Auburn Football: Ranking Tigers’ 2020 opponents by toughness

Mark Stoops’ Kentucky team is at an interesting matchup. On a positive note, the team that finished the season with four straight victories, including a 37-30 Belk Bowl win against Virginia Tech, returns 15 starters. On the negative side, the Wildcats lose Lynn Bowden Jr., the playmaker responsible for most of the team’s offensive production in 2019. In his departure, gone are 2,219 all-purpose yards and 17 touchdowns.

The roster in Lexington is still solid, with a reliable offensive line and a defense that ranked 14th nationally in scoring and 2nd nationally in passing. The source of the offensive production in 2020 is in question, but a defense led by Jamar Watson, Yusuf Corker and DeAndre Square will make the Wildcats a tough out.

There’s a few new coaches in the SEC West, and the most interesting of the group are the two in the state of Mississippi. In Starkville, it’s Mike Leach that will take over in 2020.

After setting passing record after passing record with his air-raid offense in the Big 12 and Pac-12, the eccentric head coach brings his high-powered offense to the best division in the nation, and arguably the most vitriolic rivalry in the sport right now.

This will likely be a more run-oriented season than we typically see from Leach. Kylin Hill posted 5.6 yards per carry on his way to 1,350 yards and ten scores a year ago. Stanford transfer KJ Costello will likely be the starter at quarterback, but no matter who’s throwing the ball, it’d be a travesty to see Hill underutilized this season.