I did see one alert Kentucky fan that noticed that while Ohio lost to Kent by 31 last year, they beat Kent by 3 this year, despite losing the turnover battle 4-0 this year, and wondered how that could be.  "Is Ohio really 34 points better than last year? Surely not. Or is Kent worse?" was about what he said.

Maybe its a little of both.  Kent is surely worse, without Archer and Nix, but Ohio playing as a team, and with Solich-like relentlessness makes a big difference.

I love all of the comments from UK fans about the "Cats" without an ounce of self awareness. I agree, the Cats will win!

This comes from the benefit of hindsight, but I think that our performance against Louisville last year was very indicative of too much of our play last year:  We were there but we had no spark at all.  Nothing.

At the time, I thought 'Well, a loss is a loss so to get pounded by Louisville isn't particularly indicative..We just lost.'

Now, after seeing last season with it's preponderance of lackluster (to be generous) performance in our tough/key games (espec after stupd cow and 'kron), I think Louisville was who we were.

But it doesn't at all look like we're that kinda team this year.

GO OHIO!!!

This could be the game where having a deep but not particularly athletic wide receiving corps could hurt. I like this year's group when it comes to taking on MAC defensive backs, but you need the group the Bobcats had when they went into Knoxville about five years ago to go up against faster, bigger DBs.

I sure hope Ohio can run the ball because I don't see these receivers being able to take the top off against an (albeit lower-tier) SEC program.

As far as confidence goes, it's an odd game. It's not like the Louisville game, where it was apparent within five minutes that Ohio was outclassed on the field and Frank Solich just wanted to get the arms and legs and head inside the turtle shell and get out of the Bluegrass State before Teddy Bridgewater stepped on us. But I'm not as confident as I was going into the Penn State game, where everything was ripe for the picking.

This one kind of feels like that Illinois game back early in the Solich era where it would certainly be an upset but it won't take a fluke to win it. Ohio can line up and play Kentucky and win three out of ten times, I believe. It's just a matter of taking care of the ball and getting a few bounces to go their way.

After a stellar debut in Kent, it will be interesting to see the week to week development of OUr QB.  How will he perform when the OLine cannot give him the protection they provided on every single play of the 1st game?  Will hurried throws become less accurate; will a sack or two result in a composure change?  How will his decision making fair when plays get busted?

With the current report saying thunder storms likely (60%), it could be a wet one on Saturday.

You don't remember Kent State 06? 25 mph winds, rain, sleet , snow, hail, and a 40 minute lightning delay. Most fun I ever had at a ballgame.

Hello Bobcat faithful!  I've been reading the forum for sometime...can't get enough MACtion.  Always like the insight. Now I know I'm an Akron fan (don't beat up on me too much!) but I wanted to wish all Ohio fans luck this Saturday with Kentucky!  The MAC needs some good wins, and an SEC win would look nice on the resume.

good luck to you over at Penn State also.

Ohio is 4-2-2 all time against Kentucky.

Stoops quote in that article kind of rubs me the wrong way.

The implication in what he said is that Ohio is "anybody". Thus the logical way to complete the thought is "...not even Ohio".

A UK fan is doing some video analysis of our defense- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCRUc_PFJ7gTMFyM-_ex0UA/...

LC, time to up your game!

The ESPN message board for the game is laughable at best. So many UK fans really believe it is going to be a repeat of last week for them. Without their explosive RB, and now competing against a FBS foe, I hope OUr Cats come in and shock the world.., AGAIN!

Another MAC win at Happy Valley would look great also.  I always pull for the MAC in OOC games.  You might have an edge given PSU's long flight back from Ireland last weekend.  Good luck.