Being a sports fan involves a constant glass half-full/glass half-empty balance. It’s been a season of Kentucky football that has tested both sides of the directive. An early win over Florida and an impressive home victory over Mississippi State have both been highlights. On the downside, Kentucky lost to Ole Miss, was lifeless in a home loss to South Carolina, and got crushed by Tennessee.
At 5-3, the Wildcats are barely favored in Saturday’s game at 4-4 Missouri. If UK wants to avoid a disappointing season, taking care of the Tigers is absolutely pivotal. Lose to Missouri, and Kentucky is staring a 6-6 season in the eye. For a program that seemed to be beyond 7-5 seasons and Music City Bowl appearances, the Wildcats are genuinely hoping to take down Mizzou, Vandy, and Louisville to preserve an 8-4 season and reach a higher-tier bowl game.
But those kind of hopes are contingent on beating Missouri. The Tigers last played at South Carolina, where they won 23-10 against the same Carolina team that throttled a Will Levis-less UK squad in Lexington. Missouri has been not at all unlike Kentucky this season.
The two teams have scored the same number of points (191). Both have been fairly stout on defense, and uneven at best on offense. Even the struggles of Missouri to utilize five-star freshman recruit Luther Burden is not unlike Kentucky’s uneven efforts to get the best performances out of freshman stars Barion Brown and Dane Key.
Kentucky’s big-play ability can overcome the Tigers, but it will require a focused performance. That’s been a problem for Kentucky. For the Wildcats, they’ve been generally solid on defense. But offense? It’s a good drive here, a decent half there, and few consistently impressive efforts.
Missouri is certainly talented enough to take down a subpar Kentucky team. The Wildcats can’t afford to rain interceptions like they did a week ago against Tennessee. They’ll need to protect Will Levis and open some genuine lanes for Chris Rodriguez Jr. And special teams, which has been awful for most of the 2022 season, could stand to show improvement.
There are plenty of reasons to expect another shaky outing from the Wildcats, but Kentucky’s defense should fare well against the Tigers, which has been key in recent matchups between the teams. Make that the edge, because this could be an ugly game for both offenses.
UK 17, Missouri 14.
Other SEC Predictions:
Florida 31, Texas A&M 28
Georgia 38, Tennessee 28
Arkansas 38, Liberty 24
Alabama 45, LSU 17
Mississippi State 41, Auburn 14
South Carolina 28, Vanderbilt 7
Joe Cox is contributing editor for KySportsStyle.com Magazine. He grew up in Letcher County and Bell County and has written or co-written nine books. His most recent, "A Fine Team Man: Jackie Robinson and the Lives He Changed," was released in February 2019 and can be ordered on Amazon or at many local bookstores. Joe is an attorney and lives in Logan County with his wife and children. You can reach him at jrcox004@gmail.com.
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