KSR Today: Back To School, Kentucky Football Fall Camp Week 4 and More

DrewFranklinKSR

university-of-kentucky-memorial-hall — (Photo: Michael Clevenger/Courier Journal)

Good morning, KSR readers, and a special good luck to any of those readers beginning school at the University of Kentucky today. It’s the first day of classes in Lexington with more than 6,000 new students eager to start their journeys as Wildcats.

Welcome to Lexington and the University of Kentucky!

While they do school stuff today, the rest of us are still counting down until Kentucky Football plays its first game of the 2023 season.

12 days out, Big Blue Nation.

Mark Stoops at the Wildcat Kickoff Luncheon

Kentucky Football keeps things quiet on Mondays during fall camp, but Mark Stoops will do some talking in Louisville today at the 2023 Wildcat Kickoff Luncheon. Hosted by the Greater Louisville UK Alumni Club, Stoops will speak at Churchill Downs, where he will share some insight about his team to lunch-eating Kentucky fans.

It’s a ticketed event so you can’t show up on a whim with an empty stomach, but KSR will be in attendance to take notes on all that Stoops shares out of UK’s preseason preparations.

Here’s what Mark Stoops said at this past Saturday’s team scrimmage:

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Lynn Bowden and Landon Young on SNF

Last night, the New Orleans Saints beat the San Diego Chargers on Sunday Night Football, and a couple of former Wildcats contributed to the win. Wearing the No. 84, Lynn Bowden caught two passes for his new franchise, including a 32-yarder.

Aug 20, 2023; Inglewood, California, USA; New Orleans Saints wide receiver Lynn Bowden (84) runs the ball during the first half against the Los Angeles Chargers at SoFi Stadium. (Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports)

Also in white and gold, Landon Young helped with protection at tackle on the Saints offensive line. It’s Young’s third preseason with New Orleans since he signed a four-year rookie deal as a 2021 sixth-round pick.

Chris Rodriguez on Monday Night Football

Tonight, another former Kentucky Football star will play in the NFL’s preseason when rookie Chris Rodriguez plays his second game with the Washington Commanders. Rodriguez led Washington in yards with 39 on only five carries a week ago, so expect him to get more touches in his second NFL dress rehearsal tonight on Monday Night Football.

On the other side, fellow rookie Tashawn Manning is fighting for a spot with the Baltimore Ravens.

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Fun fact: Baltimore hasn’t lost a preseason game since 2015, a record 24 straight preseason wins.

New “KSR Football Podcast” goes live at 5:00

Coming up at 5:00 today, the KSR Football Podcast will go live on YouTube at its usual Monday evening timeslot, followed by the audio-only version on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. On this week’s edition, Nick Roush will lead Freddie Maggard, Adam Luckett, and me through another fall camp conversation in the final week of the team’s preseason preparations. This time next week, the Wildcats will begin their weekly regular season grind.

Freddie Maggard ranked Kentucky’s home games

Former Kentucky quarterback Freddie Maggard has more preseason fodder for football fans as the countdown continues to the season opener. Yesterday, Freddie ranked all of Kentucky’s home games at Kroger Field in 2023.

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College Football’s Week 0

There is one more Saturday before Kentucky Football begins its season on September 2 in Lexington. Before that Week 1 game, college football has seven Week 0 games on the docket to hold you over until Football Time In The Bluegrass.

Game	Time (ET)	TV channel
Navy at Notre Dame (-20.5)	2:30 p.m.	NBC/Peacock
UTEP at Jacksonville State (-1.5)	5:30 p.m.	CBS Sports Network
UMass at New Mexico State (-7.5)	7 p.m.	ESPN
Ohio at San Diego State (-3)	7 p.m.	FS1
Hawaii at Vanderbilt (-17)	7:30 p.m.	SEC Network
San Jose State at USC (-30.5)	8 p.m.	Pac-12 Network
FIU at Louisiana Tech (-10.5)	9 p.m.	CBS Sports Network

KSR’s Kroger Game of the Week was a thriller

Bowling Green and LCA did not lack offense or suspense in the first KSR/Kroger Game of the Week of the season. Bowling Green’s Deuce Bailey and LCA’s Cutter Boley were outstanding in the back-and-forth shootout, seen below in the recap from KSR’s Steven Peake. LCA running back Brady Hensley, formerly of Madison Central, also shined with nearly 500 total yards and seven scores.

KSR will announce its next Game of the Week later today. In the meantime, catch up on how each team in KSR’s Preseason Top 25 played in Week 1.

“Swamp Kings” coming to Netflix

Tomorrow, the new “Swamp Kings” documentary about Florida Football will drop on Netflix. College football fans everywhere are excited to see the madness behind Urban Meyer’s Gators program in the early 2000s.

Listen to KSR at 10 a.m.

In one hour, Kentucky Sports Radio’s two-hour morning radio program will broadcast live from KSBar and Grille. Matt Jones has a long list of topics for the conversation, and I will be on the show to take my medicine for the embarrassing match game performance at Great American Ball Park.