Five things that should worry Kentucky Wildcats football fans

As Kentucky football’s 2024 spring practice wound down, Mark Stoops proclaimed himself pleased with pretty much everything. The exception was the rash of injuries that sidelined a whopping nine UK defensive linemen from the Blue-White scrimmage.

“When we get everybody back, the pieces are in place to have a heck of a football team,” Stoops said. “And so, that is what is exciting for us.”

Kentucky, of course, is coming off of back-to-back 7-6 seasons that were deemed disappointing by much of the Big Blue Nation.

If Stoops and troops are to produce the breakthrough season in 2024 that UK backers yearn to see, there are five worrisome areas where solutions will have to be found:

▪ Worry one. Those defensive line injuries.

With a healthy roster, the defensive front should be one of Kentucky’s most-pronounced strengths in 2024.

Yet based on both Stoops’ words and his program’s actions, it seems unlikely UK will have its full allotment of defensive linemen available by the time the season opens against Southern Mississippi on Aug. 31.

“Expect six for sure to be ready by (fall) camp, close to 100%,” Stoops said last month of the injured D-linemen. “Maybe down a few for a month or so at the beginning of the season.”

In recent weeks, Kentucky’s pursuit of interior defensive linemen who have become available during the spring transfer portal window has seemingly reinforced concern that the Cats will not get every defensive lineman who is injured back in a timely manner.

That is concerning because the 2024 UK schedule is front-loaded with important games. In week two, Kentucky will play host to SEC rival South Carolina in what is an all but must-win game for the Wildcats. The following Saturday, SEC titan Georgia will visit Kroger Field.

▪ Worry two. Punting.

Out of 130 FBS teams in 2023, Kentucky ranked a pedestrian 105th in net punting with an average of 36.43 net yards a kick.

Of 83 FBS punters who qualified for individual ranking in 2023, UK’s Wilson Berry stood No. 74 with an average of 39.73 yards a kick.

Those numbers are why many have anticipated Kentucky adding a proven college punter from the transfer portal for 2024. That does not appear to have yet happened, however.

The 6-foot-4, 213-pound Berry is back for his redshirt junior season with Kentucky. If Berry is again UK’s primary punter, there is an interesting question to be answered:

After insisting that the Maribyrnong, Australia, product function as a traditional punter last season, might Kentucky allow Berry to deploy the “rugby style” that many of the punters from “down under” employ to great effect?

▪ Worry three: Running back.

Since 2016, five Kentucky ballcarriers have combined to produce seven 1,000-yard-plus rushing seasons.

With Ray Davis and his 1,129 rushing yards having exited for the NFL’s Buffalo Bills, UK will enter the 2024 season with no running back on its roster who has run for more than 402 yards in a season.

Ohio State transfer Chip Trayanum (402 rushing yards for Arizona State in 2021) and ex-North Carolina State back Demi Sumo-Karngbaye (305 rushing yards for N.C. State in 2022) appeared to be the top two backs on the Cats’ depth chart at the spring scrimmage.

UK’s pursuits of backs in the spring transfer portal — with the Wildcats making unfulfilled bids for ex-Oregon State star Damien Martinez (who picked Miami) and ex-Toledo star Peny Boone (Central Florida) — suggest the Kentucky brain trust has some concerns about the Wildcats’ running back situation, too.

▪ Worry four: The road schedule.

Among the top 16 teams in ESPN.com’s “Way-Too-Early Top 25,” Kentucky will play three of them on the road — No. 4 Texas, No. 6 Mississippi and No. 16 Tennessee.

UK’s other road game will be against Florida in “The Swamp,” with the Gators likely to be breathing fire as they attempt to snap a three-game losing streak against the Wildcats.

To get above seven wins, Kentucky will likely need to win at least one game away from home. Any aspirations for a truly special UK football season likely involves at least two road victories.

▪ Worry five: Home field advantage or disadvantage?

The biggest reason that UK failed to get above the seven-win threshold in both 2022 and 2023 is that the Wildcats went 1-3 in SEC home games in both seasons.

To have a realistic chance to get to at least eight victories in 2024, Kentucky likely has to go no worse than 3-1 in league home games. That means winning three from among SEC home contests with South Carolina, Georgia, Vanderbilt and Auburn.

Though UK has won four of its past five home games against both South Carolina and Vanderbilt, the Gamecocks and the Commodores each beat Kentucky at Kroger Field in 2022.

Meanwhile, the Wildcats have lost their last 14 games overall against Georgia and have not beaten the Bulldogs in Lexington since 2006.

Auburn has beaten UK in 18 of the past 19 meetings between the teams overall. Kentucky has not bested the Tigers in Lexington since 1966.

For UK, getting to three SEC home wins in 2024 is vital. To do so, Stoops and the troops will have to overcome some negative history.

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