So on to Kentucky...

[MSUDC11]

Does anyone have a dang clue what to expect from this game? I sure don't. They ran for 400 yards on Ole Miss and still managed to lose. Their pass defense has been atrocious through two games but I expect them to zone us a lot like Arkansas did, so I'm not sure how much you can rely on what they did the last two games.

If I was a betting man I would not touch this game, it really feels like a four outcome game as HD6 likes to say. I have to say I have not been impressed by Kentucky at all so I feel like we have every chance to win this game and possibly win it big if our offense is more efficient and our defense continues to play reasonably well. At the same time, can our defense hold up against the power rushing we are about to see and can our offense actually be more efficient? I honestly have no idea.

 

[patdog]

I think our offense will look a lot better against Kentucky than it did against Arkansas. They'll get some yards on us, but they won't run for 400, and they can't throw so our secondary won't get exposed. MSU - 38, UK - 24.

 

[johnson86-1]

Does anyone have a dang clue what to expect from this game? I sure don't. They ran for 400 yards on Ole Miss and still managed to lose. Their pass defense has been atrocious through two games but I expect them to zone us a lot like Arkansas did, so I'm not sure how much you can rely on what they did the last two games.

If I was a betting man I would not touch this game, it really feels like a four outcome game as HD6 likes to say. I have to say I have not been impressed by Kentucky at all so I feel like we have every chance to win this game and possibly win it big if our offense is more efficient and our defense continues to play reasonably well. At the same time, can our defense hold up against the power rushing we are about to see and can our offense actually be more efficient? I honestly have no idea.

I am going all in on MSU moneyline. It's possible last week was Leach's annual WTF loss and we'll come out looking like a pretty good offense the rest of the year. It's possible it was just a result of us not having been in the system long enough and we just did a poor job adjusting to the zone, but we'll be ready this week after seeing it in a game and getting a week to prepare. It's possible the air raid is that easy to stop for SEC defenses and we are 17ed.

If it's ones of the firs two options, we'll be fine and win the game. IF it's the latter, I want to go ahead and lose whatever money I was going to gamble this year and then check out for the rest of the season.

 

[BlueRidgeMtns]

I'm feeling like we will come out better prepared to face the zone, even if it means a drive of 10+ plays where we throw to the check down repeatedly.

 

[Russ Wheeler]

Hard to predict. Numbers say we should probably win, but I have a feeling our issues will probably get a little worse before they get better. I could see us losing to Kentucky then beating Texas A&M, then beating someone even better later on. But we could blow them out if things click. So much depends on turnovers (duh - I know).

I'm curious how we will react to a dual threat quarterback.

The good thing is - now I can erase all those delusional hopes of an SEC title and Heisman campaign. It makes it much easier to just watch and hopefully look forward to the future as the young guys grow up.

 

[Seinfeld]

Up until Saturday, I would’ve said that I expect Kentucky to pull out all the stops on offense because they know that methodical rushing attack that scores 24 pts just isn’t going to be enough to beat Leach.

After this past weekend, though, I’d expect them to come with the exact same gameplan as Arkansas. Control the clock, get points where you can, and don’t turn the ball over on offense. On defense, 3 man front, make tackles, and take advantage when KJ gives the ball away.

I’m not in sky is falling mode by any means, but if Kylin isn’t back this weekend and Leach doesn’t figure something out against a simple zone scheme, this season is going to turn south in a hurry. Arkansas isn’t what they were last year, I get it. But they’re still one of the 2-3 worst teams that we’ll play all year, and we were baffled by them.

 

[MSUDC11]

I'm concerned about Kentucky being 0-2 and having Tennessee and Georgia immediately following us. They are staring 0-5 right in the face if they can't win this game. They are as desperate of a team as we'll see all year. And then I still have some Lexington-related PTSD from the Sirmon debacle in 2016 and JoMo's total unraveling up there in 2018.

It's very easy to see what they are going to do, they will try to run it down our throats and then sit back and play zone just like Arkansas did. The whole world knows it's coming, especially after Saturday. We'll have to be ready for both of those things. It's a very winnable game but it could go bad in a hurry if we aren't careful.

 

[johnson86-1]

I'm concerned about Kentucky being 0-2 and having Tennessee and Georgia immediately following us. They are staring 0-5 right in the face if they can't win this game. They are as desperate of a team as we'll see all year. And then I still have some Lexington-related PTSD from the Sirmon debacle in 2016 and JoMo's total unraveling up there in 2018.

It's very easy to see what they are going to do, they will try to run it down our throats and then sit back and play zone just like Arkansas did. The whole world knows it's coming, especially after Saturday. We'll have to be ready for both of those things. It's a very winnable game but it could go bad in a hurry if we aren't careful.

It's going to be really interesting comparing the two ball control styles. Really need to get off to a good start so it's UK's D and not ours that wears down.

 

[oxfordrebel22]

I'm concerned about Kentucky being 0-2 and having Tennessee and Georgia immediately following us. They are staring 0-5 right in the face if they can't win this game. They are as desperate of a team as we'll see all year. And then I still have some Lexington-related PTSD from the Sirmon debacle in 2016 and JoMo's total unraveling up there in 2018.

It's very easy to see what they are going to do, they will try to run it down our throats and then sit back and play zone just like Arkansas did. The whole world knows it's coming, especially after Saturday. We'll have to be ready for both of those things. It's a very winnable game but it could go bad in a hurry if we aren't careful.

I’ll be interested to see if they use Gatewood any, since he’s cleared and apparently has a much better arm. Terry Wilson is not good throwing the ball. He’s not awful, but he’s certainly not going to throw strikes into tight windows. And by all accounts, the secondary is y’all’s defensive weakness. I’ll say this, Kentucky’s OL is very much legitimate. Ole Miss defense sucks, bad. But Kentucky may have the best OL in the SEC.

 

[Eleven Bravo]

I still can’t understand why some people are still saying things like “if Leach can’t figure out how to attack a scheme where they drop 8” etc., etc., etc. He has seen (and beaten) that scheme many times. In his press conference today, he mentioned that when he was at WSU that Oregon employed that scheme and that he had “beaten them 4 out of 6 times, and should have beaten them 6 out of 6 times”. People are giving Dave Odom far too much credit-like he suddenly came up with a novel approach to shutting down Leach’s offense. He didn’t. According to Leach this drop 8 scheme has been employed against his offense many times. Leach says that against Arkansas it was our failure to execute more than it was anything Arkansas was doing.

 

[bruiser.sixpack]

Up until Saturday, I would’ve said that I expect Kentucky to pull out all the stops on offense because they know that methodical rushing attack that scores 24 pts just isn’t going to be enough to beat Leach.

After this past weekend, though, I’d expect them to come with the exact same gameplan as Arkansas. Control the clock, get points where you can, and don’t turn the ball over on offense. On defense, 3 man front, make tackles, and take advantage when KJ gives the ball away.

I’m not in sky is falling mode by any means, but if Kylin isn’t back this weekend and Leach doesn’t figure something out against a simple zone scheme, this season is going to turn south in a hurry. Arkansas isn’t what they were last year, I get it. But they’re still one of the 2-3 worst teams that we’ll play all year, and we were baffled by them.

They are probably thinking State could be one of the 2-3 worst teams on their schedule and a way to keep from having an 0-3 start. State is not as good as they played at LSU and not as bad as they played against Arkansas. But you could say Kentucky is better than they have played the first two weeks too.

I believe if State loses Saturday, this season will go way south in a hurry. Hate to say both teams are in a must win situation, but they are.

 

[MSUDC11]

They are probably thinking State could be one of the 2-3 worst teams on their schedule and a way to keep from having an 0-3 start. State is not as good as they played at LSU and not as bad as they played against Arkansas. But you could say Kentucky is better than they have played the first two weeks too.

I believe if State loses Saturday, this season will go way south in a hurry. Hate to say both teams are in a must win situation, but they are.

I would say this is more of a must win for Kentucky given what their expectations were and the fact that they are still winless while we aren’t. We could lose this game but then turn around and beat A&M next week and most would be perfectly content. Truthfully just need a split of these next two games and that would be perfectly acceptable, although both are very winnable.