Cats ‘push through’ at Friday practice

The afternoon didn’t begin so promisingly for the Kentucky football team.

As evening approached at Friday’s practice, things got better.

“I thought it started out really slow,” Dawson said, “and then I think the last hour of practice was really good to see our guys push through. I thought we had a really good end of practice, which was good because it’s good to finish better than you started obviously.”

Dawson was most encouraged by Kentucky’s vertical passing game in the strong finish.

“We’re emphasizing throwing and completing deep balls really,” Dawson said. “So it’s something we’ve struggled with the last couple days, and so it was good. We put a big emphasis on that today, so it was good to complete some, which we did, which was good to see.”

UK would rather not have to bounce back from a slow start, whether it’s in games or in practice. Dawson, however, sees little reason to think Friday is an indication those kinds of starts will become habit.

What he does know is the ability to respond to adversity is a must.

“I can tell you one thing for sure: something bad is going to happen in the game,” Dawson said. “That’s universal in every game, and typically how you respond to that is how the outcome is going to be. So, I don’t know if it will be at the beginning or middle or end, but at some point you’re going to have peaks and valleys.”

Dawson believes in the Wildcats’ ability to translate that bounce-back skill come Sept. 5.

“Obviously games are different than practice and so I think they’ll respond great, to be honest with you,” Dawson said. “I have the utmost confidence in them. So my confidence is high, but I’m still eager – eager to see who’s going to rise; who’s going to rise whenever the lights are on.”