After a 52-3 steamrolling of Louisiana-Monroe Saturday, Auburn coach Gene Chizik now turns his sights to Kentucky.
The Wildcats (3-2, 0-2 SEC) will enter its first home conference game under coach Joker Phillips. Chizik hopes to avoid a repeat of last year's performance.
"We have a great challenge this week," Chizik said. "It'll be our second road game and second SEC road game. Kentucky is an extremely tough football team, and we obviously found that out last year when they came in here and beat us here."
Instrumental in that defeat were Kentucky quarterback/wide receiver Randall Cobb and tailback Derek Locke. Cobb gained 267 total yards in the Wildcats' 42-35 loss to Ole Miss Saturday and won the Paul Hornung Award for the nation's most versatile player.
"With that head ducking and all that other stuff, you've just got to hit them," said senior linebacker Josh Bynes. "You're going to have to hit Locke, hit the fullback, and when Randall Cobb catches the ball, you've got to hit him and not take his legs out from under him."
Chizik said the Louisiana-Monroe game gave quarterback Cam Newton a chance to gain experience passing in the pocket, an improvement he will be able to use in Lexington Saturday.
"I think that was invaluable experience," Chizik said. "One great thing about Cameron is that he is a very smart player. He understands when he makes a mistake and the value of not doing it twice. I think he experienced a little bit of that Saturday."
Chizik said one of Kentucky's strengths is its ability to effectively use offensive personnel to both make big plays and protect the quarterback.
Kentucky quarterback Mike Hartline completed 27 of 46 passes for 300 yards against Ole Miss, throwing two touchdowns and one interception.
"They're a good offense," said defensive coordinator Ted Roof. "They're explosive. They're very balanced. They'll give you some empty (backfield), some two-back and some one-back. They have a couple of guys that can make plays, and the quarterback keeps them out of bad situations."
Another factor will be the teams' matchup of offensive and defensive lines. Phillips said he's confident his offense can contain standouts like junior defensive tackle Nick Fairley, named SEC Defensive Lineman of the Week Monday.
"The (Auburn) offensive line is really aggressive," Phillips said. "Defensively, their defensive front gives you some problems--No. 90 (Nick Fairley) especially. He's one of those guys that they've had in the past up front, but again, I like the way our offensive line has been competing, and I like the matchups."
Still, Chizik said he hasn't seen any major changes from last year's Kentucky team to cause him concern.
"They're just a very good team," Chizik said. "We have our work cut out for us. It's going to be a tough game for us to go into their stadium and win, but we're looking forward to it, and it ought to be a lot of fun."
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