By Keith Taylor
Special to NKyTribune
Nothing went right for Kentucky in a double-digit loss last week at Mississippi State.
The Wildcats (4-3, 2-3 Southeastern Conference) suffered their second straight loss with a 42-16 setback to the Bulldogs, by far Kentucky’s worst defensive performance of the year. The Wildcats surrendered a season-high 586 yards against the Bulldogs, but hope a renewed emphasis on tackling and physical play this week will produce better results against Tennessee Saturday.
“Went back to fundamentals and working on a few things that you have to continue to get better at as the season goes on,” said Kentucky defensive coordinator D.J. Eliot. “You can’t let go of those fundamental issues. We (have) worked on that.”
The outing was hard to swallow for a Kentucky defense that had shown improvement through the first six games, all of which were decided by eight points or less. The Wildcats took a step back in their quest for more leverage in the SEC East last week.
“We were definitely disappointed,” Kentucky senior linebacker Josh Forrest said. “We should have played better.”
Kentucky freshman defensive tackle Corey Johnson agreed the setback to Mississippi State was disappointing, but said the Wildcats aren’t looking back going into the Halloween showdown against the Volunteers.
“You can’t dwell on the past,” he said. “You have to get ready for the future, and the future is Tennessee. We’re ready to play them. We’ve forgotten about (the Mississippi State) game and we’ve had a great week of practice. We’re ready to move on.”
Kentucky coach Mark Stoops said Thursday the Wildcats had prepared well for the task at hand.
“We had a lot of areas to improve from last week to this week and we’ve addressed them,” he said. “We improved in certain areas … I’ve been pleased with the reactions I’ve seen.”
Kentucky hasn’t had much successes against the Volunteers and have lost 29 of the past 30 meetings between the two SEC East rivals. The Wildcats edged the Vols 10-7 in 2011, but Tennessee has won the past three games in the series, including a 50-16 defeat a year ago in Knoxville.
Although the Volunteers (3-4, 1-3) have struggled winning close games this season, Tennessee has maintained a competitive edge, mostly by running the football. Led by quarterback Joshua Dobbs (389 yards) and Jalen Hurd (664 yards), the Vols’ rushing ranks third in the SEC. Tennessee racked up 132 yards in a 19-14 loss to No. 5 Alabama last week.
“We have to do better than what we did on Saturday against a similar-type of offense,” Eliot said. “It’s got to improve. We’re more focused on us than concerning ourselves about the opponent. We’re really focusing on us getting better and improving from our mistakes.”
Behind the scenes, Eliot said the Wildcats have recovered nicely from the poor outing in Starkville.
“The players had a good attitude,” he said. “They’ve had a good attitude all week.”
Some of Kentucky’s players had a meeting earlier this week to make sure things didn’t get out of hand after two straight setbacks. Last season, Kentucky opened with a 5-1 record, but closed with six consecutive losses to end the campaign at 5-7.
Stoops said the session wasn’t because of “any real big issue.”
“If it helps and it was significant in their mind — good,” he said. “It was nothing like some big event or something like that. Is it important to me? Yes. Anytime a player steps up and shows leadership skills and wants to say something, they can have the floor. Again, if it helps some people, then I’m all for it.”
Game tracker: Tennessee at Kentucky, Saturday, 7:30 p.m., SEC Network, 98.1 WBUL
Looking ahead: Kentucky releases 2016 schedule
Kentucky will play seven home games and five away contests next season.
The home slate includes South Carolina, Vanderbilt, Georgia, Mississippi State, Southern Mississippi, New Mexico State and Austin Peay. The Wildcats will play at Florida, Alabama, Tennessee, Missouri and Louisville.
September
3 — Southern Miss
10 — at Florida
17 — New Mexico State
24 — South Carolina
October
1 — at Alabama
8 — Vanderbilt
15 — Open
22 — Mississippi State
29 — at Missouri
November
5 — Georgia
12 — at Tennessee
19 — Austin Peay
26 — at Louisville
Keith Taylor is a columnist and senior sports writer who covers Kentucky athletics for nkytribune.com.