The Kentucky Wildcats football team faces a steep test on Saturday when they head to Tuscaloosa to face the top-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide.
A Winning Streak
Mark Stoops‘ club is coming into the game riding a two game winning streak after knocking off South Carolina 17-10. The win was the third straight in the series against the Gamecocks. This marks the first time since beating Tennessee from 1957-59 the Cats have won three straight over an SEC opponent not named Vanderbilt.
To say it has been an interesting week for Stoops and the Wildcats would be an understatement. From having to deal with unfounded rumors about his personal life to being called out on his own radio show Monday night it seems as no one is satisfied with the way the program is going.
Fan on radio show to Mark Stoops: ‘I would rather see Tommy Tuberville come to… https://t.co/jy635JU05h #BBN pic.twitter.com/2TdiWPXeY4
— SEC Country Kentucky (@SECCountryUK) September 26, 2016
Some of these fans haven’t been paying attention the last two weeks. The Cats have shown great improvement on defense giving up only 14 points in the last six quarters. The much maligned group held South Carolina to only 91 yards rushing and 268 yards overall. The Wildcats defense preserved the lead by sacking Carolina quarterback Brandon McIlwain twice on the last drive. The final sack by Denzil Ware on a fourth and 17 led to his recognition as SEC Defensive Lineman of the Week.
Five tackles. Two sacks, including one for a 19-yd loss on 4th down. @UKFootball's Ware is the CO-DLOTW. pic.twitter.com/gB7h9Kmnqr
— Southeastern Conference (@SEC) September 26, 2016
The Boom and Benny Show
On the other side of the ball, offensive coordinators Eddie Gran and Darrin Hinshaw feel they have as good of a 1-2 combination of anyone in the SEC. One week after rushing for 317 yards against New Mexico State, the Cats ran for 216 against South Carolina. Boom Williams led the way with 123 yards and a touchdown while the coaching staff smartly waited until the fourth quarter to unleash Benny Snell. The true freshmen took over the game running for 73 yards and the go ahead touchdown. In his first start against an SEC school quarterback Stephen Johnson threw for 135 yards and did a good job directing the offense.
Saban went so far to say Williams may be the best running back they have faced this season.
Nick Saban: Boom Williams may be the best running back Alabama has faced this year https://t.co/Uo6OlNisYs
— Tyler Thompson (@MrsTylerKSR) September 28, 2016
“They’re The Number One Team in the Country For A Reason”
Kentucky at Alabama- (7:00- ESPN)– Those were the words Stoops used to describe this Crimson Tide team. Nick Saban’s club has won 16 straight games going back to last season and are showing no signs of any letdown from the 2015 National Championship team.
While not a huge game on the national stage, locally there is an interesting subplot with Alabama running back Damien Harris going against his home state school. Harris, the 2014 Kentucky Mr. Football from Madison Southern High School in Richmond, chose the Crimson Tide over the Wildcats in March 2015. Harris has gotten lots of angry tweets from Kentucky fans over the last two years since his decision. On Sunday night Harris tweeted out, “This week is personal…” but quickly deleted it. Harris suffered a sprained ankle in the 48-0 win over Kent State but practiced on Wednesday and will play on Saturday if possible.
For Kentucky to have any chance in this game they will have to control the ball with Williams and Snell and keep Jalen Hurts and the Tide offense off the field. Alabama hasn’t lost to an SEC East squad since losing to South Carolina in 2010. Kentucky has never won in Tuscaloosa and is 2-36-1 all time. In 2008 the Cats nearly knocked off Alabama losing 17-14; this time it won’t be as close.
Alabama- 42-14
Time now to take a look at the rest of the SEC games for the weekend. Last week only a Vandy overtime win against Western Kentucky kept the Old Krystal Ball from another perfect week. Still 8-1 and 38-7 overall isn’t too bad.
Alcorn State at Arkansas- (NOON SEC Network)- The Razorbacks played Texas A&M even for one half before losing 45-24 last Saturday. The Braves are off to a slow start and Austin Allen and company should roll ahead of the big game with Alabama next week.
Arkansas 49-17
Florida at Vanderbilt- (NOON SEC Network)– The Gators raced out to a 21-0 lead over Tennessee last week before becoming the fourth team in the SEC to blow a 20 or more point lead and lose. Ole Miss twice and Kentucky being the others.
They will try to get back on track this week against a Commodore team who may have saved their season in a comeback win at Western Kentucky.
Vandy has played Florida close over the last few years and nearly won in Gainesville last season. This could be a close one with the Gators pulling out the win late in the fourth quarter.
Florida- 24-17
Tennessee at Georgia- (3:30 CBS)- The Vols started slow once again then turned it on in the second half to beat Florida 38-28 and end the 11 game losing streak against the Gators.
The Bulldogs were blown out by Ole Miss last week and need a win to have any chance of winning the SEC East. Kirby Smart‘s team may be without Nick Chubb who sprained his ankle last week and has not practiced.
This weekend’s game marks the one year anniversary of the horrific knee injury Chubb suffered against Tennessee and he would love nothing more than to help Georgia knock off the Vols.
If he can’t go that puts more pressure on Jacob Eason and even playing at home, Tennessee will win and take control of the SEC East.
Tennessee 28-20
Louisiana-Monroe at Auburn- (3:30 SEC Network)– The Tigers beat LSU last week in amazing fashion after a last second touchdown was overturned on replay. That win may have saved Gus Malzahn’s job for a least a little while.
The Warhawks will keep this one close for a half before Auburn pulls away.
Auburn 38-17
Texas A&M at South Carolina- (4:00 SEC Network)- The Aggies are coming off a huge win over Arkansas and are heading into October undefeated for a third straight season. After playing three of their first four on the road, Will Muschamp‘s team now gets five straight at home. Scoring points continues to be the biggest problem for the Gamecocks as they rank next to last in points per game at 14.3, ahead of only Florida International.
Against one of the best SEC defenses, Carolina will again find points tough to score as Kevin Sumlin‘s club will get to 5-0 ahead of next week’s huge game with Tennessee.
Texas A&M 37-17
Memphis at Mississippi- (7:00 SEC Network Alternate)– The Rebels raced out to an early lead and didn’t collapse in blowing out Georgia last week. The Tigers are coming off a 77-3 win over Bowling Green as quarterback Riley Ferguson accounted for seven touchdowns.
Memphis beat Ole Miss 37-24 last season effectively ending any hope for Hugh Freeze’s club to make the College Football Playoffs. They will get some revenge on Saturday in what could be the most entertaining game of the week.
Mississippi 49-38
Missouri at LSU- (7:30 SEC Network)– After nearly doing it last season LSU finally fired Les Miles after their loss at Auburn last week. Ed Orgeron takes over on an interim basis and will have to face the SEC’s best offense in Missouri. Barry Odom‘s team ran up a school record 79 points in a rout of Delaware State in which Drew Lock threw for five touchdowns.
This will be only the second time these two schools have met with Missouri winning 20-15 in the 1978 Liberty Bowl. Behind Lock the Tiger offense will continue to roll and will spoil Orgeron’s debut in Baton Rouge.
Missouri 35-21
Mississippi State has the week off. Thanks for reading see you next time.
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