How Kentucky football and Murray State match up — with a game prediction
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Preview: Kentucky vs. Murray State
Click below to read more of the Herald-Leader’s and Kentucky.com’s preview coverage ahead of Saturday’s Kentucky-Murray State football game at Kroger Field.
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How the Kentucky Wildcats (3-6, 1-6 SEC) and the Murray State Racers (1-9, 0-7 MVFC) match up at each position for Saturday’s college football game — with a game prediction:
Quarterbacks
▪ Speculation is that UK starting QB Brock Vandagriff, who suffered an apparent head injury in UK’s 28-18 loss at Tennessee on Nov. 2, will start vs. Murray State. Vandagriff has thrown for 1,359 yards with seven touchdowns and six interceptions. Former Owensboro star Gavin Wimsatt (171 rushing yards, two touchdowns, 3.7 yards a carry; 160 passing yards, one TD, three interceptions, 40% completion rate) threw the first TD pass of his UK career at UT, a 32-yard dart to Ja’Mori Maclin. Going against an FCS defense that has really struggled in 2024, talk has been that Kentucky plans to get true freshman Cutter Boley, the former Lexington Christian Academy star, some snaps. The 6-foot-5, 214-pound Boley, the No. 24 rated QB prospect in the country for 2024 in the 247Sports Composite Rankings, has appeared in only one game for UK. In mop-up duty in Kentucky’s 48-20 loss at Florida on Oct. 19, Boley went 0-of-6 passing and threw a pick six.
▪ In Murray State’s 51-0 loss to SEC foe Missouri to open the 2024 season, quarterback Jayden Johannsen completed 7 of 13 passes for 27 yards with an interception. A 6-2, 210-pound product of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Johannsen began his college career playing for NCAA Division II South Dakota School of Mines. On the season, Johannsen has completed 56.3% of his throws for 1,405 yards while throwing seven TDs and 10 interceptions.
Advantage: Kentucky.
Running backs
▪ In the loss at Tennessee, Kentucky redshirt freshman Jamarion Wilcox (351 rushing yards, one TD, 6.3 yards-per-carry average) ran for 102 yards on 17 carries. It was the first 100-plus yards rushing performance of his college career for the 5-10, 197-pound product of Douglasville, Georgia. Demie Sumo-Karngbaye (457 rushing yards, four TDs, 4.7 yards a carry; 14 receptions for 119 yards) has had a rock-solid senior season.
▪ Murray State leading rusher Jawaun Northington is the first cousin once removed of ex-UK safety Nate Northington, the player who integrated SEC football in 1967. A product of Louisville’s Manual High School, Jawaun Northington has run for 457 yards and six touchdowns while averaging 4.9 yards a carry. The 5-9, 217-pound junior has also caught eight passes for 48 yards.
Advantage: Kentucky.
Wide receivers
▪ Kentucky slot receiver Ja’Mori Maclin (seven catches, 121 yards, one TD) made a one-handed touchdown catch and then caught a two-point conversion pass in UK’s loss at Tennessee. In what has to have been a frustrating season for a player who caught 57 passes for 1,004 yards last year at North Texas State, Maclin at UT made his first catch in a game since Sept. 28.
▪ Murray State’s Justice Hill has a chance to achieve a rare double Saturday by becoming a player who has played against Kentucky at both Kroger Field and Rupp Arena. As a basketball guard, Hill averaged 13.4 points a game for Murray State’s 31-3 team in 2021-22. He went on to play a season of hoops for both LSU and Loyola Marymount. While at LSU in 2022-23, Hill played 13 minutes for the Tigers and missed all three of his shots in a 74-71 loss to UK at Rupp Arena. Now, having returned to football for the first time since high school, the 6-foot, 170-pound Hill has caught 22 passes for 319 yards and two touchdowns.
Advantage: Kentucky.
Tight ends
▪ Kentucky junior Jordan Dingle (seven receptions, 54 yards, one TD) missed the Tennessee game due to injury. In his absence, junior Josh Kattus (four catches, 54 yards, one TD) caught a 27-yard touchdown pass and sophomore Khamari Anderson (four catches for 25 yards) made a 9-yard reception.
▪ Murray State tight ends have combined to produce four touchdowns. Mayfield High School alumnus Kade Neely has caught 10 passes for 186 yards and three TDs; Caden Jumper has six catches for 35 yards and a score.
Advantage: Kentucky.
Offensive line
▪ Kentucky redshirt freshman Malachi Wood, the former Madison Central standout, has started the past two games at right tackle in place of an injured Gerald Mincey. Though Wood has struggled in pass protection, UK coach Mark Stoops says the 6-8, 320-pounder is “playing good guys that give a lot of people problems, so he’s getting very valuable experience and understanding what it takes.”
▪ Murray State left guard Ashton Flinn was preseason Missouri Valley Football Conference honorable mention. The 6-4, 290-pound senior from Jackson, Missouri, anchors a Racers offensive front that has given up only 14 quarterback sacks through 10 games.
Advantage: Kentucky.
Defensive line
▪ Playing in his home state, Kentucky senior end Tre’vonn Rybka had a big game at Tennessee. The Dickson, Tennessee, product made five tackles, sacked the quarterback once and broke up a pass.
▪ For a Murray State defense that has had a rough go, tackle Dareon Goodrum has made some plays. The 6-1, 300-pound transfer from Western Kentucky has 25 tackles, seven tackles for loss, two sacks and a forced fumble.
Advantage: Kentucky.
Linebackers
▪ Kentucky MLB Jamon Dumas-Johnson (team-high 54 tackles, seven TFL, three QB sacks) had a big game in UK’s loss at Tennessee. The transfer from Georgia made 14 tackles and was credited with a QB sack, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. SLB Alex Afari (41 tackles, team-high 8.5 TFL) made 10 tackles, one for loss, vs. UT.
▪ Former Georgia Tech LB Tyson Meiguez leads Murray State in tackles with 54. A transfer from Florida A&M, SLB Lovie Jenkins has made 41 stops with two TFL and has broken up three passes.
Advantage: Kentucky.
Defensive backs
▪ Mark Stoops had praise this week for Kentucky free safety Jordan Lovett. The North Hardin product is second on the UK team with 49 tackles. “If he makes a mistake in a critical moment, it eats him up,” Stoops said of Lovett. “You appreciate that caring and that passion because he does a lot of good things and he really cares about his teammates and how he plays for all of us.” The expected return of star cornerback Maxwell Hairston, who has not played since Sept. 21 for medical reasons, should give Kentucky a lift.
▪ Murray State strong safety Amari Wansley (46 tackles, three pass breakups) and cornerback KaVan Reed (28 tackles, two TFL, one sack, four breakups) lead a Racers secondary that is giving up a whopping 283.1 passing yards a game.
Advantage: Kentucky.
Special teams
▪ Kentucky punter Aidan Laros had a stellar showing in the loss at Tennessee, kicking four times for an average 64.2 yards. That performance boosted the season average for Laros to 45 yards on 20 punts. Place-kicker Alex Raynor is perfect on the season on field-goal attempts, 13-of-13, with a long of 55 yards. If Barion Brown, the all-time SEC leader in kickoff return touchdowns (five), is unable to play due to an injury suffered in the UT loss, UK would be down a dynamic part of its special teams.
▪ Murray State sophomore place-kicker James London (12 of 17 field goal attempts with a long of 55) boomed field goals of 50 and 52 yards in last week’s loss to Missouri State. They were the sixth and seventh field goals of 50 yards or more London has made in his career. Freshman punter Thomas O’Hara, a product of Melbourne, Australia, has pinned opponents inside their 20-yard line on 20 of 50 kicks and is averaging 45 yards a punt.
Advantage: Even.
Prediction
Kentucky 48, Murray State 9.
This story was originally published November 14, 2024 at 10:37 AM.
