Kentucky vs. Eastern Kentucky: KSR Staff Predictions

by:KSR•09/09/23

At 3 p.m. Saturday afternoon, Kentucky and Eastern Kentucky will play “on the computer” in the streaming-only game on ESPN+ and SEC Network+. Right now on your computer, the KSR crew has predictions for the outcome of that non-conference, second-week matchup in Lexington.

Last week, Adam Luckett nearly nailed the Kentucky-Ball State score with his prediction of 45-13 for the 44-14 game, so he has the hot hand early on.

Drew Franklin

Devin Leary read your tweets and heard your calls into KSR, all of you who questioned his accuracy after one game. Tomorrow, he will show you why he was considered one of the best quarterbacks in the transfer portal when he picks apart Eastern Kentucky’s defense early and often. By halftime, Leary and Kentucky’s offense will have more than 30 points on the scoreboard in an unfair fight between a highly-motivated SEC offense and an outmatched defense from the OVC.

Mark Stoops will call off the dogs early in the second half out of respect for Walt Wells and Stoops’ former players on Wells’ staff (who are invited over for bourbon after the game). In the end, Kentucky will run out the clock to a final score of 51-13, with noteworthy performances by Leary, Ray Davis, JJ Weaver, and Octavious Oxendine, to name a few.

Score: Kentucky 51, EKU 13

Tyler Thompson

Eastern Kentucky got walloped by a bad Cincinnati team in Week 1, 66-13. The score was 42-7 at halftime. This game has a lot of storylines — Walt Wells’ recovery from a near-fatal heart attack last fall, his friendship with Mark Stoops, the former Kentucky players/assistants on EKU’s staff, and the failing health of EKU legend Roy Kidd — but it should not be close. I expect Kentucky to come out of the gates quickly, eager to clean up the mistakes from the season opener.

As Drew said, no Wildcat will be more anxious to play well than Devin Leary, who looked a little rusty in his first game in almost 10 months. I expect Leary to find his groove vs. the Colonels and the Cats to hit cruise control in the second half. Running up the score isn’t Stoops’ style — especially against one of his friends — so I’m expecting to see a lot of Ray Davis, who will notch his second 100-yard rushing game in a Kentucky uniform.

Score: Kentucky 48, EKU 10

Nick Roush

The Eastern Kentucky defense is not good. It wasn’t good against Cincinnati, indicating last year’s porous defense was not a one-off, but a trend that will continue throughout the 2023 season. It’s the perfect opportunity for Devin Leary to get-right. On the other side of the line of scrimmage, Kentucky will dominate in the trenches. Parker McKinney is still savvy enough to lead a few scoring drives and test the UK cornerbacks, but not enough to scare the Wildcats.

Prior to writing this post I did the math and accounted for six Kentucky football touchdowns and three field goals. Thought the Colonels would move the ball well enough, but get forced to kick early field goals. I came to the final score of Kentucky 51, EKU 13 independently. Drew Franklin and I are on the same wavelength.

Score: Kentucky 51, EKU 13

Jack Pilgrim

Devin Leary’s 241-yard passing performance vs. Ball State would have been Will Levis’ fourth-best of his senior campaign in Lexington. He missed some throws and looked a bit uncomfortable as he knocked the rust off in his first game back since last October, but the fifth-year senior was still solid. And he’s only going to grow from here, starting with a 300-yard, three-touchdown effort against the Colonels.

Too many close relationships on the opposing sideline to keep this thing from getting way out of hand, but still more than enough firepower to take care of business in a lopsided victory. The tight end unit finally joins the party after a quiet debut, one score apiece for Josh Kattus and Izayah Cummings while Tayvion Robinson gets the third from Leary. Then Ray Davis finds the end zone again while Ramon Jefferson gets his first touches of the season (and his Kentucky career, really), adding a score.

Two field goals from our new best friend Alex Raynor and the Wildcats celebrate a 2-0 start going into Saturday evening.

Score: Kentucky 41, EKU 7

Adam Luckett

Similar to Cincinnati last week, Kentucky gets off to a very fast start against a bad EKU defense with multiple touchdown drives in the first half. The Wildcats get to the 30s before halftime and then Mark Stoops will slow things down at the half.

We see a bounce-back performance from Devin Leary who throws for over 300 yards and Ray Davis has another productive day on the ground. However, the backdoor cover will be alive and well in the fourth quarter even with Kentucky having the game in hand.

The Big Blue Nation leaves Kroger Field on Saturday night feeling better about the state of the offense after seeing some big fireworks in the first half.

Score: Kentucky 48, EKU 14

Zack Geoghegan

Co-signing what Adam wrote, I believe the final score of this game will nearly be decided by halftime. As already mentioned above, Stoops won’t run up the score against this EKU group of familiar faces. Kentucky should lead by three or four touchdowns at the intermission before the reserves begin to share snaps in the second half. With that in mind, I don’t see massive individual performances from anyone. Ray Davis will still be close to the 100-yard mark, but his touches will be spread throughout the running back room after halftime.

Liam Coen will keep his playbook tight to the chest for the second straight week — no need to show your hand against the only FCS opponent on the schedule. Kentucky will play clean, fundamental football on offense while the Wildcats’ defense has its way throughout the afternoon. This will be the perfect opportunity for freshmen such as Anthony Brown-Stephens and Ty Bryant to get more reps as the game goes along. We might even see Kaiya Sheron or Destin Wade lining up at quarterback in the fourth period. This one won’t be close from start to finish.

Score: Kentucky 41, EKU 10

Your turn, BBN. What’s the score going to be tomorrow at Kroger Field?

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