When Chris Rodriguez returns from his 4-game suspension Saturday at Ole Miss, he might as well come out rocking No. 45. He won’t — he prefers No. 24 — but if you watched Kentucky in the first part of 2022, you can see exactly why one could liken the All-SEC running back’s return to Michael Jordan’s post-baseball return to the Chicago Bulls in 1995.

Too far? OK, that’s fair. Let’s dial it back a touch.

Rodriguez might not have the same impact on the game as the G.O.A.T., but the guy who’s closing in on Kentucky’s all-time career rushing yards record is capable of taking care of multiple deficiencies.

Yes, the Cats currently have their highest AP Poll ranking since the Jimmy Carter administration. Being the No. 7 team in the country heading into October is nothing to scoff at. Credit Mark Stoops and that staff for getting to a place where AP voters actually believe Kentucky is worthy of that kind of love after just 4 games.

If you watched the Cats, though, you’d see that they’re not a finished product.

The ground game that we’ve come to expect simply hasn’t been there yet. It was when it counted against Florida, but outside of that? Woof. Kentucky is averaging just 0.75 rushing yards per game more than Mississippi State. As in Mike Leach’s Air Raid that throws the ball 50 times per game and runs the ball fewer than anyone in America.

Heading into its Week 5 showdown at No. 14 Ole Miss, Kentucky ranks:

  • Last in the SEC in yards per carry (2.41)
  • Last in the SEC in rushing touchdowns (3)
  • Last in the SEC in 10-yard carries (9)
  • Last in the SEC in 30-yard carries (0)
  • No. 13 in the SEC in rushing yards per game (81.5)

It’s been rough. The Big Blue Wall that we’ve come to know and expect in Lexington doesn’t look like a vintage group. It didn’t help that Sam Houston transfer Ramon Jefferson went down in the season-opener with a torn ACL, and injuries on the offensive line didn’t help a Rodriguez-less backfield.

It’s not that Kavosiey Smoke has been a disappointment. He’s averaging 5.2 yards per carry, and he was huge down the stretch in the Florida win. But Smoke isn’t Rodriguez. He’s a complementary back who isn’t going to overcome bad line play, whereas Rodriguez’s skill set lends itself to that. Smoke doesn’t make a defense load the box with defenders and he’s not really a threat in the passing game. Unlike Rodriguez, you’re not going to give him 20 touches in a game and assume he’ll wear down a defense.

Rodriguez’s biggest attribute is his ability to get yards after first contact. Nobody in the SEC has been better at that since the start of 2020.

You need several defenders to take down Rodriguez, who is seemingly always falling forward. That means more defenders closer to the line of scrimmage and ultimately, there’s a better chance that Kentucky has to sell the play-action pass.

That’s what this offense aspires to be with these Sean McVay/Kyle Shanahan concepts. Instead, though, it’s been a group who struggles to protect Will Levis in those spots. Stanford is the only Power 5 team that has allowed more sacks per game than Kentucky so far. Mind you, that’s for a Kentucky team with massive question marks on the quarterback depth chart behind Levis. Any chance the Cats have at reaching a New Year’s 6 bowl for the first time hinges on Levis staying healthy.

It might also hinge on Rodriguez being out there as the true every-down back that the Cats desperately need.

It remains to be seen if he’ll get his normal workload from the jump. Even though Rodriguez has been a full participant at practice working with the second-teamers and scout team, we know that game speed is a different beast. Expecting a 25-carry, 150-yard performance out of the gate would be a bit ambitious.

We’re past the days of Kentucky being one of the most prolific rushing attacks in the country. The volume in this scheme won’t yield those types of numbers. But this also isn’t a passing attack that’s dynamic enough to do all the heavy lifting. Levis needs help. Rodriguez will keep the offense on schedule and then some.

The red-zone issues could also be solved by Rodriguez’s presence. In 4 games, Kentucky’s red-zone touchdown percentage is just 52.9%. That’s No. 102 in FBS and dead last in the SEC. I’d say the guy with 27 rushing touchdowns the last 3 seasons will give Kentucky a decent chance at turning that around.

Only 7 Power 5 running backs had more runs of 10 yards than Rodriguez last year. Among SEC backs, only 2 had more runs of 30 yards than Rodriguez. The Cats currently sit at dead last in the conference in both categories going into a matchup against an Ole Miss run defense that’s been surprisingly stout.

Stoops tried to take the pressure off Rodriguez by saying that he didn’t need to be the savior. That’s not a word you’d typically hear a coach say after he earned his team’s best AP Top 25 ranking in 45 years. But Stoops also sees that his team clearly has room to improve, perhaps no area more obvious than in the ground attack.

It’s an atypical spot for Kentucky to be in on many fronts. The program has a top-10 ranking in September for the first time since 1965. It has a high-end NFL prospect at quarterback who can make any throw for the first time since Tim Couch. Kentucky is going into a road game against a top-15 team from the SEC West, and it might have a legitimate gripe that it enters as nearly a touchdown underdog.

If Rodriguez promptly returns to form by fueling another ranked road win, it might be time to reset those expectations once again.

Or at the very least, maybe switch Rodriguez to No. 45.