Saturday Quickies: Beat Central Michigan Edition

Happy football Saturday! The long summer months are finally coming to a close and we have a full Saturday on the gridiron to look forward to.

The Kentucky Wildcats will open the season with a Central Michigan team out of the MAC that is not afraid to talk smack. This team has been successful in recent years and the idea of them winning on the road in Lexington is not something that is out of the realm of possibility if the Cats come out flat.

But I don’t think that is going to happen. After a tumultuous offseason filled with dismissals, injuries, and illnesses; UK is ready to take the field and take their anger out on a team of a different color.

Terry Wilson will be making his debut at quarterback and I expect nothing short of a dynamic performance from him, Benny Snell, and Lynn Bowden. I also expect CJ Conrad to be a major part of what the offense wants to do.

The defense should be stacked. The Central Michigan Chippewas have talent at the running back and quarterback positions but it’s nothing the Cats can’t handle with their depth and experience.

Get ready folks because it’s finally here!

Quickies

Predictions vs. Central Michigan | Cats Pause- Darrell Bird and company go through a list of topics and predict what they think will happen when the Cats take on the Chippewas today. Central Michigan’s success against Power 5 programs is highlighted.

How to watch Central Michigan at Kentucky | Team Speed Kills- The folks over at TSK don’t think the Cats will have much to worry about against CMU. I hope they are right. It would be nice to watch a game and not have to sweat it out.

How the Cats match-up with the Chips | Lexington Herald Leader- The Cats have the majority of the advantages here and Mark Story is predicting a blowout affair.

Benny Snell motivated by trash talk | Courier-Journal- Benny Snell still has a bad taste in his mouth for being ejected in UK’s bowl game versus Northwestern last December. The Chippewas added fuel to the fire by claiming they never heard of him before. Anybody getting the feeling that Benny is about to go for 150 yards and three touchdowns?

UK to honor Paschal and Schlarman | Cats Pause- The Kentucky football team will wear wristbands and helmet decals to honor Josh Paschal and John Schlarman as they battle cancer.

Three keys to avoid an upset | Cats Illustrated- If the Cats want to avoid what happened to them three years ago at home versus Southern Miss, then they better pay attention to detail on the field.

UK soccer gets another win | UK Athletics- The Cats (2-0-0) defeated Columbia 1-0 with a goal by JJ Williams.

#16 UK volleyball defeats Dayton | UK Athletics- The Dayton Flyers couldn’t handle the offensive onslaught of the Wildcats. The volleyball team struggled in a tough start to the season but now they seem to be getting things together.

Week 1 bold predictions | Saturdays Down South- Each team in the SEC gets the bold prediction treatment and UK’s is actually something other than them getting upset:

Benny Snell of Kentucky will be the focal point of Central Michigan’s defense on Saturday — as Snell will be for pretty much every team UK faces. Watch for sophomore back A.J. Rose to have an excellent game in relief of Snell. Rose starred in Kentucky’s spring game and brings a little more speed and edge running to the table than the powerful Snell. If he can get 80 yards and a couple of scores, it’ll give opponents something else to think about against UK.

St. X and Trinity combined 0-5 | Lexington Herald Leader- The Kentucky high school football powerhouses have yet to find a win after three weeks of play. Trinity is 0-3 against out of state teams while St. X is 0-2 vs. Desales and Bowling Green.

Both Hurts and Tua will play vs. Louisville | ESPN- After months of hand wringing over the QB in the Land that Bear Built, Lord Saban has issued his decree that both will play against Louisville. I expect three touchdowns a piece from Tua and Hurts.

Spartans avoid upset bid | CBS- The eleventh ranked Michigan State Spartans looked absolutely abysmal for the majority of their game against the Utah State Aggies. I’m not alone in hoping for Michigan State and Ohio State to completely fall flat on their faces this season.

Neutral sites put college football in great places | Sporting News- The kickoff to college football is a big time event and it has an even bigger feel when the marquee games are played on neutral fields.

After the game, check out the UK postgame show on ESPN 680/105.7 (Frankfort). I’ll be on immediately after the game with instant analysis, Mark Stoops’ press conference, player sound, and YOUR reactions at 502-267-9680. You can listen on the radio, streaming on iHeartRadio, and the ESPN TuneIn app.