Kentucky V Florida Breakdown--

Kentucky Faces BIG Test

It is another HUGE week for Kentucky this week as the Wildcats will head to Gainesville and take on the #10 team in the nation. History is not on the Cats side as they have not beat the Gators in 21 years and it has been 28 years since Kentucky has won in Florida. Not only will history be working against the five win Cats, but they are also riddled with injuries and uncertainties at several key positions.

The defense is reeling. Defensive tackle Myron Pryor, all three linebackers; Braxton Kelly, Micah Johnson, Johnny Williams, and corner back David Jones have all missed practice this week due to various ailments and status is uncertain heading into Saturday. The loss of any or all of these players is going to severely hurt the team’s chances to pull out a win Saturday. Currently, the Wildcats stand as the #1 scoring defense in the SEC, and have held opponents to a mere 280 yards per game. The fierce hitting defense has been this team’s strength through the season and will need all its play makers and leaders in order to stop a Florida offense that put 51 points on the board two weeks ago against LSU.

On offense, the main question is if last week was emotion or a moment where everything clicked. If it is the latter the Cats will have take a huge step by continuing the solid play which was displayed the last four minutes of the Arkansas game. Wide out slash quarterback slash play maker Randall Cobb said Tuesday that he is stepping up and becoming more of a leader.

“I felt like at that time I had the opportunity to step up and be a leader (Following the catch and game winning score against Arkansas). That was what I was trying to do and trying to push these guys to keep working. We have one of the best coaching staffs in the nation and we need to come out and perform better than we have been.”

And if Kentucky can perform better than they have been the sky is the limit for this 5-2 team. Every team in the SEC has a loss but it is still possible for Kentucky to win the East by winning the rest of their conference games…It might be, well it is a long shot but with the emotion filled victory on Saturday, the sky could possibly be the limit.

KEYS TO A KENTUCKY VICTORY---

1) Continue the momentum gained from the Arkansas game on OFFENSE. In order for Kentucky to have a shot at pulling the upset, the offense needs to stay consistent and play as a cohesive unit. Mike Hartline needs to get the ball into the hands of his play maker, Randall Cobb and NOT make costly errors!

2) THE DEFENSE MUST MAINTAIN the TEBOW offense. The defense has done well thus far at stopping its opponents, BUT when the Wildcats have faced running quarterbacks: NORFOLK, MIDDLE TENNESSEE, and SOUTH CAROLINA, the defense has struggled. The defense must stick to their assignments and not allow Tim Tebow to rush all over the field.

3) SPECIAL TEAMS MUST BE SPECIAL. Week in and week out Kentucky has made SEVERAL mistakes in the area of special teams. Missed kicks, blown kick return coverage and muffed returns have haunted the Cats and continually put them in bad positions. With Florida having the most explosive return man in Percy Harvin, Kentucky needs to go back to the fundamentals and not give Florida any EASY scores or positive field positions.

Projection/Outlook--

Kentucky will enter as 23 point underdog into a rested Florida Gators stadium. Following the embarrassing loss in the SWAMP to Ole Miss, Tim Tebow guaranteed a better effort from that point forward, and thus far he has been able to deliver on his promise by defeating Arkansas big 34-7 and LSU 51-21. Now, after a bye week and a feeling of being shunned by the BCS voters, the Gators are angry and wanting on improving past their current #10 standing…Florida’s coming off a bye is huge. They were able to rest a sore and beaten up Percy Harvin as well as prepare for the coming challenges which remain on the schedule. Although Kentucky is coming off a emotional HIGH of taking down Arkansas in the waning moments by offensive fire power, the Gators should over match and out man this Cats team.

OVERALL PREDICTION---Kentucky loses and will still be looking for the 6^th win and bowl eligibility….

FLORIDA 34

Kentucky 17