Kentucky Offense Working on 'Fixable' Issues
The Kentucky offense struggled in a 31-6 loss to South Carolina on Saturday. The Cats were held under 200 yards of total offense in the game.
So the task for UK offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan and the offensive staff this week was to get things cleanup up this week as the Cats prepare to face top-ranked Georgia. Hamdan believes that the issues that his unit went through on Saturday can be fixed.
“Absolutely. A lot of it just came down to one-on-one battles,” Hamdan said. “We came into the game and put a lot of emphasis on protecting those edges and those pass rushers, but there were some things on the interior side that hurt us as well. I thought we ran the ball well at times during the game and I think that’s a huge plus. From a protection standpoint, we know what we’ve got to do to take the next step there.”
The UK offensive coordinator knows that the Cats need to worry about what their jobs as Georgia comes to Lexington on Saturday.
“The focus is about us Saturday. Getting (done) what we need to get done,” Hamdan said. “It’s us getting back to work, getting the reps. And we will continue to work on those things in practice. Everybody has a job to do, a role to do.”
Hamdan liked the Cats’ effort on Saturday, but not their execution.
“I felt that the guys played hard, I think it starts that,” Hamdan said. “From an execution standpoint, we’ve talked about the discipline and the pre-snap and coming out of that second quarter, I think there was five penalties in 13 plays. Just continually felt like we were behind the sticks. It’s certainly something we’ve got to clean up.”
Getting behind the chains was a huge issue on Saturday, according to UK tackle Marques Cox.
“We’ve got to do a great job staying on schedule,” Cox said. “Staying on schedule is a huge part of our success.”
Cox and his unit were upset with how they played on Saturday and they are working hard to get it fixed.
“We always watch (the tape) together on a Sunday,” Cox said. “We were (upset) with ourselves. I’m personally (upset) with myself, I had two holdings, gave up some pressures. It starts with me and starts with me leading the group. It bothered us. We didn’t put our best foot forward. But everything is fixable. We’ve got to fix our hands, staying on blocks, finishing blocks. We’ve just got to keep on working and continue to get better.”
Hamdan knows that adjustments are part of the game, and he is making those tweaks in practice this week and in the game plan for Saturday.
“I think you go into every season thinking one thing, then you get into a conference game and some things stick out to you. So, it shifts a little bit and now you’ve got to adjust. And that’s what we’re here to do is figure out what we’ve got to do to win football games. Obviously, there will be some adjustments made after last week.”
The Cats look to eliminate penalties and to execute better on Saturday against Georgia. Getting that done starts with adjustments this week in practice.
