Isaiah Epps had three catches against ULM. (Vicky Graff Photo)
Missouri is likely to challenge Kentucky to throw the ball to the perimeter and show it can win one-on-one matchups when the teams open Southeastern Conference play Saturday night. Kentucky threw for 419 total yards, including 367 by Will Levis, in the 45-10 romp over ULM last week. Josh Ali had five catches for 136 yards and one score and Wan’Dale Robinson had five catches for 125 yards and two scores.
However, don’t forget that Isaiah Epps also had three catches for 83 yards, including a 57-yard play, and could be a key player to help beat Missouri’s tight coverage.
“Just the fact that he has persevered through some really tough times and really worked hard and a lot of rehab,” Kentucky coach Mark Stoops said. “I’m sure for him some frustration along the way and a credit to our doctor staying with it and finding reasons why it wasn’t healing up and getting his foot rectified, getting it fixed.
“I’m happy for him and obviously he helps us and that was a really nice play (on the 57-yard pass). Believe it was on the third down, and the fact that he was really running and the fact that Will (Levis) took that shot and saw it and had the vision to see it and the arm strength to get it out there in a cover-two defense to the field. That’s rare.”
Epps was limited in spring practice after offensive coordinator Liam Coen took over but he made the most of his chances last week against ULM.
“We were trying to get him to this point and we’re still continuing to try to do that. But he was very limited in terms of like one practice on, one practice off. A period on, a period off. So I really didn’t get a lot to see of him at that time (in the spring),” Coen said.
“He’s just a steady, consistent guy that I really love working with. Super contentious. We’re just trying to continue to build his confidence and he did it on his own this Saturday (against ULM.”
Coen said the Missouri defense is good upfront and solid overall.
“They’ve got some long athletic kids upfront that can really rush the passer, and they’re so aggressive in their man coverage that when the running back blocks in protection, they add their backers on because they’re covering them in man coverage,” Coen said.
“They, what we call, green dog the back, and that allows for what you would think would be a four-man pressure, a four-man rush instantly becomes five or six when the linebacker sees the backs block. So that’s something that we really need to be ready for and that’s a challenge in itself.”
