First Scouting Report: Kentucky will open 2020 against giant-killing underdog
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Game day: Kentucky defeats Virginia Tech in Belk Bowl
Click below to read all of the coverage from the Lexington Herald-Leader and Kentucky.com after the University of Kentucky’s 37-30 victory over Virginia Tech in the Belk Bowl at Charlotte, N.C., on Tuesday.
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An early look ahead to Kentucky’s 2020 football season opener:
The opponent
Kentucky (8-5 in 2019) will open its 2020 season against Mid-American Conference foe Eastern Michigan (6-7) on Sept. 5 at Kroger Field.
Coach Chris Creighton’s Eagles ended their 2019 season with a 34-30 loss to Pittsburgh in the Quick Lane Bowl at Detroit’s Ford Field on Dec. 26.
Most recent meeting
Sawyer Smith replaced an injured Terry Wilson and threw two touchdown passes as Kentucky defeated Eastern Michigan 38-17 on Sept. 7, 2019, at Kroger Field in the second game of the 2019 season for each team.
It was an expensive victory for the Wildcats, as UK starting quarterback Wilson was lost for the season due to a torn patellar tendon in his left knee suffered after he was pulled down from behind by Eastern Michigan’s Turan Rush.
Whether Wilson’s knee injury will heal in time for him to return in the 2020 season opener against the team that ended his 2019 will be the major story of the coming Kentucky football offseason.
Series history
Kentucky has a 2-0 all-time mark against EMU, having also beaten the Eagles 24-20 in 2017 after Josh Paschal blocked a punt to set Benny Snell up for a game-winning, 12-yard touchdown run.
Know your foe
1. Eastern Michigan has scored a road upset of a Big Ten foe in each of the past three seasons. In 2017, the Eagles won at Rutgers 16-13. The 2018 season saw EMU pull off a stunner, edging Jeff Brohm and Purdue, 20-19, in West Lafayette, Ind. This past season, Eastern Michigan beat Illinois 34-31 on a walk-off, 24-yard field goal from Chad Ryland as time expired.
2. For all its recent success against Big Ten foes, EMU is 0-10 all-time vs. Southeastern Conference squads.
3. Eastern Michigan will have to replace standout quarterback Mike Glass (3,169 yards passing with 24 TD throws vs. 11 interceptions) and leading rusher Shaq Vann (715 yards, eight TDs on the ground), each of whom were seniors in 2019.
This story was originally published December 31, 2019 at 3:29 PM.
