Kentucky Wildcats Football: Keys to Success

With the  Kentucky Wildcats Football team still looking for that sixth win that will grant them a bowl and three stout opponents standing in their way .  Each game needs to see the Wildcats play their best game in order to win. Tomorrow’s tilt with Georgia will also be Senior Day, as fans will bid farewell to several favorites. Throw in the added pressure for Mark Stoops to live up to his new contract that some people seem to think was bad timing. At this point it’s all just a monkey on the team’s back and if they could just pull off a win to alleviate the pressure, you might see a team that plays loose and aggressive. Here is how Kentucky can do it :

• Protect the Passer- This is a repeat. Kentucky has struggled for several weeks with the pass rush and the offense has suffered as a result. Quarterback Patrick Towles has struggled to find a rhythm with defenders in his face nearly every play . The run game has picked up a little but as the game wears on that get shut down as the defense realizes that they can get to Towles without blitzing. And here comes what is likely the best pass rush duo Kentucky has faced this season.
• Catch the Football- This shouldn’t have to be listed here, but it needs to be touched on. It seems like every game outside of the LSU loss had a monumental dropped pass that could have helped UK win had they caught the ball. Then the Cats traveled to Missouri and dropped almost everything in sight. For whatever reason this is an area of concern that dates back to before Mark Stoops’ hiring. Towles is working with a number of freshman receivers and his best receiver, Ryan Timmons, isn’t really a natural at the spot.
• Stop Chubb- UGA will play this games without Todd Gurley, Keith Marshall and Sony Michel, three guys who could start for any team in the country. So they just roll out Nick Chubb, the freshman who has run all over Georgia’s opponents since the top three backs went down, no biggie. Kentucky has struggled against the run in SEC play, though they did play respectably against Mizzou. If the Cats are going to slow down the Dawgs, they will need slow Chubb down.
• Play for Each Other- It’s Senior Day, the last day Bud Dupree, Za’Darius Smith and Darrian Miller, among others, will play in Commonwealth Stadium. Fans need to be there and be loud like they have been all season. The team will need that extra energy. They need to feed off of that and play for their seniors. That can be a powerful thing. Maybe just enough to put the Cats over the top.
• Play Loose- Kentucky cannot afford to come out flat again. There’s a good chance that the pressure of bowl eligibility contributed to Kentucky’s flat start in Columbia last week. It looked like a team that was overthinking things early. You can’t play football that way. Football is about athleticism and instincts, both of which are negated by having to stop and think before reacting.