The aim for all three of Kentucky's FBS teams this autumn is "the bounceback."
A year ago, in a coronavirus-impacted college football season, the Kentucky Wildcats had their first losing year (5-6) since 2015.
Sabotaged by turnovers, Louisville sagged from 8-5 in 2019 to 4-7 last season.
After going 9-4 two years ago, Western Kentucky wobbled to 5-7 in 2020.
Can our state's marquee programs bring the good times back in 2021? These 10 players/coaches are "on the spot" to make it happen.
10. Jordan Wright. In 2018, when Kentucky won 10 games, the Wildcats sacked opposing quarterbacks 38 times. While winning eight times in 2019, UK recorded 33 sacks.
Last year, in suffering a losing season against an all-SEC slate, UK recorded only 14 sacks.
This fall, at least until promising redshirt sophomore edge rusher JJ Weaver returns from a torn ACL, Kentucky needs Wright, a 6-foot-5, 233-pound senior outside linebacker, to turn his pass-rushing game way up from the 3.5 sacks he compiled in 2020.
9. Zach Kittley/Bailey Zappe. In 2020, the Western Kentucky offense finished 114th of 127 FBS teams in scoring (19 points per game) and 120th in total offense (290.3 yards per game). As a result, Hilltoppers head man Tyson Helton is turning over the 2021 WKU offense to Houston Baptist imports Kittley and Zappe.
Offensive coordinator Kittley, a Kliff Kingsbury protégé, engineered an Air Raid attack at Houston Baptist that averaged 459.5 yards per game passing last season (against a four-game schedule). Quarterback Zappe completed 65.6 percent of his throws last year with 15 touchdowns vs. one interception.
If that weren't enough, Houston Baptist's top three receivers from 2020 have also migrated north to Bowling Green.
8. Shai Werts. A 5-11, 205-pound fifth-year player, Werts transferred to Louisville from Georgia Southern — where he was a four-year starting quarterback. In his Eagles career, Werts ran for 3,083 career yards and 34 touchdowns while throwing for 3,778 yards and 34 TDs.
At U of L, Werts is shifting to wideout. It will be fascinating to see if an established college QB can morph into the kind of playmaking receiver the Cardinals need after losing stars Tutu Atwell (46 catches, 625 yards, seven TDs in 2020) and Dez Fitzpatrick (43, 833, three TDs).
7. Mark Stoops. Before Eddie Gran was hired to run the Kentucky offense, Stoops was 12-24 overall and 4-20 in the SEC in three seasons as UK's head man. Once Gran and co-offensive coordinator Darin Hinshaw arrived in 2016, Stoops went 37-26 overall and 20-22 in the SEC the next five years.
That is why the Stoops decision to part ways with Gran and Hinshaw after last season in search of an offense with greater run/pass balance (UK ranked ranked 122 out of 127 FBS teams in passing in 2020) is so intriguing. The 2021 Kentucky season will provide a test case of a head coach departing from his comfort zone.
6. DeAngelo Malone. In 2019, the Western Kentucky edge rusher produced 99 tackles, 20.5 tackles for loss and 11 sacks. Last year, given the full focus of opposing blocking schemes, the Atlanta native saw his production decline — 71 tackles, 10.5 TFL, six sacks (albeit in two fewer games).
Using the NCAA-granted "extra year" to return for a fifth season, a bulked-up Malone (from 230 to 240 on his 6-4 frame) is seeking to recapture the stellar form he showed in 2019.
5. Wan'Dale Robinson. After breaking hearts in the commonwealth three years ago by signing with Nebraska over UK, the ex-Western Hills star has transferred home to Kentucky. The Wildcats are counting on the slot receiver to provide a quality UK acutely needs: Dynamic playmaking.
4. Malik Cunningham. Turnovers (12 interceptions, three lost fumbles) sabotaged the Louisville quarterback last season and played a role in U of L (4-7) losing four games by seven points or fewer. For the Cardinals, a better 2021 hinges substantially on Cunningham (2,617 yards passing, 609 yards rushing last year) tightening up the ball security.
3. Will Levis. At Penn State, the knock on the big-armed quarterback was that he lacked the passing accuracy and touch it takes to be a starting QB. Now that the 6-3, 222-pound transfer has been named Kentucky's starter, the UK season is riding on Levis showing he has more to offer in the pocket than robust arm strength.
2. Liam Coen. In changing offensive coordinators, Kentucky's Stoops was acknowledging that UK's ground-reliant attack was not enough to topple SEC East titans Georgia and Florida. Stoops has bet a bundle that Coen, the former Massachusetts quarterback and Los Angeles Rams assistant, can bring balance back to the Cats offense.
1. Scott Satterfield. The Louisville coach offended his school's fans in two ways in 2020. First, he oversaw a 4-7 slog. Then, he publicly flirted with the vacant South Carolina head-coaching job, a grievous act in the eyes of a fan base that has too often felt jilted by football coaches chasing other employment.
That unhappy 2020 is why the heat is on Satterfield to produce something that galvanizes Cardinals backers in 2021.
