Facing ‘Desperate’ Situation, Cats Find a Way

Mark Stoops felt the same way fans watching at home did.
 
Mad at the way Kentucky was playing. Disappointed that his Wildcats might squander the opportunity before them.
 
The difference between Stoops and the fans is UK’s head coach could do something about it.
 
“I went off on a couple of them,” Stoops said. “I’m like, ‘I don’t care. I don’t care what it’s like. Bow up and go make a play. Go find a way.’ “
 
There have been times in Stoops’ Kentucky tenure that his team that such coaching would never have worked. In his sixth year, as UK has raced to 7-1 and into the thick of the Southeastern Conference championship race, times have changed.
 
“I’m really proud of this group and the maturity that they have that you can do that,” Stoops said. “That you can get in their face, you can challenge them when things look absolutely desperate and they respond.”
 
Things, frankly, could not have looked much more desperate at Missouri on Saturday.
 
As well as UK’s defense was playing behind the transcendent Josh Allen – and it was playing unbelievably well – the straits were dire. The 14-3 deficit the No. 12/14 Cats faced at halftime was unchanged with the clock closing in on five minutes in the fourth quarter. Whether he was one of the players who drew Stoops’ ire is unknown, but Lynn Bowden, Jr. was the one who stopped up in its wake.
 
UK’s defense had just forced yet another three-and-out and the Cats were set to get the ball back. Bowden, who had not fielded a punt all season, didn’t ask his coach to give him a chance at a return so much as tell him it was going to happen.
 
“Lynn’s performance, when you’re coaching all these years and you see guys when they say, ‘Give me the rock,’ sometimes it’s lip service and they all want that,” Stoops said. “And then there’s some times where there’s just a sheer desire in that guy’s eyes, that he’s going to do it. That’s what he had today.”
 
In the midst of his best game as a receiver – 13 catches on 13 targets for 166 yards – all Bowden did was race 67 yards for a punt-return touchdown that turned the tide of the game.
 
“My teammates, they blocked their tail off and I just made cuts and trusted my speed,” Bowden said.
 
A few minutes later, after two more defensive stops, UK got the ball back one final time. With 81 yards to go and only one timeout and 1:24 to do it, Terry Wilson trotted out. He was coming off a week in which quarterback controversy swirled and Gunnar Hoak replaced him for three-second half drives, but his confidence was unshaken, even after he took a sack on the drive’s very first play.
 
“It said an awful lot about him,” Stoops said. “That doesn’t surprise me, the way he responds and the way he bounces back. I expect all of our guys to do that.”
 
Then he found Bowden for 12 yards. On back-to-back plays, he found David Bouvier for a combined 43 yards. A 13-yard strike to Josh Ali would follow and he responded to a sack by throwing to Bowden to set up one final play – apparently – from the Mizzou 10. UK was granted another chance from the two-yard line when pass interference was called on a pass to Ahmad Wagner.
 
Knowing Mizzou would sell out to stop star running back Benny Snell Jr., UK originally called for Wilson to throw to C.J. Conrad on an out route. When the Tigers called timeout to set their defense, debate raged on the UK sideline. Conrad settled it.
 
“We almost switched it,” Conrad said. “I said, ‘No, I’m going to win this game. I’m going to win this game.’ I told Terry, ‘Put it on me,’ and made a play for the team.”
 
Indeed he did, capping an improbable 15-14 victory for Kentucky (7-1, 5-1 SEC).
 
“Amazing victory by our team,” Stoops said. “Could not be more proud of this group, the way we just stuck together, played as a complete football team – offense, defense, special teams.”
 
The defense, of course, should not be forgotten, in spite of the late-game heroics of Wilson, Conrad and Bowden.
 
UK had been solid in the first half against a Tiger offense averaging 38.6 points and more than 500 yards coming into Saturday, but it was downright unreal after halftime: eight drives against star senior quarterback Drew Lock and eight punts. More than that, the Cats didn’t allow a single first down and Mizzou managed just 45 total yards against a defense that has established itself as one of the best in the country.
 
“Amazing,” Stoops said. “Absolutely amazing. With that quarterback and that team, just the guts and the determination of our defense, out-of-this-world good. Just so proud of them, the way they played.”
 
Allen was in the middle of it all, registering 10 tackles – nine of them of the solo variety. He sacked Lock twice in the second half, forcing fumbles both times.
 
“He’s a game-changer,” Stoops said.
 
A game-changer who will be playing on the biggest stage yet next week. With Georgia and Kentucky both winning on Saturday, the winner of the game between the Bulldogs and Wildcats – which will kick off at 3:30 p.m. on CBS – will go to the SEC Championship Game.
 
“We’re playing for the East next week,” Stoops said. “It’s a really big deal for our fan base and for our team. These guys have worked hard and you have to find a way. If you’re going to be a championship team, you gotta find a way to win games like this. I’m just very proud of our team for doing it.”
 
Saturday might not have been pretty, but in some ways that’s even more beautiful to Stoops. He now has a group that won’t flinch in the face of even the stiffest adversity.
 
“That group up there, what they did—they’re special,” Stoops said. “I even felt us evolve tonight and really come together to get a victory for each other. It was really nice that all three sides had to do it. That makes it really gratifying.”