Staff Predictions: No. 8 Kentucky-Northern Illinois
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The No. 8 Kentucky Wildcats will welcome the Northern Illinois Huskies to Kroger Field on Saturday night, as the Cats look to improve to 4-0 on the season. Following a 31-0 shutout of Youngstown State, head coach Mark Stoops and his staff are looking for a much more complete performance on the offensive side of the ball. Ahead of tonight's contest, the Wildcats Today staff shares their final game predictions:
Hunter
Despite being the No. 8 team in the nation, this feels like a real "prove it" spot for the Wildcats. Yes, the 31-0 win over Youngstown looks terrific at face value, but there was little to no satisfaction around the team afterward. It was a sloppy offensive performance, and the bar has been set much, much higher for this weekend.
Northern Illinois has a point-blank bad defense, especially through the air, so Will Levis should be able to rack-up some passing yards. There's no reason why the Wildcats shouldn't score 40-plus points on the Huskies, though NIU does possess a decent offense and won't go three-and-out all game like Youngstown did, meaning less possessions for UK.
Mark Stoops said that his team had a good week of practice, but the same thing was said last week right before the offense went out and turned the ball over three times against an FCS school. This is also a potential look-ahead spot, with a trip to Oxford to take on Ole Miss coming next weekend.
This game feels more important than it should be. The Cats could be in for a rude awakening if they don't get some of their little issues fixed before SEC play, because teams like Ole Miss and Georgia will exploit those holes all day long. I like Kentucky to knuckle down and take that hardhat mentality that Stoops has engrained in them to the field for four quarters, wearing down the Huskies, leading to a methodical, tough-and-rugged win. Kentucky 41, NIU 17
Matt
Like Hunter said, this game feels more important than it should. The Wildcats are in a prime time slot, and they are going to roll. Folks continue to doubt Mark Stoops’ program and NIU is going to be on the receiving end of mad Kentucky program.
