The pause in spring practice and both on and off campus recruiting activities at Kentucky and elsewhere in the SEC and college football may slow some of Cats Illustrated's streams of content, but others will continue to flow.
In our ongoing series of much too early previews of Kentucky's 2020 opponents we're now at Week 3.
That means we're talking about Kent State.
While a lot will be determined in the months ahead, with attrition, transfers, coaching changes, and development still possible as with any other team, here's a look at what we know about the Golden Flashes.
Kent State won its final four games last year and the first bowl game in program history so they will be looking to carry that momentum forward.
Series History: Kentucky has taken on Kent State seven times in the history of the two football programs. The last meeting between the Wildcats and Golden Flashes was in 2012, in Joker Phillips' final season with UK. While that Kentucky team limped to the finish line they did defeat Kent State 47-14. The closest Kent State has ever come to knocking off Kentucky was a not-so-close 24-6 game in 1991.
Apparent Strengths: It's always a positive to have a returning star at the quarterback position and that is Kent State's primary luxury looking ahead to the 2020 college football campaign. Dustin Crum did some remarkable things as a junior in 2019. He completed 69-percent of his passes for 2,622 yards on just 312 attempts, threw 20 touchdowns but more impressively only tossed two interceptions. Furthermore, he was easily Kent State's leading rusher with 707 yards and six touchdowns on the ground. Crum would have been one of the best quarterbacks Kentucky saw had the teams played last year and he is one of UK's biggest challenges behind center this coming fall.
Rising junior receiver Isaiah McKoy returns and he will be a hugely important target for Crum, having caught 57 passes for 870 yards and eight touchdowns last season.
Kent State returns its top three tacklers from last season, both linebackers, in Mandela Lawrence-Burke and Cepeda Phillips, who combined for 207 stops last season.
Kicker Matthew Trickett was a very reliable 29 of 34 on field goals last season and he returns. Punter Derek Adams is back after averaging 43 yards per punt so the Kent State special teams unit has a couple of weapons to build around.
Apparent Weaknesses: Will Kent State be able to protect Crum? Last year opponents sacked Kent State quarterbacks 41 times.
While Crum can run the ball and that part of his game must be respected, for opponents that can contain a quarterback on the ground there isn't much to fear about Kent State's rushing attack especially with the so-so offensive line play. Senior back Will Matthews was Kent State's second leading rusher last season and he is gone.
Aside from McKoy, the Flashes lose their next three most productive wide receivers so that unit might have some growing pains.
The departure of senior defensive lineman Theo Majette means Kent State does not have much of a proven pass rush. Among returning defensive linemen, rising junior Zayin West led the way with 2.5 sacks last year.
How the Matchup Looks: Kent State will not be surprised by Kentucky's talent level. Two weeks before the Golden Flashes travel to Lexington, Ky., they are in Happy Valley, Pa., to take on Penn State in the season opener for both teams. That will be an interesting gauge of where Kent State is at although improvement can be expected over two weeks.
Crum would probably have to have a masterful individual performance for the Flashes to have a chance to upset the Wildcats. UK will likely overwhelm Kent State on both sides of the line of scrimmage. If Kent State can't stop the Cats' ground game, and they might need some help with turnovers, then it's lights out.
