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Kentucky football: 5 reasons Wildcats fans should feel optimistic about the 2023 season
By Joe Cox
Published:
Preseason is always the time for optimism.
Even in the days when Kentucky football came off a 1-10 or 2-9 season, there were Wildcats backers who could look at that schedule, then the roster, then squint really hard and see 4, 5, even 6 wins.
That said, optimism has grown to be an easier sell these days in Lexington. Kentucky has a 7-season bowl streak and has enjoyed a pair of 10-win seasons in the past 5 years. Coming off a disappointing 7-6 season (and there were times when that phrase seemed deeply unlikely to ever be applicable to Kentucky football), UK has every reason to be excited about 2023.
Well, maybe not EVERY reason, but certainly 5 reasons — such as these:
1. Quarterback improvement
Mark Stoops has taken Kentucky football to 7 straight bowls despite starting Stephen Johnson, Terry Wilson and wide receiver Lynn Bowden at quarterback, among others. NC State transfer Devin Leary figures to be at the upper echelon of Stoops QBs and very possibly the best passer UK has featured since Andre Woodson in the late 2000s. Leary passed for 6,807 yards with 62 touchdowns with the Wolfpack.
Observers around Wildcats camp have been impressed with Leary’s arm strength, decision-making and ability to relate to his teammates. Even with the new clock rules, Leary has better than a puncher’s chance at being UK’s 1st 3,000-yard passer since Mike Hartline in 2010. Particularly with …
2. A dynamic receiver duo
Kentucky returns all 6 players who caught 10 or more passes last season. But a pair of true sophomores stand out above the rest. Speedy Barion Brown caught 50 passes for 628 yards and 4 scores last season and added a kick return for a touchdown. Dane Key, a 6-foot-3 outside target, emerged as a red zone threat, snagging 37 passes for 519 yards and 6 scores.
With another year of experience and weight training, an arguably better quarterback and a craftier offensive scheme (see below), either Brown or Key could well join UK’s small club of 6 1,000-yard receivers. Kentucky has never had a pair of 1,000-yard receivers in a season, but in a 13-game season, Brown and Key could make joint history in Lexington.
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3. The return of Liam Coen
In 2021, Liam Coen took over a beleaguered UK offense and turned it into a humming machine, averaging 32.3 points per game, passing for 226 yards per game and picking up 6.4 yards per play. The year before, UK averaged 21.8 points per game and in 2022, with Coen back in the NFL, UK averaged 20.4 points per game. Even with a relatively inexperienced Will Levis at QB and only 1 legitimate receiving threat in transfer Wan’Dale Robinson, Coen schemed UK into a dangerous offense.
In 2023, he has a more experienced passer, better receiver depth and the opportunity to mark himself and defensive boss Brad White as 1 of the SEC’s top pairs of coordinators.
4. An easy start to the schedule
Kentucky’s bye week is on Oct. 21. Other than a game at Georgia on Oct. 7 (which, admittedly, sounds like as much fun as a root canal), Kentucky’s got a pretty easy run of games early in the season. The Wildcats open with non-conference home matchups against Ball State, FCS program Eastern Kentucky and Akron. They open SEC play at Vanderbilt, then host a Florida team that they’ve defeated in each of the past 2 seasons and 3 of the past 5.
After Georgia, Kentucky hosts Missouri, which the Wildcats have defeated 7 of the past 8 seasons. UK has a very good chance to open its season 6-1, which could be a springboard to another 10-win season. (And note that even the relatively Negative Nellies, like SDS’s Connor O’Gara, see a 6-1 start to the season!)
5. A weak opposing class of QBs
Kentucky has some experience questions in its secondary, but the good news is that Brad White’s defense will likely face a pretty subpar group of opposing quarterbacks. Joe Milton, Spencer Rattler and Will Rogers aren’t chopped liver, but they’re probably not going to end up as Heisman Trophy finalists. Even Alabama and Georgia are welcoming new QBs.
Kentucky’s defense has allowed fewer points and passing yards per game over each of the past 2 seasons, and with a fairly questionable crop of opposing QBs, the Wildcats could well continue that trend.
Joe Cox is a columnist for Saturday Down South. He has also written or assisted in writing five books, and his most recent, Almost Perfect (a study of baseball pitchers’ near-miss attempts at perfect games), is available on Amazon or at many local bookstores.
