It’s no stretch to say the 2024 season hasn’t gone the way Mark Stoops and the Kentucky Wildcats had hoped. Heading into the season finale UK is 4-7 overall and finished 1-7 in league play. That’s the worst SEC mark since Stoops’ first year in 2013. As a result, Kentucky will be staying home for the holidays for the first time since 2015. The Wildcats still have one game: the annual “Battle For The Governor’s Cup.” Let’s look at both teams and give you some history and a prediction as Kentucky’s Bowl Game is Saturday against Louisville.
It’s Boley Time
Instead of playing the “will he or won’t he” in regards to the starting quarterback Stoops named his starter in Monday’s news conference. Lexington native Cutter Boley gets the nod over Brock Vandagriff. In the process, he becomes the first hometown quarterback to start in the rivalry game since Shane Boyd in 2004.
Over the last two games, and especially in the loss to Texas, the true freshman provided a spark. Boley completed 20 of 32 passes for 290 with two touchdowns and an interception. Compare that to Vandagriff who’s hit on 15 of 26 for 234 yards with three touchdowns and two picks.
On Monday the Kentucky head man said, “When a young man’s ready, he’s ready. “This is his first start. I feel like he’s ready for that, and I’m excited for him, excited for our team.”
Why not see what Boley can do without a bowl game to play for? If he performs well then you likely have your starting quarterback for 2025. Taking it a step further, a strong game against Louisville can help with recruiting for next year, both in the portal and high school.
Let’s now look at Louisville as Kentucky’s bowl game is Saturday.
Scouting the Cardinals
Louisville comes into the game sporting a 7-4 record. Jeff Brohm coaches the Cardinals. He is also one of the best players in school history. Three of their four losses Miami, Notre Dame, and SMU, came against teams projected to make the College Football Playoff. Their best win came over Clemson while they had a bad loss against Stanford a couple of weeks ago.
Quarterback Tyler Shough leads the offense. So far the senior has completed 63% of his passes for 3,067 yards, 23 touchdowns, and six interceptions. Issac Brown is the Cards’ top running back. He’s sixth in the ACC with 896 yards and six rushing scores. However, he leads the league with just under seven-and-a-half yards per attempt. Ja’Corey Brooks leads the receiving corps with 61 catches for 1,013 yards and nine touchdowns. His receiving yards lead the ACC.
Most Brohm-coached teams are good on offense and this one is no exception. Heading into Saturday they are 15th in the nation averaging 448 yards per game. Furthermore, they rank 17th at 36.2 points per game.
Now it is time to look at the rivalry in the “Battle For The Governor’s Cup.”
Series History
Saturday marks the 36th time the Cats and Cards have met on the gridiron. Currently, Kentucky leads the series 20-15 winning five straight and six of the last seven. In addition, this is the 30th meeting since the series was revived back in 1994. These two didn’t play in the COVID-19 year of 2020. The last Louisville win was in 2017.
A season ago the Cats shocked the Cardinals in Louisville behind three touchdowns from Ray Davis. Barion Brown returned a kick 100 yards for a touchdown and J.J. Weaver was named game MVP after recording eight tackles, a sack, and two forced fumbles. Jordan Lovett preserved the win with an interception in the end zone with two seconds left.
An interesting stat is that home-field advantage hasn’t meant a whole lot since the series resumed in 1994. Louisville is 10-6 in Lexington while Kenutcky is 8-5 in Louisville. Will that carry over this weekend? Let’s see as it’s prediction time as Kentucky’s bowl game is Saturday.
Who Takes the Governor’s Cup?
While Boley is the first true freshman to start for the Wildcats, he’s not the first to play against the Cards. Back in 1996, Hall of Famer Tim Couch threw for 101 yards and a score. Fast forward four years and redshirt freshman Jared Lorenzen had quite the debut. He threw for 322 yards with three touchdowns and three picks in a strange game the Cards won in overtime.
A season-long issue for the Cats has been finding the end zone. They failed to score more than 20 in any SEC game this year. That hadn’t happened since 1982. Louisville has not had these problems scoring at least 30 in their last five games. It’s another strong test for a defense that’s been tested seemingly every week.
Look for Kentucky to not only see what Boley can do but also feature Demie Sumo-Karngbaye and Jamarion Wilcox running the ball. Of course, a lot will depend on the offensive line which has been pretty bad this year. If Boley’s constantly running for his life then it’s going to be a long day.
Louisville comes into Saturday as a four-point favorite. Kentucky has lost its last 11 November games as a home underdog. At the end of the day, it’s hard seeing the Cats score enough points to get the win.
Louisville 24-17
If Kentucky’s bowl game is Saturday it looks like the season will end on a down note for a third straight year.
