Kentucky has closed the gap in its rivalry with Louisville during the past two seasons but has failed to seal the deal in its bid to become bowl eligible in the regular-season finale both times.
The Wildcats wasted no time building a lead against the Cardinals last year and held a 21-0 advantage after the first quarter and led 24-7 at the half. Despite the fast start, Louisville rallied and scored 31 unanswered and escaped with a 38-24 victory, giving the Cardinals possession of the prestigious Governor’s Cup trophy for the fifth straight season.
In Kentucky’s last visit to Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium two years ago, Louisville edged the Wildcats in a 44-40 thriller, Kentucky’s sixth straight setback to end the season.
“I think we know we had our opportunities, but those are gone,” Kentucky coach Mark Stoops said Monday. “You have to learn from it, and if we get in the same position you have to learn to make the plays. That’s really not much different, if you think about it, through this season. With each and every game there are plays that have been made that helped turn the game and then there are some missed opportunities. But that’s football. That’s every week.”
Although the pressure of obtaining a sixth victory is off the table for Kentucky, which became bowl eligible with a 49-13 victory over Austin Peay last week, the Wildcats would like nothing better than to end a five-game losing streak to the Cardinals, regain bragging rights for a year and improve their bowl positioning to end the regular season.
Stoops said the rivalry with Cardinals is comparable with others he’s been a part of during his coaching career and said the season-ending get-together between the two programs ranks “right in there” with others in the nation.
“We have another great opportunity,” Stoops said. “It’s a rivalry and it feels like that. Certainly, as I mentioned, we are building our program to elevate us to make this game more prominent nationally. That with us as we improve and get our program better, which we’re doing and we’re going to do. We’ll have more national attention. Some of the other ones I’ve been in have been phenomenal experiences. I was really hot there for awhile too. I was in good shape with a lot of those.”
Although the circumstances are different, the goal remains the same for the Wildcats. Stoops said the pregame preparations will determine the outcome of the contest for his squad.
“(We have to) go out and prepare the exact same way,” Stoops said. “Focus on your job. But, I think you can say that all you want. They mean well, they want to do the right thing. But it’s not about that. It’s the same thing in this game. It’s important to have intensity, but let’s have it Monday through Friday as well. Let’s prepare with that intensity. Let’s prepare with that focus.”
Stoops admitted not relying on a win over Louisville to reach the postseason changes the team’s outlook in the finale, but doesn’t take away from close losses to Southern Mississippi and Georgia during the regular-season that could have elevated the program to bigger heights.
“I don’t know if it’s relief (having six wins) but certainly it’s better,” Stoops said. “There’s no denying that. Wish we were sitting at seven or eight (wins), but definitely a better situation.”
Unlike Kentucky, the Cardinals have been bowl eligible for more than a month and were even in a hunt for a national championship before last week’s 36-10 loss to unranked Houston dropped Louisville eight spots from No. 3 to No. 11 in the latest Associated Press Top 25 poll.
Despite the letdown, Stoops said it will take a near-perfect game to overcome the Cardinals on their home turf.
“We need to play our best football this week against Louisville,” Stoops said. “They’re a very good football team, as you know. Very well coached, very talented across the board. There’s really not a weakness on that team. They’re strong everywhere, very good defensively, extremely dynamic offensively and so it’ll be a challenge.”
Gametracker: Kentucky at Louisville, noon, Saturday. TV/Radio: ESPN, 98.1 FM 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