Facing Florida on the road, Kentucky embraced its role as the underdog.Even though few predicted they would hang with the Gators, the Wildcats played well in the Swamp and came within one play of scoring the upset in a triple-overtime defeat.Two weeks later, it will be UK that’s expected to take care of business on its home field against Vanderbilt. In spite of the role reversal in the minds of the experts, Mark Stoops wants his team’s attitude to stay the same.”I don’t pay much attention to it,” Stoops said. “But certainly need to be a team that’s very hungry. I think our team has played that way this year. We need to stay that way.”If last week is any indication, staying hungry won’t be an issue.With an open date over the weekend, UK (2-1, 0-1 Southeastern Conference) combined early preparations for Vanderbilt (1-3, 0-2 SEC) with plenty of fundamental work. On Monday, the Cats will return to the practice field ahead of Saturday’s noon matchup on the SEC Network.”We were very good all week,” Stoops said. “We had a good, solid week, good energy. We talked about it last Monday, really all week, just to do more, prepare better, be more effective in what we’re doing, get things cleaned up. So we’ll see where we’re at this week. They had the weekend off. I’ll be anxious to get with them here this afternoon and start our preparation for a game week.”Vandy, playing its best game of the season over the weekend, gave UK plenty to prepare for. The Commodores built an early lead on No. 14 South Carolina before falling at home, 48-34.”I thought they played with great energy this past week,” Stoops said. “You could see the excitement. They played hard. They’re getting better and better, playing more confident.”Vandy struggled out of the gate, dropping its first two games against Temple and Ole Miss in blowout fashion and falling behind 14-0 against UMass. The Commodores would come back to beat the Minutemen before going toe to toe with the Gamecocks behind true freshman Wade Freebeck. Freebeck was slated to play on Saturday in a quarterback time share, but took over on a full-time basis when Patton Robinette suffered an injury. Freebeck is one of a nation-leading 31 freshmen who has played for Vandy so far this season.”It will be interesting to see who goes for them,” Stoops said. “I think you could see some real talent in the freshmen. A guy that we knew from St. Thomas High School (in Davie, Fla.), a very good football player, a great program. He’s going to be a special player. Their older guys are good players, too. … It doesn’t matter, their offense doesn’t change much.”Derek Mason is in his first season as head coach at Vanderbilt, but the offense the Commodores run is similar to the one Stanford used during his time as defensive coordinator at Stanford. “It’s a challenge,” Stoops said. “I go back to my time at Arizona. Just the great respect I had for the Stanford program. Very fundamentally sound. Very tough at the core of who they are.”That toughness manifested itself in the running game on Saturday, as Vandy averaged better than five yards per carry.”They do a lot of creative things with big sets,” Stoops said. “That was helpful for them against South Carolina. You could see they’re starting to build more and more into their package. They create some big problems from the run and pass with big sets.”Regardless how Vandy chooses to attack UK, Stoops believes his team will be prepared.”It’s the next game on the schedule, so it’s the most important one,” Stoops said. “We’ll be excited to play.”UK ‘close to 100 percent’ after byeFew teams reach week five of the season close to full strength, but UK is close thanks to an early bye week.Running back Braylon Heard and wide receiver Javess Blue played through ankle injuries at Florida, but both are expected to be healthy for Vandy. Zach West, nursing a neck injury, is expected to practice on Monday. He joins wide receiver Jeff Badet as “question marks” for Saturday, while wide out Alex Montgomery is “close” as he builds muscle strength in his recovery from knee surgery.