With an open date coming on Saturday, Kentucky has no immediate opponent to prepare for.Instead, the Wildcats are working to improve.”We had a good practice,” D.J. Eliot said on Wednesday. “Harping on fundamentals. Everybody’s getting reps and a lot of the younger players got reps all this week and we’re just focusing on us, focusing on us getting better and harping on the little things.”For Eliot’s defense, that starts against the run. UK allowed 237 rushing yards – 156 by big back Matt Jones – in a triple-overtime loss to Florida on Saturday. The Gators gained 4.7 yards per carry, often relying on a straightforward game the Cats know they have to be able to stop.”For us, it was defending the power run game and how quick we read it, how quick we triggered and how physical we were at the point of attack,” Eliot said.If it wasn’t Jones doing the damage for Florida, it was typically wide receiver Demarcus Robinson making UK pay in the passing game. He piled up 15 catches for 216 yards and two touchdowns in a dominant performance, but Eliot saw plenty the Cats could have done about it on film.”The longest pass he caught went off our cornerback’s shoulder pads,” Eliot said. “So it was a lot of stuff that we could have prevented, you know what I mean? It was really a lot of stuff that we could prevent. Give him credit. He’s an excellent player and they executed some good plays, but what we need to improve on is our assignments and our technique in coverage.”Though there was room for improvement, it’s not as if there weren’t positives. Florida managed only 20 points before overtime against a UK defense that still hasn’t allowed a first-half touchdown. “Ultimately on defense, you gotta keep them out of the end zone,” Eliot said. “You can give up yards and you can not play perfect, but you gotta keep them out of the end zone. And so we’ve been able to do that this season and in that game during regulation.”Perhaps the best example was on Florida’s first drive of the fourth quarter.Following a Patrick Towles interception, the Gators got the ball on their own 15. They methodically moved the ball downfield, eventually having a first and 10 at the UK 25 and seeming poised to score what would have been a back-breaking touchdown to build on a 20-17 lead. Instead, the Cats stopped Jones for two three-yard gains and forced a Jeff Driskel incompletion and a field-goal attempt. The Gators would miss and UK would force overtime.”To do that, you’ve gotta be good in situations and situations are third-down defense, the red-zone defense, the two-minute defense and those are the things that you have to be successful at – their turnovers – the things you have to be successful at to play good defense and to play good scoring defense,” Eliot said.