Kentucky Wildcats Opponent Preview: Northern Illinois Huskies
For Kentucky's fourth matchup of the season, the Wildcats will have a second serving of MACtion, as they'll host the defending conference champions, Northern Illinois. It will be the next-to-last non-conference game of the season for UK, as just the Governor's Cup matchup against Louisville will remain at the end of the year.
Last Meeting
Like Youngstown State, the 2022 season will be the first time that the Huskies will take on Kentucky. Like Miami (Ohio), whom the Cats will open the season against on Sept. 3, NIU has been selected to win its division of the MAC, and received the most votes (nine) to repeat as conference champions by the media in the preseason poll.
Offensive Player Spotlight
It all starts with Michigan State transfer Rocky Lombardi at quarterback. His main strength comes on the feet, as he drove his way to nine scores on the ground last year, piling up 472 yards. In the backfield, the Huskies will be without last season's leading rusher Jay Ducker, who transferred to Memphis. Harrison Waylee will takeover the top running back duties. NIU finished fourth in the nation averaging 241 yards per game on the ground, and while it likely won't match that number this season, it'll still do most of its offensive damage on the feet.
Defensive Player Spotlight
It's hard to get worse than the Husky defense a year ago. Allowing 34 points per game, there was no stopping opposing teams through the air or on the ground. The main reason for this was the youth of the defense. 15 of the top 20 tacklers were freshman, and overall inexperience plagued that side of the ball for head coach Thomas Hammock. Like Kentucky, the linebacker core will be key to the defense seeing any improvement from a year ago. Between Wisconsin transfer Izayah Green-May and EIGHTH-year player Kyle Pugh, there is no lack of talent and experience in the middle of the field.
Preseason Prediction
Like Miami, the Huskies aren't going to lay down for the Wildcats. This is a legit offense that could cause any team trouble if they aren't able to tackle well, which is something that UK has struggled with in the past. Lombardi has played against teams of Kentucky's caliber, so the moment shouldn't be too big for the QB looking to lead his team to another MAC title. Following Youngstown State, the Cats may overlook the Huskies as a date with Ole Miss in Oxford looms the weekend after. UK may be on upset alert for a quarter or two, but it should amount to a hard-fought win leading into SEC play. Kentucky 33, Northern Illinois 20
