Kentucky-Ohio: Preview, Injury Report, Point Spread, How To Watch, and More

by:Drew Franklin•about 6 hours•

DrewFranklinKSR

NCAA Football: South Carolina at Kentucky — Sep 7, 2024; Lexington, Kentucky, USA; Kentucky Wildcats quarterback Brock Vandagriff (12) waits for a snap during the first quarter against the South Carolina Gamecocks at Kroger Field. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Prather-Imagn Images

It is ‘Cats versus ‘Cats as the Kentucky Wildcats (1-2, 0-2) are home for a fourth straight Saturday at Kroger Field, hosting the Ohio Bobcats (2-1, 0-0) from the MAC. Ohio travels to Lexington riding a two-game win streak, beating South Alabama and Morgan State at Frank Solich Field at Peden Stadium before traveling south of the Ohio River.

You know how things have gone for the Wildcats. Kentucky enters today’s game on a two-game home losing skid, going down to underdog South Carolina and No. 1 Georgia in games that riled up the Big Blue Nation for separate reasons. Playing a less daunting opponent from a different Athens today, Kentucky needs a high-scoring day from its offense and a rebound win.

How To Watch/Listen

Kickoff: 12:45 p.m. ET
TV: SEC Network (Dave Neal, Aaron Murray, Ashley ShahAhmadi)
Watch college football games live – try Fubo for free! Click HERE NOW.
Local Radio: UK Sports Network (Tom Leach, Jeff Piecoro, Dick Gabriel)
AM: 840 WHAS, 630 WLAP
FM: 98.1 WBUL
Online: iHeart Radio
Sirius XM: 119 or 191
Live Stats: StatBroadcast

Join The Discussion over at KSBoard

Consider joining the conversation on KSBoard if you want to interact with the KSR crew during the game. A live discussion can be found in the game thread, plus several other topics and conversations about the Wildcats and more.

Injury/Availability Reports

— Kentucky is only required to release its injury report prior to SEC games, so we are left to speculate this week. Against Georgia, Kentucky played without running backs Chip Trayanum and Jason Patterson. Trayanum is out again, according to Mark Stoops, and Patterson is likely to join him. Offensive lineman Jager Burton was questionable earlier in the week. He’s another one to watch.

— The training room in Athens, Ohio, has been crowded this season. The Bobcats are thin at linebacker and defensive back. A very unofficial injury report can be seen over at Covers.com.

Team Records/Results

Kentucky (1-2)

vs Southern Miss – W (31-0)
vs South Carolina – L (31-6)
vs #1 Georgia – L (13-12)
vs Ohio

Ohio (2-1)

@ Syracuse – L (38-22)
vs South Alabama – W (27-20)
vs Morgan State – W (21-6)
@ Kentucky

Week 3 Depth Charts

KENTUCKY

OHIO

Uniform Combination

Kentucky will wear blue tops with white helmets and white britches against Ohio.

Our favorite colors 🔵⚪️ pic.twitter.com/sJ5DqMwYAW
— Kentucky Football (@UKFootball) September 20, 2024

Gamble

Point Spread: Kentucky -20
Over/Under: 42.5

Five Pregame Storylines

Kentucky needs to score a touchdown. The Wildcats played two games, home losses to South Carolina and Georgia, without finding the end zone. The 18 points scored in two weeks all came from kicker Alex Raynor, who went 6-for-6 on field goals in those two games.
Kentucky needs to score a lot of touchdowns. The offense needs to make a statement against Ohio’s defense that surrendered 38 points at Syracuse. If it’s a low-scoring game today, there is serious trouble in Bush Hamdan’s first season with the playbook.
Brock Vandagriff vs. Ohio’s pass defense. Syracuse threw for over 350 yards and four touchdowns against the Bobcats in Week 1. Brock Vandagriff has an opportunity for a breakout game and to get UK’s offense back on track. Some explosive throws would be nice.
Anthony Tyus III vs. Kentucky’s run defense. Ohio’s offense runs on Anthony Tyus III, whose 112.3 rushing yards per game ranks him eighth nationally. The transfer from Northwestern is a tackle-breaker (26 broken tackles already) running against a team built to stop the run but has missed some tackles this season.
How much Blue get in? The turnout for today’s game will show what last week’s loss did to the fan base. Are they back in? Are they upset? With Kentucky playing a non-conference team at 12:45 p.m. on a hot day, Kroger Field will soon check the Big Blue Nation’s temperature.