Game Preview: No. 3 Texas vs Kentucky

The Texas Longhorns (9-1, 5-1) are fresh off a road victory at Arkansas in what was an ugly game at times, but they managed to leave Fayetteville with a 20-10 win. The Longhorns now welcome Mark Stoops and the Kentucky Wildcats (4-6, 1-6) to Austin for their home finale. The Wildcats may look like a walkover on paper, but ask Lane Kiffin and Ole Miss about Kentucky. Kentucky’s lone conference win came in Oxford when they upset then-ranked No. 6 Ole Miss at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Texas must come ready to play or Kentucky will gladly play spoiler, which would be catastophic for the Longhorns postseason aspirations.

Can Kentucky Score Enough?

Kentucky has scored 20 points just once in conference play which came in their 20-17 victory versus Ole Miss. The Wildcats have a clear game plan each week – control the clock and play good defense. It will be similar to what Vanderbilt and Mississippi State did against Texas. Those teams had periods of success against the Longhorns but ultimately it wasn’t enough. Kentucky quarterback Brock Vandagriff is a former 5-star recruit who transferred from Georgia, but he has struggled in SEC play. Outside of the Ole Miss game, Vandagriff hasn’t thrown for more than 165 yards in a game. That needs to change for Kentucky to have any chance against Texas.

The Longhorns defense will present challenges for Kentucky, challenges they haven’t faced this year other than perhaps Georgia. Pete Kwiatkowski’s defense will shut down on dimensional offenses and they have two great cornerbacks leading the defense. The first is sophomore Malik Muhammad, who teams almost refuse to throw at. The other is senior Jahdae Barron who is playing as well as any corner in the country and likely a finalist for the Jim Thorpe Award. Barron is coming off of a game against Arkansas where he had an interception and a sack. Kentucky gets wide receiver Barion Brown back from injury this week which will help the Wildcats. Brown is as explosive of a wideout as you will find in the SEC and he will be sure to test a talented Texas secondary.

Will Quinn Ewers and the Texas Offense Start Fast?

Kentucky has typically started games well on defense. This is validated as Ole Miss and Vanderbilt are the only SEC teams to score a touchdowns on their opening drives against the Wildcats. Conversely, the Texas offense has not gotten off to fast starts. In their six SEC games the Longhorns have just one opening drive touchdown. The first few drives are typically the scripted plays from Steve Sarkisian and in previous years the script has been the best part of his game plan. That hasn’t been the case this year.

The slow starts clearly haven’t hurt Texas too much, as their 9-1 overall and 5-1 conference records show. So far this season, things are working and that is indicative of the Longhorns No. 3 ranking in the College Football Playoff. Should Texas start fast and get a touchdown early, it will certainly put pressure on the Kentucky offense. The Wildcats do not have an offense that is built to come from behind, especially playing against an elite Texas defense on the road. The first quarter will determine if Kentucky can stay in the game for four quarters or if the Longhorns will have a dominant senior day for Quinn Ewers, Jahdae Barron and company.