Rowland: 2022 UK Football Game-by-Game Predictions

The month of June was largely devoted to the recruiting process with official visits and camps taking over the attention of coaches across the country.

The month of July marks a transition to preparation for the 2022 college football season. That kicks up much more in August with the start of practices, but it's time to start thinking about the season ahead.

Every year Cats Illustrated publisher Justin Rowland offers his predictions, game by game, for Kentucky football and the year ahead. Here I do that again with some rationale attached, reserving the right to change those picks when the season arrives.

Without further ado, here's how I see Kentucky's season playing out as of late June with about two months to go until the season is here.

9/3 — Kentucky 34, Miami-OH 20 (1-0)

Sometimes UK has picked up games against lowly MAC teams. That's not Miami-OH. The Redhawks haven't had a losing season since 2017 and were 7-6 last year with a win in the Frisco Football Classic. QB Brett Gabbert passed for 2,648 yards and 26 TD with 6 INT last year and has to be respected. Cincinnati beat Miami-OH badly in last season's opener, but of Miami's other five losses none were by more than 13 points and four were by five points or less. Still, UK wins these games under Mark Stoops.

9/10 — Kentucky 24, Florida 21 (2-0, 1-0 SEC)

I think Kentucky catches the Gators at a good point on the calendar. UK returns a now experienced senior quarterback, beat UF last year, and has generally played the Gators well under Mark Stoops. But remember, last year Florida really shut down UK's offense. I suspect this will be lower scoring as well, with an opportunistic UK defense making enough stops to get the W.

9/17 — Kentucky 52, Youngstown State 17 (3-0, 1-0 SEC)

Michigan State defeated Youngstown State 42-14 last year. This is an FCS program with a very proud tradition and the Youngstown connection with UK's coaches makes this very interesting but Kentucky gets the big edge in the SEC/FCS matchup.

9/24 — Kentucky 35, Northern Illinois 20 (4-0, 1-0 SEC)

Don't sleep on the Huskies. This team went from 0-6 in a COVID-shortened year to 9-5 with a win against Georgia Tech and a hard fought loss to Coastal Carolina in the postseason. NIU lost running back Jay Ducker to the transfer portal. This team should present a challenge for UK's run defense. Don't be surprised if it's a shorter game between two physical teams.

10/1 — Ole Miss 31, Kentucky 27 (4-1, 1-1 SEC)

This appears to be one of the biggest games on the schedule for UK. With Ole Miss rebuilding in some spots, even a road game in Oxford appears winnable for the Cats. One has to imagine that Lane Kiffin is going to put a solid offense on the field but there is much more uncertainty than his last team had. Ole Miss has won a couple of nailbiters in shootouts against Mark Stoops. It will be interesting to see which coach exerts his preferred style of play on the contest.

10/8 — Kentucky 30, South Carolina 21 (5-1, 2-1 SEC)

It will be Will Levis vs. Spencer Rattler in Lexington. This is a series that Kentucky has owned for the better part of a decade now, the only loss coming in 2019 before the Cats settled on Lynn Bowden at quarterback for the last half of the season. Shane Beamer may get the Gamecocks moving in the right direction but for at least one more year Kentucky seems like the better bet on paper, especially in Lexington.

10/15 — Kentucky 26, Mississippi State 23 (6-1, 3-1 SEC)

Good luck guessing what you're going to get from a Mike Leach team. In his first year at MSU, Kentucky shut the Bulldogs' offense out. Last year it was all MSU in Starkville after a strong start by Kentucky. Turnovers killed UK against State last year. This game will feature two of the better, more proven quarterbacks in the SEC.

10/29 — Tennessee 35, Kentucky 28 (6-2, 3-2 SEC)

It remains to be seen where Heupel will take the Volunteers but his first year in Knoxville went well. At the very least the Vols have an offense that has to be accounted for and can make your defense look really bad. This game is in Knoxville, where UK won its last visit, but it won't be an easy and the Cats will probably be an underdog in Vegas.

11/5 — Kentucky 31, Missouri 16 (7-2, 4-2 SEC)

Kentucky has had the upper hand in this series for some time but some games have been really close. The last time Kentucky was here, in 2020, the Cats absolutely laid an egg, losing 20-10. Two years before that it took late Bowden heroics to pull out a win in Columbia. Drinkwitz will probably get someone to give him solid QB play but Tyler Badie is a huge loss and the defense hasn't been good enough.

11/12 — Kentucky 37, Vanderbilt 20 (8-2, 5-2 SEC)

For the third time under Mark Stoops the Wildcats finish above .500 in SEC play. Vanderbilt should be better than it was last year but this year's game is in Lexington and Levis is probably too good for the 'Dores to keep pace.

11/19 — Georgia 33, Kentucky 20 (8-3, 5-3 SEC)

This will be Kentucky's best chance to beat Georgia in several years. That doesn't mean it's going to happen. The Bulldogs are replacing quite a bit and Levis gives Kentucky's offense a chance to make this more interesting. On talent alone, UGA has to be the favorite here and in the East. But it will again be one of the tougher games on UGA's schedule.

11/26 — Kentucky 38, Louisville 21 (9-3, 5-3 SEC)

Scott Satterfield has a great recruiting class in the works but his teams at Louisville have not been on par with Kentucky so far. Will Levis will be dialed in for his last game at Kroger Field and UK still has the more complete team. Expect it to be somewhat more competitive than the last couple of UK, UofL meetings, but Kentucky is still the solid favorite here.