Cats Illustrated writers Jeff Drummond and Justin Rowland discuss Saturday night's Kentucky-Missouri game and offer predictions on how it will play out.
What are you most looking forward to seeing in tonight's game?
Jeff Drummond: You typically don’t see a really intense league matchup this early in the schedule, but I think this one is shaping up to be a real battle. There are a lot of potential storylines in this one, but it’s hard to ignore the Will Levis vs. Mizzou pass defense angle. That all starts up front, where UK’s “Big Blue Wall” will be challenged by a defensive front that recorded nine sacks last week. If they protect Levis, he should have opportunities for big strikes down the field again this week. In their opener against Central Michigan, the Tigers didn’t show the ability to cover guys like Wan’Dale Robinson and Josh Ali one-on-one. Will they roll the dice again with the aggressive approach, or will they show the Cats a different look and force UK to adjust. My hunch is we’ll see a lot of chess-match stuff in this one.
Justin Rowland: How much of what we saw from Will Levis and the offense is real? What's he's going to look like when SEC defensive players are coming after him and playing tighter coverage on his receivers?
We're finally going to get an idea as to what this Kentucky team is and can be. Since this is one they've looked forward to for so long, there might be some jitters but I've long felt we're going to see UK's A game in this one.
Who's your pick for Kentucky's MVP?
Drummond: Chris Rodriguez - Kentucky: The pregame stats suggest I should go with Will Levis or one of the receivers again this week, but I have the hunch that the Cats will lean on their ground game a lot more in this one. Central Michigan ran for 174 yards and the Chippewa backs averaged 7.2 yards per carry last week against Mizzou's defense.
Rowland: I almost hate to double up here but I can't make a case that Jeff is wrong. This game, for Kentucky, is probably much less about slinging the ball around the yard and more about establishing physical superiority up front. There are things they want to clean up at the point of attack and I think that's going to be the focus. Given how CMU ran the ball against Missouri last week that will probably embolden them.
What's your prediction for how the game will play out?
Drummond: Kentucky 26, Missouri 17 - I think all the indicators “on paper” favor the Cats in this one. They also have a lot of incentive stemming from how last year’s game unfolded in Columbia. The Tigers dominated UK, and let the Cats know about it. A motivated UK squad avenges that loss on Saturday, although I think it will be fairly close for most of the night.
Rowland: Kentucky 31, Missouri 20. This is a game Kentucky has had circled for a long time. It's the first time there will be a great crowd for an SEC game at Kroger Field in two years. Connor Bazelak has never quarterbacked a game on the road in that atmosphere. I've felt for some time that the Tigers are going to catch Kentucky's best shot in this game. All of that leads me to believe this game feels very similar to that first game that UK won against Mizzou with Towles, Juice Johnson, Dorian Baker and others. Or even the Mississippi State game back in 2018.
