The WBN staff predict the 2011 Kentucky Wildcat Football Season
By Paul Jordan
It’s that time. We are less than a week before the start of the 2011 Kentucky Wildcat football season and I have asked the staff of the Wildcat Blue Nation to give me their picks for the upcoming football season. Take a look at what we came up with.
JAMES STREBLE
Western Kentucky- W
Central Michigan- W
Louisville- W
Florida- L
@ LSU- L
@ South Carolina- L
Jacksonville State- W
Mississippi State- L
Ole Miss- W
@ Vanderbilt- W
@ Georgia- W
Tennessee- W
I can see an 8-4 record for the Cats this season. Kentucky will run their non-conference schedule, as they have for the past 4 years, and they will improve their dismal 2 win record that they accumulated last season in the SEC.
Joker’s second year will be a big improvement and his winning ways will start sooner than it did for Rick Brooks. Joker has inherited a program in much better shape than Brooks did.
I think by the end of the year, Morgan Newton will have things figured out on the offensive end of the ball and the defense will prove to be much more productive under Rick Minter. Wins against Georgia, Ole Miss and Tennessee are not out of the realm of possibility, and they might even pull an upset against one of the real big boys, as is the tradition each year.
Then again, the Cats could continue to drop head scratchers against teams that really are inferior to them. The keys to the season are confidence, game planning and a cut throat attitude on defense.
GREG EDWARDS: Asst Editor and Known Football Savant!
WKU-Victory! Kentucky 42-WKU 10
Central Michigan-Victory! Kentucky 40-CMU 14
Louisville-Toss Up Kentucky 21-Louisville ???
Florida -Loss Kentucky 14- Florida 38
LSU- Loss Kentucky 16- LSU 35
S.Carolina-Loss Kentucky 10- S.Carolina 25
Jacksonville State-Victory! Kentucky-34- JSU 18
Miss. State-Loss Kentucky 17-MSU 21
Ole Miss-Toss Up Kentucky 20- Mississippi ????
Vandy-Victory! Kentucky 24- Vandy 14
Georgia-Loss Kentucky 17- Georgia 31
Tennessee-Loss Kentucky 18- Tenn 24
As everyone can see, I have the Cats with the possibility of a dreaded 4-8 season or as good as a 6-6 year. I really hope they surprise me, because it does me no benefit to assume doom and gloom. However, I stand by my predictions from earlier in the year, and I see the distinct possibility of the Cats missing a bowl game for the first time in five years this season. The fact that the schedule is favorable and most of the away games would have probably been losses at Commonwealth anyway may be a major help to the Cats as the season wears on. If the Cats leave the Jacksonville State game at 4-3, another bowl game may very well be a possibility.
Key Game: Louisville. This game will give the Cats a lot of momentum and allow them to leave the dreaded three game killer stretch of Florida, LSU, and S.Carolina with a .500 record. Picking up a win the following week gives the Cats hope of getting on a roll and maybe pulling an upset of Miss. State, although that is not likely.
Must Win To Save The Season: Ole Miss. Houston Nutt is not going to be beatable for the Cats for much longer if he accomplishes his usual feats at Mississippi as he has done in the past elsewhere.
Would Love To See: Victory over UT. Like Ole Miss, Tennessee is going to do nothing but get better. While we hope to do that also, they have a track record of actually accomplishing it. This may be a year to make this game memorable.
ALAN SMITH
WKU – Kentucky wins easily in Nashville 38-10
Central Michigan – Central Michigan poses a challenge but UK breaks away at end 31-17
Louisville – Cat’s late game heroics save a 27-24 win
@ Florida – Turnovers hurt UK as the streak continues to the tine of 41-20 UF
@ LSU – No miracle for UK in Baton Rouge. LSU 33-14
@ South Carolina – Cats win defensive battle 20-14
Jacksonville State – Cats win easy 30-7
Mississippi State – UK can not handle the spread offense, fall 27-10
Ole Miss – UK tries to give it away with turnovers but win 17-7
@ Vanderbilt – UK’s D way too tough for the Commodores. UK 23-3
@ Georgia – Typical heartbreaking UK loss to the tune of 31-24
Tennessee – The streak ends! UK wins 27-20.
All in all a 8-4 season for UK and 4-4 in the SEC. I saw UK faces Clemson in the Chick Fil-a Peach Bowl.
As editor of this site, I get the luxury of going last. I always tend to be a bit more optimistic when it comes to football, so let’s take a look at how I see it playing out:
WESTERN KENTUCKY – The WKU game is a good tuneup for Morgan Newton and his new set of receivers. The first quarter is kind of competitive, but Newton hits King with a long completion early in the second and that gets the flood waters going. Kentucky 31 WKU 10
CENTRAL MICHIGAN – With a game under their belt, UK’s offense hits their stride early and often. KENTUCKY 42 Central Michigan 7
LOUISVILLE – All the talk of Louisville being much improved is a myth. Kentucky strikes early and holds a comfortable lead throughout. KENTUCKY 27 Louisville 17
FLORIDA – This streak has to end sometime, right? I would like Kentucky’s chances a lot more if we played the Gators in game one or two. Florida 21 KENTUCKY 17
@ LSU – Nothing to see here. Very few teams get out of Death Valley alive. LSU 31 KENTUCKY 14
@ SOUTH CAROLINA – Steve Spurrier did not like losing to Kentucky last year and Lattimore/Jeffery will be too much to overcome. South Carolina 28 KENTUCKY 17
JACKSONVILLE STATE – This comes at a good time. KENTUCKY 45 Jacksonville State 13
MISSISSIPPI STATE – There comes a time when a team needs to step up and defend their home turf and win a game that can turn around their season. KENTUCKY 24 Mississippi State 21 in OT.
MISSISSIPPI – The defense comes around to save a sluggish offense. KENTUCKY 14 Mississippi 10
@ VANDERBILT – This is a different UK team playing late. They handle Vandy with no unnecessary drama as a couple of the freshmen make big plays. KENTUCKY 24 Vanderbilt 10
@ GEORGIA – It’s a fight the whole way, but Kentucky comes up a bit short in a heartbreaker. Georgia 23 KENTUCKY 21
TENNESSEE – It ends now. And it will be easier than we think. KENTUCKY 28 Tennessee 17
So I foresee an 8-4 record and 4-4 in the SEC. Based 0n the logjam in the SEC East, Kentucky finds themselves playing in Tampa in the Outback Bowl on early New Years Day.
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