Though Destination Lies Ahead, Cats Enjoying the Ride
Benny Snell Jr. has been a star in Kentucky for two solid years now. The last week, he’s gone national.
One of the standouts of the first four weeks of this college football season, Snell has even been mentioned as an early contender for the Heisman Trophy. His team, meanwhile, has vaulted into the top-20 of both major polls after an impressive 28-7 win over then-No. 14 Mississippi State.
This week, Snell was asked what he thinks about all the attention. A wry smile crept across his face.
“I can say it’s fun to a certain extent,” Snell said. “For me, I don’t try to pay attention to it, but I have fun with it.”
Snell’s enjoyment of the moment is tempered by the same focus that has brought him to this point.
“You can never be OK with where we’re at,” Snell said. “You always gotta be uncomfortable, especially in this league of play. You always gotta stay on your toes.”
That’s especially true this week, as No. 17 UK will be facing a motivated South Carolina team on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at Kroger Field. The Wildcats are riding a four-game winning streak vs. the Gamecocks to match their four-game winning streak to start the 2018 season.
“I’ve been preaching to the guys all week,” senior tight end C.J. Conrad said. “I know these guys are going to come in and play hard. They’re going to be getting after us. That’s what I’m trying to do as a leader, is inspire these guys. We can’t have a hangover from Mississippi State and I don’t anticipate that at all. We got guys who are leaders on this team and we won’t let that happen.”
UK’s transition from being the hunter to the hunted has been a theme this week, naturally. For Snell, the key is to refuse to let the transition happen at all.
“It’s always about wanting to be the hunter,” Snell said. “You always gotta want it. You always gotta stay focused as a team. You can never switch up what you’re doing, especially when you’re having success. You can’t lose your head. We played good opponents and we’ve played good opponents in the past. It’s all about staying focused and attacking, and you gotta be the hunter all the time, especially in the SEC.”
South Carolina is unmistakably an SEC opponent coming off a 37-14 win at Vanderbilt, with ample talent on both sides of the ball. On offense, that starts with junior quarterback Jake Bentley and senior wide receiver Deebo Samuel.
“South Carolina is a very good football team across the board,” Mark Stoops said. “They’re very balanced, as far as being a good special teams, offense, defense. It does present a challenge, especially with their quarterback and wide receivers. They’re very good players.”
UK will also have to contend with the added wrinkle of defending a South Carolina offense playing at a much faster pace this season, drawing comparisons to offenses run by Missouri and Ole Miss. Star Wildcat linebacker Josh Allen doesn’t even pretend he enjoys playing against that kind of tempo, but he knows what it takes to defend it.
“Get lined up,” Allen said. “Get lined up is the first thing you gotta do against a high-tempo offense. We just gotta get to the ball, stop them on first down, stop them on second down and get them in third-and-long and then we’re going to rush the passer.”
That formula was effective as UK has scored its first 2-0 start to SEC play in more than four decades, but the Cats aren’t resting on their laurels. They see much bigger things in their future.
“It feels great, but we’re not settling just for where we’re at now,” Allen said. “We want to be the best and to be the best you gotta keep winning.”
