Kentucky Football: 3 Takeaways from home win against #22 Florida

Kentucky Football had a great day defensively.

The Wildcats were outstanding defensively. The Gators were in second and long most of the afternoon, forcing Mertz and the offense to throw more often than they wanted. As a result, Florida had to convert third downs, which they did not do very well. The Gators went 4-13 on third downs.

Kentucky’s defensive dominance begins along the line of scrimmage. The Wildcats registered nine tackles for loss, including three sacks. Quarterback Graham Mertz was efficient, completing 85% of his passes, but over half of their yards came on both scoring drives.

Florida went on a 75-yard scoring drive at the start of the second half. Their subsequent three drives totaled 69 yards. Their last two drives ended on downs.

Florida’s defensive line was dominated.

Florida’s defensive line could not touch quarterback Devin Leary or Ray Davis. Leary was not sacked, and Davis averaged over 10 yards per rush attempt. The Wildcats’ best offensive weapon was not Davis or Leary, but its offensive line.

Florida had been able to establish the line of scrimmage and set the edge defensively in its previous two games but could not today. They did an excellent job against Kentucky’s pass game, but that did not matter much.