Each and every week prior to a Kentucky football game, Cat Scratches will talk with head coach Joker Phillips for about his plan of attack. Without giving away too much of the game plan, Phillips will tell us his keys to the game, a key matchup and who Kentucky has to look out for on the opposing team.Offensive keys – Make big plays down the field, but don’t forget about the run: “We’ve got to continue to execute when we’ve got a chance to make big plays. We can’t have any near misses. We can’t have any foul balls. We’ve got to make plays when we have chances to make big plays, and there will be opportunities. In every game there are opportunities to make plays, and we’ve got to have our playmakers make them and a couple of guys who haven’t made plays make them. … We’ve got guys on the perimeter making plays for us. But when it gets down to it and you’re on the road, the team that runs the ball the best is usually the team that wins. Do we have to throw the ball? There is no question about that, but we’ve got to start with our running game, which then gives us a chance to throw the ball down the field. We can’t just drop back and throw the ball down the field. It becomes really hard if you’re a straight drop-back passing team. We’ve got to do some play action, and to do some play action you’ve got to start with the run.”Cat Scratches’ take: Ole Miss’ secondary is a potential area UK could attack Saturday, especially with the Cats’ emphasis to throw the ball down the field to wide receiver Chris Matthews. The Rebels are allowing 232.2 yards per game, have allowed eight touchdown passes and haven’t recorded an interception in four games this season. To boot, Ole Miss could be without a pair of defensive backs in strong safety Johnny Brown and cornerback Jeremy McGee, who are battling injuries. Having said all that, UK’s two most dynamic playmakers – Randall Cobb and Derrick Locke – are best utilized on the ground. Locke has rushed for four straight 100-yard games, the first time a Kentucky tailback has accomplished that feat since Artose Pinner in 2002.Defensive keys – Drive through on tackles: “We’ve got to tackle. We’ve got to play fast, play physical and we can’t miss tackles. We’ve got to rally to the ball. If a guy does miss a tackle, there’s got to be somebody there to clean it up for us. …  You’ve got to get people to the ground where they’re just not running through tacklers, through defenders. In tackling you’ve got to try to come out the back end of somebody. You can’t think that I’m going to make a tackle from me to you and leave my feet. It just doesn’t happen that way. You’ve got to step on people’s toes. We’re not stepping on people’s toes and running through tackles. … We didn’t work them as much full speed tackling (in practice as we would have liked this week), but we did work on putting our face and feet on people, which I think will help us.”Cat Scratches’ take: Florida gashed UK for 466 total offensive yards last week. Some of it was UK’s defensive schemes, some of it was a good Florida offense, but a lot of it was just poor tackling. Chip Cosby from the Lexington Herald-Leader has more on the Cats going back to basics in tackling.Key matchup – Containing Ole Miss quarterback Jeremiah Masoli: “You’d like to keep him in the pocket. You’ve got to put an edge on your defense. If this guy circles your defense and gets outside of you, he creates problems. In open space, he’s tough to tackle. He’s probably a little harder to tackle than (Tim) Tebow because Tebow is not a guy that has great moves. He bounces off tackles, but Masoli is a guy that makes you miss clean, which gives him a chance to get to the next guy quicker. With Tebow, he’s a guy that tries to run over you. You can at least slow him down until somebody can rally to him. This Masoli kid in space is real shifty.”Cat Scratches’ take: Masoli became the first Ole Miss player since Archie Manning in 1969 to pass for and run for at least 100 yards in a win over Vanderbilt earlier this year. That, my friends, is what we call a dual-threat quarterback, a type of player that has killed UK over the years. Phillips has compared him to former Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow on multiple occasions this week. While not as accomplished as Tebow, let’s not forget that Masoli was starting in the Rose Bowl last year for Oregon. Had he not transferred after going through some off-the-field problems, he likely would have been a preseason Heisman candidate for the Ducks. And though Masoli is a “shifty” quarterback, he’s not small either, weighing in at 220 pounds.Ole Miss player to watch for (other than Masoli) – Linebacker Jonathan Cornell: “Their staring linebacker is leading the league in tackles. He’s a player that we have to be concerned with. He’ll be a force that we’ll have to know where he’s at all the time.”Cat Scratches’ take: Cornell is officially tied for the league lead in tackles with 39, averaging 9.8 stops per game. The middle linebacker is also second in the Southeastern Conference in tackles for loss with eight in addition to three quarterback sacks. A team captain, Cornell has started 23 games in a row and is the centerpiece of the Rebels defense.Potential UK breakthrough player – Wide receiver La’Rod King: “La’Rod King is close. He’s a guy that is starting to make plays for us. He’s got to be more consistent in his playmaking ability. He had a couple of drops last week that would have been big first downs. He’s just got to play consistent. If he can put it all together, he’s definitely a guy that could be a big-play guy for us.”Cat Scratches’ take: King tied a career high with four catches against Florida for 44 yards. Through four games, King has 13 catches for 152 yards and a score. If he can provide UK with another deep threat the way fellow receiver Matthews did last week against Florida, it should open up the middle and slot for Cobb.

UK player that has to step up – Linebacker Danny Trevathan: “The thing we’ve got to talk to Danny about is he’s got to be in there for four quarters. He’s the leader of the bunch. He was in there for three quarters last week. He’s got to do the right things if he’s going to be the leader and be the guy, the spokesperson for the linebackers. He’s got to do the right things. Having him in there for quarters definitely helps.”Cat Scratches’ take: Trevathan was suspended for last week’s first quarter because of a violation of team rules. Without Trevathan, Florida zoomed out to a 14-0 lead and pounded the Cats for 155 first-quarter yards. When Trevathan entered the game in the second quarter, the Kentucky defense settled down. Florida did not score an offensive touchdown in the second quarter and totaled just 36 yards. Trevathan still leads Kentucky with 27 tackles.Kentucky strength – O-line continues to impress: “Our offensive line has been protecting our quarterback well. They’ve only given up one sack, which was late in the game last week, and our back gave away the other sack. So, we only have allowed two (total) sacks on the season. I feel good about our guys being able to protect the passer, and a lot of that has to do with the quarterback, too, understanding the protections and where his problems are. Mike (Hartline) has done a good job of that.”Cat Scratches’ take: Ole Miss lost a key part of its defensive line last week when defensive end Kentrell Lockett was knocked out for the season with a season-ending injury. Still, the Rebels enter the game with one of the SEC’s best pass rushes, totaling 13 sacks through four games, second best in the league. Despite fielding four new starters at the beginning of the season, Kentucky’s offensive line has been near flawless. The Cats have surrendered just two sacks on the season, tied for 13th fewest in the nation. For more on the offensive line, check out Wednesday’s Cat Scratches feature. Joker’s biggest concern – Consistency: “If we play like we practiced today, it will be ugly (against Ole Miss). When we go against scouts for 50 minutes on Thursday, everything should be clean. Assignments should be cleaned up. … When we go against the scouts, we can’t bring our level of play down to the scouts. We didn’t execute a lot of little things. Little things are what gets you beat on the road. I’m worried about it, but we’ve got to press ahead. The good thing is we’ve got time. We’ve got the rest of today for guys to get in the film room. Tomorrow we’ve got walkthrough. Starting Thursday, it’s mental. You’re not trying to get them physically ready. It’s all mental with assignments, first steps and those types of things.”Cat Scratches’ take: Last week UK had bad practices Tuesday and Wednesday before a good one Thursday. This week the Cats had “upbeat” practices Tuesday and Wednesday but stumbled Thursday. Clearly, whether it’s an issue of focus or not, there are consistency problems. One of the glaring issues, as Phillips said, is playing down to competition. Four games into the season, Phillips said he’s not taking youth as an excuse.Final injury report: A day after being upgraded to probable, offensive guard Stuart Hines has been downgraded to questionable. Phillips said Hines re-aggravated his sprained ankle in practice and did not do much in practice Thursday. Senior defensive end DeQuin Evans also hurt his ankle earlier in the week but Phillips is hopeful both can go Saturday.