Looking at the schedule before the season, fans knew what to expect from a Kentucky-Florida matchup.
One team would sport a juggernaut offense, accounting for nearly 500 yards and half-a-hundred points per game. And, based on the stat sheet, the other team would seem overmatched.
But who knew the Wildcats would be the ones with the offensive firepower?
Entering Saturday’s game, Kentucky ranks second in the Southeastern Conference in scoring (44.3 points per game) and total offense (497.3 yards per game).
“We’re facing the best offense we’ve faced so far,” UF coach Urban Meyer said.
Hot starts aren’t new for the Wildcats, though. And, unfortunately for their fans, early success has proved to be a mirage in the past. Since 2007, Kentucky is undefeated in its 12 games before the start of SEC play, averaging about 40 points and 437 yards.
But the Wildcats’ offense cools once the conference season starts, averaging just 25 points and 387 yards. Kentucky is a combined 13-17 after those initial 12 nonconference wins.
Like the three seasons before, Kentucky wants to prove this Saturday that its offensive success can translate into matchups against teams more respected than Akron and Western Kentucky, two of the Wildcats’ early victims.
“[The Florida game is] going to show us if we are going to be able to compete,” said running back Derrick Locke, who leads the SEC with 372 rushing yards. “It’s a big game for us. We are now in SEC play, and that’s what everybody wants to know — how good our offense can be against an SEC opponent. We’ll see how it goes.”
Locke will be the second straight tailback to face the Gators as the conference’s leading rusher. Last week, Florida limited Tennessee’s Tauren Poole to 23 yards on 10 carries after he entered the contest averaging 136 yards per game.
Kentucky could have more success, however, by getting the ball in the hands of receiver/wildcat quarterback Randall Cobb, who has accounted for the fourth-most all-purpose yards in the SEC.
Facing a similar threat in South Florida quarterback B.J. Daniels on Sept. 11, Florida surrendered 244 rushing yards — 107 by Daniels.
“We’ve got to prepare for those things,” UF defensive coordinator Teryl Austin said. “I’m sure we’ll do a better job than we did last time.”
Cobb has accounted for a combined 1,801 yards rushing and receiving in his three-year career. But, with 665 yards passing, defenses also have to account for his arm. Cobb is 2 for 2 with a touchdown this season.
Since coming to Florida in 2005, Meyer said the talent at Kentucky has drastically improved. And the best example has been Cobb, a player Meyer said he couldn’t wait to see get “the heck out of this league.”
But even with more talent, Kentucky’s offense hasn’t played well enough to snap a 23-game losing streak to Florida, a measuring stick for the Wildcats’ legitimacy.
“If we can do that, then our program can still rise,” Locke said. “And if we just continue losing, our program won’t get any better. It’ll just be the same. We want people to look at Kentucky like, ‘Hey, these boys are playing ball.’ And not just basketball.”
