Blue Preview: A guide to UK’s season opener with Southern Miss

Southern Mississippi at Kentucky

When: 7:30 p.m Saturday

Where: Commonwealth Stadium

TV: ESPNU (play-by-play, Anish Shroff; analysis, Ahmad Brooks)

Radio: WLAP-AM 630, WBUL-FM 98.1, XM Channel 93, Sirius Channel 93

Records: Southern Mississippi 0-0 (9-5 last season), Kentucky 0-0 (5-7)

Series: Kentucky leads 2-0

Last meeting: Kentucky won 32-0 on Oct. 4, 1986, at Commonwealth Stadium

Line: Kentucky by 6 points

The story line

Looking for his first winning year as Kentucky’s head coach, Mark Stoops begins his fourth season in a tricky spot. He will go head-to-head with new Southern Mississippi offensive coordinator, Shannon Dawson — the same Shannon Dawson that Stoops fired as UK OC after last season.

On the spot

Stoops. Can you imagine the fury that would rain down on the Kentucky coach on the radio sports talk shows and social media platforms if Dawson and Southern Miss were to hang 40-plus on the Wildcats in a Southern Miss victory?

The big threat

Last year as a junior, Southern Mississippi quarterback Nick Mullens threw for 4,476 yards and 38 TDs (vs. only 12 interceptions) while completing a robust 63.5 percent of his passes. He could be the best passing QB UK faces in 2016.

The mood

Has seemed blah. After starting 4-1 last season, Kentucky collapsed to a 1-6 finish that included dispiriting losses at Vanderbilt and to Louisville. Entering 2016, UK football fans are in “show me” mode, exemplified by tepid season-ticket sales. A win over a C-USA team, even a good one like Southern Miss, won’t fix that — but a loss would be catastrophic.

This story was originally published August 30, 2016 at 3:46 PM with the headline "Blue Preview: A guide to UK’s season opener with Southern Miss."