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In Lexington on Saturday, the Kentucky Wildcats will look to avoid the dreaded look ahead trap when the Eastern Michigan Eagles come to town. A meeting with Florida looms in Week 3, but first the Cats must handle business in their second game against a MAC opponent of the young season. UK defeated Toledo 38-24 last week.
With the exception of a couple of Chris Rodriguez fumbles that weren’t lost, the Kentucky offense looked pretty sharp after it was all said and done in Week 1. Terry Wilson completed 19 of 26 passes, with two TDs and no interceptions. Three UK receivers had receptions of at least 30 yards and all three members of the primary tailback committee of A.J. Rose, Kavosiey Smoke and Chris Rodriguez found space for a rush of at least 20 yards.
On defense, the Wildcat secondary had a bit of a slow start, but it was well known prior to the season that this is the group that would face the most growing pains. All of the starting defensive backs are new for 2019. Sophomore linebacker DeAndre Square looks to be the rising star of the defense. He was everywhere vs. Toledo, tallying 11 total tackles, a half sack and an INT.
Eastern Michigan comes into this one off of a tight 30-23 road win over Coastal Carolina in their opening game. The Eagles certainly benefited from four interceptions of defense, but QB Mike Glass III also had an incredibly efficient outing, going 20-22 through the air. He will certainly face more of a test on Saturday against an aggressive and athletic Kentucky front seven.
It’s hard to predict if Eddie Gran exposes more of the full offensive arsenal in this game, but expect the Wildcats to at least try to clean up some mistakes that held them back at times in Week 1.
How to watch
Time: 7:30 ET/6:30 CT
TV: SEC Network
Watch Online: WatchESPN
Odds
Spread: Kentucky -15.5
Total: 52.5