To call Alabama’s trip to Kentucky a trap game is predictable.

It would be boring.

Yawn.

So, what if it’s true because it is and if you’re not clicking out of this already, we’ll talk about why Alabama needs to respect the moment before it consumes all the progress made.

All the factors are there.

First, Alabama’s traditionally come out sluggish the Saturday after playing LSU. Players have always been clear about the physical toll of a night game with a program that mirrors the Crimson Tide in so many ways.

And the 42-28 win over LSU on Saturday was significant beyond the physical. There’s two rivals Alabama clearly had circled after crushing road losses a year ago that tanked any shot at the ultimate goal.

Checking the box against LSU after the 34-20 win over Tennessee two weeks earlier comes with a certain level of satisfaction.

It was personal.

And Kentucky? They haven’t done anything to Alabama.

The Wildcats last conquered the Crimson Tide in 1997 and that required overtime to beat an Alabama team that finished 4-7. Some of these Alabama players’ parents hadn’t met each other that night the goalposts came down in Commonwealth Stadium so the 2023 version of Scott Cochran will struggle to villainize this Wildcat locker room.

But this Kentucky program has come a long way since slap fighting Vanderbilt to be the second-worst team in the SEC East.

It manhandled a ranked Florida team Sept. 30 in Lexington with the Gators still riding high on a big win over Tennessee. Kentucky led 23-0 before the Gators knew what day it was before settling on a 33-14 final score.

Granted, Alabama’s a lot better than a Florida team that just lost at home to Arkansas for the Razorbacks first SEC win of the season.

That Kentucky-Florida game was an 11 a.m. CT kickoff.

So is Alabama’s trip to what’s now called Kroger Field. Now it’s rare for the Crimson Tide to play before noon central on the road but it invites a case of the ‘sleepies’. For context, the 2009 Alabama national title team played at Kentucky at 11:21 a.m. CT. It was an ugly one that the Tide won, 38-20 with the help of four Wildcat turnovers.

Alabama also started slow in its last trip to horse country — fumbling on two of the first three possessions before coasting against a two-win Wildcat team, 48-7.

Speaking of stumbles out of the starting gate, this Alabama team’s done a fair bit of that. Here’s a rundown of Alabama’s first possession in each of the first nine games.

• MTSU: TD
• Texas: INT
• USF: Punt
• Ole Miss: FG
• Miss. St: Punt
• Texas A&M: Punt
• Arkansas: Punt
• Tennessee: Punt
• LSU: Punt

That’s a grand total of three points in six game-opening possessions during SEC play. Alabama’s first-quarter scoring edge in league games sits at just 41-36 and a sluggish start on the wrong day can only give confidence to a home underdog — one that clearly came out hot early on against a Florida team with momentum a month-plus ago.

Kentucky also came out hot with ranked Missouri in town on Oct. 14 as the hosts raced to a 14-0 lead before the Tigers struck back to win 38-21.

All that said, Alabama’s got more talent on both sides of the ball and the confidence that comes with digging out of a September hole. The only other time Kentucky faced a team with a similar talent ratio was an Oct. 7 trip to Georgia. It was Dawgs > Cats by a 51-13 final that began a three-game skid for Kentucky.

Ultimately, this will be settled not by precedent but on the field. Alabama should win this one, clinch the SEC West and start preparing for bigger things.

But this season has been filled with potholes and an early kickoff at Kentucky would be the classic booby trap moment. This is, after all, a team eager to get off the emotional carnival ride that’s jerked everyone through the last two-plus months with high-stakes moments looming around the next corner.

They’d just be best served not taking the shortcut this weekend.

Michael Casagrande is a reporter for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @ByCasagrande or on Facebook.