It wasn’t always pretty but Kentucky took care of business in its opening day win over Central Michigan. While the 35-20 didn’t blow anyone away, it did set up the Wildcats for an intriguing Week 2 game against Florida.
By Steve Wright
Here are the three keys to the matchup between the Wildcats and the Gators:
Get more from Terry Wilson
Quarterback Wilson was always going to be a work in progress at the start of the season. After narrowly beating out Gunnar Hoak for the job over the summer, the former JuCo standout looked nervous and a little overwhelmed in his first FBS start.
His stat line was far from impressive, with Wilson losing a fumble and throwing a pair of interceptions along the way. In total he completed 11 of 18 passes for just 78 yards, while adding another 38 yards on the ground over nine carries.
The positive to take here is that Wilson looked much better in the second half than the first. Kentucky needs to rely on their running game while Wilson gets bedded in at the quarterback spot, slowing growing his production as the season progresses. Florida is a tough matchup, but if Wilson can simply take those three turnovers he had against CMU out of his game then the Wildcats will have a chance to win.
Beat Florida on the ground
With Wilson struggling to adjust to life in the SEC, Kentucky will need to ride its ground game against the Gators. It will be a tough test against a Florida defensive front seven that is known for producing NFL level talent, but running backs Benny Snell and A.J. Rose both hit the ground running in 2018 with impressive performances against the Chippewas.
Snell – battling against a wild virus/fever combination – rushed the ball for 125 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries. He was ably assisted by Rose, who rushed for 104 yards while carrying the ball just eight times. The Wildcats finished the day just one yard shy of 300 on the ground, with Snell and Rose looking like an outstanding combination of backfield talents.
The Gators were also dominant on the ground in their opener, rushing as a team for 203 yards and one touchdown against Charleston Southern in a 53-6 victory. Owning the ground game and winning the rushing battle will be huge for Kentucky if they are to pull off the upset and end a 31-year losing streak.
Cool off Feleipe Franks
Now that is a heading that I was not expecting to write this year.
We all know that new Florida head coach Dan Mullen has a reputation as a quarterback whisperer, but turning Franks into what appears to be a viable FBS quarterback might have been his best trick yet.
The sample size is small – just one game against a Big South team – but Franks was unreal against Charleston Southern. After throwing for just nine touchdowns in 11 games in 2017, Franks threw for five in just one game last Saturday, slinging the ball around with an accurate abandon that we have never seen before. Oh, and Franks threw for all five of those touchdowns in the first half alone.
Franks finishes 16-of-24 through the air for 219 yards and those five scores before exiting at halftime. It will be a fascinating matchup on Saturday against a Kentucky defense that gave up zero points in the second half and that only conceded points all game after turnovers from the offense game CMU field position and momentum.
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