Kentucky football (3-3, 1-3 SEC) is set to take on the Florida Gators (3-3, 1-2 SEC) in a week eight clash.
Both teams are entering the game following a loss, however they came in very different ways.
For the Wildcats, they lost 20-13 in a sloppy effort at home against Vanderbilt. The Gators fell in a tight overtime affair to then ranked No. 7 Tennessee on the road.
On the year, Kentucky has victories over Southern Miss, Ohio and Ole Miss, and losses against South Carolina, Georgia and Vanderbilt.
When looking at the Gators, they have wins against Samford, Mississippi State and UCF, but have fallen to Miami (FL), Texas A&M and Tennessee.
Looking at the quarterback matchup, at the beginning of the season, it looked like this would be a duel between Brock Vandagriff and Graham Mertz. However, Mertz tore his ACL in the loss against Tennessee, which ended his season. Taking his place is true freshman DJ Lagway.
When it comes to stats, Vandagriff has thrown for 951 yards which ranks 11th in the SEC. The Wildcat starter has also thrown for five touchdowns and two interceptions.
Lagway started two games for the Gators earlier in the season when Mertz missed time, and he has appeared in six games this season.
In his appearances, he has thrown for 765 yards, which ranks 16th in the conference. Along with the yards, he has thrown five touchdowns and four interceptions.
As for the running back matchup, Demie Sumo-Karngbaye headlines the Cats’ backfield with his 380 yards on the ground, which ranks ninth in the SEC. Sumo-Karngbaye has found the end zone four times this season.
For the Gators, Montrell Johnson Jr. trails just behind Sumo-Karngbaye as he is 10th in the SEC with 373 yards and four touchdowns.
Looking at pass catchers, Dane Key leads the Wildcats with 452 yards and two touchdowns. The yards come in tied for sixth in the SEC.
Elijah Badgor leads the way for the Gators with 376 receiving yards, which places him 13th in the conference. Badgor has also hauled in two touchdowns.
Moving away from specific players and looking at the teams as a whole, Kentucky has averaged 321.7 yards of offense per game which is 15th in the SEC. The Cats are averaging 20.5 points per game, which ranks last in the SEC.
When it comes to the home Gators, they are averaging 402.8 yards per game and scoring 28 points per game, which ranks 11th and 12th in the SEC respectively
Flipping over to the other side of the ball, Kentucky’s defense has allowed 251.5 yards per game which places it third in the conference. As for points, the Cats rank fourth in the SEC as they have only allowed 14.5 points per game.
The Gators defense comes into the contest allowing 381.2 yards and 24.2 points per game, which both come in at 15th in the SEC.
The all-time series favors the Gators as they are 53-21, but the Wildcats have won three straight in the series.
According to BETESPN, Kentucky is favored to win by just 1.5 points. However, according to ESPN’s matchup predictor, they give the Gators a 59.2% chance to win at home.
That sets the stage for the next chapter of this rivalry that will take place on Saturday, Oct. 19, with kick off scheduled for 7:45 P.M. and will air live on SEC Network.
