Music City Bowl: Kentucky-Northwestern preview podcast
Looking for its first bowl victory since the 2008 season, Kentucky’s football Wildcats take on Northwestern’s football Wildcats in the Music City Bowl on Friday, Dec. 29 in Nashville.
To preview the game, I talked with Teddy Greenstein of the Chicago Tribune and Jennifer Smith of the Herald-Leader. Teddy, a former Herald-Leader intern, covers Northwestern sports. He gives a scouting report on the team from the Big Ten. Smith covers UK football. She brings us up to date on UK’s preparation.
Both teams rely on a strong running game. Northwestern’s Justin Jackson rushed for 1,154 yards and nine touchdowns this season. Kentucky’s Benny Snell rushed for 1,318 yards and 18 touchdowns.
Teddy on Jackson:
“He has rushed for 1,000 yards four straight seasons. He is, I believe, third now all-time in the Big Ten. It’s pretty amazing when you think about Ron Dayne and Archie Giffin and some of the great running backs in the Big Ten. He’s really consistent. Justin Jackson’s best runs are often three-yard runs. Guys who would be taken down for a loss of one or at the line of scrimmage, he turns into a plus-3. Guys who would get three, he gets six.”
Jen on a key for Kentucky:
“Both teams are going to have to stop the run. That will be really interesting with Kentucky, who was pretty good at stopping the run against lesser opponents early in the season. At one point, it was a Top 10 run stop team. And then there’s the other Kentucky that played Georgia and Louisville, two excellent running teams with a Heisman guy (Lamar Jackson) on the Louisville side.”
She wrote on the Kentucky run defense on Wednesday.
Here’s the podcast.
You can find Herald-Leader podcasts on Soundcloud and iTunes.
John Clay: 859-231-3226, @johnclayiv
Northwestern football 2017
Date | Opponent | Nor | Opp | Dec | Rec | Big 10 |
9/2 | Nevada | 31 | 20 | W | 1-0 | |
9/9 | @Duke | 17 | 41 | L | 1-1 | |
9/16 | Bowling Green | 49 | 7 | W | 2-1 | |
9/30 | @Wisconsin | 24 | 33 | L | 2-2 | 0-1 |
10/7 | Penn State | 7 | 31 | L | 2-3 | 0-2 |
10/14 | @Maryland | 37 | 21 | W | 3-3 | 1-2 |
10/21 | Iowa | 17 | 10 | W (OT) | 4-3 | 2-2 |
10/28 | Michigan State | 39 | 31 | W (OT) | 5-3 | 3-2 |
11/4 | @Nebraska | 31 | 24 | W (OT) | 6-3 | 4-2 |
11/11 | Purdue | 23 | 13 | W | 7-3 | 5-2 |
11/18 | Minnesota | 39 | 0 | W | 8-3 | 6-2 |
11/25 | @Illinois | 42 | 7 | W | 9-3 | 7-2 |
Kentucky football 2017
Date | Opponent | UK | Opp | Dec | Rec | SEC |
9/2/17 | @Southern Miss | 24 | 17 | W | 1-0 | |
9/9/17 | Eastern Kentucky | 27 | 16 | W | 2-0 | |
9/16/17 | @South Carolina | 23 | 13 | W | 3-0 | 1-0 |
9/23/17 | Florida | 27 | 28 | L | 3-1 | 1-1 |
9/30/17 | Eastern Michigan | 24 | 20 | W | 4-1 | |
10/7/17 | Missouri | 40 | 34 | W | 5-1 | 2-1 |
10/21/17 | @Mississippi St | 7 | 45 | L | 5-2 | 2-2 |
10/28/17 | Tennessee | 29 | 26 | W | 6-2 | 3-2 |
11/4/17 | Ole Miss | 34 | 37 | L | 6-3 | 3-3 |
11/11/17 | @Vanderbilt | 44 | 21 | W | 7-3 | 4-3 |
11/18/17 | @Georgia | 13 | 42 | L | 7-4 | 4-4 |
11/25/17 | Louisville | 17 | 44 | L | 7-5 |
This story was originally published December 27, 2017 at 8:43 PM.