Kentucky football has built its climb from the SEC basement to something at least approaching the league’s top level on the back of a stout defense and a sturdy running attack. In the past 5 years, Kentucky has finished 3rd, 8th, 6th, 1st and 3rd in the SEC in rushing yardage per game. And while Kentucky is off to a 6-2 start, they’re sitting at 8th in the league in rushing and are coming off a couple of games in which the run game was missing in action.

Kentucky rushed for just 51 yards at Georgia. Understandable. The Bulldogs have held 6 of their 8 opponents under 100 rushing yards. But Kentucky followed that with just 66 rushing yards at Mississippi State, as they were actually outrushed by the Bulldogs, the basement-dwellers of SEC rushing, 94-66. Without the running game, Kentucky struggled to score and suffered their first 2 losses of the season. It’s not like Kentucky can’t run — they topped 200 rushing yards against South Carolina and 300 against Missouri and LSU. They just haven’t.

The last time Kentucky didn’t rush for 100 yards in consecutive games was 2018, when Kentucky lost to Georgia and Tennessee after a similarly promising beginning to their season. On that occasion, Kentucky righted the ground game (rushing for 203, 340, and 176 yards in the last 3 games) to finish the year 10-3. Can a similar turnaround happen? Maybe it better.

Kentucky running back Chris Rodriguez was the SEC’s leading rusher until Week 9. That said, Rodriguez had been under 99 rushing yards (and under 16 carries) only once all season. In the past 2 games, he has 15 carries for 41 yards and has struggled with the fumble issues that plagued him early in the season. Mark Stoops cryptically added in his Monday press conference that Rodriguez “was not 100%.” Stoops continued, “He was dealing with an issue last week.”

Backup Kavosiey Smoke had not been under 3.8 yards per carry during any UK game in relief of Rodriguez. Now, he has 13 carries for 33 yards for his over the past 2 games. Once the rushing QB at Penn State, Will Levis has running capabilities as well. He rushed for 75 yards and a pair of touchdowns against LSU. He’s at 13 carries for 21 yards in the past 2 weeks — and that despite not being sacked by Mississippi State.

Sure, part of the problems with Kentucky’s running game have been situational. They trailed for virtually the entire game against Georgia, and for the entire second half against Mississippi State. Down by multiple scores for a decent chunk of the time, Kentucky was limited in ability to carefully establish the run.

But part of the issues stemmed from attitude. Liam Coen’s offense was designed to add the passing game to Kentucky’s offensive menu. It’s been hit and miss, but until the last pair of games, the pass hadn’t limited Kentucky’s recent reliance on the run. The good news for the Wildcats is that with four games back, Kentucky will likely be favored in all four– and that lends itself to the Wildcats’ leaning on their past patterns of success.

Certainly, there are other issues in play for the Wildcats. Improving on their last in FBS turnover margin would be key. Getting Will Levis to throw the ball more consistently wouldn’t hurt. And the usually stalwart defense has now allowed 30 and 31 points in the last 2 games. But at the end of the day, it’s about getting back to what Kentucky does best– and much of that will center around running the ball.