Mark Stoops hasn’t forgotten about Kentucky’s last road game but hopes the Wildcats learned a lesson from a dismal showing in Florida nearly three weeks ago.
“We have to learn from previous mistakes and the last time we went into a tough environment, we didn’t respond very well,” Stoops said Thursday. “Hopefully we’ll handle that better. Hopefully, we learn from that Florida game and we’ll respond better.”
Since the 45-7 loss to the Gators, the Wildcats (2-2, 1-1 Southeastern Conference) have won two straight, including a 17-10 victory over South Carolina last week. The past two performances have impressed Alabama coach Nick Saban.
“Kentucky has played their best in the last two games they have played,” Saban said. “Mark Stoops has done a good job of finding out who they are and how they want to play. They’ve played really well in the last two games. They have really good skill players on offense, good running backs, and really good wide receivers. They have (some) pretty impressive performances up to this point.”
Although the past two victories have evened the slate, the competition gets tougher this week against top-ranked Alabama. The Wildcats haven’t had much success against the Crimson Tide, with Alabama holding a dominating 36-2-1 edge in the all-time series between the two schools. Kentucky is 0-9 in games played in Tuscaloosa and has lost five in a row to the Crimson Tide since posting a stunning 40-34 overtime win over Alabama in 1997 at Commonwealth Stadium, the biggest win in the Hal Mumme era at Kentucky.
Despite the one-sided past history between the two teams, Saban said his team can’t overlook the Wildcats, especially on Homecoming.
“The SEC is a tough league and every game you play in this league is an important game as this game will be against Kentucky,” Saban said.
Alabama (4-0, 1-0) is tops in the SEC in scoring offense but has an equally dominating defense, which is allowing just 14.8 points per game, second behind league leader Florida. The Crimson Tide are second in the league in total defense (280.2 yards per game) and are limiting opponents to an average of 67.5 yards per game rushing.
Stoops knows things won’t come easy against the Crimson Tide.
“We need to understand, with the mindset going into it, how difficult yards are going to come by and how you need to compete to get those yards,” Stoops said. “You have to work hard for every yard you get against them and you have to compete at a high level to get those yards.
“They will absolutely get after you. They score more none-offensive touchdowns than anybody. They create a lot of big plays with their defense and special teams. You’ve just got to be smart with the way you manage the game.”
In order to keep Alabama’s defense off-balanced, Stoops said his team has to rally behind quarterback Stephen Johnson, who will be making his first road start after guiding the Wildcats to victories in the past two games.
“That takes everybody being on the same page,” the Kentucky coach said. “Stephen is a big part of that, but he has to have a lot of people around him playing at a high level. We need to block, we need to be able to run. We need some tough yards and we need to be able to get open on the perimeter.”
Saban said Johnson’s ability to step in while starting quarterback Drew Barker recovers from a back injury has proved to be beneficial for the Wildcats during the past two weeks.
“(Stephen Johnson) has played well for them,” Saban said. “He’s done a nice job and they haven’t skipped a beat.”
As for his team, Saban said the Crimson Tide has to take Kentucky seriously.
“It’s going to be important that we start fast and play physical in all aspects of the game because it’s a very well-coached team,” Saban said. “They’re playing really well right now.”
Gametracker: Kentucky at Alabama, 7 p.m., Saturday. TV/Radio: ESPN, 98.1 WBUL.
Keith Taylor is a senior sports writer for KyForward, where he primarily covers University of Kentucky sports. Reach him at keith.taylor@kyforward.com or @keithtaylor21 on Twitter