Kentucky is 5-0 and getting national respect. Its main objective? Stay hungry.
Mark Stoops danced in the locker room with Waka Flocka Flame and had a glass of Wm. Tarr — from the Lexington distillery in which he has a financial interest — later Saturday night to celebrate the Wildcats’ 20-13 win over Florida. He’s been “back to work” since, though.
As exciting as it is for Kentucky to be 5-0 and ranked No. 16 in the latest Associated Press poll, there’s plenty of self-awareness keeping Stoops’ vision clear. One of his biggest goals this week will be making sure that there’s no resting on laurels within his locker room.
“I expect me to put the foot on the gas today,” Stoops said. “We’re going hard.”
A letdown after one of the program’s most significant victories ever would be disheartening, but not necessarily surprising. The Wildcats under Stoops have often followed up momentous wins with so-so (or worse) showings, though those missteps often have occurred away from home. UK on Saturday has the advantage of hosting LSU, which enters the week 3-2 after a home loss to Auburn.
The Tigers find themselves in the unusual position of being an underdog in Lexington. Kentucky opened as a 1-point favorite and at some sports books has already been bet up to a 3.5-point favorite. UK has earned respect while LSU is looking to regain it, and will get that opportunity against a team that’s seen its last four games settled inside the final minutes. Living on the edge like Kentucky has the last few weeks can take its toll in the Southeastern Conference.
“We’ve been humbled already this year with our play,” Stoops said. “I always tell the players that, in our business, you’re going to get the opportunity to be humbled every seven days. We have been humbled and fortunately been able to get away with a win, but we haven’t played our best football. So they see the proof. Now I just hope they’re hungry, and I believe they will be.”
There were no lost fumbles on Saturday, but an overthrown ball by Will Levis resulted in his sixth interception of the season, compared to eight touchdowns. A few of his short tosses were mistimed between he and the receiver, and on a couple of occasions when those balls connected, “a play here or a play there” kept Kentucky from being able to take advantage when it had mismatches against Florida’s tight front.
“With an offense, you can’t afford to do that, not in the SEC against a quality defense, with a great defensive coach, great players,” Stoops said. “You can’t miss things when they’re there. When we try to come back to ‘em, they’re fixed, whether we exposed it or not. That’s what good coaches, good teams do.”
Kentucky’s own defensive prowess didn’t go unnoticed by the league office. Linebacker Jacquez Jones was named co-Defensive Player of the Week after recording nine tackles and deflecting the final pass of the game thrown by Emory Jones to lock up the win for Kentucky. Defensive end Josh Paschal was named co-Special Teams Player of the Week for his blocked field-goal attempt that led to Trevin Wallace’s 76-yard touchdown return.
Stoops indicated that Paschal should have gotten a Defensive Player of the Week nod, too.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve saw anybody play better than Josh Paschal did,” Stoops said.
McCall out
Senior nose tackle Marquan McCall won’t play against LSU, and will “be out for a little bit,” Stoops said.
McCall suffered an injury to a “lower extremity” in the first quarter during Florida’s second drive on Saturday. He was observed having tape wrapped around his left ankle, and was initially expected to return to the game, but was later downgraded to “questionable” and never got back on the field.
Sophomores Josaih Hayes and Justin Rogers played a lot of snaps after McCall went down. Hayes was listed at the No. 1 spot on UK’s depth chart for LSU, and Rogers was his backup. The former also got dinged up toward the end of the game but Stoops says he’ll be fine to go against LSU.
“With him playing so many reps and then taking a little shot, he got a little bit ineffective late once he got hurt, but he’s got to learn to play through some of that,” Stoops said. “But overall, those two both did a good job and I was very pleased.”
Stoops said UK has to develop more guys around that nose tackle spot. Kahlil Saunders, a true freshman, got some extended looks on Saturday.
“He got valuable game reps against a quality team and, let’s just say, that showed,” Stoops said with a grin. “But I love him and he’s gonna be a good player. When you’re thrown into an SEC game like that with that o-line? He’s got some work to do, but we love his talent.”
Field-storming fine
Kentucky was fined $250,000 Monday for a third offense under the SEC’s access to competition area policy, a result of fans celebrating on the field after Saturday night’s win over Florida.
Kentucky was last fined for a violation under the policy, adopted in 2004 to curb the entry of fans onto the field, following its game against Mississippi State in 2018.
UK will now incur a $250,000 fine for all future violations.
Notes
Kentucky’s game at Georgia on Oct. 16 was selected for the 3:30 p.m. broadcast window on CBS. It will be UK’s first game broadcast by CBS since it played Georgia in the 2018 season. UK lost that game, 34-17, and followed it up with a 24-7 loss at Tennessee before winning its final three games to finish 10-3.
▪ UK hasn’t hosted LSU since 2007, when it upset the then-No. 1 Tigers, 43-37, in triple overtime. It is 0-2 in its last two meetings, once under Stoops (2014).
▪ This is the first time in the series’ history that it will feature a ranked Kentucky team and an unranked LSU team. Kentucky has been ranked in only three of their previous 57 games against the Tigers.
Next game
LSU at No. 16 Kentucky
When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday
TV: SEC Network
Records: LSU 3-2 (1-1 SEC); Kentucky 5-0 (3-0)
Radio: WLAP-AM 630, WBUL-FM 98.1
Series: LSU leads 40-16-1
Last meeting: LSU won 41-3 on Oct. 18, 2014, in Baton Rouge, La.
