Kentucky Offense Hoping to Capitalize on Opportunities
Kentucky faces its biggest challenge of the season so far on Saturday, facing top-ranked Georgia at Sanford Stadium in Athens.
The task for Kentucky’s offense this week will be facing the nation’s top defense. Plan and simple, the Bulldogs have been amazing this year. Georgia allows just 5.5 points per game on the season, which is first in the country. They allow just 201.2 yards total per game, also first in the country.
Kentucky offensive coordinator Liam Coen is very impressed with the Bulldogs’ defense.
“Extremely talented group, extremely well-coached,” Coen said. “(They) play physical, play violent. There’s a reason why they’re the best defense in the country, there’s a reason why they’re the number one team in the country. They play their tails off, it will be a really good test for us.”
Coen saw his offense have one of its better performances of the year on Saturday in a 42-21 win over LSU. The Cats did a lot of things right in the win and Coen was happy to see a number of different Cats contributing.
“As I mentioned to the players, it wasn’t one guy,” Coen said. “It wasn’t the Wan’Dale (Robinson) show, it wasn’t just this guy or that guy. It was so many players who contributed to the win, at all positions, which gives our team more confidence.”
However, Coen knows that the challenge this week is much bigger and that his offense will need to take advantage of the limited chances that Georgia is likely to give them.
“We just can’t miss on (opportunities),” Coen said. “You need to take care of it and strike when you can and when you have the right looks.”
It’s still early in the week, but Coen has an idea of what a winning game plan would look like against the Bulldogs.
“Ball security is at a premium this week,” Coen said. “Staying ahead of the chains, early down success and trying to be balanced, being efficient that way.”
The Georgia front seven is very talented and has wreaked havoc on opponents all season long. While Coen respects that group, he also likes how his offensive line is performing.
“I think our line is playing at a high level right now,” Coen said. “They’re doing such a good job. I feel good about us matching up with them. You still have to block them and maintain those blocks but I feel confident about our guys up front.”
While there hasn’t been a great deal of success against Georgia this season, Coen has seen one pattern that seems to be consistent among those who have done good things.
“At the end of the day, it’s really about our players making plays,” Coen said. “When you watch all of the games against Georgia, the people who have had success and the guys who have competed with them, players are making plays. Guys are rising to the occasion, making plays. Scheme is definitely involved but this is a great (opportunity) for our guys to go out and do something special.”
It will be the job of Coen and his offensive weapons to find, and take advantage of, the opportunities to do something special on Saturday.
