UK with Encouraging Signs, Lots to Improve ahead of Florida Trip
It didn’t take long for on-field adversity to strike Kentucky.
The adversity came in the form of four first-half turnovers and a 17-7 deficit late in the second quarter of the Wildcats’ season opener vs. Central Michigan on Saturday.
How, then, did UK manage take a 21-20 lead into the halftime locker room? By responding to that adversity.
“I thought we did some good things,” Stoops said. “After watching the film, I was really proud of a lot of things we did this past Saturday. It’s always good getting the opener under your belt and getting that victory.”
The defense, of course, deserves a lot of credit, particularly considering the nature of those turnovers. One fumble was returned for a touchdown, while one interception gave Central Michigan the ball at the UK 10. The Cats would only allow a field goal on that drive. UK allowed 10 points off the other two turnovers, with the touchdown coming only after a targeting penalty on third down prolonged a Chippewa drive.
“I thought the defense did a great job of holding us in the game when we were turning it over because four fumbles in the first half, 10 points–the defense wasn’t on the field for seven and held them to zero yards and a field goal on another,” Stoops said. “I think that was really big, but also having each other’s back.”
Perhaps the best instance of that came from Gunnar Hoak, the sophomore who narrowly lost a battle with Terry Wilson to start at quarterback. Seeing his first action as a college player and with just 55 seconds on the clock before half, Hoak stepped in after Wilson was injured and led UK 71 yards for a go-ahead touchdown, hitting David Bouvier in stride as the pocket collapsed.
“He could have went in the tank and moped and cried and complained or pointed fingers, but he just worried about himself and preparing and went in a very difficult situation and performed,” Stoops said. “So I’m proud of him for that.”
Wilson, meanwhile, would return in the second half and play much better, as would the entire UK offense.
“The offense coming back, putting points on the board and keeping the positive energy,” Stoops said. “Went into halftime no panic, let’s make the corrections and go out there and I thought we played a very good second half.”
Indeed, UK would go on to claim a 35-20 season-opening victory, doing so in encouraging fashion considering adversity is bound to strike at some point in the Wildcats’ next game. That game comes against a Florida team against which UK has one of the longest – and most frequently mentioned – losing streaks in college football history.
“Looking forward to this week’s challenge, going down to the Swamp, first SEC game, division opponent, so we have a lot of work to do,” Stoops said. “I was pleased with many of the guys’ efforts this past Saturday and there’s quite a few things we need to get cleaned up.”
Knowing all that traveling to Gainesville, Florida, entails, it’s a matter of when adversity will come. However, on the subject of things that UK needs to get cleaned up, one of the Cats’ priorities will be to avoid the kind of early game issues that arose in week one.
“I think that is one point that we’ll communicate the right way, is getting a fast start,” Stoops said. “You do let it get away from you and let those fans get involved and then you let them get aggressive on both sides of the ball, things can get out of hand real quick. You see that in a lot of those environments if you watch some of these places when the fans are going to explode. You can’t give them that opportunity. I think getting off to a fast start is important.”
Florida, which got off to a 1-0 start with a 53-6 win over Charleston Southern, won’t make that easy.
“They’re a good football team just like you’d expect a Florida team to be,” Stoops said. “They’ve got some difference makers on defense, at all levels of their defense. They have some disruptors up front. Their linebacker is a really good player. Their secondary, shoot I think they gave up three yards. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen that. That’s pretty good. They’ve got some very good players. Offensively, doing some good things just like you’d expect from a Florida team. You’ve got some speed at wide receiver. Very good running backs. Their quarterback played really good this past week. We’ll have our hands full.”
