In our latest episode of He Said/She Said, Bluegrass and I have decided to put our allegiances aside and play a little role reversal.  Kinky!  Coming October 20, my beloved Florida Gators face off against traditional SEC East cellar dweller, the Kentucky Wildcats.  For this week’s (challenging) assignment, Bluegrass and I have chosen to make a point that the OPPOSING team will come out with a victory.  This should be fun, don’t ya’ think?

Not so long ago in a galaxy called the Southeastern Conference, a team clad in orange and blue consistently dominated the inferior teams in its own division.  Every so often, a team would sneak up and surprise the team known as the Florida Gators, but over the past two decades, their division record speaks for itself.  Florida has won sixteen straight over Vanderbilt.  They have won 15 of their last 17 over Georgia.  They’ve won 12 of their last 18 against Tennessee.  The Gators are 14-1 in their last 15 games against South Carolina.  But no SEC East team has bore the brunt of more brutal and humiliating losses than the Kentucky Wildcats.  The Florida Gators are currently winners of twenty consecutive games over Big Blue, whose last win over Florida came in 1986, before Emmitt Smith even enrolled in school.  Since that period, Florida has beaten Kentucky by scores of 47-15, 73-7, 42-7, 65-0, 55-28, 51-35, 38-10, 59-31, 44-10 and 49-28.

That may all change this year.  The Kentucky Wildcats are currently 4-0 and ranked for the first time in 22 years.  The school has had four impressive victories so far this season, including two over ranked Arkansas and Louisville.  Kentucky’s high-octane offense, led by senior quarterback Andre’ Woodson, has scored no less than 40 points in a game this season.

Beginning in October, Kentucky will get into the heart of its SEC schedule.  But don’t fool yourself for one second if you don’t think they have one game earmarked over than any other:  the October 20, home match-up against Florida.  Prior to that game, the Wildcats will face a difficult stretch, which includes traveling to Columbia to face South Carolina, as well as hosting the #2 LSU Tigers.  By the time they host the Gators, however, they’ll be battle-tested, and although a loss to LSU won’t matter as much, victories over both USC and Florida could give Kentucky a strange-hold on the SEC East, resulting in their first possible SEC Championship Game berth.  Prior to this year, Kentucky fans were not even aware there was a conference championship game.  Rest assured they have their sights set on that goal this year.

While the defending national champions are still undefeated and have looked impressive under the leadership of freshman quarterback Tim Tebow, they are still far from perfect.  The Gators are second in the nation in penalties and third in the nation in penalty yards.  After giving up two late touchdowns to Ole Miss, their inexperienced secondary is still loaded with question marks.  Florida allows over 250 yards/game through the air which ranks 80th in the nation.  Their tackling is also suspect.

Despite Tim Tebow’s Heisman-like start, Woodson’s numbers are actually quite similar.  Both have already thrown for over 1,000 yards.  Both have completed around 65% of their passes.  Both have thrown over ten touchdowns with few, if any, interceptions.  And most importantly, both have, to date, led their teams to undefeated conference play.  Sure, Tebow’s rushing statistics are considerably more impressive, but Woodson has yet to make any mistakes to cost his team.  On the contrary, he has the Bluegrass State thinking about something other than basketball.

While Kentucky’s defense is also suspect, their offense boasts a balanced attack.  Rafael Little has rushed for over 100 yards in three of his first four games and is averaging over seven yards per carry.  Through the air, six different receivers have caught balls for touchdowns.  Keenan Burton, Steve Johnson, and Dicky Lyons have each caught touchdown passes of over fifty yards.  Of the aforementioned five players, only Lyons is a junior.  The rest (Woodson, Little, Burton, Johnson) are all seniors.

If there were ever a year for the Wildcats to knock off the hated Florida Gators, this is the year.  This Kentucky team is the best in recent memory.  The game is in Lexington.  The Wildcats have the edge in experience and home field.  The Gators have shown they’re susceptible to road losses under Urban Meyer, i.e., South Carolina in 2005, Auburn in 2006.  More than anything, the Wildcats are due!  A well-coached and motivated Kentucky team could very likely sneak up and do what nobody in a Wildcat football uniform has done in twenty years… tear down the goalposts in Lexington after defeating the Florida Gators.

This way to SHE SAID:  On The Florida Gators