Kentucky football goes on their third road trip of the season as the travel to Norman to face the Oklahoma Sooners. Oklahoma had a rough start to season, but they found some momentum winning the Red River Rivalry over Texas. We previewed the Sooners struggling offense, that is statistically might be the worst in the SEC. Now, it is time to preview their elite defense and the heavyweight matchup we get to see on Saturday.
Brent Venables is one of the best defensive play callers in the country, and his defense has always had a ton of success as he was a big reason Clemson was winning national championships under Dabo Swinney. Will Stein's offensive scheme is one of the best in the country and offensive coordinator Joe Sloan is doing a phenomenal job of sequencing those plays. This is the matchup to watch, this is a heavyweight scheme matchup and it will be incredible to watch it play out. Both sides do a lot of eye candy and deception.
Oklahoma's defense leads the SEC in EPA per play allowed and they rank second in the conference in success rate allowed. They are also allowing teams to convert on just 23.1% of their third downs, which is an area that Kentucky has struggled in this season. This defense rotates safeties and send wild blitzes to try to force offenses into making mistakes. The one area this defense has been gettable is explosives, they have allowed a decent amount of explosive plays this season.
Kentucky's offensive line has to continue their success in this game, and this might be their overall biggest test to date. They did a great job against LSU last week, allowing only one sack and it was really on Kenny Minchey not getting the ball out in a scrambling situation. This Oklahoma defensive line has a dangerous combo at defensive tackle with David Stone and Jayden Jackson. Edge defenders Taylor Wein and Adepujo Adebaware are dynamic off the edge, then you factor it in with them bringing pressure from linebackers Kip Lewis and Owen Heinecke as well as defensive backs.
Kentucky's offensive scheme forces defense to communicate at an extremely high level. Similar to the Kentucky offense, Oklahoma's defense forces offenses to communicate at the same level. This is a true strength-on-strength chess match. Which side communicates better can absolutely be the determining factor of this game.
Oklahoma is ranked third in the SEC at forcing three-and-outs, behind LSU and Tennessee. LSU ranks first in the conference, and they forced two three-and-outs against the Wildcats last week. Kentucky has to stay ahead of the chains in this game and keep finding success on early downs like they have all season. Kentucky has struggled on third down this season as they are the worst at converting third downs in the conference, and being in third down against Brent Venables is not a world you want to live in.
Kentucky has to do what they have done all season offensively. Stay on schedule, get first downs on early downs and play a clean game. Oklahoma's offense is struggling and giving them short fields or defensive scores is a recipe for disaster. Kenny Minchey has looked extremely calm in SEC road games, and he must show that poise again on Saturday night in Norman.
Another big advantage for the Sooners comes in the third phase. Kentucky's special teams has been okay this season, but there is certainly room for improvement. Oklahoma has a punt return this season and they blocked a punt for a touchdown last week against Texas. The Sooners also have an advantage in the kicking game with Tate Sandell.
Both teams are riding the high of massive SEC wins, and which team will show up with a hangover. Will Stein versus Brent Venables is a heavyweight scheme matchup for the ages. Kentucky has won their first two road games of the season, can they make it a third on Saturday? The Wildcats seem to be improving every week on both sides of the football, whereas Oklahoma cannot seem to figure out their offense but the defense is elite.
This article originally appeared on UK Wildcats Wire: Oklahoma defense preview: Stein vs Venables a heavyweight matchup