Last weekend, all of Big Blue Nation was on cloud nine. The Wildcats managed to walk into College Station and get a huge win over then-ranked No. 9 Texas A&M.
That was a win that this fanbase has been waiting for quite some time, and as you can imagine, State Street looked like something out of a movie, with the tradition of Kentucky college students flooding the streets and setting couches on fire.
Cats Coverage’s Ethan Grantz was on the scene to witness it.
If you have listened to the unKut series, where you get a behind-the-scenes look at game days, you will notice that Will Stein emphasizes a “one play at a time” mindset. This also likely holds true for a week-by-week concept. In football, you have to treat each week as if you are 0-0. Everyone wants to knock you off the pedestal, and that’s what South Alabama is looking to do today at Kroger Field.
If Kentucky can handle business like they are expected to today, that would put them at 3-1 going into Columbia, South Carolina next weekend. If you had told most fans at the beginning of the season, I have no doubt they would have been ecstatic about that.
Kentucky is the heavy favorite in this one, as one of the major sportsbooks, DraftKings, has them favored at -20.5 spread against the Jaguars. However, with such a huge performance merely a week ago, it can be easy to have a big falloff with it being a non-conference game.
“Don’t eat the cheese,” Will Stein mentioned in his mid-week press conference. This statement reiterates something former Alabama head coach Nick Saban always mentioned to his players; that all the outside noise is “rat poison”.
The proverbial rat poison has arrived in the form of the praise being showered on Kentucky after its win over Texas A&M. Will Stein and several players have appeared on national college football shows this week, taking advantage of the spotlight now shining brightly on the program.
As of what I think today looks like for the Wildcats, I think it could be a slow start with it being a 12:45 kickoff. However, the talent gap between an SEC and a Sun Belt team will be evident by the fourth quarter. I think Kentucky covers the spread of -20.5, but barely. Give me Kentucky with a final score of 34-10. MVP goes to CJ Baxter, in my opinion.
Here’s how the rest of the Cats Coverage staff feels:
Tres Terrell: Kentucky 42, South Alabama 17 MVP – Kenny Minchey
Braden Nevius: Kentucky 50, South Alabama 10 MVP – Jason Patterson
Tim Smith: Kentucky 65, South Alabama 10 MVP – Prince Jean
Wyatt Huff: Kentucky 45, South Alabama 7 MVP – Jason Patterson
Tanin Smith: Kentucky 59, South Alabama 13 MVP – Kenny Minchey
Nate Unthank: Kentucky 41, South Alabama 6 MVP – Special Teams
Tyler Russell: Kentucky 48, South Alabama 10 MVP – Kenny Minchey
Ethan Grantz: Kentucky 52, South Alabama 10 MVP – Willie Rodriguez
A clean sweep by the Cats Coverage crew… How are you feeling about the outcome of the game?
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