Random notes: Lane Kiffin being Lane Kiffin; Louisville-Notre Dame, SEC predictions

Random notes about Kentucky-Ole Miss and other college football matchups:

With the Cats facing the Rebels at noon Saturday in Oxford, it has been another typical Lane Kiffin week for Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin.

On Sunday, Kiffin was in a TikTok video with his daughter Landry, who was showing how she prepared for Ole Miss’ home game with Georgia Southern last Saturday. The Rebels rolled 52-13, by the way.

In a separate video with the same setting, Kiffin was with Landry and his ex-wife Layla.

At his Monday press conference, Kiffin appeared to troll Auburn coach Hugh Freeze, who was criticized for appearing to throw his quarterbacks under the bus after the Tigers’ 24-14 home loss to Arkansas.

Fast forward to Wednesday when, on the SEC coaches’ teleconference, Freeze complimented the Ole Miss coach. Kiffin responded by accusing Freeze of trying to steal his coaches.

Kentucky is an 18-point underdog on Saturday

Mark Stoops’ Cats are an 18-point road dog on Saturday.

The Cats were a 24-point underdog against then No. 1-ranked Georgia on Sept. 14 and lost 13-12 at Kroger Field.

The last time UK was at least an 18-point road underdog? That was Oct. 16, 2021, when the Cats were a 21.5-point underdog against Georgia in Athens. The top-ranked Bulldogs prevailed 30-13.

When Kentucky played at Ole Miss on Oct. 1, 2022, Stoops’ squad was actually a 6.5-point favorite. With a 4-0 record, including a 26-16 win at Florida, the Wildcats rolled into Oxford ranked No. 7 in the AP Top 25. Ole Miss was ranked 14th. Those rankings meant little, however. Ole Miss won 22-19.

So far this season, Kentucky is 3-1 against the spread.

Here’s an interesting note from WLXG’s Brad Taylor, who hosts “The Bottom Line” sports gambling radio show weekdays 2-3 p.m. and the “Weekend Line” on Saturdays and Sundays 9-10 a.m.: Under Mark Stoops, Kentucky is 37-21 under the projected total score in road games. The over/under for Saturday is 52.5.

More Kentucky-Ole Miss notes

Some random Cats-Rebels notes:

▪ Sean McDonough, Greg McElroy and Molly McGrath will be on the call for ABC on Saturday. The trio also worked UK-South Carolina and UK-Georgia. This crew ranked No. 2 on my broadcast rankings for this season.

▪ Ole Miss is expected to have Jared Ivey back for Saturday’s game. Ivey made the strip sack of Will Levis that sealed the Rebels’ win in 2022. The defensive end missed last week’s Georgia Southern game with an ankle sprain.

▪ Ivey is not the only Rebel who worries UK offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan. “They’ve got a big-time player we’ve got to take care of in No. 2,” Hamdan said Tuesday.

That’s Walter Nolen, a 6-foot-3, 305-pound junior transfer from Texas A&M. The defensive tackle is on the watch list for both the Bronco Nagurski Trophy and the Outland Trophy. He anchors a defense that is ranked No. 1 nationally against the run, allowing 1.1 yards per attempt.

▪ Saturday will be the first road start for UK quarterback Brock Vandagriff. The Georgia transfer has experience going on the road in the SEC, just not much on the field as he backed up Stetson Bennett and Carson Beck.

▪ How have recent UK starting QBs fared in their road debuts? In 2021, Will Levis completed 15 of 22 passes for 102 yards and an interception in the Cats’ 16-10 win at South Carolina. Last season, Devin Leary completed 15 of 29 passes for 205 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions in UK’s 45-28 victory at Vanderbilt.

▪ UK fans remember the illegal motion penalty that wiped out Dane Key’s touchdown catch the play before Levis fumbled in that 2022 UK-Ole Miss game. People might have forgotten the greatness of Key’s catch. The then freshman basically took it off the back of an Ole Miss defender.

▪ In that 2022 game, Ole Miss’ Quinshon Judkins rushed for 106 yards on just 15 carries as a freshman. He had a 48-yard run in that game. Judkins transferred to Ohio State before this season. He’s rushed for 336 on just 36 carries, averaging 9.3 yards per attempt for the Buckeyes.

▪ While Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart and wide receivers Tre Harris and Juice Wells have garnered the most attention, UK defensive coordinator Brad White warns not to sleep on running back Henry Parrish Jr., who is averaging 106.8 yards per game on the ground.

“I think people have sort of overlooked how good he is,” White said of Parrish. “He is really playing at a high level in terms of getting downhill and making people miss at the second and third level.”

▪ Ole Miss listed 26 players on its first availability report for the Kentucky game. The Rebels listed 14 of the 26 as “probable.”

▪ How does Kentucky and Ole Miss match up compared to the 2022 game? UK associate head coach Vince Marrow said he believes both defenses are better now. UK’s roster does include players who played in that game in Oxford.

“It help us because of our culture. A lot of those guys were young guys, sophomores and juniors, they are juniors and seniors now,” Marrow said. “But (Ole Miss) has added some players in the transfer portal. So it’s going to be different. Just like South Carolina, they were a different team because of the portal.”

▪ Big key for Kentucky on Saturday: Shaking it off if Ole Miss hits a big play. Said White, “You have to. The thing about big plays, especially when you’re on the road, that we have to do a great job in terms of minimizing them is it’s really a momentum crowd booster. If you give you a big play touchdown, the crowd is electric. Then they kick the ball off and now they’re on defense with an electric crowd, it makes it even harder on your offense. We have to do our part to try and relieve some of that.”

▪ As we mentioned earlier this week, Kentucky is 6-6 in its last 12 SEC road games. The reason behind that success?

“I’m not sure,” Stoops said on Friday. “I think it takes a really strong mindset. Our guys have got to be really focused. I think the talking point, as you know, the past couple of weeks has been about discipline and execution and about really focusing and doing things. Our guys want to play hard, and they’re always inspired on Saturday. It’s about how detailed we are and how we execute in critical moments. Just the way we’re built, we’re going to be a lot of close games.”

▪ Former UK wide receiver Charles Walker said on Tom Leach’s radio show this week that for early road games, Stoops would wake the team up by going through the halls with a boom box. Is that still true?

“Oh yeah,” Stoops said. “We’re gonna make sure they are awake.”

Georgia-Alabama highlights Saturday’s SEC schedule

Here are Saturday’s conference matchups with predictions:

Kentucky at Ole Miss (12 p.m. on ABC): With Ole Miss whipping four overmatched foes, the Rebels are difficult to judge. They’re good. But how good? Kentucky is battle-tested, having played South Carolina and Georgia. And the Cats played in Oxford a mere two years ago. I predict Kentucky will beat the spread but lose the game. Ole Miss 24, Kentucky 17.

Oklahoma at Auburn (3:30 p.m. on ABC): Two teams in need of a win. Oklahoma lost 25-15 at home to Tennessee last week. As previously mentioned, Auburn lost at home to Arkansas. Oklahoma has already made a quarterback change, benching Jackson Arnold in favor of Michael Hawkins. Auburn can’t find a quarterback to Freeze’s liking. Look for Auburn’s misery to continue. Oklahoma 20, Auburn 14.

Arkansas vs. Texas A&M (3:30 p.m. on ESPN): Arkansas has some momentum after its win at Auburn. Texas A&M has a road win over Florida, but the Aggies are still unsettled at quarterback. Bobby Petrino has made a difference with the Arkansas offense, especially the Razorbacks’ running game. That will make the difference at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. Arkansas 23, Texas A&M 21.

Mississippi State at Texas (4:15 p.m. on SEC Network): It has been a rough start for new Mississippi State coach Jeff Lebby. The Bulldogs are 1-3 and have lost starting quarterback Blake Shapen for the season because of a shoulder injury. Texas is the top-ranked team in the nation for a reason. Texas 48, Mississippi State 10.

Georgia at Alabama (7:30 p.m. on ABC): Per Connor O’Gara, this is the sixth time since the start of the 2017 season that Alabama and Georgia have faced off as top-four teams. Georgia is No. 2 in the latest AP poll. Alabama is No. 4 and a home underdog for the first time since 2007. Meanwhile, Georgia is 45-2 since 2021, with both losses coming against the Crimson Tide. Kirby Smart is 1-5 vs. Alabama. Says here he will be 2-5 after Saturday. Georgia 28, Alabama 21.

South Alabama at LSU (7:45 p.m. on SEC Network): South Alabama can score. The Jaguars are averaging 48.3 points per game. Their offensive coordinator is Rob Ezell, a former Alabama player who until now was more famous for his Nick Saban impersonation. USA will need to score at least 48 to beat LSU. Can’t see that happening. LSU 45, South Alabama 31.

Louisville plays Notre Dame at South Bend

Off to a 3-0 start, 15th-ranked Louisville travels to South Bend to face No. 16 Notre Dame on Saturday. The kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. and will be streamed on Peacock.

Louisville is coming off a 31-19 win over Georgia Tech where Jeff Brohm’s club recovered a Yellow Jackets fumble — Hayes King’s backward pass was batted down by a U of L defender — in the end zone for one touchdown and returned a blocked field goal 55 yards for another touchdown.

U of L quarterback Tyler Shough has been as advertised. He hit Alabama transfer Ja’Corey Brooks for a 57-yard touchdown against Georgia Tech. It was his eighth TD pass without an interception so far. But the Cards had trouble running the ball last Saturday, gaining 57 yards on 27 carries.

Notre Dame is still trying to shake off that 16-14 home loss to Northern Illinois on Sept. 7. The Irish are 3-1, with wins over Texas A&M (23-13 in College Station), Purdue (66-7 in West Lafayette) and Miami of Ohio (28-3).

Notre Dame is 16th nationally in total defense and Marcus Freeman’s defense should allow the Irish to exact revenge for last season’s 33-20 loss at Louisville. Prediction: Notre Dame 27, Louisville 20.

Here’s the rest of the in-state schedule

Other FBS and FCS games involving Kentucky schools:

▪ Western Kentucky is at Boston College for a noon kickoff on the ACC Network. Both teams are 3-1. WKU has won three straight since losing at Alabama in its opener. Boston College lost 27-21 at Missouri on Sept. 14.

In his two starts this year, Western quarterback Caden Veltkamp has completed 47 or 60 passes for 640 yards and six touchdowns with two interceptions. Western is coming off a 26-21 win over Toledo, who had beaten Mississippi State in Starkville the week before.

▪ Eastern Kentucky plays host to Robert Morris for a 2 p.m. game on ESPN+. The Colonels are 2-2 after beating Morehead State 42-13 last week. Walt Wells’ team has won two straight after opening the season with losses at Mississippi State (56-7) and Western Kentucky (31-0). Robert Morris is also 2-2.

▪ Morehead State plays host to Valparaiso for a 1 p.m. game on ESPN+. Morehead is 2-2 on the season. Valpo is also 2-2.

▪ Murray State is at North Dakota for a 2 p.m. ET kickoff on ESPN+. The Racers earned their first victory of the year last week, beating Mississippi Valley State 59-8. North Dakota is 3-1. Its lone loss was at Iowa State 21-3 in the season opener.

How can Kentucky football upset Ole Miss? Its defense must be up to the task.

How Kentucky football and No. 6 Mississippi match up — with a game prediction

Kentucky’s running backs have shined through four games, so where does Chip Trayanum fit?

Forever a ‘football player,’ former UK star Randall Cobb is transitioning to television

Oxford is a lovely town, but Kentucky football’s SEC road opener is no pleasure trip

Meet the person Mark Stoops calls ‘invaluable’ to Kentucky football