Kentucky vs Southern Miss Prediction, Game Preview, and Betting Lines

Kentucky has an interesting schedule - it’s a whole lot of manageable mixed in with a few killers going to Texas and Ole Miss to go along with a date with Georgia. This has to be a no-drama win to get everything off the ground.

Southern Miss is coming off a massive disappointment of a 3-9 season, and it gets to take a big cut in its toughest game of the season.

Kentucky vs Southern Miss Preview

Kentucky vs Southern Miss How to Watch
Date: Saturday, August 31, 2024
Game Time: 7:45 pm ET
Venue: Kroger Field, Lexington, KY
How to Watch: SEC Network
2023 Records: Kentucky (7-6), Southern Miss (3-9)
- Week 1 Schedule, Predictions

Why Southern Miss Will Win

The defense should be better.

It wasn’t a rock in 2022, but it was good enough to get by. Last year it struggled throughout too many meltdown games. Kentucky might have some good offensive parts, but its style and tempo tends to keep games from getting too crazy.

Once again, UK should be the type of team that keeps its score in the 30s and relies on its defense to take over. If Southern Miss can string together a few early scoring drives against a Wildcat defense that has to prove it can stop the run, this might get interesting.

However …

Why Kentucky Will Win

The Southern Miss offensive line has a lot of work to do to be merely mediocre.

There’s more parts coming in from the transfer portal, and some nice pieces are coming in for the offensive backfield, but there won’t be a whole lot of running against this UK defensive front.

Yes, there were problems with the Wildcat defense last year, but the bad days came against the elite. Who scored against this bunch? Georgia, Missouri, Tennessee, Alabama, Clemson, Louisville …

Kentucky vs Southern Miss: Who Will Win

Kentucky might be figuring out the running backs, but new starting quarterback Brock Vandagriff should be good out of the gate.

The Wildcat offense will control the tempo throughout, but won’t start to look or feel truly comfortable until midway through the third quarter.

Kentucky vs Southern Miss Prediction, Betting Lines

Kentucky 40, Southern Miss 13
Line: Kentucky -28, o/u: 49.5
ATS Confidence out of 5: 2
Kentucky vs Southern Miss Must See Rating: 2

CFN Expert Picks
UNC at Minn | NDSU at Colorado
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Penn St at WVU | Col St at Texas
Miami at Fla | UTEP at Neb
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ND at TA&M | UCLA at Hawaii
Fresno St at Mich | UNM at Arizona
USC at LSU | BC at FSU
Week 1 Schedule, Picks