The Wildcats final regular season game of 2018 sees Kentucky battle traditional rival Louisville on Saturday. Kentucky picked up a much needed win last time out against a tricky Middle Tennessee squad to avert a three fame skid, while Louisville has had a disaster of a season and the Cardinals sit on a 2-9 record with Bobby Petrino having been booted out midseason.
By Steve Wright
Here are the three keys:
Forget the records
It is a cliché, but in rivalry games records go out of the window.
This Governors Cup battle will see Louisville play some of its best football of the season after going winless in ACC play. It doesn’t matter that Louisville lost by 42-points last weekend with an interim coaching staff, what matters is that the Cardinals will come out swinging, giving Kentucky everything it can handle with its best shot.
Kentucky is the better team here. The Wildcats finished SEC play with a winning record for the first time since 1977. The running game has been outstanding all season, while the defense is one of the best in the country. Even so, records don’t matter here and the Wildcats must mentally prepare to be in a four quarter fight.
Run the ball
One reason that Louisville has been so bad in 2018 is because the Cardinals have yet to show any ability to stop the run. That is a very bad sign for the team as they get set to face Benny Snell and have the best back in the entire SEC running the ball into the heart of their defensive line for 60 minutes.
Teams like Wake Forest, Clemson, and Syracuse have all rushed for over 300 yards against Louisville this season. NC State went for 164 yards and three scores a week ago after coming into the game as a team that could barely move the ball on the ground.
Kentucky still has no passing attack of note, but on Saturday they might not need one.
Take care of the football
There is no reason that Kentucky should lose this game. Louisville has given up 52 points or more in each of its last four games, with Syracuse putting up a ridiculous 77 points on the Cardinals during that span.
The only way this stays close is if Kentucky lets Louisville stay in the game with turnovers. One issue with this potential 9-3 regular season is that Kentucky just hasn’t been ruthless enough in victory. The wins tend to come by a score or two, but in this game the Wildcats could, and perhaps should, put up a big number on the school that ranks 127th in the nation in scoring defense.
Keeping hold of the ball should be enough to see Kentucky score 40 or more here.
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