Saturday Headlines: Beat Louisville Edition

Good morning, Big Blue Nation!

It’s time for the Governor’s Cup and the Kentucky Wildcats find themselves road dogs as they are in Louisville to take on the Cardinals. Kentucky (8-3) has been the more successful team as Louisville (6-5) has struggled all season to put together winning football at the end of games.

The Wildcats have more talented players and better coaches. The bugaboo for the Cats is twofold: turnovers and a weak secondary. UK is an anomaly as they have one of the worst turnover margins in the country yet they somehow, more often than not, have been winning games in which they turn the ball over at a high clip.

Will Levis and Christopher Rodriguez have been the main culprits in the turnover department and will have to play much cleaner football today than they have been. If the two, and the rest of the team, can hold onto the ball then I feel pretty damn good about today.

The other point of emphasis is the secondary. The one thing that Louisville does on offense well is the weakest point of the defense. Malik Cunningham and Scott Satterfield love to take downfield shots. The Kentucky secondary is prone to giving up downfield shots. The front seven for the Cats will be huge today in order to put pressure on Cunningham so that he doesn’t sit back and throw bombs the way Hendon Hooker did for Tennessee.

I expect Kentucky to win the game but they have to play football the way they were in the first half of the season and not the latter half. This is a massive game as the final chapter in the regular season will determine the story of the season. Win over your rival and you finish 9-3 with a really good bowl game against a really good opponent is on the horizon.

Lose and 8-4 becomes a major disappointment as we remember the elation of 6-0 and the Music City Bowl just isn’t going to do it when we were all dreaming of a Sugar Bowl.

Tweets of the Day

It was a great game but I can’t stand either team. Cam hits the nail on the head.

Emoni Bates and Jalen Duren combined for 14 points and seven rebounds. Penny is doing a masterful job at getting lottery talents and not doing anything with them.

Beat Louisville.

Headlines

Cats vs. Cards predictions | Cats Pause- Most people view this as a high scoring shootout that ends in a slim win for one of the teams. Which means something completely different is going to happen.

Storylines for the Governor’s Cup | WDRB- Louisville has forced 15 turnovers this season and Kentucky has coughed it up 14 times. Cats need to be careful today.

Game Day: Louisville vs. Kentucky | Card Chronicle- Take a peek behind enemy lines and check out how Cards fans are feeling about the game today.

Tshiebwe and Wheeler lead Cats in blow out over North Florida | Cats Illustrated- Sahvir Wheeler was masterful with a career high 14 assists and only three turnovers. And his defense was a sight to behold.

How Kentucky wins the Governor’s Cup | KSR- A full day of tailgating and a 7:30 PM kickoff is going to make a long, sloppy day for a lot of fans. Me included!

Volleyball Cats earn fifth straight SEC title | Vaught’s Views- They swept the Florida Gators for the honor of another Conference Title. Craig Skinner has a powerhouse.

Daimion Collins responds well in first career start | UK Athletics- Keion Brooks was putting up career numbers before falling ill right before the game on Friday night. Daimion Collins started and made the most of it with 12 points and six rebounds.

Rivalry week picks | CBS- The Cats and the Cards didn’t make the cut here but there are plenty of big time games to watch today.

Duke tops Gonzaga | ESPN- It was a big time game and a big time atmosphere as the (arguably) best teams in college basketball went toe-to-toe last night.

I’ll be all over the radio today so check it out if you’re driving around or tailgating before or after the game!