Auburn Tigers at Kentucky Wildcats: Virtual Tailgate

Welcome to the Kentucky Wildcats-Auburn Tigers Virtual Tailgate, the place where we enjoy some virtual cuisine and talk a little Kentucky football as we march inexorably toward tonight’s opportunity for the Wildcats to excel.

Kentucky has had 12 days to prepare for the Tigers, who are also coming off a bye week, so there is no advantage to either team other than the healing of injuries. We’ll get to all that, and more, later. Right now, let’s get some food and social lubricant.

Speaking of social lubricant, our cocktail, as usual, comes first. Today’s selection will be:

Alabama Slammer

Because Auburn, as you know, is in Alabama.

Made from Southern Comfort, sloe gin and orange juice, this concoction is just the thing to warm up a cool football evening.

Moving on to the appetizer, we have:

Pulled Pork Sliders

Alabama loves its barbecue, and so do we here in Kentucky. I’ll have mine with a little coleslaw, please.

For the entrée, we’ll be offering:

Fried Chicken

Seriously, who doesn’t love fried chicken? Yeah, the calorie-conscious, I guess, but in this tailgate, you have to bring your own diet if you’re on one.

For the sides, we’ll be having:

Cornbread Muffins

And to go along with that:

Fried Okra

It’s not slimy this way!

Yeah, I get that this is a bit of a fried-food fest, but remember, we’re eating like Alabama folks!

Beer, anyone? Yes, we must, and today we must have:

Brew Stooges Beer

Out of Huntsville, this is a brew pub who’s product looks like a winner to me!

Finally, we have to have some desert, and today we’ll be enjoying:

Peach Cobbler

Nothing like a good cobbler to finish off a Southern meal. We have it à la mode if you prefer — and who doesn’t?

Okay, now let’s talk a little football. Quite honestly, I’m still just a bit disturbed by what happened back on October 3rd, having to go to overtime to beat Eastern Kentucky. That was just one of the most frustrating games I have witnessed, and the Wildcats came within a hair’s breadth of having another one of those memories nobody wants.

But now we welcome Auburn to town, and Auburn has been all kinds of disappointing this season compared to pre-season expectations. Losing to LSU on the road is certainly no shame, but doing so by over three touchdowns can’t be what Gus Malzahn had in mind. Losing to Mississippi State at home and putting up only 9 points in the process has doubtless caused consternation on the Plains, as did the surprisingly narrow victory over San Jose State. Still, Auburn remains an extremely dangerous team, although based on this season’s results, one would have to say that Kentucky has a chance in this one, especially in Commonwealth Stadium.

Having said that, the fact remains that Kentucky has yet to play well at home despite their 4-1 record. Narrow victories over what should have been markedly inferior teams have left fans scratching their heads, but Kentucky has also beaten its only two SEC opponents, whatever you think of them, one on the road and one at home.

I like Kentucky’s chances in this game, but they have to figure out a way to get Auburn off the field. Auburn has been a possession-style offense this year, unlike the explosive offense they have had for the past couple of seasons, and have been grinding defenses into the ground. Auburn isn’t nominally a threat to score 40 on Kentucky, but neither are they likely to give up that many to UK.

Injury update:

Auburn

Name	Pos	Injury	Status
Jaunta’vius Johnson	DL	Knee	Probable
Jovon Robinson	RB	Leg	Probable
T.J. Davis	DB	Knee	Doubtful
Tim Irvin	DB	Foot	Probable
Tre’ Williams	LB	Knee	Probable
Prince Tega Wanogho	DL	Leg	Questionable
Xavier Dampeer	OL	Jaw	Out indefinitely
D’haquille Williams	WR	-	Dismissed from team

Kentucky

Name	Pos	Injury	Status
Austin MacGinnis	K	Groin	Probable
C.J. Johnson	DT	Ankle	Probable
Boom Williams	RB	Personal	Probable
Jordan Jones	LB	?	Questionable
Jordan Swindle	OT	Groin	Probable
Regie Meant	DE	Shoulder	Probable
Nico Firios	LB	Shoulder	Out for season

As you can see, it’s mostly good news for both teams on the injury front. Sorry to see Nico Firios go down, and we wish him a speedy and complete recovery. However, our linebacker depth could be a bit doubtful this game.

That’s all I have. Enjoy the game. Go, ‘Cats!