By Keith Taylor
Special to NKyTribune
Kentucky football coach Mark Stoops knows his team hasn’t arrived, but will gladly take four wins in five games to open the season, even if they were all close encounters.
“You take them any way you can get them,” Stoops said.
Getting within two games of bowl eligibility certainly hasn’t been an easy task. Kentucky has won each of its four games by eight points or less, with the lone setback a five-point loss to Florida.
Stoops admitted he would like to experience a double-digit victory for once, but as indicated in his team’s 34-27 overtime win over Eastern Kentucky, blowouts are easier wished for than accomplished for his Wildcats this season.
“When you don’t have great energy, and great focus and it shows up on film, you could lose to anybody,” he said. “We’ve shown that through the course of this year. When we play the right way, we can beat anybody.”
The Kentucky coach and the his coaching staff want the Wildcats to gain an improved competitive edge when they return from a bye week with a Thursday night encounter against Auburn on Oct. 15 at Commonwealth Stadium.
“When we play with an effort and an edge, we can play with anybody in America and we can beat anybody in America,” Kentucky offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson said. “When we don’t, we can get beat by anybody in America. That’s football today. It’s not like it just happened to us, you see it all over (the country). We’re in a situation where, thankful to God, we’re having learning lessons on a positive note, not a negative note.”
Dawson said the main issue with inconsistencies on offense is his team’s youth and inexperience. In the win over Eastern, the entire offensive starting cast didn’t include a senior, one reason Dawson said the team has been on a roller coaster ride during the first half of the season.
“We have to find a level of consistency,” he said. “Part of it is, we’re young. Overall, our whole offense is fairly young. That’s why you see so many ups and downs.”
Dawson understands the level of frustration and knows the Wildcats are capable of getting over the proverbial hump.
“It’s frustrating as a coach and the players — we can play really good at times and (really bad at times),” Dawson said. “There’s really no middle (ground). We’re either playing good or playing really bad. Hopefully one day we’ll get some middle ground. It takes time, which is a frustrating thing.”
Kentucky quarterback Patrick Towles admitted the Cats have plenty of room to grow in the second half of the season. Towles said the narrow win over Eastern Kentucky last weekend was “very educational.”
“The margin of error is very, very small, no matter who you are playing,” Towles said. “Whether you’re playing EKU, which has some very good players, or you’re playing Auburn, there’s no room for error.”
When Kentucky returns to the field, Stoops hopes his team can produce the same result it had when the Wildcats bounced back from a poor outing to defeat Missouri 21-13 a week after suffering the setback to Florida.
“We responded the next week (after the loss to the Gators) and came back and played much better,” Stoops said. “Hopefully we’ll learn from that game and all the close games we’ve had and be able to handle the emotions of the game. It will be a fun atmosphere and we’re excited about it.”
Keith Taylor is a columnist and senior sports reporter who covers UK sports for KyForward.com