The key to Kentucky football in 2023: How will the Cats react when bad things happen?
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Things will go wrong. That’s what things do. There will be a key injury. Or a rash of injuries. Or a bad break. Or a bad call. We don’t know for sure what will happen this 2023 football season, but we know adversity will occur.
It happened last season to Mark Stoops’ Kentucky Wildcats. Quarterback Will Levis missed one game and was limited in others by a foot injury. Problems surfaced on the offensive line. Key kicks were missed. Balls bounced the wrong way. The Cats dropped home games to South Carolina and Vanderbilt. Their SEC record was 3-5.
“We didn’t respond well to adversity,” head coach Mark Stoops said afterward. “And that’s on me.”
So what about this season? With Kentucky in preparation for the Sept. 2 opener against Ball State, does Stoops believe these Wildcats are better prepared for the bad things to come?
“I do,” the coach said after his team’s second fall scrimmage. “We all have to take a good look at ourselves year to year. I never pretended to put it all on any one group. Ultimately, I have to get that out of them. As I mentioned in week one, I have to do a better job and I’ve got to just put my foot down and demand it out of them.”
Teammates must also demand it from teammates. This is Stoops’ 11th season. Consistency compounds. Older players are expected to teach the culture to younger players through deeds and words.
Example: Kentucky’s defense. Brad White enters his fifth year as UK’s defensive coordinator. Last season, White’s defense ranked 11th nationally in points allowed per game and 12th in yards allowed. His players know what to expect and what’s expected.
“There were some plays that you watched as a whole defense where guys didn’t live up to our standards,” White said after the team’s first scrimmage.
Listen to Trevin Wallace, the junior linebacker moving from a reserve role to a starter, replacing DeAndre Square, who graduated.
“We had DeAndre Square and Jacquez Jones,” Wallace said recently of UK’s two veteran starters at inside backer a year ago. “They always told us, ‘When we leave, it’s going to be you all. So we’re going to build on you what you all can do to be a good leader.”
Offense is in a different place. Liam Coen is in his second stint as coordinator, reassuming his 2021 play-calling duties. But North Carolina State transfer Devin Leary is the brand new quarterback. His leadership style differs from Levis’ style. Where Levis took charge from day one, Leary wanted to feel his way.
“He was shy at first, but I love seeing him open up and being the great leader he is right now,” outside linebacker J.J. Weaver said.
“I would definitely say I’m kind of a laid back person, for sure, and I’m sure I can come off that way,” Leary said. “I just wanted to put my head down and go to work as soon as I got here. I didn’t want to be a super rah-rah guy, or feel entitled to anything. It was my job to earn, the players who have been here for awhile, their respect, like J.J.”
The schedule isn’t easy. Not with eight SEC games. On paper, the slate appears particularly tough after Kentucky’s Oct. 21 off date. Tennessee comes to Kroger Field on Oct. 28. UK visits Mississippi State on Nov. 4. Alabama is at UK on Nov. 11. The Cats finish the regular season with a Nov. 18 game at South Carolina and a Nov. 25 game at Louisville.
Being relatively healthy for that stretch run is imperative. So is a tough, strong mindset that can help a team overcome obstacles. That’s something UK wasn’t able to accomplish a year ago.
“I do think they got that message,” Stoops said. “We’ve been more consistent. We haven’t been perfect, but I like their attitude and I like their work ethic and I like the energy. At times, I felt like I fell short in that area (last year). I’ve got to get it out of them.”
This story was originally published August 26, 2023 at 7:00 AM.
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