By Keith Taylor
Kentucky Today
Mark Stoops doesn’t see much of a drop in talent when it comes to Clemson.
The Kentucky coach compared the Tigers, who have won two national championships in 16 seasons under coach Dabo Swinney, to the teams his squad faces on a routine basis in the Southeastern Conference.
“(They’re) really built like an SEC football team, the teams we compete against each and every week,” Stoops said Thursday. “This team looks like that way. Very big, physical, explosive at each level, defensively, offensively, the same. Very talented players. Very well-coached.”
Kentucky quarterback Devin Leary faced the Tigers while at North Carolina State and agreed beating Clemson won’t be an easy task. The Tigers won their last four games to finish 8-4.
“Whenever we were playing Clemson, we knew they were going to come to play,” Leary recalled. “We knew that every single time we were going to face them, if you have one minor mistake or if you didn’t do your job to a detailed manner, they were going to take advantage of it.”
Swinney remembered Leary and offered praise for the Kentucky signal-caller, who helped lead the Wildcats to a 7-5 record this season.
“We’ve seen him several times — got a lot of respect for him,” Swinney said. “He’s a guy that’s going to have a chance to play at the next level for sure. You never know. We’ve seen a couple quarterbacks this year that we thought we were done with. You see ’em again. But he’s a good one.”
Kentucky running back Ray Davis, also a graduate transfer, opted to compete in the contest despite declaring for the NFL Draft after the season. The opponent, Davis, said, made it an easy decision to compete in the postseason.
“(When) I started this chapter Sept. 2, I wanted to be able to finish it, be able to go out with the guys,” Davis said. “My decision was based on just being able to play for my guys one more time. When I found out it was Clemson, I knew the opportunity that we had to play a really good team, I decided to step up to the plate and want to play.”
Under Swinney’s guidance the Tigers have win a postseason game for 12 straight seasons and Swinney is taking a similar approach to the contest.
“One of our goals is to win the closer,” he said. “This is the closer for us. It’s a huge goal. It’s a great opportunity for this team to finish well, to play on a stage like this, to come to the Gator Bowl, play a really good team in Kentucky. That part hasn’t changed. I know the landscape has changed, but that part hasn’t.”
Kentucky will be making a school-record eighth consecutive bowl appearance under Stoops and third in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl. Stoops wants the Wildcats to emulate the performance they displayed in a 38-31 win over Louisville in the regular-season finale.
“It’s going to be a great challenge for us,” Stoops said. “I think it’s really important to try to end on a good note. I told ’em before the Louisville game that the last two games of the season are the only two games all year that we’re going to either walk off the field with a trophy or without one. I can tell you from experience, it feels a heck of a lot better when you have to stay and have one of you present us a trophy and take it back home.”
Gametracker: Kentucky vs. Clemson, noon, Friday. TV/Radio: ESPN, UK Radio Network.