Kentucky Wildcats (7-4) vs. Louisville Cardinals (7-4)
When: Saturday, Nov. 25
Start time: 12:00 p.m. ET.
Where: Commonwealth Stadium Kroger Field in Lexington, Kentucky
TV Channel: SEC Network
Online stream: WatchESPN
Predictions: ESPN’s football power index gives Louisville a 71 percent chance to win.
Odds: Kentucky is currently a 10-point underdog, according to vegas.com
Rivalry week is upon us, and it brings with it this year’s installment of the Governor’s Cup. Kentucky is looking to win its second straight over Louisville after pulling off a 41-38 win last year despite being 28-point underdogs going into the game. It was the largest upset of the college football season on point spread.
This year Kentucky opens as a 9.5-point underdog. It’s not ideal, but certainly the upset is seen as more likely this year.
Louisville is coming on off back-to-back wins and an utter demolition of Syracuse last week. The defense is healthy and Lamar Jackson is, well, Lamar Jackson.
It’s a tough situation for Kentucky. Fans will look at Louisville’s 7-4 record and think Kentucky’s got to win this game. And they’re not wrong, the success of Kentucky’s season in relation to last season hinges on this game. But Louisville has one of the top two quarterbacks in the nation (and a top-five player, period) on its team.
Kentucky isn’t going to need Jackson to commit four turnovers to keep it close like they did last year.
Ahh, memories.
But they’re not going to be allowed to let him put up four total touchdowns, 270 passing yards and 111 rushing yards like he did against Syracuse last week. That’d be a recipe for disaster.
What would be nice to see from last year is a replication of Stephen Johnson’s performance. He launched himself into Kentucky football lore with 338 passing yards, three touchdowns and 83 rushing yards, a team-high.
It’s all about keeping the Governor’s Cup in Lexington and proving that last season wasn’t a fluke in the Mark Stoops era.
Facts to know
- Kentucky leads the all-time series 15-14.
- Mark Stoops is 1-3 against Louisville.
- Louisville head coach Bobby Petrino is 6-2 against Kentucky.
- Benny Snell has run for 566 yards and 10 touchdowns in the last four games.
- Snell has 1,107 yards this year, good for second in the SEC.
- Wide receiver coach Lamar Thomas spent two seasons on Louisville’s staff in the same role before joining Kentucky’s staff last year.
- A win would give Kentucky its first eight-win regular season since 1984.
- It would also be Kentucky’s first winning streak over Louisville since 2007-10.
- It would give Kentucky 10 wins in their last 13 home games.
- Heisman winner Lamar Jackson has accounted for 40 touchdowns this year.
- Jackson also has recorded 3,000+ yards passing and 1,000+ yards rushing for the second straight year.
- Louisville ranks third nationally in total offense with 560.4 yards per game.
- The Cardinals also average 38.5 points per game.