Five Key Strategies for Kentucky Wildcats Football to Secure a Win against the Ole Miss Rebels

The Kentucky Wildcats are hitting the highway for their first away sport of the yr against the Ole Miss Rebels in Oxford, Mississippi.

The Grove must be electrical with the Cats coming to city and Ole Miss ranked as a top-10 workforce. As all the time, Ole Miss boasts an explosive offense this yr, though its protection is a bit shaky.

The key query is: What can Kentucky do to pull off the stunning upset over the Rebels in Oxford?

Let’s discover the 5 keys to victory for the Cats.

1. Control the Clock

When going through an explosive offense, managing the clock by working the ball and utilizing the play clock successfully is crucial. For the Cats to have a probability on this sport, they want to restrict Ole Miss to as few possessions as attainable and win the time of possession battle. Ole Miss at present has the third-best offense in the nation, averaging over 42 factors and 478 yards per sport. Kentucky should run the ball properly and keep away from turnovers to keep aggressive.

2. Contain Explosive Plays

The Rebels excel at hitting massive performs with over 100 performs for 10-plus yards this season. Under Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss persistently ranks amongst the high 5 offensive groups, significantly in explosive performs. Kentucky was efficient at containing these performs in a three-point loss at Ole Miss in 2022. For the Cats to succeed this week, they have to maintain all the things in entrance of them and stop any main explosive performs.

3. Win the Special Teams Battle

While I won't agree with it, Wilson Berry is as soon as once more the beginning punter. Although he's a strong punter, to beat Ole Miss, Kentucky wants to flip the discipline successfully. So far this season, Berry is averaging solely 41 yards per punt, whereas backup Aidan Laros had a 58-yard punt final week and was an FCS All-American final season. I’m unsure why Laros isn’t getting extra alternatives, however Kentucky will wrestle if it continues to give Ole Miss a favorable discipline place. Additionally, the Wildcats ought to make the most of their top-five kicker and take the factors once they can.

4. Limit Penalties

Kentucky has repeatedly damage themselves with penalties this season, rating amongst the worst in the SEC. It is giving up over 80 yards per sport in penalties. To win, the Cats want to play basically sound soccer and reduce errors. They should concentrate on watching the ball, avoiding holds, and sustaining clear play.

5. Protect Brock Vandagriff

Vandagriff has proven some promise, however his efficiency has been hampered by the offensive line’s lack of ability to present enough safety. When he has greater than 2.5 seconds to throw, he completes over 75% of his passes; when it’s much less, that proportion drops under 50%. Ole Miss’s protection is just not what it as soon as was, however they nonetheless boast the No. 1 scoring protection in the nation, permitting solely 5.5 factors per sport and having but to enable a landing this season. Kentucky gained’t stand a probability if it will probably’t rating. If Vandagriff doesn’t have the time he wants, it could possibly be a lengthy sport. After all, you'll be able to solely run the ball a lot.

All in all, I count on Kentucky to play Ole Miss rather well and maintain this one actually shut. I believe Vandagriff has a little bit of a coming-out social gathering and throws for 200-plus yards. This Kentucky protection goes to stand tall and maintain Ole Miss to lower than 28 factors in one other shut defeat to Lane Kiffin and the Rebels.

My prediction: Ole Miss 27, Kentucky 24