unfortunately, that is not the case.
We love the potential breakout candidates such as Big Kat Bryant, Derick Hall and T.D. Moultry on the edges, but will those guys be able to set the edge against the run well enough Saturday? Interior guys such as Tyrone Truesdell and Daquan Newkirk need to have a big impact.
Offensively, Auburn is experiencing even more turnover with 4 of 5 starters along the line gone. There’s hope that this new group can be better than last year, but that remains to be seen. Jamar “Boogie” Watson, Josh Paschal and big-man Quinton Bohanna (6-4, 347 pounds) make up a good group for Kentucky’s defensive front.
Kentucky is far removed from its pushover days on both lines.
3. The return of Terry Wilson
The Wildcats will look more traditional this season with Terry Wilson back under center. He suffered a season-ending knee injury early in 2019, all but forcing the Wildcats to abandon the passing game. And as much as Wilson has been scrutinized during his career, he’s the type of player who can have a lot of success with a stout offensive line and a complementary run game.
Oh, and Wilson has some wheels too.
The 6-3, 202-pounder rushed for 547 yards and 4 scores in Kentucky’s 2018 breakthrough season.
Wilson is an underrated quarterback who should be taken seriously.
4. A new offense for Bo Nix
Bo Nix has already seen ups and downs during his young career. He brought home SEC Freshman of the Year honors over several impressive first-year players like LSU cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. But there also were times when Nix was a liability within the offense.
Former Arkansas head coach Chad Morris has been brought in to install a new offense that is tailor-made for Nix’s skillset. That is fantastic news and should help over the long haul, but will that success come in Week 1? That is the million-dollar question.
If it takes time for the new offense to gel with a new play-caller and offensive line, that can open the door for Kentucky to create a few issues for the Tigers. It will certainly be something to monitor.
5. Crowd limitations with home-field advantage
In any other season, Auburn getting to play this game at home could prove to be a major difference-maker. Unfortunately, the combination of it being an 11:00 a.m. CT kickoff with the limited stadium capacity negates some of the magic found within the walls of Jordan-Hare Stadium.
Still, that doesn’t mean that playing at home with a limited crowd won’t play to the Tigers’ favor. It just means that it won’t be as big of an advantage as it could have been otherwise.
You actually trust Chad Morris to install “his” offense?
Yes
I agree that Chad Morris has installed his offense, which differs from Gus’s offense somewhat. Hog fans will hate Chad forever…I understand that…but Chad has been a very good signal caller and QB developer…take a look a Clemson.
Please for the love god stop calling Morris a quarterback whisper. The guy literally hand picked a kid from his previous team instead of working with the overall better talent he had and then the kid comes back and beats him handedly. He hasnt installed his whole offense but he probably has some nuances that run with Malzhan’s.
Morris is in a much better position at AU any way you look at it. We will see if auburn is better off with Morris. If you ask most AU fans, or put any weight into what players have been saying, the answer is yes as well.
Arkansas trying to make comparisons is just dumb. I think your time is better spent rooting for auburn and Morris. It’ll be more fun than watching arky lose every game this season!
Youre full of it. Of course hes better of at Auburn cause he wont have the weight of being the head coach and all the things that come with it. Not to mention he has more talent in that wide receiver room than our whole team lol. Wish the guy the best and hate he didn’t get a fair shake here but were comparing a guy trying to coach up a high school team to walking into an actual turn college with real expectations of success.
I won’t be rooting against Morris, necessarily. But I am interested to see how this experiment goes. Morris has been an effective OC before. He won’t have the weight of managing an entire coaching staff. He’s an excellent recruiter. The wild card is probably Malzahn. If things don’t go smoothly, how patient will Gus be? They are long time friends, but business in the SEC is business. And his seat has been hot in recent years.
Sounds like the players are buying in, so we’ll see. I wouldn’t put much stock in what AU fans are saying. Arkansas fans were pretty high on Morris prior to the last 2 seasons of pitiful. But talent is much better and more solidly established in this case. Count me as one interested to see how it goes.
You expect Arkansas to make a huge leap and beat several teams with a HC that have zero HC experience at the college level and been an OL coach for most of his career. I do not know if he will be worst or the same as Chad Morris.
Drink is decent hire but the guy isnt a Malzhan. Pittman isn’t Ogeron but hes proven he knows what he’s doing against SEC competition.
Kentucky will play their game and will come out with an upset win, don’t be surprised if they put it away early in the 4th quarter.
Sure
It’s possible..
…and don’t be surprised if Auburn pulls their starters in the 4th because they have such a big lead.
Auburn at home in Jordan-Hare…they usually pull out that home-field-magic. I expect a close game until the 4th quarter.
Maybe we pull away in the 4th
Yawn. Same ole’ KY.
Actually, we DID put it away in the fourth quarter…early, mid-quarter, and late. We just buried the wrong team, that’s all.
#6) Looking past UK and ahead to week two against the Dawgs in Athens.
Don’t think anyone is looking past Kentucky any more like they did in the past
Seeing as how all the talking heads are picking UK…there’s plenty of bulletin board material for Auburn to be focused.
Good job. You can count to six.
Gus rarely looks past one team. Unless it’s Arkansas. Lol
cough::tennessee::cough
I almost said and Tennessee lol
No one seems to be seriously considering that Kentucky might just have better players than Auburn this year. Something to chew on! 247 and Rivals are nice, but they haven’t completely solved the riddle.
Actually, some of us Auburn fans are considering exactly that. Our offensive line is brand new (which might turn out to be an improvement given the previous one) and most of our defensive line is brand new. Typically teams that have to replace the majority of both lines of scrimmage prior to a season do not fare well. I believe Auburn will be no exception to that history and we will lose 4-5 games. We also have a brand new OC who is likely being micro-managed by Gus as we speak. Many of us have hopes that Morris will actually be allowed to install and run his own offense, but seven years of watching Gus’s refusal to adapt and change tells me otherwise. Regarding the AU/KY game, I think it’s probably a toss-up, but really think KY’s experience gives them a slight edge.
I was actually surprised the spread was only 7 points..
Seems accurate to me.
A few months ago Auburn was a 23.5 point favorite.
Wonder why? Maybe they realize Chad Morris is running the offense. That got to tell you better pray that Gus is serious and not giving the games away to get himself fired and then getting a huge payoff at the end!
It all has to do with money. Too many people were taking Kentucky so they moved the line down considerably over the last couple of months.
I don’t think Bo has any trouble with the offense. By now, it should suit him as an athlete more and he should know it well by now.
I’m worried about Kentucky’s run game. A good run game is the key to an upset. You can get chunks of yards at a time while running the clock to give the other team less possessions.
I think this game will be won or lost in the trenches. Which ever team is the more physical and controls the line of scrimmage will win. Kentucky is deeper now than I’ve ever known them to be. We have good talent at the skill positions to help Terry Wilson. If the offensive line gives him a good pocket so he has options running the rpo I like Kentucky’s chances. I have a lot of respect for Auburn and think they are a very good team. But trying to bring in a new OC with the Covid virus taking away so much practice. I think its gonna be tough for them to fully install a whole new offense. But I honestly believe it’ll be a great game to watch. Win or lose I wish Auburn all the best after Saturday. Go Cats!!
I have no idea why, but I’m confident in this Auburn team. Outside the offensive line (which isn’t nothing), everyone is a year older. But everyone is acting like the entire team graduated. Having said that, I would not be shocked if Auburn totally does what we’re known to do and loses by two TDs Saturday.
Auburn secondary vs. UK receivers is the Tigers’ only advantage. Cats are better everywhere else on the field. The rankings and spread are based almost solely on the names on the front of the jerseys. Cats run game is better. Pass defense is better. DL is better than Auburn’s OL. OL is much better than Auburn’s DL. Hell, Terry Wilson is even better than Bo Nix, statistically. Plus, Kentucky is 18-8 the last 2 seasons (including one season without a quarterback, lol) vs. Auburn’s 17-9, and Kentucky returns more.
Auburn will hit a big play or two, but Kentucky will dominate in the trenches and completely own the clock, maybe to a comical level.
27-17 Cats.
I like your pessimism.
Kentucky wins this game. UK has the better O and D line. I think Auburn starts off 0-2 this year
You shouldn’t think so much. You might dent your brain. Auburn is 1-0.