Kentucky V Louisville
Battle for the Governor’s Cup
It seems like forever ago when either the Wildcats or the Cards took the field two weeks ago for their first action of the regular season. Kentucky stuggled very little in the opening week, while the Cards didn’t impress many with a 30-10 victory over Indiana State.
Saturday, the Governor’s Cup will be up for grabs again. Last year, the Cats took down the Cards 27-2 in a season most Louisville faithful would like to forget. This might be Louisville’s head coach Steve Kragthorpe’s last chance to play Kentucky as another loss to the in-state rival and a bowl-less season might send him out of town.
Battle for the Governor’s Cup
It seems like forever ago when either the Wildcats or the Cards took the field two weeks ago for their first action of the regular season. Kentucky stuggled very little in the opening week, while the Cards didn’t impress many with a 30-10 victory over Indiana State.
Saturday, the Governor’s Cup will be up for grabs again. Last year, the Cats took down the Cards 27-2 in a season most Louisville faithful would like to forget. This might be Louisville’s head coach Steve Kragthorpe’s last chance to play Kentucky as another loss to the in-state rival and a bowl-less season might send him out of town.
Here is Kentucky’s KEYS TO VICTORY-
1) Play INTENSE- Rivalries are tough to call. Vegas have the Wildcats an 11 point favorite. But a huge factor will be Steve Kragthorpe. He is undoubtedly in the hot seat. Already, he has lost 2 to Kentucky and has missed bowl games in 2 straight seasons. Louisville will come out firing and fighting for their head coach. The Cats need to take whatever the first punch will be from the Cardinals and where down Louisville through the superior talent it appears the Cats have.
2) Score in the 1st quarter- Last year’s issues, seemed to be an issue again in the Wildcats opening action against Miami. Kentucky started slow against Miami, starting the game converting only 1 of 4 third down conversions. The lack of success early in games will haunt the Cats in this one, where the Cards are known to start fast and will want to make a statement following two straight losses to the rival Wildcats.
3) More Wildcat- The offense had a different dynamic when the Cats last played. A non-speedy Mike Hartline was running the option for positive yardage and whenever the Wildcat formation took the field, the Cats had positive plays, of the 3 times they went to the formation they scored twice and gained a key first down on the third attempt. The more versatile the Cats can be on offense, the better the season will go. After last week’s bye week, look for the Wildcat to be even more incorporated into the offense.
OVERALL PROJECTION—
In the past 3 seasons in recruiting and play, the Wildcats have far surpassed the Louisville Cardinals in talent. Kentucky looks more like an SEC team and with such athleticism the Wildcats should be able to handle the Cardinals, that is on paper. But, this should be an emotional game for the Cardinals. They need the win to save Steve Kragthorpe and get their season on the right foot before their conference play begins in a few weeks.
Talent wins this one for the Cats, but it WILL be closer than the Vegas line….
FINAL-
Kentucky 31, Louisville 23
In the past 3 seasons in recruiting and play, the Wildcats have far surpassed the Louisville Cardinals in talent. Kentucky looks more like an SEC team and with such athleticism the Wildcats should be able to handle the Cardinals, that is on paper. But, this should be an emotional game for the Cardinals. They need the win to save Steve Kragthorpe and get their season on the right foot before their conference play begins in a few weeks.
Talent wins this one for the Cats, but it WILL be closer than the Vegas line….
FINAL-
Kentucky 31, Louisville 23
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