Gator Football Preview Vs. Kentucky

The 14th ranked Florida Gators are set to kickoff with the Kentucky Wildcats this weekend at 12:21pm in the Swamp. The Gators are coming home after a two road game win streak against Texas A&M and Tennessee.  Kentucky head coach Joker Phillips says that although Florida has beaten the Cats the last 25 times the teams have met, the team doesn’t bring up streaks of any kind.

The Wildcats are coming into this game 1-2 after a 32-31 overtime loss to Western Kentucky at home last weekend. Phillips says he knows his team is entering a hostile environment on the road on Saturday.

Kentucky is 11-14 under second year head coach Phillips and he says that in order to become a serious contender in the SEC East, the team needs to have consistency, especially in recruitment and player development.

Including Saturday’s game, Kentucky is scheduled to play four more games against Top 25 opponents this season and Phillips says that they lean on veteran players to set an example for every game.

The Gators meanwhile prepare for a Kentucky offense that features the SEC ‘s leading passer in Maxwell Smith.   Senior defensive tackle Omar Hunter talks about how the Gators are approaching practice this week in anticipation for the Wildcats.

Hunter says that since Kentucky has nothing to lose, the Gators will have to be on their guard this weekend to defend the 25 game win streak.

The Wildcats have had trouble defensively stopping the run, giving up an average of 188 yards a game and that could spell trouble going up against the SEC’s leading rusher in Florida’s Mike Gillislee who averages 115 yards a game on the ground.

After the Gators face the Kentucky Wildcats they will have a bye week before gearing up to square off against #2 LSU on October 6th in the Swamp.

You can catch coverage of tomorrow’s game right here on ESPN 850/900 and on our sister station 103-7 The Gator, with the First And Ten Gator Football Pregame Show at 9am, kickoff at 12:21pm, and the Extra Point Postgame Show at 3:45pm.