Can Kentucky bounce back from difficult loss and get ready for rivalry game?

Kentucky wasn’t happy about the loss.

The Cats weren’t pleased about being throttled 42-13 at Sanford Stadium on Saturday night.

But Benny Snell took some solace in the fact that Kentucky hasn’t lost back-to-back games this season and they still have a chance to end the regular season on a high note.

“We’re definitely going to go back to work again, go harder, go back to work,” the sophomore running back said.

The loss to Georgia will have plenty of teaching points.

But perhaps the most important thing the Bulldogs showed them is that it’s possible to bounce back from a demoralizing loss.

Seventh-ranked Georgia was coming off its first defeat of the season, a 40-17 loss at Auburn a week ago. The Bulldogs regrouped and went back to work.

“They got beat last week pretty bad,” safety Mike Edwards said. “We’ve got to do the same thing: Respond like they did. They came out and just whooped us. I feel like we’ve got to do that against Louisville: Come out there and play our ball and just win both sides of the ball and just execute.”

There is plenty still left on the table for the bowl-eligible Cats: Senior Day, rivalry week, better bowl destinations and a chance at eight wins, something UK hasn’t done since 2007.

Kentucky can decide to let Georgia beat it twice or it can do what Georgia did, Stoops said he told the team afterward.

“They sat there a week ago in the locker room, much like us, and took a loss, and they responded like we knew they would,” Stoops said. “(I) told the team that, that they need to get a shower, get cleaned up, and get on the bus, and get on the plane, and go home, and regroup and get ready to play a game. I’m sure we’ll respond the right way.”

Why has Kentucky been able to bounce back after difficult losses this season? It’s easy, Snell said.

“Just having that pain in your heart and not wanting to feel that again, not wanting to feel what we feel in the locker room after a loss,” he said. “We think back on that. … When you’ve got that loss feeling, you’ve got a reason, a reason to want to get back at it.”

‘An uphill climb from that point’

Kentucky tried a little bit of trickery twice and it backfired.

On Georgia’s first punt attempt of the game, UK went after punter Cameron Nizialek, but Lonnie Johnson got flagged for roughing the punter and gave the Bulldogs the ball back.

Special teams coach Dean Hood previously had had some luck on those types of decisions, but not this time. It was costly, ending in the Bulldogs’ first touchdown.

“We let some opportunities slip, starting with the mistake of roughing (the punter),” Stoops said. “You know it’s going to be a strong, a tough grind all day. We got some early momentum and we rough ‘em. Make us defend another eight, nine plays and they score. It was an uphill climb from that point on.”

The Cats also tried a long pass out of the wildcat with Lynn Bowden, who had connected on both passes he’d thrown this season. But the freshman was picked off this time.

It was the perfect setup with no safety in the middle of the field and single coverage on the right and the left side.

Giving Garrett Johnson a good pass that he can win on a jump ball would’ve been ideal, offensive coordinator Eddie Gran said.

But it didn’t happen.

“I guess that’s one of those you wish you could have it back, but we knew they were in zero (coverage) during that and that’s when you love to throw it because you don’t have to worry about a safety,” Gran added.

More notes

The injuries piled up on the Kentucky sideline all game, with the most serious one looking to be tight end C.J. Conrad, who left the stadium with a boot on his foot and using crutches.

Stoops was asked about the severity and didn’t clarify other than to say he didn’t believe it was broken.

“I don’t know,” he said. “I really don’t.”

▪  Junior safety Edwards suffered a hip pointer early in the game and was in pain throughout, but he said he will be OK for next week. “I hate missing games, so even if I’m not 100 percent feeling going to try to get out there.”

▪  Defensive tackle Quinton Bohanna was hobbled by an ankle injury. He returned to the game, but left again on the next series.

▪  Offensive lineman Nick Haynes changed jerseys to No. 89 for the Georgia game, which was announced before the start of play by a UK spokesman. The senior has not played in several games while trying to put weight on while managing his diabetes.

This story was originally published November 18, 2017 at 9:41 PM with the headline "Can Kentucky bounce back from difficult loss and get ready for rivalry game?."