KSR Gameday: Kentucky takes on Akron at Kroger Field

by:Nick Roush•09/16/23•

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EKU-214604 — (Photo by Dr. Michael Huang | Kentucky Sports Radio)

It was an unusual week for the Kentucky football team. Will they be able to snap back into shape right away? We’ll find out at 7:30 pm EST when the Wildcats host Akron at Kroger Field.

Mark Stoops called his team to play a clean football game and they failed to execute in an unenthusiastic week two win over EKU. One day later offensive coordinator Liam Coen suffered a “medical episode” while watching film at the Joe Craft Football Training Facility. First responders sprung into action and he was treated at UK’s Chandler Hospital. Fortunately, the scare was only brief and Kentucky’s offensive coordinator was back at practice a couple days later.

Nevertheless, a situation like that can cause one to re-evaluate and reasses their goals and priorities. How will it affect these Kentucky Wildcats? Will they still play sloppy, or will they rally around their coach and respond with a dominant performance? Their mettle will be tested against an Akron team that needed a scoop-and-score in the final minute to avoid an FCS upset last week. If Kentucky puts it all together, this could be a fun tune-up before SEC play begins next week in Nashville against Vanderbilt.

Kentucky Football Gameday Schedule

3:30: KSR Pregame Show begins on 630 WLAP
4:30: $1 Gameday LexTran Shuttle Starts
5:15: The Cat Walk outside Gate 1
7:30: Kickoff on ESPNU

If you’re coming to KSBar for gameday, here’s where you can, and can’t, park.

Kentucky vs. Akron: TV, Radio, Line

Kentucky is a 26-point favorite against Akron with a total set at 49. Both teams are 1-1 ATS this season. The under has hit in each of Akron’s first two games. In games directly after failing to cover a spread against a non-Power Five team, Mark Stoops is 11-4 ATS (5-0 since 2018).

Courtney Lyle and Hutson Mason will be on the call for ESPNU. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 pm EST. If you can’t attend the game or stream the Cats, you can always listen to the Voice of the Wildcats, Tom Leach, and Jeff Piecoro.

AM: 840 WHAS, 630 WLAP
FM: 98.1 WBUL
Satellite: Sirius 98 or 203, SXM app 985

Follow @KSRonX, KSR’s official Twitter/X account, for all the latest Kentucky Wildcats news, videos, and content.

Cougar Bait at Kroger Field

Country Boy Brewing’s Cougar Bait Blonde Ale will be available behind section 16 in Kroger Field this season. Cougar Bait is an easy drinking blonde ale perfect for your tailgate and your first beer at the game. Crisp and refreshing, this beer is the perfect complement to football Saturdays in Kentucky. If you can’t make it to the game, be sure to watch the Cats all season long in one of the three Country Boy taprooms in Lexington, Georgetown, and the newest location in Downtown Louisville at the Omni Hotel. Learn more about the beer or find a Country Boy brew near you at www.countryboybrewing.com.

Merry Flipmas!

The moment you’ve been waiting for is finally here. Shortly after guiding Corbin to a 6-0 win over Frederick Douglass, Jerod Smith and Jacob Smith announced they will play college football at the University of Kentucky. The four-star, top 300 talents were previously committed to Michigan. Steve Clinkscale and Vince Marrow were in Corbin for the game, throwing more fuel on a fiery recruitment.

The commitments give the Cats a pair of dominant defenders in the front seven, the strength of Kentucky’s 2024 recruiting class that now features six players from the Commonwealth. To celebrate the occasion, Adam Luckett went all in on the double flip, with not one, but TWO editions of the KSR Film Room for Jerod and Jacob.

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Smith Twins flip to KENTUCKY!!!! pic.twitter.com/NjJohTaRZ8
— Matt Jones (@KySportsRadio) September 16, 2023

50 Years at the Home of Kentucky Football

It’s been fifty years and a day since Commonwealth Stadium was christened with a win by Fran Curci’s Wildcats over Virginia Tech. Kentucky will use Saturday night’s game to celebrate all of the memories made over the last five decades at what we now call Kroger Field.

24 hours until our first night game of the season. Celebrating 50 years of football in Kroger Field and opportunity for our team to compete! pic.twitter.com/H95DCcdo2K
— Kentucky Football (@UKFootball) September 15, 2023

Mark Stoops vs. Joe Moorhead

This will not be the first time Joe Moorhead has coached a game at Kroger Field. In the second year of a rebuild at Akron, he previously served as the head coach at Mississippi State in 2018 and 2019. Dan Mullen’s successor entered with lofty expectations he could not reach in part because of a game at Kroger Field (and an Egg Bowl that featured a dog-pee celebration). Kentucky out-muscled the Bulldogs in the rain to roll 28-7 in a Top 25 slugfest. The following year Moorhead got the victory in Starkville. Mark Stoops respects the Akron coach’s offensive scheme.

“They’re doing a lot right now, very creative… They rotated quarterbacks this past week, we got to be ready for a little bit of everything. It’s not exactly like Mississippi State but you see Joe and his philosophies still showing up and you see the creativity from him. I really like Joe,” Stoops said earlier this week.

Perfect Kentucky Football Weather

The first night game of the year gives the BBN all day to tailgate. Mostly clear skies and 80-degree weather is in the forecast until kickoff, where things will cool off and eventually dip down into the 60s by the time the Cats are leaving Kroger Field. Drink up every single second of this beautiful fall day in the Bluegrass.

Free Kentucky Football Posters

The final week before SEC play is also the final week Kentucky will be handing out free football posters outside of gate four in the Big Blue Zone. This week “Players Series” highlights the defense with three different posters.