Will Kentucky football cover the spread against Southern Miss in Week 1?

Kentucky has a big spread to cover against Southern Miss.

Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Stoops smiles with Kentucky Wildcats offensive lineman Jager Burton (62) after the Wildcats beat Louisville 38-31 Saturday. Nov. 24, 2023 / Matt Stone/The Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Kentucky Wildcats are getting ready to take on the Southern Miss Golden Eagles in Kroger Field to kick off the 2024 season. This is a Southern Miss team that has given the Wildcats trouble during the Mark Stoops era.

Southern Miss beat Kentucky in Lexington 44-35 during the 2016 season, and the Wildcats left with a close 24-17 road win over Southern Miss in 2017.

Now, this is a much different Kentucky football program than it was in 2016-17, so the Wildcats shouldn't have any issue taking down the Golden Eagles at home this season.

The real question when it comes to this game is whether or not the Wildcats will cover the 28-point line in this game. Historically, Kentucky hasn't been the best at covering big lines, as Coach Stoops likes to run the ball and slow things down once the Wildcats get a lead.

28 points is a massive line, and while Kentucky will win this game and, more than likely, it won't ever be in question, Southern Miss could hang around enough to cover this line.

Week one of college football is the best week to take underdogs to cover big lines because the oddsmakers don't know what these teams are going to look like. Week zero was a perfect example of this, as Georgia Tech, New Mexico, and Nevada all covered.

There is definitely a chance that Kentucky gets a 14 or 21-point lead in this game and then starts to slow things down and run the clock out. If this happens and Southern Miss avoids a big play, they could cover this line.