The Southern Miss Golden Eagles and Kentucky Wildcats meet Saturday in week 1 college football action at Kroger Field. Here’s a Kentucky vs Southern Miss Prediction. This article will include a Kentucky vs Southern Miss Pick.
Southern Miss Golden Eagles Betting Preview
The Southern Miss Golden Eagles have won 3 games in 3 of their last 4 seasons and enter the fourth season under coach Will Hall. Southern Miss has failed to make a bowl appearance in 2 of its last 5 seasons. Southern Miss will turn to either Ethan Crawford or Florida State transfer Tate Rodemaker at quarterback. The Golden Eagles have questions across the rest of the offense, but running back Rodrigues Dreke Clark will get the bulk of the carries and averaged 5.6 yards per carry as a backup running back last year.
Defensively, Dylan Lawrence returns after leading Southern Miss with 78 tackles, Jalil Clemons had 5.5 sacks and MJ Daniels has 3 interceptions. Southern Miss is in far better shape defensively, and it’s the side of the ball that should lead the way early. Due to massive questions offensively, Southern Miss is expected to be a bottom feeder yet again in the Sun Belt.
Kentucky Wildcats Betting Preview
The Kentucky Wildcats are coming off back-to-back 7-win seasons and have made a bowl game every year since 2016. Kentucky enters the 12th year under coach Mark Stoops. Kentucky has two transfers on offense in Georgia quarterback Brock Vandagriff and Ohio State running back Chip Trayanum. Vandagriff had 21 pass attempts for 2 touchdowns at Georgia and will be thrown into a starting role for the first time. How quickly he can hit the ground running could make or break Kentucky as to how far this team can go.
Defensively, Kentucky is stacked, led by one of the best linebacker groups in the country. D’Eryk Jackson is a stud, Alex Afari is coming off a fine season and Georgia transfer Jamon Dumas-Johnson completes the unit. Deone Walker returned after leading Kentucky with 7.5 sacks, and Maxwell Hairston had 5 interceptions. The SEC is loaded, so Kentucky isn’t going to get much attention, but this defense has a chance to be one of the best in the country. That’s good enough to make Kentucky a threat to the countless ranked teams in the SEC currently.
Why the Kentucky Wildcats will win
- Kentucky has won each of its last 17 games against non-conference opponents at Kroger Field.
- Southern Miss has lost each of its last eight games against opponents from the Southeastern Conference.
- Southern Miss has failed to cover the spread in each of its last four games against opponents from the Southeastern Conference.
- Kentucky has covered the spread in each of its last four season openers as a favorite.
- Southern Miss has lost the first half in each of its last seven games against opponents from the Southeastern Conference.
Total Points Facts
- Each of Southern Miss’ last nine games as an underdog against non-AP-ranked teams has gone OVER the total points line.
- Each of Kentucky’s last six games against opponents from the Sun Belt Conference have gone OVER the total points line.
Matchup/League Facts
- Kentucky was one of only five FBS teams to lose 3+ games when leading after Q3 last season.
- Kentucky ranked T9th among FBS teams for Q3 win percentage last season (.692).
- Southern Miss was one of only 22 FBS teams to lose 2+ games when leading after Q3 last season.
- Southern Miss suffered the equal-most losses by a margin of 40+ points of any FBS team last season (2).
Kentucky vs Southern Miss Prediction
It’s weird seeing Kentucky as a massive favorite in college football. I get it. However, Southern Miss has a lot of questions on the offensive side of the ball and is going up against one of the best defenses in the country in Kentucky. I’m not sure how Southern Miss is going to have offensive success in this game. Kentucky could easily pitch a shutout or allow single-digit points. Nearly four full touchdowns is a lot to lay in a season opener or in general, but I like Kentucky to win week 1 comfortably over Southern Miss.