With the Kentucky football schedule set to release Monday night on the SEC Network, there’s finally some SEC football to discuss.
Cole Cubelic of the SEC Network joined Kentucky Daily for a segment on Monday’s podcast to discuss placing Kentucky at No. 5 in his SEC Power Rankings, behind Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and LSU.
“I think we are embarking on maybe the least physical football season we’ve ever seen,” Cubelic said. “Just because we didn’t have spring practice and once we do get into fall practice, which begins for most teams today, I think personally these coaches are going to tiptoe through that thing, it’s going to be walking on eggshells, you’re not going to get a bunch of coaches that are out there going a bunch of middle drill, and inside drill and Oklahoma, they’re not going to be going full speed to the ground very much because you’re going to lose some guys to COVID this year.
“I think you’re going to have to sorta ease your way into this. Because of that, where has the physical acclimation period taken place to get ready for this season? Kentucky is good there, upfront on the offensive line, on the defensive line and the front seven, physicality is not going to be an issue for this team. You also have multiple running backs that can hurt you in different ways and maybe you can offset the load and to steal an NBA phrase, have a little bit of load management with your backs early on because you have three very capable tailbacks on that Kentucky football team.”
In addition to Kentucky’s physicality and experience, Cubelic is a fan of the job Brad White did in his first season as Kentucky’s defensive coordinator. White returns a Kentucky defense loaded with talent at all levels.
“I think what Brad White did with that defense last year was phenomenal. They were the number four pass defense in the nation; nobody talks about them. I think number two, you look at how Eddie [Gran] was able to alter the offense throughout the course of the season. Well now, he’s basically going to have both of those offenses at his disposal because you have a quarterback that’s going to have some mobility. I think Kentucky is more built for what this season is going to be. I think if you’re relying on a lot of timing, a lot of quarterback/receiver non-verbal communication, that’s going to be more difficult to go out and execute this year more than other years.”
That’s only a sample of what the Cubelic had to say about Kentucky. You can listen to the entire interview below. The interview begins around the 13-minute mark.
