Cats Look For A Big Year
It’s hard to believe but football season is finally upon us. Mark Stoops’ 12th campaign in Lexington kicks off on Saturday under the lights at Kroger Field. Kentucky’s going for a program record ninth straight bowl game. With Nick Saban’s retirement, the UK headman is now the elder statesman of SEC coaches. Let’s go game by game through the upcoming season and see how things play out as we’re predicting Kentucky’s 2024 record. We’re doing a deeper dive into Saturday’s game and then highlights for the remaining ones.
Looking For A Hot Start
Southern Mississippi- Saturday 7:45 PM- SEC Network- This marks the fifth time the Golden Eagles and Wildcats have met with UK holding a 3-1 lead. In addition, it’s the third time they played in the season opener. Led by Nick Mullens USM rallied from a 35-17 halftime deficit to shock UK 44-35 in 2016. The next season Kentucky won 24-17 in Hattiesburg.
The Big Blue Nation is ready to see Brock Vandagriff finally under center for the Cats. A former five-star recruit at Georgia Vandagriff transferred to Lexington and will run new offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan’s offense.
Kentucky will be without the services of starting running back Chip Trayanum who is out with a broken hand. He hopes to be back next week. In his place look for Demie Sumo-Karnbaye and freshman Jason Patterson to carry the load. Of course, Vandagriff has tons of receiving weapons in Barion Brown, Dane Key, and Ja’Mori Maclin..
Over on defense Deone Walker, Maxwell Hairston, and D’Eryk Jackson lead a defense expected to be one of the best in the league.
Scouting the Golden Eagles
Southern Mississippi is coming off a 3-9 season and the second losing year in the last three for coach Will Hall. As a result, they brought in two new coordinators and really hit the transfer portal hard. Chip Long left Louisville to run the offense while Clay Bignell came over from Eastern Illinois to helm the defense.
The Golden Eagles will have Tate Rodemaker under center Saturday night. Rodemaker spent four years at Florida State appearing in 23 games throwing for 901 yards and seven touchdowns before transferring. The Golden Eagles defensive line is arguably the strongest part of the squad with several experienced players returning. They’ll be a good test for the Big Blue Wall.
Stoops is 8-3 all-time in season openers and overall UK has won 20 straight non-conference regular season games. Look for this one to be close for a while before Kentucky pulls away in the second half. The Cats opened as a 28-point favorite and as we all know they rarely cover.
Kentucky 34-17 UK 1-0 0-0 SEC
Moving on with predicting Kentucky’s 2024 record let’s look at a huge slate of games in September
Two Big Ones
South Carolina- September 7th- 3:30 ABC– Kentucky’s lost two straight to the Gamecocks after winning seven of the previous eight. This is a game we highlighted earlier this year UK has to win in order to have a successful season. Kentucky gets the job done.
Kentucky 31-20 UK 2-0 1-0 SEC
Georgia- September 14th- 7:30 ABC- The Wildcats will be under the lights for the second time in three weeks for a battle against Kirby Smart’s club. Vandagriff would certainly like to spring the upset against his old team. However, Kentucky hasn’t beaten the Bulldogs since 2009 and most of the games have been blowouts. Look for the Cats to keep it close for a while before UGA takes over.
Georgia 38-17 UK 2-1 1-1 SEC
Can’t Afford a Let Down
Ohio- September 21st- 12:45 SEC Network- Following two huge games the Cats step out of league play for a battle against the Bobcats. Tim Albin’s club went 10-3 last year beating Georgia Southern 41-21 in the Myrtle Beach Bowl. The hero of that game, running back Rickey Hunt returns for Ohio. UK leads the all-time series 4-2 but most of the games have been close. Stoops’ Troops can’t be looking ahead to the trip to Oxford.
Kentucky 28-16 UK 3-1 1-1 SEC
Looking for Redemption
At Ole Miss- September 28th- NOON- ABC Or ESPN– The Wildcats finally hit the road for the first time in 2024 when they head to “The Grove.” Two years ago UK was ranked seventh and was a couple of plays away from starting 5-0. Unfortunately, Kentucky self-destructed in about every way possible late in the game leading to a 22-19 loss.
Many national pundits have this one circled as a Kentucky upset. However, we think the Rebels win a close one.
Ole Miss 28-24 UK 3-2 1-2 SEC
We’re five games into the season as we’re predicting Kentucky’s 2024 record. Let’s now move to our next set of games.
Must Win Games
Vanderbilt- October 12th- After the Cats first bye week they host the Commodores. Interesting stat for you. Kentucky has gone 1-3 at home in league play each of the last two years. One of those was a bad loss to Vandy in 2022. Much like South Carolina this is a must win for a good season.
Kentucky 41- 17 UK 4-2 2-2 SEC
At Florida- October 19th- The Wildcats have a chance to do something they haven’t done in 70 years. That’s win four straight against the Gators. You have to go back to 1948-51 for the last time it happened. They’ll win for a second straight time in “The Swamp.”
Kentucky 27-20 UK 5-2 3-2 SEC
Breaking a Streak
Auburn- October 26th- The last time UK beat the Tigers in Lexington was 1966. Taking it a step further the last win overall was 2009. One thing Stoops has done well since arriving at Kentucky is break streaks. They’ll end this one in 2024.
Kentucky 31-21 UK 6-2 4-2 SEC
We are two-thirds of the way through the Wildcats schedule. Let’s finish predicting Kentucky’s 2024 record with the November slate of games.
Tough Sledding
At Tennessee- November 2nd– For all of the great things Stoops has done solving the Volunteer riddle hasn’t been one of them. That’s unlikely to change this season either.
Tennessee 41-24 UK 6-3 4-3 SEC
Coming Down the Home Stretch
Murray State- November 16th– Following the second bye week the Cats host the instate Racers. Kentucky’s 2-0 all-time against Murray winning by scores of 37-6 in 2003 and 48-10 in 2018. This is one of those games where you go for the big lead and then rest your starters.
Kentucky 49-10 UK 7-3 4-3 SEC
At Texas- November 23rd– The Cats finish league play by heading to Austin to face a Longhorn club who of course is in their first season in the SEC. These two schools met once back in 1951 when Bear Bryant’s Cats lost 7-6 on the road. Steve Sarkisian’s club is the preseason second choice of our writers. An upset here would certainly enhance UK’s bowl destination. Ultimately we think Texas wins a close one.
Texas 24-21 UK 7-4 4-4 SEC
Louisville- November 3oth- The “Battle For The Governor’s Cup” wraps up the 2024 campaign. Kentucky’s won five straight in the series and want nothing more than to keep the cup in Lexington for another year.
Kentucky 35-23 UK 8-4 4-4 SEC
We have the Wildcats finishing 8-4 and .500 in league play. Eight wins should put UK squarely in the mix for a good bowl game. In our preseason bowl projections, we have them playing in the Liberty Bowl. Do you agree or disagree with our picks? Leave a response on our page on X. Thanks for checking out predicting Kentucky’s 2024 record with us at Last Word On College Football.
