Staff predictions for Florida's Week 8 matchup with Kentucky

The Florida Gators get set to face off with the Kentucky Wildcats this Saturday night for the program’s annual homecoming game, which will honor the university’s Southeastern Conference football champions from the 1984 season.

The Orange and Blue have historically dominated this series, running off 31-straight wins — including the epic Chris Doering catch — from 1987 to 2017. However, over the past six meetings, the ‘Cats have collected four wins, including three straights coming into Week 8.

Ahead of what should be a grueling matchup between a pair of struggling SEC schools, the Gators Wire crew assembled to offer their respective takes on the game. Take a look below at what we have to offer.

It’s the DJ Lagway show in Gainesville

It’s the DJ Lagway show in Gainesville. After finding out that quarterback Graham Mertz will be out for the year due to a torn ACL, Billy Napier announced that Lagway will be the Gators’ starter from here on out.

Now, given that he’s preparing for this game against Kentucky as a starter, I don’t expect Lagway to look too conservative with his approach as he did against Tennessee. There weren’t enough deep shots and oftentimes, Lagway checked down to the running backs which ultimately didn’t really move the offense down the field.

Kentucky is kind of a weird team. Their defense is as good as it gets, but one game, they beat Ole Miss on the road and the next, they lost to Vanderbilt on their home field. I know Vandy has been the surprise of the town, but the Wildcats should be more than capable of winning that game. So I expect them to really tighten up on the defensive side of the ball, which can potentially not be ideal for the freshman Lagway.

I’ll give props to Florida’s defense though. What a turnaround. I mean, they look like a completely different unit out there on the field in recent weeks. With that being said, I expect this game to be ugly. It’s going to be low-scoring and whoever wins the turnover battle will come out with the victory. I’m leaning towards the Gators because they’re playing at home but if they were on the road, I’d pick Kentucky. — Aidan Gallardo

Florida 24, Kentucky 20

DJ Lagway will explode in this one

The remainder of the season looks a lot more grim with the loss of starting quarterback Graham Mertz, but if anyone on the roster can fill his shoes, it is true freshman DJ Lagway.

Kentucky on the other hand has face-planted in SEC play so far and is facing Florida in the Swamp. Sure, they beat the Ole Miss Rebels by three and fought the Georgia Bulldogs to a 13-12 loss, but the South Carolina Gamecocks and Vanderbilt Commodores both found ways to finish them off.

DJ Lagway will explode in this one and give the Gator Nation something to finally feel confident about in this one. The defense will also continue to improve as it has the past couple of weeks. — Adam Dubbin

Florida 32, Kentucky 21

Florida’s defense has improved greatly

Florida’s defense has improved greatly over the past two games, and DJ Lagway taking over as the starting quarterback should provide a nice change of pace for the offense.

Still, this Kentucky isn’t to be underestimated. The Wildcats pushed Georgia to the brink, losing 13-12 in a close matchup, and a one-score loss to Vanderbilt isn’t nearly as damning as it would be in seasons past. That 31-6 loss to South Carolina does raise some eyebrows, though.

Kentucky features a solid pass rush and secondary, but it might also have the worst run defense in the SEC. On offense, things are flipped. The Wildcats are near the bottom of the conference in passing but make up for it with a strong run game.

Florida’s game plan here should be simple: establish the run early and let Lagway take more shots downfield once Kentucky stacks the box. Even if Montrell Johnson Jr. isn’t 100% for this game, Jadan Baugh and Ja’Kobi Jackson have both shown enough to confidently hand the ball of to. Getting Treyaun Webb back into the fold would be a nice addition to that position room.

Lastly, and it’s a bit scary to say this, Lagway needs to run a lot of option plays to keep Kentucky guessing. Risking injury isn’t ideal a week after the starter goes down, but Lagway’s feet are explosive. If the Wildcats can’t figure out who to go after, things could get ugly quickly. — David Rosenberg

Florida 24, Kentucky 20

How to watch Gators vs Wildcats

The Gators host the Wildcats inside Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 19, for this year’s homecoming game. Kickoff is set for 7:45 p.m. ET and will be broadcast on the SEC Network.

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