Quarterback Will Levis, left, salutes Chris Rodriguez after the running back scored against Mississippi State. (Vicky Graff Photo)
By Jordan Abrams, Contributing Writer
Well, I was wrong last week. Big time. But, like me, Kentucky Football has a chance to redeem themselves this week and go get a big SEC East win against the Missouri Tigers. Kentucky is coming off of a blow-out loss at Tennessee. The Wildcats opened the week as a 2.5-point favorite over Missouri and that line has since moved to a pick em’.
Missouri comes into this game with a 4-4 record but they’re playing really good football as of late. A few weeks ago, the Tigers lost a nail biter to the former No. 1 team in the country — the Georgia Bulldogs — and probably should have won. Missouri has a very good defense and a strong run game. So what does Kentucky need to do to get a big win on the road?
1. Rich Scangarello Comes Out of his Shell
Coach Scangarello opened the season with a masterpiece of an offense. The Cats could use their top-5 NFL Draft pick and throw the ball wherever they wanted too. Lately, it’s as if Scangarello has taken the program back 10 years and forgot how to call the offense. Now, even scouts are confused on how to evaluate Will Levis due to this offense becoming so stagnate. Tennessee had the worst passing defense in the country and out of the 16 completed passes for Will Levis, 11 were behind the line of scrimmage. Missouri has a good defense, ranked 18th in the country in total defense (one spot above Kentucky). If for some reason Scangarello can’t figure it out this weekend, this could very well be a long game.
2. Play Fundamental Defense
One thing Kentucky has been very good at this season is defense (other than their loss at Tennessee). Missouri has a lot of weapons on offense and the running game has been great for them. The Wildcats will be without De’Andre Square and Jaquez Jones in this game, so D’Eryk Jackson and Trevin Wallace are going to have to come up and fill gaps on run plays. Defensive backs need to stay sharp as Carrington Valentine will have his hands full with Missouri wide receiver Dominic Lovett. Lovett is averaging over 16 yards-per-catch this season with over 650 reception yards. Kentucky’s defense just needs to get back to their identity and play fundamental, hard hitting football.
3. Be Ready to Play
This game is kicking off at 11 AM central time and that means an early wake up call for Kentucky. Former UK punter Max Duffy said this week on KSR that this would mean a 6 or 7 AM wake up for guys when they normally would not wake up until 10 AM. Kentucky has to come to play in the first quarter or they have played right into Missouri’s hand. Missouri is not a super explosive offense, but they will hit you with a big play if they catch you off guard. For Kentucky to win this weekend, they need to have a great first quarter and come out of the gate fast.
Kentucky just has to play better than they have been. Their defense has to come up and tackle while Scangarello just needs to go back to whatever he was doing when Kentucky was throwing the ball all over the field with top-5 draft pick Will Levis.
Prediction: Kentucky 34, Missouri 21
