Picking a winner for each game on the Kentucky football 2019 schedule

LEXINGTON - Courier Journal UK beat writer Jon Hale picks each game on the Wildcats' 2019 schedule:

Kentucky 38, Toledo 30

Kentucky has won just one opener in the Stoops era by more than 11 points, and Toledo averaged the ninth most points per game in the country last year. Watch out for former UK running back Bryant Koback.

Kentucky 35, Eastern Michigan 21

Two years after Eastern Michigan just missed the upset in Lexington, expect Kentucky to be ready for another difficult challenge. The Eagles are breaking in a new quarterback.

Florida 38, Kentucky 24

I’m not sure how good Florida actually is, especially with significant offensive line questions, but this seems like too early a challenge for Kentucky’s inexperienced secondary to overcome.

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Mississippi State 35, Kentucky 21

The Bulldogs lost seven starters from the No. 2 scoring defense in the country, but new starting quarterback Keytaon Thompson has already torched Kentucky once with 65 rushing yards and two touchdowns as a freshman in 2017.

Kentucky 27, South Carolina 24

No one will confuse this with the Kentucky-Florida streak, but I’m not picking South Carolina to beat Mark Stoops until it happens after five straight losses. Expect another close one on the road.

Kentucky 33, Arkansas 24

Chad Morris’ track record suggests he could eventually turn Arkansas into a dangerous team, but after a 2-10 debut season it’s difficult to imagine it will be this year.

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Georgia 45, Kentucky 17

Six games into the season we should know more about how Kentucky’s new-look defense might fare against a top-five team. For now, the possibility of a nightmare in Athens looks high.

Missouri 34, Kentucky 24

I’m not buying into all the Missouri preseason hype, but after watching Kentucky lay an egg at Tennessee after losing to Georgia last season, it's easy to imagine another hangover loss.

Kentucky 30, Tennessee 27

Speaking of that 2018 Tennessee debacle, Stoops’ squad should be plenty motivated to prove itself against the Vols at home and right the ship after back-to-back losses.

Kentucky 35, Vanderbilt 21

Kentucky reaches bowl eligibility for the fourth consecutive year with its fourth straight win over the Commodores. Terry Wilson has a big game, erasing the memory of one of his worst 2018 performances.

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Kentucky 52, UT Martin 10

The Wildcats’ FCS foe presents a nice breather after the SEC finale. We should see several redshirting freshmen in this game and plenty of the Kentucky backups.

Kentucky 38, Louisville 17

If this game were still played in the first month of the season, I could see the excitement around new Cards coach Scott Satterfield leading to a closer-than-expected outcome like Stoops’ first Governor’s Cup rivalry game. By the finale, Louisville will probably be out of gas though.

Jon Hale: jahale@courier-journal.com; Twitter: @JonHale_CJ. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: www.courier-journal.com/jonh.