Blue Preview: Can Kentucky bounce back at improving Missouri?
READ MORE
Preview: Kentucky at Missouri
Click below to read more of the Herald-Leader’s and Kentucky.com’s preview coverage ahead of Saturday’s Kentucky-Missouri football game scheduled for noon EDT at Memorial Stadium in Columbia, Mo.
Expand All
Kentucky at Missouri
When: Noon Saturday.
TV: SEC Network.
Announcers: Play-by-play, Drew Carter; analysis, Aaron Murray; sideline, Lauren Sisler.
Radio: WLAP-AM 630, WBUL-FM 98.1.
Satellite Radio: TBA.
Records: Kentucky (5-3, 2-3 SEC); Missouri (4-4, 2-3 SEC).
Series history: Kentucky leads 8-4 and has won six of the past seven meetings.
Most recent meeting: Kentucky held off Missouri 35-28 on Sept. 11, 2021, at Kroger Field in Lexington.
Line: Kentucky is favored by one point.
The story line
Coming off a disastrous showing in a 44-6 loss at Tennessee, Kentucky will seek to get its season back on the beam against an improving Missouri team that has either won or played its foe within one score in all five of its SEC games.
The number to watch
How many tackles for loss Kentucky surrenders. UK is 106th in the FBS in tackles for loss allowed, giving up 6.75 a game. That could be a problem against a Missouri defense that is 15th in the FBS in TFL, averaging 7.1 a game. Mizzou has 15 defenders with at least one tackle for loss and has three — linebacker Ty’Ron Hopper (7.5), safety Martez Manuel (5.5) and defensive end Isiah McGuire (5.5) — with more than five.
The big threat
The Missouri defense. In SEC games, no one has scored more than 26 points vs. the Tigers — and that was No. 1 Georgia in a 26-22 come-from-behind victory. Otherwise, the Tigers have held South Carolina to 10, Vanderbilt to 14, Auburn to 17, Florida to 24. For the season, Missouri is 19th in the country in total defense (allowing 310.1 yards a game) and 31st in the country in scoring defense (21.5 points per game).
On the spot
Rich Scangarello. Through eight games of Scangarello’s first season running the Kentucky offense, the Wildcats’ attack has too often seemed disjointed and halting. Offensive line issues account for some of that, but it would certainly be a boon to the morale around the Kentucky football program if Scangarello’s offense could close 2022 on an uptick.
The mood
Is deflated. A Kentucky season that began with talk of challenging Georgia for the SEC East title has fallen well short of that level. Approaching the time when the Big Blue Nation’s attention will be split between football and basketball, a road win over a rising Missouri team would at least keep Cats backers plugged into the football season.
This story was originally published October 31, 2022 at 11:23 AM.
.JPG)
