Alabama has secret weapon to help beat Will Stein, Kentucky

The Alabama Crimson Tide may not need a secret weapon in Week 2 against the Kentucky Wildcats.

Lexington has high hopes for new head coach Will Stein, but he inherited a program that went 5-7 last season, and heading into his first SEC game, the Wildcats are likely to be overmatched by the No. 12 Tide.

Yet, Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer does have a secret weapon. The Tide have a spy of sorts with insider information on Kentucky's new head coach.

That would be 6-foot-6, 313-pound senior defensive tackle Terrance Green, who spent the last three seasons with the Oregon Ducks. 

Stein was Oregon's offensive coordinator during that time, so Green knows a thing or two about what the new Kentucky head coach likes to do as a play-caller.

"They love to run the ball," Green said. "It's going to be a big week to stop the run. We've just got to play with good pad level, play with our hands, get out of blocks and make plays in the backfield."

Expect Kentucky Wildcats to try to run the ball vs. Alabama Crimson Tide 

To that point, Kentucky rushed for 205 total yards as a team in its 45-13 season-opening win against Youngstown State. Junior Jason Patterson led the Wildcats, rushing for 78 yards on 11 carries (7.1 yards per carry). Senior CJ Baxter rushed nine times for 48 yards and two touchdowns.

Kentucky rushed the ball 34 times compared to 27 passing plays. Per Green, this is who Stein is as a play-caller. He'll throw in a curveball or two, but Kentucky is going to try to run the rock against the Tide.

"I kind of know what he wants to do," Green said. "I know he's probably going to change it up, but I was with coach Stein for 2-3 years there. So just going against that every day, going against great O-linemen, that'll help a lot. But also going against our guys here. Coach (Freddie) Roach is staying on me about my pad level and getting off blocks, so that's going to be big this week."

The Tide allowed just two total rushing yards in their 48-10 Week 1 win over East Carolina, so they'll be ready for the Wildcats.