UK's offense merging into fast lane this season
LEXINGTON, Ky. – When it comes to his offense, University of Kentucky coordinator Neal Brown prefers to drive fast, but last season was more like being stuck in traffic. Although he's still tweaking the engine, the Wildcats might be ready to step on the gas this fall.
"I think we'll be much faster Week 1 this year than we were at any point last year," head coach Mark Stoops said. "I feel good. I feel like we're improved and they're ready to go."
Brown is anxious after what amounted to a 12-game false start.
In 2010, his first season as coordinator at Texas Tech, the Red Raiders averaged 81.1 offensive plays per game, second-most in the country. He appropriately nicknamed the pace "NASCAR."
In 2013, Brown's debut at UK, the Cats averaged 64.5 plays — 119th nationally and fewer than the year before under the fired former staff. Looking more like a jalopy than the race car fans expected, Kentucky managed just 60 snaps in an upset loss to Western Kentucky in the opener.
"I'm trying to forget," Brown said. "We did not play with very good tempo at Western. We tried to early and we just didn't do a very good job of it at all."
Poor quarterback play, a paper-thin wide receiver corps and general lack of talent and depth contributed to the slow-down of Brown's hurry-up offense. That first season at Texas Tech, the Red Raiders ran at least 75 plays in 12 of 13 games, 80-plus seven times and ripped off 101 plays in a single game.
The Cats hit 70-plus snaps just five times last fall and topped out at 79. Brown is hopeful that Saturday's season opener against Tennessee-Martin will set a more familiar tone.
"We'll pick our spots in this game. I want to make sure that we're not playing so fast that we're hurting ourselves, you know? But we're in a position now, going into our second fall, that we're able to play really fast when we need to," he said. "And there's going to be some times in this game where we'll play at a really quick pace — faster than we ever executed last year."
Kentucky has a more athletic offensive line, a new starting quarterback in Patrick Towles and, after adding five freshmen receivers who are all expected to play, is finally deep enough there to push the pace without wearing down the wrong team.
"You've got returning players, for one, that have been in the system for a year," receivers coach Tommy Mainord said. "You've got more people to rotate at receiver to keep you fresh. And I think the players have actually bought into it more, too. It's a different speed right now.
"We've improved drastically, and we expect to show it Saturday."
Towles also attributes the quickening pace to players having a year now to figure out exactly what Brown wants — and to realize the value of attacking opponents with tempo.
"Everybody's lining up a lot faster. I can't run the play until everyone's on the line of scrimmage, so Coach Brown talks to me all the time about staying on the center and stand right under his butt as soon as the ball is down. And as soon as the ref gives his whistle, we're snapping the football," Towles said. "Our (defensive) guys go against it every day and they're in really good shape, but we still get them toward the end of drives, so it's nice."
Often in scrimmages during preseason camp, the tempo wore down UK's defense and the offense was able to rip off some of its biggest plays in the second half. That's the goal when the real games begin. It's also what offensive line coach John Schlarman likes to remind his guys.
Those 300-pound linemen are key to pushing the pace, but they're also the ones whose stamina is tested most.
"It all starts with the center and the quarterback. The center really has to get us lined up quickly and then the other guards and tackles can fall in behind that. So a big part of it is up front," Schlarman said. "Does it tax them? Absolutely. We have to get used to playing at that fast pace. But I think they understand the benefits of it. When you can get going and get rolling in this offense, the defense can get on their heels a little bit.
"They get winded a little bit and we've got to be able to press on the pedal and not pull off when that happens."
Kyle Tucker can be reached at (502) 582-4361. Follow him on Twitter @KyleTucker_CJ.