By Keith Taylor
Kentucky Today
Mark Stoops doesn’t want his team to change much going into Saturday’s contest against Eastern Michigan.
Coming off a disappointing 28-27 loss to Florida last week, Stoops wants the Wildcats to take the same approach that led to three straight victories and a near-upset of the Gators last week. Stoops is confident the Wildcats will rebound from last week’s setback in their first meeting against the Eagles.
“I want us to continue to play the way we’ve been playing and that’s very hardened very passionate,” the Kentucky coach said Thursday. “The guys have been playing hard all year. They really have. If we play with that kind of energy and that kind off attitude, play for each other, trust each other, we’ll be fine. We definitely need to play with the same mentality we’ve been playing with (all season).”
Although energy and passion haven’t been an issue with the Wildcats (3-1, 1-1 Southeastern Conference), two blown coverages in the secondary led to a pair of touchdowns by the Gators last week, including the game-clincher in the final five minutes. Communication breakdowns also played a factor in the two wide-open scores by Florida.
“It’s inexcusable,” Kentucky defensive coordinator Matt House said earlier this week. “It won’t happen again. We’ve addressed it as a staff. We’ll have guys up top (in the press box) and down low (on the field) looking at our position on the football.”
House added the coaches and players “take ownership” on both sides of the ball and are eager to get back on the field to erase the pain of team’s first loss of the year.
“You win as a team, you lose as a team,” he said. “You just address (the issues), correct (them) and make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
In addition to correcting its own mistakes, the point of emphasis for Kentucky will be stopping Eastern Michigan quarterback Brogan Roback, one of the most prolific passers in school history. Roback ranks third in school history in passing yards (6,651), third in career touchdowns (40) and fourth in career pass completions with 569. Roback was banged up in last week’s 27-20 loss to Mid-American Conference rival Ohio in double overtime last week.
“He’s really good,” Stoops said. “A really good player (and) just really talented. He really trusts his arm (and) can make all the throws. I was very impressed. It’ll be very interesting to see if he’s at full strength. Looked like he got banged up late the last game. You could tell how tough he is. He came in, gutted it out, played and put his team in position to win.”
Although defensive issues plagued the Wildcats a week ago, the team’s offense displayed some bright moments against the Gators and produced several big plays, especially during the first three quarters.
“One out of every six plays we had an explosive play against a really good defense,” Kentucky offensive coordinator Eddie Gran said. “That means when we talk about an explosive play, that’s a 12-yard run or a 16-yard pass. One out of every six. That’s really good. What we didn’t do well was the third-down conversions, but because of our explosive plays, we stayed on schedule and were able to score from a distance. That was exciting to see (and) we made some progress there.”
Now that the Wildcats have regrouped from the Florida letdown, they are eager to return to Kroger Field and fully recover.
“The best thing to do is get back on the practice field after something like that,” House said. “Then the next best thing is we can’t wait until Saturday so we can get back on the field and correct it.”
Extra points: Kentucky kicker Austin MacGinnis has been named as a semifinalist for the prestigious Campbell Award. MacGinnis needs just 13 more points to become the school’s all-time leading scorer. … Paul Childers will be the performer in the pregame concert series Saturday. Childers will present a blend of pop, R&B and soul music.
Gametracker: Eastern Michigan at Kentucky, 4 p.m., Saturday. TV/Radio: SEC Network, 98.1 FM, WBUL.
Keith Taylor is sports editor for Kentucky Today. He can be reached at keith.taylor@kentuckytoday.com or twitter @keithtaylor21.