Battle For the Governor's Cup

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.

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

College Week 3 Projections

SEC OVERALL RECORD- 16-2
SEC WEEK 3 Projections
Florida o Tennessee- Lane Kiffin talked a lot in the offseason about how Florida cheat in recruiting. Too bad he “didn’t”. Its going to be a long day in Gainesville for the Volunteers. Jonathon Crompton struggled against a non-physical Pac 10 school UCLA last week. Florida is dominant on defense returning all 11 from last years national championship version.
Alabama o North Texas- Alabama started slow last week but ende up with a dominant score. This week look for the Tide to Roll their next opponent too.
Mississippi o Southeastern Louisiana- Off a bye week, the Rebels need to look better than they did in the opening week against Memphis. Quarterback Jevan Snead, Steve Spurrier’s choice as best quarterback in the conference, threw 2 interceptions against the Tigers and needs to tune it up against SE Louisiana so that next weeks SEC opener in Columbia won’t be a complete mess.
Arkansas o Georgia- This will likely be the closest SEC action of the week. Georgia struggled against South Carolina last week in Athens and almost started the season 0-2. The Dawgs are rebuilding. On the other hand, Arkansas is on the rise. Players in Fayetteville are calling this a “must win” and its only the 3rd week of the season. The biggest game in the two year tenure of Bobby Petrino should be a good one…Give the game to the Razorbacks because they are at home and really do NEED the win if they want to reach 6 and make bowl eligibility this season.
Vanderbilt o Mississippi State- Vanderbilt surprised me last week playing LSU strong to the end in Baton Rouge. Maybe the Commodores are going to compete all season, but before we get that far ahead of ourselves it would be nice for the ‘Dores to be 3-0…that’s ½ way to bowl eligible. Mississippi State is headed for a rocky first year with Dan Mullens at the helm. Vandy should take care of business at home.
South Carolina o Florida Atlantic- South Carolina hasn’t looked good the last two weeks but the offense started working in Athens and that might be a turning point for the Cocks. Spurrier needs another good offensive game before the Rebels come to town in their first SEC game of the season.
Auburn o West Virginia- Last year the Tigers kept it close in Morgantown but Pat White took over the game and took down the Tigers basically knocking out any chance of the Tigers to make a bowl game. This year, No Pat White= West Virginia struggles. Gene Chizik starting 3-0, who’d of thunk…

CONFERENCE GAMES
OVERALL- 6-4
PAC 10- USC o Washington
BIG 10- Michigan o E Michigan
BIG 12- Texas o Texas Tech
ACC- Clemson o Boston College
BIG EAST- Rutgers o FLA INTL
UPSET- NEBRASKA o VIRGINIA TECH