TUSCALOOSA, Alabama – Crimson Tide football is finally back. After Alabama dismantled a porous Mississippi State team, a bye week became a break after the Tide’s November 14th matchup against LSU was postponed. This Saturday, however, the Crimson Tide will get the chance to remain the kings of the college football world against an unranked Kentucky (3-4).
The Kentucky Wildcats have the unfortunate privilege of playing in the loaded SEC. Their three wins are hardly impressive, a 24-2 victory against Mississippi State was immediately followed by a 34-7 rout of Tennessee. Their 3rd win on the year came against Vanderbilt, where the Wildcats survived a potential Commodore comeback, 38-35. The commonality between their three victories is clearly the offensive output. These numbers are practically foreign to the Wildcats. What I find more impressive, are their standout defensive performances.
It should be noted that while the Kentucky Wildcats offense only ranks 116th in the FBS, their defense ranks 39th. The Wildcats most impressive defensive performance of the year came against then-13th Georgia, coming away with two picks, a turnover on downs, and forcing two punts. In their demolishing of Miss. State, this unranked Kentucky team forced six interceptions (4 from Costello, and 2 from Rogers), two turnovers on downs, and six punts. They also allowed a surprisingly low 275 yards through the air, and an equally low 20 yards on the ground.
Kentucky has a history of playing up to their competition in games that don’t seem to matter. Now is when I’ll choose to give Kentucky credit for their 42-41 loss to Ole Miss, which was by far their best offensive performance of the year. The Wildcats racked up an impressive 559 total yards and had three 100-yard rushers (C. Rodriguez, T. Wilson Jr., and A. Rose). It should also be noted that Mississippi gave our own Crimson Tide quite the scare six weeks ago at Vaught–Hemingway Stadium, so all the more credit to Kentucky.
While Kentucky is by no means a team to be afraid of for a program like Alabama, the Wildcats are not to be taken lightly. The Tide should get by Kentucky with little trouble, but we’ve seen crazier things happen. The Alabama Crimson Tide will face the Kentucky Wildcats this Saturday, November 21st, at 3:00 PM. Roll Tide!
