Want more reason to worry if you are a UK fan? The Cats are beat up. Snell briefly left the game in the first half to have his ribs X-rayed before returning.
“The X-rays were negative but those bruised ribs get very sore,” coach Mark Stoops said.
Linebacker Jordan Jones seemed to injure his shoulder late in the game and left with ice on his shoulder without doing any media interview. Offensive lineman Landon Young and Kyle Meadows both went down and missed playing time and starting center Bunchy Stallings was held out of the first half because of an injury suffered last week.
“We are a little more beat up now than last year. We were very fortunate last year,” UK offensive line coach John Schlarman, who lost starting tackle Cole Mosier to a season-ending injury in August, said.
“We have had to move guys around. Guys got banged up but we still rushed for 200 yards. We definitely gave up pressures from the o-line, and we have to fix that. But we got much stronger as the year went on last year and we will again,” Stoops said.
“We knew all week it would be a tough game. I know a lot of people didn’t, but we did. They did a nice job keeping us off balance and being efficient with their offense,” Stoops said. “Give our team credit for doing what had to do to win the game. We are 2-0, feels good. We will get better. We have been in this position before. We were last year and the record was not the same.”
True. Kentucky was 0-2 at this point last year after losing to Southern Miss at home and getting pummeled by Florida on the road. Yet UK finished the regular season 7-5 by winning seven of the final 10 games.
“Offensively it was frustrating at times, but we rushed for over 200 yards, threw for 9ver 200 yards. We had some silly mistakes. But nobody needs to hit the panic button,” Stoops said.
Not with perhaps the two key games of the season coming up. Kentucky plays at South Carolina and then returns home to host Florida. Win one or both, and Cat fans are going to be really happy.
But remember not to get spoiled by one seven-win season and a trip to the TaxSlayer Bowl. Former Cats Pause publisher/owner Oscar Combs reminded me Saturday that if you were 63 years old or younger, you had never seen a top 20 Kentucky team play in a bowl game.
Think about that.
Kentucky’s 2007 team that beat eventual national champion LSU during the regular season and went to the Music City Bowl got to No. 8 in the rankings but was unranked by bowl time. Kentucky’s 10-1 team in 1977 was in the top five, but ineligible for postseason play.
“It feels very good to be 2-0 but we know we have got a lot more in us,” Stoops said. “They (players) did not come in here and want to lay around and not play well. It’s about discipline and execution, and that we can get fixed.”
Stephen Johnson agreed. He didn’t let it bother him when Stoops gave Drew Barker, last year’s starter until he was hurt in game three, two series in the first half with UK trailing 13-3. He came in and led a late first-half touchdown drive and then got the win — again — for UK in the second half.
“We know we can be better, and will be better,” Johnson said. “We are still putting things together. We have a lot of players back, but we also have some key guys either gone or hurting. But this offense is going to be fine.”
Is he right or wrong? I don’t know but the next two games should determine just how good Kentucky really is this season.