We are off and running! We have officially made it through the first week of the college football season. It was an interesting week one for the Kentucky side nonetheless. When it was all said and done, Kentucky managed to beat Southern Miss 31-0, keeping the Golden Eagles scoreless. This was despite the delays, bad weather, and all that other nonsense.

Kentucky’s week two matchup opens SEC play against the South Carolina Gamecocks. The game was scheduled to kickoff at 3:30 PM EST but now will be pushed back to 3:45 PM.

On Mark Stoops’ weekly Coaches Show, this is what he had to say about the upcoming game.

“South Carolina is a team we always seem to have good games with through my many years here. Always a good game, always evenly matched. We’re looking forward to that challenge.”

Mark Stoops has led Kentucky to an 8-4 record against the Gamecocks in his tenure here, however, they’re currently on a two-game losing streak. Mark Stoops had this to say about it.

“It’s always new team, new year,” Stoops said. “You’ve heard me say that a 100 times, whether it’s dealing with bad streaks, good streaks, you name it. Every year is a new year. I think, with that being said, you always try to learn from teams you’ve played maybe things that pop up, things that have happened, we’re always going to try to learn and grow from mistakes or things that have happened and things of that nature.”

The last couple of seasons have been indifferent. This is due to the injury with former quarterback Will Levis just two seasons ago, and there were also the struggles with Devin Leary and Rich Scangarello from last season. On DraftKings Sportsbook Kentucky is a -10 point favorite currently and I personally think they cover. Once again, gamble at your own risk, but I think this season will be a different story.

I think Kentucky wins with a score of 28-13.

The rest of the Cats Coverage staff predictions are as followed:

Jacob Childers: 33-16, Kentucky

Braden Nevius: 31-13, Kentucky

Matt Sak: 27-14, Kentucky

Tim Smith: 31-13, Kentucky

Tres Terrell: 35-24, Kentucky

Derek Presser: 35-21, Kentucky

The Wildcats look to improve to 2-0 on the season before hosting the Georgia Bulldogs in their week three matchup following this game. In the mean time, feel free to check out our ‘Tailgate Diaries’ from the first outing, below!