Kentucky vs. Missouri football game first look: Story lines, key players, odds and more
LEXINGTON — Multiple times during his postgame news conference Saturday, Kentucky coach Mark Stoops cited an age-old sports cliché: not letting one loss linger and turn into two. For the Wildcats, that line isn't simply coachspeak.
It's reality.
Each of the past four seasons, after UK suffered its first setback, it followed up by losing again in its next outing.
2022 — First loss: Ole Miss; next game: loss to South Carolina
2021 — First loss: Georgia; next game: loss to Mississippi State
2020 — First loss: Auburn; next game: loss to Ole Miss
2019 — First loss: Florida; next game: loss to Mississippi State
Kentucky is in a similar position now: After a resounding 51-13 defeat to top-ranked Georgia on the road Saturday night, UK (5-1, 2-1 SEC) returns to Lexington this weekend to host Missouri.
"We can't let (another loss) happen," Stoops said. "Period."
Like the Wildcats, the Tigers (5-1, 2-1) entered last week undefeated before enduring their first loss, falling 49-39 at home to LSU.
Kentucky has won seven of the past eight meetings with Missouri, including two in a row. The No. 23 Wildcats haven't lost at home to the No. 25 Tigers since 2013 — Stoops' first season. Since then, UK has won the past four matchups at Kroger Field.
Here are three story lines to watch ahead of Saturday's SEC tilt in Lexington:
A must-win game for Kentucky?
Half of the Wildcats' 12-game regular season is in the books, with six more to go.
Not a single remaining contest will be easy.
Missouri is playing its best football since coach Eli Drinkwitz arrived prior to the 2020 season. Tennessee is a constant thorn in Kentucky's side, with an overwhelming edge in the all-time series (83-26-9) and during the Stoops era (8-2). Mississippi State has won six straight home games against UK, with the Wildcats' last victory in Starkville coming in 2008. Alabama is 38-2-1 against Kentucky all-time. South Carolina has circled the UK game on its calendar ever since bad blood developed between Shane Beamer and Stoops last year. And Louisville is still undefeated.
It's a brutal stretch: UK's remaining opponents are a combined 25-9, a winning percentage of 73.5.
The good news for the Wildcats: They need just one more win to clinch bowl eligibility for the eighth straight season.
Kentucky defense looks to bounce back
The Kentucky defense has been a program hallmark since coordinator Brad White's first season in 2019. But the Wildcats had a game to forget Saturday.
UK allowed more than 50 points for the first time since Alabama scored 63 in 2020. It gave up 435 passing yards, its most since Vanderbilt had 446 in 2006. Georgia gained 173 yards rushing, almost 100 more than UK's season average (75.8). And in 11 possessions, the Bulldogs scored nine times; the two scoreless drives ended in an interception and punt, respectively.
White said "execution wasn't great." But it wasn't all on the players.
"As a play-caller, I just couldn't get it right, either," White said. "I couldn't get the guys to time the perfect pressure. I was either a play early (or) I was a play late. Sometimes you're just having those games when you're on. This was one of those (where) just nothing seemed to go right.
"But I will say this: There is still no defense that I would rather coach than this group of guys."
Kentucky tries to rediscover discipline
The Wildcats committed a trio of penalties in the first half against Georgia that contributed to a 21-0 deficit. Right guard Jager Burton had two of them (a holding and a personal foul) and defensive lineman Deone Walker had the other (a personal foul).
In the early portion of the season, UK was the SEC's most penalized team. On Saturday, Georgia was actually whistled more often (six flags compared to Kentucky's five) but the Wildcats had more penalty yardage (60 to 59).
"We've got to control what we can control," Kentucky running back Ray Davis said. "Unfortunately, I think in the first two drives we got past the 50 and had some penalties that stopped us. But it's about facing adversity: What do you do when it's time to play your game? Obviously, we didn't do well.
"It's about just putting it in the memory bank and getting back to ... playing Kentucky football."
Three Kentucky players to watch
Ray Davis, fifth-year senior running back: How will Davis respond after his first less-than-superlative showing as a Wildcat? Yes, he scored a touchdown in the loss to the Bulldogs. That made history: He's the first UK player ever to score a touchdown in each of the team's first six games to start a season (single-game statistics date back to 1940). But the SEC's leading rusher found little success against Georgia on the ground, finishing with 59 yards on 15 carries. He'll face a Missouri defense that entered last week as the conference's best against the run, then proceeded to give up 274 yards, 134 to LSU running back Logan Diggs and 130 to quarterback Jayden Daniels.
Devin Leary, sixth-year senior quarterback: Three games into SEC play, there have been diminishing returns from Leary each week in terms of accuracy. He went from 51.7% (15 for 29) against Vanderbilt to 47.4% (9 for 19) against Florida. His completion percentage sank to 38.5 (10 of 26) in last week's loss to Georgia. Facing an offense as explosive as Missouri, Leary has to stop overthrowing open pass-catchers, keep drives alive and help Kentucky put points on the board.
Maxwell Hairston, third-year sophomore defensive back: One of the few bright spots in last week's loss, Hairston picked off Georgia quarterback Carson Beck and returned it 48 yards to set up Davis' touchdown reception. Hairston has 131 yards on interception returns this season, the most by a Wildcat since Greg Long (176 yards in 1981). Hairston has snagged four interceptions in 2023; two more will put him among the top five for a season in program history since the statistic began being tracked.
Three Missouri players to watch
Brady Cook, fourth-year junior quarterback: Cook has been cookin' this season, ranking among the top 10 nationally in total passing yards (1,863; sixth), passing yards per game (310.5; 10th) and passing efficiency (175.7; 10th). He's completed at least 64% of his attempts in all six games this fall, with 13 touchdowns against just two interceptions.
Luther Burden III, sophomore wide receiver: Burden is the country's best receiver, at least statistically. He leads the FBS in receiving yards (793) and yards per game (132.2). He has 54 catches, including five touchdown receptions.
Kris Abrams-Draine, fourth-year junior defensive back: Abrams-Draine has terrorized opposing quarterbacks in pass coverage. He has more passes defended (11) than any player in the nation through six games. And his passes defended per game (1.8) is tied for first in the FBS alongside West Virginia's Beanie Bishop Jr.
Kentucky vs. Missouri odds
Kentucky is a three-point favorite at home against Missouri, according to the DraftKings college football odds.
WANNA BET? Top Kentucky sportsbooks and sports betting apps reviewed
How to watch Kentucky vs. Missouri football game
Who: No. 25 Missouri (5-1, 2-1 SEC) at No. 23 Kentucky (5-1, 2-1)
When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 14
Where: Kroger Field; Lexington
TV: SEC Network
Radio: Tom Leach (play-by-play), Jeff Piecoro (analyst) and Dick Gabriel (sideline) will have the UK radio network call on 840 AM in Louisville and both 630 AM and 98.1 FM in Lexington and online at UKAthletics.com. The game also will be carried on satellite radio: Sirius (Channel 138), XM (Channel 190) and the SiriusXM app (Channel 961).
Streaming: Authenticated subscribers can access SEC Network via TV-connected devices or by going to WatchESPN.com, the WatchESPN app or ESPN+.
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This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Kentucky football, Mark Stoops vs. Missouri Tigers in Week 7 SEC game
