Cats Going Back to Work, Preparing for Auburn

Coming off a loss at Florida on Saturday, the Kentucky football team must now turn its sights to another tough game this coming weekend. The Cats will host Auburn at Kroger Field (7:45 ET, SEC Network) in an important game for both teams.

UK head coach Mark Stoops and his team are not allowing themselves to get down after consecutive losses to Vanderbilt and at Florida. The UK head coach thinks that a positive mindset could benefit the Cats this week.

“You can face a bad day in tough times with a good attitude,” Stoops said. “That’s what I’ll do. We’ll go to work. I’m not going to sit here and flinch. I critique myself and things of that nature. The outside noise, I can’t bother myself with that.”

Stoops did like how his Cats were able to limit their simple mistakes, like penalties, in the game at Florida on Saturday.

“I was proud of the fact that we limited our penalties in a hostile environment,” Stoops said. “That was an improvement. I thought the guys practiced well. I appreciate our players.”

Stoops’ mantra since arriving in Lexington has been about getting back to work. As the Cats try to bounce back against Auburn this week, the UK coach struck a familiar chord.

“There’s things we can all do better and we’ll keep on grinding it out and going to work,” Stoops said. “People will say that’s redundant, but it’s the truth. What else are you going to do? There’s no mercy. We’re playing a team this week that’s a good football team. We can’t count on the turnovers that have set them back. Like I said before, there’s a thin line between success and failure. This is a good football team.”

This week’s opponent is Auburn, who is 2-5 on the season. However, the Tigers have been in almost every game that they have played. Auburn’s issues this season largely come down to turnover. The Tigers have thrown nine interceptions compared with just four for its opponents. Auburn has lost seven fumbles this season, while its opposition has lost just two. That’s a minus-10 in the turnover department, more than one per game. Stoops noted that the turnovers have been Auburn’s Achilles heel this season.

“We’ve got another challenge this week with Auburn,” Stoops said. “Auburn is a team that, if you look at the record, everybody’s going to think it’s a bad football team. It comes down to turnovers for them. They’re a very good team. Turnover margin has been a big issue for them.”

For Stoops and his team, it’s back to work this week, trying to correct what ails them while also preparing for an Auburn team that’s much better than their 2-5 record.