Having absorbed everything of the 2019 addition of the Wildcat football team and ever

Having absorbed everything of the 2019 addition of the Wildcat football team and everything that has ocurred from day one of the Mark Stoops era to the present, I must agree with him.

Let us first start with the confidence and patience Mitch Barnhart sticking with Mark Stoops. To begin with the Stoops name in college football resonates across the spectrum.

Now this is how I see it for the 2019 schedule:

Toledo Rockets – Don’t go to sleep on this team because they have a history off knocking off Power Five schools. When looking across the landscape of NFL football the Mid-American Conference doesn’t get the credit it deserves. Just looking at the fact that they have Brian Koback well over 1,000 total yards in 2018 and a transfer from UK should get your attention. Head coach Gary Pinkel formerly a winning record at the University of Missouri is accomplished in the coaching world. A very good way to open the season. UK 42 – Toledo 20.

Eastern Michigan Eagles - They are in a situation of competing for the best of the rest talent in state of Michigan. And based on the 2018 season they line up at the top of the lower half of the MAC. UK 52 EMU 17.

Florida Gators – This is where the rubber meets the road. The strong front seven of the UK defense will have given the UK secondary a chance to come along to meet the challenge of the Gators. The Dan Mullen coached Gators figure to come into Lexington with a stronger contingency of Gators. However, they will meet up with a stronger contingency of Wildcats. Florida will still be operating with quarterback Feleipe Franks. Franks is yet to reach the sixty percent range in passing. UK will be able to match the speed Florida generally possesses. UK 28 Florida 24.

Mississippi State Bulldogs – The Bulldogs are looking to reverse the outcome this season from the upset they suffered in Lexington last season. They lost two interior defensive linemen that went in the first round of the NFL draft and a third front-seven player in the draft. Head coach Joe Moorhead is still playing with Dan Mullen’s players that no doubt is still plentiful. They have linebacker Erroll Thompson that makes tackle sideline to sideline. Those cowbells are still ringing in my ears from 2017 make it a tough place to play. Mississippi State 24 UK 20.

South Carolina Gamecocks – The rooster will be crowing a lot until the team gets behind but historically, they go quiet. The fans will remain fired up under any circumstance because they are done in losing to Kentucky five years in a row. They are still playing with four-year starter quarterback Jake Bentley that has not quite lived up to what was expected. The question is, will their irritability trump the huge chip on the shoulder of the Wildcats? South Carolina recently lost their playmaking tight end Kiel Pollard that could stretch the field. UK 31 SC 21.

Arkansas Razorbacks – The Hogs are coming off a very bad season having gone 2-10. Coach Chad Morris is entering his second season as the head coach. We have seen good Arkansas team in the past, but this is not one of them. Expect them to be marked better than they were
Better that 2-10 this season. Why? Because they lost two games last season Texas A&M and LSU by seven points apiece. Kentucky will have home field advantage and still Arkansas is no Texas A&M traded UK traded out. UK 40, Arkansas 21.

Georgia Bulldogs – The Wildcats travel to Athens to play down between the hedges. The Bulldogs left Kroger stadium with a two-touchdown victory 34-17 in front of a jack-up BBN. Georgia will be a contender for the SEC championship once again. However, they will see an improving group of Wildcats. The best the Cats can hope for a repeat of the 2009 between the hedges results. UK’s Terry Wilson will be much more of a threat to put points on the board and in a somewhat limited role comes into this season ranked behind only Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa and Georgia’s Jake Fromm in passing percentage. The Bulldogs will see a much different attack than the last two seasons but will still see a steady diet of running the football. Georgia 35, UK 20.

Missouri Tigers – The Tigers were stunned last season by a no time on the clock UK touchdown that dent them down in defeat. No doubt they would desire to come into Kroger Stadium and reverse their fortunes of having a four-game losing streak to the Cats. Clemson transfer quarterback Kelly Bryant is the new starter but will be playing behind a questionable offensive line. UK needs to force him into throwing the football whereby creating mistakes face SEC competition. The locker-room celebration the Cats had still looms in their minds and would like to duplicate that feeling. UK 37 Arkansas 27.

Tennessee Volunteers – The Vols have got to feel like the Wildcats handed them a gift in Neyland Stadium last season. The Cats laid a big fat egg that day coming off a pumped-up game against Georgia. I am still not as impressed by the Tennessee quarterback Jarrett Guarantono as some quarters are. Vols linebacker Darrell Taylor will not have four sacks in this game. The cats will avenge that defeat at home. UK 40 Tennessee 20.

Vanderbilt Commodores – The game in Nashville is almost, always a slobber-knocker. However, that game always equates to a home game because the BBN turnout is overwhelming. This year will be no different. Coach Derek Mason is doing about as consistent of a job there as has been done there over the total three recent decades. The job that coach James Franklin did in 2014 and ’05 when they were 9-4 both years before leaving for Penn State showed the BBN it could be done. In Ke’Shawn Vaughn that have perhaps best running back in the SEC and maybe the nation. The Cats will have a battle, but depth will prevail. UK 31 Vanderbilt 24.

UT Martin – The present a so-called breather to play some players that have gotten their desired playing time. UK 55 UT Martin 10.

Louisville Cardinals – Bobby Petrino’s Cardinals last season were a dumpster fire before his firing. Scott Satterfield takes over a reclamation project at Cardinal Stadium that is in desperate need to put butts in the newly added section of the stadium. It’s amazing to see how they fell from grace. Saying goes, ‘it’s not the fall, it’s the sudden stop’ that the Ville has felt. Can they make that climb again? It will be interesting to watch.