The bitter banter has heated up this summer between UK and Louisville fans. Perhaps the “Year of the Cardinal” has made it hotter than ever. We have had twitter wars, Facebook wars, and even had a movie made, but now its time for the gridiron version of “The Battle of the Bluegrass” to take center stage. Both programs will be on display for the nation to watch 12:00pm Saturday on ESPN. The build up for this game has been as big as ever. UK leads the all-time series 14-11, but Louisville has won the last two. Louisville has lead the series since 1994 with a record of 11-8. Our Cards are the heavy favorites in this one and victory will be sweet. I can’t wait to yell Yahtzee every time we get in the end-zone that day. Its Louisville versus Kentucky and possibly the most important game on our schedule from the fan perspective. With a 32-14 win last year the Cardinals will be looking for their 3rd in a row over the Cats. The last time UofL won three in a row in this series was in 2003 through 2005. Since the inception of the Governor’s Cup in 1994, each team has recorded a maximum of a four-game winning streak with Louisville winning from 2003-06 and Kentucky taking the Cup home from 2007-10. The Cards go into this game listed as a double-digit favorite by many of the Las Vegas sports books.

(Video Courtesy @TheCrunchZone)

Kentucky and new head coach Mark Stoops will have one of the best recruiting classes in the nation coming to Lexington next year but that won’t help them much Saturday. This Saturday the Louisville defense will face Kentucky’s air raid offense, but see a significant commitment to the run game as well. Their quarterback controversy seems to be settled for now as it looks like Maxwell Smith will be the man under center for the Wildcats. Smith has seen the most action throughout his career at Kentucky and it is clear that he is a leader for that group when he’s on the field. He has thrown for over 2000 yards in his career with 16 touchdowns and last year was able to move the ball down the field against Louisville. They just had trouble sustaining those drives and converting on third downs. I think he will be a solid threat on Saturday and will challenge the Cardinal defense with short passes in the flats and middle of the field. He will be looking to complete a good percentage of his passes, and will rely on tailbacks Jonathan George and Raymond Sanders to provide support in the running game. These guys will also catch passes. On Saturday Stoops will also use tight ends as receivers in different formation sets, and he is blessed with a group of four senior tight ends eager to get on the field. Leading the way in this group will be Anthony Kendrick. The Louisville defense is much quicker and more talented than this Kentucky offensive group but their creativity will keep our guys on their toes. The Louisville defense will have to play disciplined football. I look for defensive lineman Roy Philon, defensive end Lorenzo Mauldin, and Safety Calvin Pryor to be standout performers. Philon is a Lexington native who is returning home for vengeance, Mauldin is looking for vengeance every weekend and Pryor will be the fastest guy on the field.

(Video Courtesy HeraldLeaderVideos)

Looking to slow down Teddy and company are the Wildcats top three leading tacklers from the 2012 season, senior LB Avery Williamson who racked up 135 tackles last year, which was second in the SEC; junior DE Alvin Dupree who managed 91 tackles last year, and junior Miles Simpson who recorded 70 tackles at weak side linebacker. I think Stoops will pick his poison when it comes to Louisville’s high octane offense. He will load the box with 8 or nine guys to stop the run and hope that Teddy and his receiving group have an off day. The Kentucky defense up front will be mostly returning starters, and they will be helping out the young secondary as much as possible. They lost a starting safety and corner to graduation. To be frank their DB’s are flat out horrible and it should be a big day for Teddy, Parker,Copeland,Clark, and Christian. Michael Dyer also moved up on the depth chart this week and I think he’s very capable of a breakout game due to his pass catching ability out of the backfield.

The Cardinal’s will have to be much better in their kickoff and punt coverage this weekend. This is one area where this team has struggled. Kentucky’s return guys will be the fastest and most talented group the Cards have faced in this early season. A few break away touchdowns here could swing the momentum enough in a game like this to result in a major upset. This I my main concern for this game.

Other than my concern for special teams I don’t think the “Battle for the Bluegrass” will be much of a battle but it could be pretty competitive, especially early on. Emotions will be running high like they always are in this game. These emotions can make up for deficiencies early in sports competitions but ultimately the better team will usually prevail. I don’t think that there is any question who the better team is here. The Cards ability and their execution is on a different level. I do think that our arch rivals are on the road to that in the future but their program is at the first stage of being rebuilt and the score board will reflect that on Saturday afternoon.

The Beak Prediction:
Louisville 38 Kentucky 17

The Beak’s Prediction for the
Howard Schnellenberger Award:

My prediction for the award this year is WR DeVante Parker who will finish with 160 yards receiving with 3 TD’s. I believe he will win this award for his ability to take over this game. He should be able to have his way in a very poor UK secondary.

The 2010 game was the inaugural year for the award. The award is given to the Most Valuable Player of the game. It is named for Howard Schnellenberger, who played under Bear Bryant for Kentucky and coached at Louisville.
Previous winners:

-(9-04-2010) Derrick Locke, RB@ Kentucky had 23 Carries, 104 Yards, for 2 TD’s
-(9-17-2011) Dexter Heyman, LB@ Louisville had 12 Tackles & 1 Forced Fumbles
-(9-02-2012) Teddy Bridgewater Louisville QB 19/21, 232 Yards

Weather Forecast For Kickoff: