Kentucky Football: Game Won for Stoops

New University of Kentucky head football coach Mark Stoops notched his first win for the Wildcats in front of more than 54,000 people in Commonwealth Stadium with a 41-7 win against the Miami (OH) RedHawks. While most members of the Big Blue Nation had put this game in the win column, as the RedHawks simply aren’t very good, it was going to be interesting how the Cats would come out after last week’s loss against Western Kentucky. So, yes, last week was rough and, yes, the next four games look to be brutal, but the Cats had one game to fix a lot of mistakes from week one. And they took every advantage of the opportunity.

Sep 7, 2013; Lexington, KY, USA; Kentucky Wildcats Jojo Kemp (3) warms up before the game against the Miami Redhawks at Commonwealth Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark Zerof-USA TODAY Sports

With an unconventional two-QB rotation, where Max Smith and Jalen Whitlow would rotate from play to play, the Wildcats set a school record by scoring 24 first quarter points. The Cats finished with 675 yards of offense with Smith and Whitlow combining for 413 yards and 3 passing TDs for Smith and a rushing TD for Whitlow. On the ground, Kentucky spread the love with seven rushers compiling 262 yards on 39 carries and two TDs. Again, not against the most stellar opponent, but there’s a lot on the execution side that the Cats can build on going forward, especially with the young guys making plays. JoJo Kemp is star in the making with 12 rushes for 78 yards (6.5 ypc).

On the defensive side of the ball, the Cats made bigger strides. For most of the game against the Hilltoppers, the Defensive Line was pushed off the ball, unable to slow down Western’s rushing attack or put up much of a pass rush. Against the RedHawks, things were different as the Wildcats limited Miami to 122 total yards and a woeful 1 for 16 on 3rd down conversions.  When the defense is getting the opposition’s offense off the field with three and outs, it allows the Air Raid offense to put up video game like numbers.  The biggest difference between the Cats’ first two games is that against Miami, the defense stayed at home, with each player maintaining his own responsibility. There wasn’t nearly as much freelancing as there was in Nashville and that discipline will be key during the next four games and beyond.

Despite the good from the game, the Cats still have opportunities for improvement. First, there were too many penalties (11 for 117 yards). Against better competition, those types of mental mistakes will get you beat and beat badly. You can believe that Nick Saban and his Crimson Tide will gladly take and exploit any free yardage the Cats are willing to give.  Secondly, the special teams have to improve. The RedHawks only score came on a fumbled punt return… a punt that was fielded inside Kentucky’s own 5 yard line, a cardinal sin in the punt return game.  The Cats also fielded a second punt inside their own five, which, thankfully, did not result in another score.  These are mental mistakes that the Cats simply can’t afford to make.

So, with the next stretch of imposing games looming, especially against the Dirty Birds, there are a lot of good takeaways from this game which is something that Coach Stoops and his staff need to prepare the team for the rest of the season. So, not looking back nor looking ahead, the Wildcats did what they had to do against the RedHawks to, hopefully, build some momentum for the rest of the 2013 campaign.