LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- What happens when you turn in one of your best performances of the past couple of years but still lose the game? That's the question facing the University of Kentucky football team after it fell 13-12 to No. 1-ranked Georgia last week.
The Wildcats gave themselves a chance to take the lead in the game's closing minutes, driving to midfield against the Bulldogs with just over five minutes to play. But just then, they went away from their run game, threw a couple of pressured incomplete passes, and punted. By the time they got the ball back, the game was virtually over.
This week, the degree of difficulty goes way down for the Wildcats, who welcome Ohio University to Kroger Field on Saturday. But the mental and psychological degree of difficulty ramps back up to South Carolina levels from two weeks ago.
Ohio is your basic middle-of-the-pack MAC team. They're solid and played Syracuse tough in a 38-22 season-opening loss on the road. The Bobcats rank 75th nationally in total offense and 74th in total defense.
A rundown:
The Time: Saturday, 12:45 p.m., Kroger Field, Lexington.
How to Watch/Listen: TV – SEC Network (Dave Neal, Aaron Murray, Ashley ShahAhmadi). Radio – UK Network (840 WHAS) or ukathletics.com (Tom Leach, Jeff Piecoro, Dick Gabriel).
The Line: Kentucky by 20. Over/under: 42.
The Series: Kentucky leads Ohio 4-2, with all games played in Lexington. The Wildcats have shut out the Bobcats twice.
The Last Time: Kentucky beat Ohio, 20-3, behind 170 passing yards and a touchdown from quarterback Patrick Towles on Sept. 6, 2014.
The Records: Kentucky is 1-2. Ohio is 2-1, with wins over South Alabama and Morgan State.
Player to watch for Ohio: Running back Anthony Tyus, a graduate transfer from Northwestern, has run for 367 yards (and averaged 7.5 yards per carry) for the Bobcats this season, including an impressive 203 yards against Syracuse.
Kentucky quarterback Brock Vandagriff shifts running back Demi Sumo-Karngbaye before a play in a loss to Georgia.
Player to watch for Kentucky: Quarterback Brock Vandagriff, a transfer form Georgia, needs to get it going. He has thrown for just more than 100 yards per game and is completing just 53% of his passes this season, though the past two games have come against strong defenses. He needs a "get well" game, and this one has to be it.
Sideline storylines:
- How does Kentucky bounce back? The Wildcats were listless and disinterested two weeks ago in a 31-6 loss to South Carolina. They played as well as anyone in the country has played Georgia in a loss last week. Where are the Wildcats' heads this week?
- Kentucky hasn't scored a touchdown since its season-opening win over Southern Miss.
- Kentucky's defense ranks in the nation's top 10 in three categories: Rushing defense (8th, 62 yards per game), total defense (9th, 215 yards per game) and first downs allowed (32).
- Safety Zion Childress emerged as an emotional leader for the Kentucky defense in the loss to Georgia, with five tackles in the game's first two series. He leads the Wildcats in tackles for loss on the season with five.
- Kentucky is awaiting the return from injury of Ohio State transfer running back Chip Trayanum, but expect to be without him for Saturday's game.
The Quote:
"Ohio is a team that is a very good team. Most of the time when I say that most fans don't believe me, but I think this year you can tell by looking at the MAC (Mid-American Conference) and the very big victories that they've had this year, they're not a joke. People think it's coach-speak when you sit there and say they're very – it's just a good league, good teams, good coaches, this staff has been together a long, long time. This head coach (Tim Albin) I think is going into year four, but he's been there forever. There's a lot of continuity and they play very well. Extremely balanced on offense, almost 200 (yards per game both rushing and passing), right around there, so very balanced offensively. Defensively, very, very tough. They play very hard. They mix it up in the front, play both four-down (linemen) and three-down, and they make you earn every yard. So, it goes back to what I always say, it's about us. Just like last week, it's about us and our preparation and what we do throughout the week to put us into a position to win and have confidence by our preparation."
The Pick:
Kentucky 28, Ohio 10.
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