Prepare for Chaos when Kentucky Plays Auburn

There are a myriad of ways you can handicap tonight’s football game between Kentucky and Auburn. You can point out specific matchups and potential impact players, but it really all boils down to this: expect the unexpected.

That’s exactly what Kentucky football fans have endured this year. Three times in SEC play the Wildcats have been favorites. All three times they lost. Their best performances were as double-digit dogs, losing to Georgia by one as a 21.5 underdog and beating Ole Miss outright when the Rebels were 15-point favorites.

Halfway through the season, we thought we had a good idea of what this Kentucky football team was, a run-heavy offense that struggled to score touchdowns, but could stay in the fight thanks to a good defense. Then the defense got gashed for 500 yards of offense by a couple of Florida true freshmen. It provided more evidence that the Ole Miss game was an anomaly, not the South Carolina loss.

The chaos factor is amplified when you look at the Auburn offense. They rank second in the league in yards per play (6.92), but 13th in points per game (28.1).

Jarquez Hunter is the best running back Kentucky has faced this fall. KeAndre Lambert-Smith and Cam Coleman are big-play receivers who paved the way for the Tigers to lead the nation in receptions of 40+ yards. They’re facing a secondary who gave up five 40+ yard pass plays a week ago.

Auburn’s problem isn’t moving the football, it’s that they vomit all over themselves whenever they get a chance to score. Only one team in college football has a worse turnover margin than the Tigers.

Kentucky has the same problem, except without the turnovers. The Cats just can’t convert in the red zone. That will be even more challenging without Demie Sumo-Karngbaye in the lineup. Kentucky will now have to lean on Jamarion Wilcox, who’s the most explosive runner on the roster but is limited in the amount of plays they can call for him.

Throw all of this in the pot and you got a recipe for 3.5 hours of yakety saks at Kroger Field.

Could Auburn light up the scoreboard? Yes. Would I be surprised if Wilcox ripped off 175 yards? No. Is Kentucky finally going to score more than 21 points in an SEC game? Probably.

No matter how ridiculous a scenario may seem, all possibilities are on the table for a wild, weird, and entertaining football game at Kroger Field.

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