GAME BREAKDOWN
KEY MATCHUP: Kentucky’s secondary vs. Missouri QB Drew Lock. The Wildcat secondary should be tested by Lock, who had a big night in Mizzou’s 65-33 win over Memphis and is on the NFL’s radar. Lock was 23-of-29 passing for 350 yards and four touchdowns. For the season, he has 16 touchdown passes against six interceptions. Kentucky defensive backs have five interceptions with S Darius West leading with three. The emphasis will be on LB Josh Allen (8.0 sacks, two vs. Vandy last week) to keep Lock under pressure.
DRAFT SLANT
–LB Josh Allen continues to improve his draft stock after coming up with eight tackles and forcing a fumble in the win over Vanderbilt. Coach Mark Stoops noted how Allen is “at his best” when the opponent is forced into predictable pass situations. Allen passed up an opportunity to enter the 2018 NFL draft when he was a potential first-round pick. “I worked hard in the offseason to get to where I am, especially to make plays like that so it’s just all the work I’ve put in in the offseason is finally showing up,” Allen said after forcing a fumble while sacking QB Kyle Shurmur on Vandy’s final possession to seal Kentucky’s 14-7 win.
ROSTER REPORT:
–LB Kash Daniel said he will be ready to go against Missouri Saturday despite suffering a broken hand in the win over Vanderbilt. “He’s day to day right now,” coach Mark Stoops said. “He had to get a little procedure done this morning on his hand and he’ll be back, probably will be in some form of a club or cast so that will not be fun for him. But he’ll be back out there. He really played a good football game this past week”.
–RB Benny Snell tweaked an ankle near the end of the second quarter against Vandy but finished the game and seems fine for this week.
–RT George Asafo-Adjei was named SEC Offensive Lineman of the Week for his play last week against Vanderbilt. He graded out at 89 percent with a trio of knockdown blocks and 23 blocks at the point of attack as the Wildcats rushed for 195 yards in the grind-it-out, 14-7 victory over the Commodores.
