KSR GAMEDAY: Kentucky Seeks Four Straight Wins Over Florida

Start your day by turning the page back to a time when Kentucky native Alben Barkley was Vice President, the Rosenbergs were convicted of espionage, and I Love Lucy premiered on CBS. Bear Bryant’s Wildcats defeated Florida 14-6 in Gainesville for a fourth-straight win in the series.

Mark Stoops and the Kentucky Wildcats are going for four straight wins over the Gators for the first time in 73 years. The action at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium begins on the SEC Network at 7:45 pm EST.

These are desperate times for both teams. Billy Napier’s butt rests on a hot seat, one that briefly cooled following a home win over UCF, but an overtime loss at Tennessee has the fanbase back on edge. The same can be said about Big Blue Nation. All of the goodwill Mark Stoops earned with a Top 10 win in Oxford eroded away with a loss at home to Vanderbilt.

Kentucky has been better on the road than at home in SEC play. They need this trend to continue Saturday night at The Swamp to get this season back on track and maintain the upper hand in this highly contentious series.

Kentucky vs. Florida: How To Watch, Listen

• Kickoff: 7:45 p.m. ET
• TV: SEC Network (Dave Neal, Aaron Murray, Marilyn Payne)
• 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: 374 (UK); 106 or 190 (Florida)
• Live Stats: StatBroadcast

You can also keep up with the game and chat with other fans on our game thread on KSBoard, with Nick Roush and Adam Luckett providing updates from the Swamp and the rest of us from home.

Heading into the swamp 😼 pic.twitter.com/x1eOZxEUfN

— Kentucky Football (@UKFootball) October 18, 2024

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Saturday Gameday Schedule

If you’re in the Sunshine State, come greet the team at the Cat Walk. Never been to Ben Hill Griffin Stadium? If you’re staring at the venue from the street, walk to the back-left corner of the stadium, caddy corner from the O’Dome, near Gate 15. KSR will see you there.

11 am — Doors Open at KSBar and Grille
4:30 — KSR Pregame Show at KSBar
5:30 — Cat Walk
7:45 — Kickoff on SEC Network

Top Florida Players Sidelined

Billy Napier will not have his starting quarterback or starting running back on Saturday night. On Monday, we learned freshman phenom DJ Lagway would be getting his first SEC start. In that presser, Napier said he didn’t believe Montrell Johnson‘s injury would be a long-term issue. It’s severe enough to sideline the Gators’ leading rusher on Saturday night.

Lagway is an exceptional athlete who runs well. They won’t be able to run him against Kentucky. If he goes down, the Gators’ only other option is a walk-on. Unable to lean on Johnson and the run game, the Kentucky defense has to be licking its chops ahead of the matchup.

Kentucky vs. Florida Gambling Angles and Trends

The Gators opened as favorites. That flipped and as of this morning, Kentucky is a 1.5-point favorite with a total of 42.5. That’s a projected final score of 22-20.5. Kentucky is 4-2 against the spread (ATS) this season and 0-2 as an SEC favorite. Florida is 3-3 ATS this season and 2-2 as a dog. The under is 3-3 in Florida games and 5-1 in Kentucky games. The Wildcats are 5-0-2 ATS in this series since 2017. Billy Napier is 3-4 ATS as a home dog at Florida. You can find more in Adam Luckett’s Scouting Report on KSR+.

All White Fit for the Cats

The Gators are wearing a traditional look against the Wildcats, with orange helmets, blue jerseys, and white pants. Kentucky is taking its all-white look to Gainesville, the same uniform combination they wore in a win at Ole Miss and the same uniform they wore the last time they were at The Swamp, a 26-16 victory.

Unlike the September scorchers, Ben Hill Griffin Stadium will be a cool 70 degrees for tonight’s kickoff. It’s going to be a beautiful night to beat the Gators.

College Football on TV

East Carolina at No. 23 Army	Noon ET	ESPN2
Nebraska at No. 16 Indiana	Noon ET	FOX
UCLA at Rutgers	Noon ET	FS1
Louisiana at Coastal Carolina	Noon ET	ESPNU
Virginia at No. 10 Clemson	Noon ET	ACC Network
Wisconsin at Northwestern	Noon ET	Big Ten Network
No. 6 Miami at Louisville	Noon ET	ABC
Auburn at No. 19 Missouri	Noon ET	ESPN
South Carolina at Oklahoma	12:45pm ET	SEC Network
NC State at California	3:30pm ET	ACC Network
Hawaii at Washington State	3:30pm ET	The CW
No. 24 Michigan at No. 22 Illinois	3:30pm ET	CBS
Charlotte at No. 25 Navy	3:30pm ET	CBS Sports Network
No. 7 Alabama at No. 11 Tennessee	3:30pm ET	ABC
No. 12 Notre Dame vs. Georgia Tech (Mercedez-Benz Stadium)	3:30pm ET	ESPN
Colorado at Arizona	4:00pm ET	FOX
New Mexico at Utah State	4:00pm ET	TruTV
USC at Maryland	4:00pm ET	FS1
Baylor at Texas Tech	4:00pm ET	ESPN2
No. 14 Texas A&M at Mississippi State	4:15pm ET	SEC Network
No. 8 LSU at Arkansas	7:00pm ET	ESPN
UCF at No. 9 Iowa State	7:30pm ET	FS1
No. 17 Kansas State at West Virginia	7:30pm ET	FOX
No. 5 Georgia at No. 1 Texas	7:30pm ET	ABC
Iowa at Michigan State	7:30pm ET	NBC
Kentucky at Florida	7:45pm ET	SEC Network
Colorado State at Air Force	8:00pm ET	CBS Sports Network
UNLV at Oregon State	10:00pm ET	The CW
TCU at Utah	10:30pm ET	ESPN

What happened at the Blue-White Event?

Only the folks inside Historic Memorial Coliseum got to see exactly what went down in the Blue-White Preseason Event. That’s why I’ll let the KSR explain how everything unfolded, who starred, and much more.

Mark Pope, Andrew Carr Recap Event
Takeaways and Impressions from Blue-White
Recapping the 1-Point Exhibition
Pope Grateful for Support, Patience in First Blue-White Event

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