Kentucky Looking to Take Strides Forward While Preparing for Tennessee
Kentucky dropped a 24-10 decision to Auburn on Saturday night, one that left coordinators on both sides of the ball frustrated. On Monday, UK offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan and defensive coordinator Brad White handled the weekly press conference as head coach Mark Stoops attended the funeral of his mother.
White went first and he was obviously frustrated with his unit’s play against the Tigers.
“It’s what we all saw on Saturday. Up front, defensively, we need to be better,” White said. “Collectively, we’re all embarrassed by that performance, especially against the run. We knew that they had a really good running back, but our tackling was not good and up to our standards. We need to get that cleaned up before this weekend.”
Yes, the UK defense was dealing with some serious injuries on Saturday night. However, White knows that nearly every team in the country has the same issue, and it’s how players handle it.
“Obviously, at this point in the season, guys can get knicks here and there but everyone’s got that,” White said. “So, this is where that true toughness, that true grit and your true character really starts to shine through. In this back end of the season, you’ve got to play through some of those bumps and bruises, you’ve got to play physical. You can’t get worn down physically or mentally.”
The Cats face Tennessee on Saturday at Neyland Stadium. But Kentucky needs to focus on getting itself better this week.
“It starts with playing better. Regardless of the team that we’re playing on Saturday, we have to play better,” White said. “We have to be efficient in terms of how we play defense. We can’t have a couple of good plays then we give up an explosive. We’ve got to stay the course.”
White believes it’s important for the offense and the defense to work together.
“When you go on the road, in a really tough environment, you’ve got to play really good complimentary football,” White said. “You’ve got to give the offense possessions and field position where they have a chance to be successful. We’ve got to give them opportunities. If we can do that through turnovers, if we can do that through three-and-outs that create a punting situation that’s backed up.”
On offense, the Cats had a tough time against a physical Auburn defense. In the second half, UK turned to backup quarterback Gavin Wimsatt to play instead of starter Brock Vandagriff. Who will be the starter this week?
“We’re evaluating everything today,” Hamdan said. “We’re getting back with those guys and want to get face to face with them. We’ll address that moving forward.”
The Cats were also missing running backs Demie Sumo-Karngbaye and Chip Trayanum on Saturday. Will those two be healthy enough for the Tennessee game?
“We hope so, we’ll see,” Hamdan said. “It’s day-to-day. Just trying to see where we’re at with that running back situation and the (offensive) line as well.”
With the Cats on a three-game skid, how does Hamdan get his offense to play its best this week?
“It’s always been a 1-0 mentality,” Hamdan said. “As hard as that can be, (we must) keep the focus and stay within the confines of what we’ve got to get done and a lot of times, that’s easier said than done.”
Again this week, finishing drives will be a point of emphasis. Hamdan talked about perhaps changing strategy moving forward.
“I think consistency, there’s always something there. Are you just going to be able to line up and run it in? You’re not,” Hamdan said. “We’ve got to change that focus a little bit, throw the ball even more when we’re down in those situations. I’ve got to do a good job. It starts with me and putting the best scheme together to finish those drives because that’s obviously been a huge frustration for us this entire year.”
The Cats will prepare for the Vols this week, with both the offense and the defense looking to improve on last week’s outcome.
