Kentucky is set to compete in the Citrus Bowl for the second time in four years. The Wildcats defeated Penn State from the Big Ten after the 2018 regular season and now UK takes on Mark Stoops' alma mater, the Iowa Hawkeyes.
It's an opportunity for Stoops to notch his second 10-win season at Kentucky, which could only accelerate the program's momentum along with a top-10 early signing class.
Here are takes and picks from Cats Illustrated writers Jeff Drummond and Justin Rowland.
What are you most interested to see in the game?
Jeff Drummond: With most bowl games outside of the playoff, I'm interested to see which team is most dialed in and hungry to take home the hardware. My hunch is that both of these teams will show up. I'll be curious to see if the UK defense can take that momentum from the last few games of the regular season and set the tone early against an Iowa offense that, on paper, doesn't seem very daunting. If the Hawkeyes are making plays through the air early in the game, that could be a bad sign. Lastly, the turnover battle. It's been the big key for the UK offense all season, and likewise for the Iowa defense. When the Cats don't give the ball away, they move the ball extremely well and score a lot of points.
Justin Rowland: The turnover issue is key to the whole game for me. Even though Iowa won 10 games, so much of that was the turnover margin. Second best in the country. Kentucky was the polar opposite so this always-important category takes on even greater importance. I feel like if the turnover margin is even then Kentucky has a decided advantage because of the offense. If Iowa's offense does much it would be a bad day for the UK defense. I'm interested to see what Liam Coen's game plan looks like after so much time for preparation and the way he continued rolling things out as the season progressed.
Who needs to step up for Kentucky?
Drummond: With the high likelihood of Josh Paschal missing the game due to his lingering injury from the season finale, the other guys on the UK defensive line have to step up in a big way. I won't put that burden on one guy. I don't think the Cats have that player right now. But collectively, they have to come up with some big plays behind the line of scrimmage that UK has come to expect of Paschal.
Rowland: Will Levis and Chris Rodriguez. They're going to touch the ball and be involved in the offense as much or more than anybody else. Those are the guys who have had ball security issues at times this year. Others, too, but mostly those two. And they're supremely talented players. The difference between their best and worst is huge and will decide the game. Simple as that and it's not brilliant, it's just true.
What's your prediction for the game?
Drummond: Kentucky 29, Iowa 23 - I think the Cats have a lot more weapons, offensively, to utilize in this matchup than the Hawkeyes. The combination of Will Levis, Chris Rodriguez, and Wan'Dale Robinson working behind one of the best offensive lines in the nation should carry UK to its fourth straight bowl victory.
Rowland: Kentucky 23, Iowa 22. The Wildcats have a great record in close games in recent years under Mark Stoops and I'd be surprised if this one's not close. If you look at Iowa's defense in recent years in bowl games you can't expect to score a lot against them. I think it's going to come down to a couple of sequences at the end of the game.
