By Keith Taylor
Kentucky Today
Kentucky coach Mark Stoops knows what to expect when No. 21 Texas makes its first visit to Lexington on Saturday.
“We know what you’re getting with Texas,” he said. “It’s a very good football team, very well coached, ton of respect for Coach Sark (Steve Sarkisian).”
Stoops coached against Stoops when he was at Arizona and Sarkisian was at Southern California and has known the Longhorns’ coach “for a long time.”
“I’ve always had a ton of respect for him and the way he calls plays,” Stoops said earlier this week.
Kentucky (2-3, 0-3 Southeastern Conference) has lost its last eight conference games dating back to last season and the team’s last home conference win was against Florida more than two years ago. The Wildcats are coming off an open date and dropped a 35-14 loss at No. 9 Georgia on Oct. 4 in Athens.
Cutter Boley has been thrust into the starting lineup and will be making his third start of the season at quarterback against the Longhorns. Boley threw for 160 yards in a 31-14 setback a year ago in Austin.
“He’s going to get better, his comfort level with the offense – us playing better around him, giving him some time, all those things together,” Stoops said. “We have to have a good plan for him and make sure he’s comfortable and can execute the things we are asking him to do.”
Despite Kentucky’s recent struggles in the league, Sarkisian doesn’t think anything will come easy. The Longhorns (4-2, 1-1) have won three of their last four games after dropping a 14-7 setback to No. 1 Ohio State in the season opener on Aug. 30.
“As we know, playing on the road in the SEC at night, it’s going to be a tough environment,” he said. … “When you go on the road and you play at night in some of these environments, you had better buckle up.”
Texas defeated Oklahoma 23-6 last week and appears to be hitting its stride in the heart of the conference schedule. Arch Manning, the team’s starting signal caller and grandson of legendary quarterback Archie Manning. His dad Cooper, and uncles Peyton and Eli played in the NFL.
“Arch is a very, very good football player, each and every game more comfortable,” Stoops said. “(He’s) a guy that just really will wow you with certain plays. You know, simple things. You watch this last game and I want to say it was a four-point game and they were backed up. Oklahoma got great pressure on him. (He) evades the pressure and throws the strike. He did that time and time again.”
As for the rest of the team, Stoops said, “Texas is Texas.”
“It’s a typical team,” Stoops said. “They’re very, very good at every level. Good on offense, defense, special teams. Had a couple of tough games this year, like most of us have, and they responded with a very big win in a big rivalry this past week. So they’re playing very well and it’ll be another great challenge for us.”
Stoops added his team took advantage of a second bye week of the season last week and ready for the Longhorns.
“We had a really good, productive bye week,” he said. “We needed to get some guys healthy and needed to get better and I feel like we got a lot of work done last week, got guys healthy, got a little head start on Texas.”
“He’s going to go out there and give it his all,” Boley said. “He’s going to lay it all out there. He’s going to do everything he can to get that ball out of the air. And he’s making a lot of strides in practice.
“Texas is Texas. It’s a typical team. They’re very, very good at every level. Good on offense, defense, special teams. Had a couple of tough games this year, like most of us have, and they responded with a very big win in a big rivalry this past week. So they’re playing very well and it’ll be another great challenge for us.”
“Arch is, you see a very, very good football player, each and every game more comfortable. A guy that just really will wow you with certain plays. You know, simple things. You watch this last game, and I want to say it was a four-point game, and they were backed up. Oklahoma got great pressure on him. Evades the pressure and throws the strike. He did that time and time again.”
Gametracker: Texas at Kentucky, 7 p.m., Saturday. TV/Radio: ESPN, UK Radio Network.