Last Saturday night Kentucky went toe to toe with the number one team in the nation Georgia. Unfortunately for the Big Blue Nation, it wasn’t to be as the Cats couldn’t get over the hump falling by one. Now they step out of conference for a 12:45 contest against Ohio University. Let’s look at both teams, give you some series history, and give a prediction as Kentucky tries to bounce back.
About Saturday Night
While the players and coaches must move on to the next game, there’s still a lot of talk about Georgia, especially the end. Late in the fourth quarter, Kentucky got the ball to the Bulldog 47-yard line. The Cats threw on second and third down rather than stick to the run game that worked pretty well. Both attempts were incomplete setting up a fourth and eight where Stoops elected to punt.
At this point, whether UK should have gone for it has been discussed by nearly every college football expert and a million wannabes. Had they run on earlier downs we might be talking about Kentucky shocking the world rather than what might have been.
What needs to be discussed is how ineffective the Kentucky offense has been. If there’s a stat, the Wildcats are at or near the bottom. Through three games Bush Hamdan’s group ranks last in points per game (16), yards per game (261), and total touchdowns (4). In addition, Brock Vandagriff is last in the SEC and 127th out of 131 in the nation with 313 passing yards.
It’s not all his fault as the UK signal-caller has run for his life numerous times over the last couple of games as the offensive line has had protection issues. To that extent, many times tight ends and running backs have to stay home and block. Throw in a couple of drops that could have resulted in big gains it all adds up.
If there’s a silver lining, the running game has been pretty good. Demie Sumo-Karngbaye sits 49th in the nation with 227 yards. He’s coming off a career-high 98 against Georgia. Overall the Wildcats are 12th in the SEC averaging 157 yards a game on the ground.
Saturday is a chance to get things right as Kentucky tries to bounce back.
Scouting the Bobcats
Tim Albin’s club comes into Saturday’s game sporting a 2-1 record. They lost their opener 38-22 at Syracuse but have won the last two 27-20 over South Alabama and 21-6 over Morgan State.
When you think of Ohio University the first thing which comes to mind is a strong running game. Overall the Bobcats sit 36th in the nation with 602 yards on the ground.
Anthony Tyus III leads the way with 367 yards and four touchdowns. That puts him sixth in college football. In addition, Tyus averages a whopping 7.5 yards a carry. Rickey Hunt, who was the star of Ohio’s Myrtle Beach Bowl win over Georgia Southern, is second on the squad with 117 yards.
Quarterback Parker Navarro has completed nearly 69 percent of his passes for 547 yards and two scores. However, he does have four interceptions. Navarro’s favorite receiver is Coleman Owen, who has 21 catches on the year.
Over on defense, that group is led by defensive back Austin Brawley with 23 tackles while linebacker Blake Leake has 22 stops.
As we do for every Kentucky game let’s look at previous matchups between the two schools.
Series History
Saturday marks the seventh meeting all-time between the Bobcats and Wildcats. Each meeting has been in Lexington. Overall Kentucky leads the series four wins to two. The first game took place all the way back in 1910 with UK winning 12-0. They wouldn’t play again until 1971 when Ohio blew out the Wildcats 35-6. Kentucky won in 1987 and 2003 and Ohio pulled a 28-16 upset in 2004.
The last time they played was a decade ago in 2014. Patrick Towles threw for 170 yards and a touchdown while “Boom” Williams ran for 60 and a score in a 20-3 win.
Now that we’ve looked at both teams and given you some series history it’s time to answer the question of “will they” as Kentucky tries to bounce back.
Cats Need A Win
For the Wildcats to have any chance of making a ninth straight bowl they have to win every game they are favored the rest of the way. Currently, Last Word has them in the Liberty Bowl. History seems to be on Kentucky’s side as Stoops is 9-0 against the Mid-American conference and 19-2 all-time against Group Of Five schools. They’ve won 14 in a row since losing to Southern Miss in the 2016 season opener.
As we talked about earlier Kentucky must get the offense going. They looked pretty good in a lightning-shortened game against Southern Miss. However in the last two weeks they’ve thrown for 44 and 114 yards. The Bobcats have had trouble rushing the passer in 2024 so that’s a positive.
Look for a close one in the first half before the Cats pull away. UK opened as a 19-point favorite and they’ll win by something close to that.
Kentucky 31-14
Thanks for checking out our game preview as Kentucky tries to bounce back. We’ll be back after the game with a recap.
