How No. 24 Kentucky football and Missouri match up — with a game prediction

How the No. 24 Kentucky Wildcats (5-1, 2-1 SEC) and the Missouri Tigers (5-1, 1-1 SEC) match up at each position — with a game prediction:

Quarterbacks

▪ Kentucky’s Devin Leary (1,257 passing yards, 12 touchdowns, five interceptions, 54.8 completion percentage) has had a rough go, so far, in Southeastern Conference play. The North Carolina State transfer has completed only 45.9 percent of his passes (34 of 74) vs. SEC foes. After completing 10 of 26 throws in UK’s dispiriting 51-13 loss at No. 1 Georgia last week, the 6-foot-1, 217-pound Leary has gone two straight SEC games with more incompletions than completions.

▪ Under the tutelage of new offensive coordinator Kirby Moore, Missouri’s Brady Cook is enjoying a breakout junior season. The 6-2, 205-pound St. Louis product is sixth in the FBS in passing yards (1,863), 10th in passing yards a game (310.5) and is 15th in both completion percentage (71.87) and touchdown passes (13). Last season, in Kentucky’s 21-17 win at Missouri, Cook completed 18 of 26 passes for 143 yards and ran for both Mizzou touchdowns.

Advantage: Missouri.

Running backs

▪ Kentucky star Ray Davis carried 15 times for 59 yards and caught two passes for 36 yards and a touchdown in last week’s loss at Georgia. The 5-10, 216-pound graduate transfer from Vanderbilt leads the SEC and is ninth in the FBS in rushing (653 yards with eight touchdowns). He has also caught 13 passes for 138 yards and four TDs. Davis is the first player in UK history to have scored at least one TD in each of the first six games of a season. Last year, while playing for Vandy against Missouri, Davis ran for only 28 yards and caught two passes for 7 yards in a 17-14 Mizzou victory.

▪ Missouri’s Cody Schrader is second in the SEC in rushing (577 yards and six touchdowns) and is averaging 6.1 yards a carry. A 5-9, 214-pound graduate transfer from NCAA Division II Truman State, Schrader had a big game last week vs. LSU, running for 114 yards and three touchdowns on only 13 carries. Last season vs. UK, Schrader ran for 65 yards on 21 carries. Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz said Tuesday that Schrader is “questionable” to play Saturday due to a pulled quadriceps muscle. “We’re talking about Cody Schrader. So, if he’s breathing, he’s going to be trying to play,” Drinkwitz said. Nathaniel Peat, a 5-10, 206-pound graduate transfer from Stanford, has run for 266 yards and two touchdowns on 58 carries.

Advantage: Kentucky.

Wide receivers

▪ Kentucky sophomore Dane Key (16 catches, 261 yards, two touchdowns) was one of the few players who drew praise from Mark Stoops for his play in the blowout loss at Georgia. The Frederick Douglass High School product caught a team-high three passes in Athens for 65 yards. Stoops said Key “really worked hard to improve and looked at himself and looked at areas to improve and it showed up on film.” Last season against Mizzou, Key caught four passes for 53 yards and two touchdowns.

▪ A five-star recruit in the 247Sports composite rankings for the class of 2022, Missouri star Luther Burden is putting together a massive sophomore season. The 5-11, 208-pound St. Louis product leads the FBS in receptions (54), receiving yards (793) and receiving yards a game (132.2). Burden caught 11 passes for 149 yards vs. LSU last week. He caught six passes for 60 yards vs. UK last season as a freshman. A transfer from Oklahoma, Theo Wease (28 catches, 334 yards, four TDs) is capable.

Advantage: Missouri.

Tight ends

▪ Kentucky sophomore Josh Kattus (four catches, 35 yards, two touchdowns) had the only two receptions, for a combined 11 yards, by a UK tight end in the loss at Georgia. The 6-4, 231-pound sophomore caught a 4-yard TD pass vs. the Bulldogs.

▪ A transfer from Buffalo, Missouri’s Tyler Stephens (five catches, 49 yards) had a 20-yard reception last week vs. LSU. Freshman Brett Norfleet (five catches, 64 yards, one TD) had a 9-yard catch vs. LSU.

Advantage: Kentucky.

Offensive line

▪ Kentucky right guard Jager Burton committed a pair of major penalties at Georgia that both stalled promising UK drives. “There (was) zero excuse for both of them,” Mark Stoops said of the penalties. Since veteran left guard Kenneth Horsey was sidelined in the season opener by a lower-leg injury, Dylan Ray, a transfer from West Virginia, has started in his place. UK hopes Horsey will be able to return this week. “We need to get him back,” Stoops said.

▪ The left side of the Missouri offensive front, manned by redshirt seniors Javon Foster (tackle) and Xavier Delgado, is the strength of the Tigers’ line. “Those guys have been incredibly consistent,” Mizzou coach Eli Drinkwitz told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch about the 6-5, 319-pound Foster and 6-4, 329-pound Delgado.

Advantage: Kentucky.

Defensive line

▪ Kentucky’s Deone Walker, the 6-6, 340-pound sophomore, made four tackles and deflected a pass at Georgia. The Detroit product also committed a costly personal foul penalty that extended a Bulldogs drive that subsequently yielded a touchdown. Senior end Octavious Oxendine made two tackles at Georgia, including a tackle for loss.

▪ Missouri left end Darius Robinson got the bulk of the preseason attention but it is right end Johnny Walker who has created the most disruption for the Tigers. A 6-3, 244-pound junior from Tampa, Florida, Walker has a team-high 5.5 tackles for loss, three sacks, six quarterback hurries and has forced a fumble. A 6-5, 296-pound super-senior, Robinson has made four TFL, a sack, a QB hurry and has also forced a fumble.

Advantage: Even.

Linebackers

▪ Kentucky MLB D’Eryk Jackson, a 6-1, 245-pound product of Dublin, Georgia, had a team-high 11 tackles, nine of them solo, in the loss at Georgia. Jackson is 25th in the SEC with 35 tackles this season. Sophomore WLB Keaten Wade, a 6-5, 250-pound product of Spring HIll, Tennessee, has made a combined 10 tackles over the past two games vs. Florida (six) and at Georgia (four).

▪ Missouri WLB Ty’Ron Hopper leads the Tigers with 35 tackles, including 3.5 TFL. Hybrid linebacker/safety Daylan Carnell is effective near the box (five TFL, four QB hurries) or in pass coverage (four pass breakups).

Advantage: Missouri.

Defensive backs

▪ Kentucky sophomore CB Maxwell Hairston made his fourth interception of the season last week at Georgia. The 6-1, 181-pound sophomore from West Bloomfield, Michigan, is one of only six players in the FBS with four picks. With veteran safety Jalen Geiger sidelined by an injury suffered at Georgia, true freshman Ty Bryant, the former Frederick Douglass High School star, is now UK’s third safety.

▪ Missouri junior left cornerback Kris Abrams-Draine is playing at a high level. He has had made 28 tackles, broken up eight passes and picked off three. Starting right cornerback Ennis Rakestraw will miss Saturday’s game with a groin injury. Senior strong safety Joseph Charleston is second on the team with 32 tackles and has twice hurried the quarterback.

Advantage: Even.

Special teams

▪ Kentucky punter Wilson Berry (40.6 yards a kick, seven of 23 punts stopped inside the opponents’ 20-yard line) had a rough outing at Georgia, averaging only 37.8 yards on eight kicks. Place-kicker Alex Raynor is 6-of-6 on field-goal tries with a long of 50 yards. With Barion Brown and Tayvion Robinson both battling injuries last week, true freshman Anthony Brown-Stephens returned a kickoff for 16 yards, the first return of his college career.

▪ At 5-11, 243 pounds, Missouri place-kicker Harrison Mevis has become a folk hero for his powerful leg. Mevis boomed a 61-yard field goal on the game’s final play to beat then-No. 15 Kansas State 30-27 on Sept. 16. It was the longest made field goal in SEC history. Accuracy is not always a Mevis strength: He is 8-of-13 on field-goal tries and missed two of three in last week’s loss vs. LSU. Mizzou has used two punters. Australian Riley Williams has kicked 12 times for a 40.3 yards-a-kick average, while former place-kicker Luke Bauer has punted eight times for an average of 44.5 yards.

Advantage: Missouri.

Prediction

Missouri 31, Kentucky 27.

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