KSR Today: One sleep 'til Kentucky football season

Do you hear that, Big Blue Nation? It’s the sweet sounds of Kentucky football time in the Bluegrass. Tailgate tents are being laid out, grills are getting fired up and beer cans are ready to pop as Mark Stoops and the Wildcats open the regular season at long last.

One final sleep to go before the real fun begins. Let’s talk through what’s to come Friday as we count down the final 27 hours ‘til kickoff, shall we?

Mark Stoops previews Ball State

Talking season is over for Coach Stoops and the Kentucky football staff. He made that abundantly clear in his final presser ahead of the Wildcats’ season-opener vs. Ball State on Saturday.

“I don’t have much to say, you guys have listened to me quite a bit through summer camp,” Stoops said. “Not much has changed, I think you all know that myself, my staff and our team is ready to go play a game. It’s getting to be about that time.”

The Wildcats have competed against one another from spring to early fall, the same head-to-head battles every day. Now it’s time to take on some new faces wearing different uniforms.

What is Stoops hoping to prove against Ball State? Who are this year’s team captains? Any last-minute thoughts on the Cardinals? He discussed it all in his brief Thursday presser:

Chester gets you ready for kickoff

It wouldn’t be a game week without a good Chester call to get you fired up! Listen to what he had to say on Thursday’s edition of KSR:

Early CFB results/schedule

While we wait for Kentucky’s season to kick off, the rest of the college football schedule is well underway. After a great start with Week 0, things are really getting rolling with games Thursday and again Friday evening.

The big one? Florida looking completely incompetent against No. 14 Utah, falling 24-11 on the road. Headlined by an atrocious offensive line trying (and failing) to keep new quarterback Graham Mertz upright, Billy Napier’s bunch didn’t spark much confidence as a legitimate contender in the SEC East race.

Check out all the scores from Thursday, along with Friday evening’s slate that includes our friends down I-64.

Thursday college football results

• Wake Forest def. Elon 37-17
• Central Florida def. Kent State 56-6
• Georgia State def. Rhode Island 42-35
• NC State def. UConn 24-14
• No. 14 Utah def. Florida 24-11
• Minnesota def. Nebraska 13-10
• Missouri def. South Dakota 35-10
• Arizona State def. Southern Utah 24-21

Friday college football schedule

• Howard at Eastern Michigan – 6:30 p.m. ET (ESPN+)
• Central Michigan at Michigan State – 7 p.m. ET (FS1)
• Miami (OH) at Miami (FL) – 7 p.m. ET (ACC Network)
• Louisville at Georgia Tech – 7:30 p.m. ET (ESPN)
• Missouri State at Kansas – 8 p.m. ET (Big 12 Network/ESPN+)
• Stanford at Hawai’i – 11 p.m. ET (CBS Sports Network)

Kroger KSR Game of the Week heads to Campbellsville

Last week’s Game of the Week between Woodford County and Simon Kenton wound up not taking place at all, canceled due to weather and not rescheduled. Let’s try again tonight, shall we?

The KSR crew is heading to Campbellsville on Friday to watch Taylor County host Elizabethtown — the third consecutive GOTW (on paper) featuring a Kentucky pledge. First it was Cutter Boley and Lexington Christian, then it was supposed to be Aba Selm and Simon Kenton. Now, it will be three-star offensive line commit Hayes Johnson of the home Cardinals.  

1-1 Taylor County, who made the jump from 3A to 4A in 2023, dropped the opener vs. Mercer County 38-22 before destroying Bardstown 34-3 last week. Now it will host 0-2 Elizabethtown, who fell 14-12 to Fairdale in the opener and 41-14 to Meade County in week two. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET.

What about the rest of the KHSAA schedule? You can find that below:

• No. 2 Male (2-0) at No. 5 St. Xavier (2-0) – 7 p.m. ET
• No. 24 PRP (1-1) at No. 23 Ballard (1-1) – 7 p.m. ET
• No. 7 Covington Catholic (2-0) at Simon Kenton (1-0) – 7 p.m. ET
• No. 8 Trinity (1-1) at Center Grove-IN (1-1) – 7 p.m. ET
• No. 13 Manual (2-0) at Cincinnati Taft (2-0) – 7 p.m. ET
• KCD (2-0) at DeSales (1-1) – 7 p.m. ET
• No. 1 Boyle County (2-0) at Danville (0-2) – 7:30 p.m. ET
• No. 4 Corbin (1-0) at Lexington Catholic (1-1) – 7:30 p.m. ET
• No. 6 Scott County (2-0) at Lincoln County (1-1) – 7:30 p.m. ET
• North Oldham (2-0) at Tates Creek (2-0) – 7:30 p.m. ET
• No. 9 Christian Academy-Louisville (2-0) at North Hardin (0-1) – 7:30 p.m. ET (Saturday)
• No. 15 Pikeville (2-0) at No. 10 Lexington Christian (1-1) – 8 p.m. ET (Saturday)

Kentucky VB hopes to shatter attendance record at Rupp Arena

Nebraska volleyball set the world attendance record for a women’s sports event this week, 92,003 fans filling Memorial Stadium to watch the Huskers beat Omaha 3-0 on Wednesday.

Now it’s Kentucky’s turn, as Craig Skinner is challenging Big Blue Nation to help UK volleyball set the indoor attendance record against No. 10 Pittsburgh on Friday.

The current record is 9,475 fans, set in October 1993 in a match against LSU. That’s the number he’s looking to top inside Rupp Arena, first serve scheduled for 7 p.m. ET. And if the Wildcats are able to top the all-time indoor record of 17,000 set by Wisconsin last year? Well, that’d obviously be welcomed, as well.

“I’d certainly love to hit that mark inside Rupp Arena,” Skinner previously said. “For our fans to do something like that, it’d be one of the most rewarding things we could do as a program. … Getting over 10,000 would be a big deal. Pittsburgh and us, two aspiring and rising programs, to get our attendance up with programs like Nebraska and Minnesota and Wisconsin, that’d be huge. This is a great opportunity for us to set that tone.”

Tickets can be purchased here and fans can park at Rupp Arena for free by showing their match ticket upon entry. Gates open one hour before first serve.

Time to break this record, BBN.