UK Keyed in on Critical Moments, Sustaining Effort
Over the last six weeks, Mark Stoops can hardly think of a moment when he’s been unhappy with the effort of his Kentucky team.
The Wildcats, forced into changing their style of play on the fly with Lynn Bowden Jr., have consistently played energetic, complementary football on offense and defense dating to their first bye week.
Nonetheless, they suffered a stinging defeat last weekend.
“Critical moments, we have to find ways to execute and to make those plays happen,” Stoops said. “Right now, the way we are playing the margin for error is extremely small but we are playing extremely hard. Guys are doing a lot of good things; it gets down to a few plays.”
With three games remaining in the regular season, there’s no reason to think that reality will change.
“We’re just taking every game one at a time,” linebacker DeAndre Square said. “Zero and zero.”
The last quarter of the regular season begins Saturday at 3:30 p.m. as the Wildcats (4-5, 2-5 SEC) travel to Nashville for a matchup with Vanderbilt (2-7, 1-5 SEC). The Commodores have had their struggles this season, but quarterback Riley Neal will return from injury this weekend and the Cats have a healthy respect for Vandy anyway.
“These games with Vandy have always been hard-fought games,” defensive coordinator Brad White said. “We know we’re going to go down there and they’re ready. They’re going to be geared up. They have really talented players on offense. We’ve got our hands full with the running back.”
That running back is dynamic senior Ke’Shawn Vaughn. The Nashville native has rushed for 2,062 yards in 21 career games at Vandy, but missed last year’s game against Kentucky due to injury.
“He’s a bowling ball,” linebacker Kash Daniel said. “He’s got really powerful legs, runs really hard, low to the ground. When he makes contact, runs through contact. We gotta drive our feet and not arm tackle because he’ll run through those and get guys to the ball.”
With Vaughn in the Vandy backfield and Bowden once again expected to quarterback UK’s offense, Saturday’s game will feature two teams intent on running the football. The question for Kentucky is whether Sawyer Smith will see more time in an effort to enhance the threat of the pass.
“It is just a matter of finding some explosive plays, but it is a balance and something to think about,” Stoops said. “It is hard when you only have nine possessions in a game. It is a lot easier after the fact to say, ‘Hey, give Sawyer three series.’ But every play and every series is so important and again with Lynn we have been very effective and we’ve been moving the football.”
That gets back to that critical moments thing.
It likely won’t be as dramatic as a make-or-break fourth-and-goal in the final 80 seconds, but there will be plays on which Saturday’s game will hinge. The Wildcats have spent the week readying themselves for those moments.
“Gotta have thick skin,” Logan Stenberg said. “You can’t let anything multiply in your head. … You just gotta play every play the hardest with no regrets and that’s we plan to do and that’s how we prepare.”
In terms of mental approach, UK doesn’t want to do anything different than it has been. The Cats’ regular-season opportunities might be down to three with a fourth consecutive bowl berth on the line, but their focus is the same.
“I wouldn’t say it’s pressure,” Square said. “We’re just taking every game one by one. If we play our game, play how we’re supposed to play, we’ll be bowl eligible.”
