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The good news for Kentucky heading into Saturday’s game against Missouri is that there is no way the weather can be as bad as it was down in Athens.
But as of right now, forecast is calling for possible rain in Lexington this weekend. After only mustering 177 yards of total offense against Georgia, you would have to assume that drier conditions would play in the Cats’ favor as opposed to more rain.
Then again, Missouri does have an offense capable of putting of tons of yards and points, so maybe a little rain will help the Cats slow down the nation’s 31st-ranked scoring offense.
Saturday’s game against Missouri will mark the second game in as many weeks that UK will be facing a team who is coming off a disappointing loss. The Tigers inexplicably lost to Vanderbilt 21-14 over the weekend, dropping their season record to 5-2.
You could argue that getting beat by Vanderbilt calls attention to some areas of weakness that Missouri has, but a case could also be made that the Tigers will now travel to Kroger Field with a chip on their shoulder. There is probably an element of truth to both sides, though the Tigers already had this game circled on the calendar after the way Kentucky stunned Missouri in Columbia last year, not to mention the Cats have won four straight in the series.
Once again, the big storyline for UK this week will be their quarterback situation. Lynn Bowden was only able to complete a total of two passes in Kentucky’s 21-0 loss to Georgia, and even those came late in the 4th quarter.
So to say that the passing game was non-existent is an understatement. The status of Sawyer Smith’s injury is still unclear but you have to assume if he’s healthy that he will get a chance to take some snaps this weekend. It will be interesting to see what information, if any, that Mark Stoops shares with the media this week in relation to his plan for who will be taking the majority of snaps this week for the Cats.
Missouri is lead by former Clemson quarterback Kelly Bryant, who has thrown for just over 1700 yards and 13 touchdowns on the season but he will be coming off a poor performance in the loss to Vandy. The senior quarterback went just 13/26 and 140 yards on Saturday.
Despite not having many wins to show for it, the Kentucky defense has been playing great over the last 4 games. It make take another exceptional effort by Brad White’s defense to get Kentucky their fourth win of the 2019 season.
Mark Stoops and his staff are now tasked with doing anything that they possibly can to win at least three of the last five games to become bowl eligible.
Game: Missouri Tigers at Kentucky Wildcats
Location: Kroger Field, Lexington, Kentucky
Start Time: 7:30 pm EST on October 26th, 2019
TV Info: The game will be broadcast on the SEC Network and online using WatchESPN.
Odds: The early spread has Missouri favored by a whopping 11 points. ESPN’s matchup predictor is giving the Tigers a 65% chance at victory.
Score Projection: TeamRankings has Missouri winning a thriller in Kroger Field by a final score of 29-26.