LEXINGTON, Ky. ( FOX 56 ) — Vanderbilt shocked the college football world last Saturday when it knocked off No. 1 Alabama for its biggest win in program history. It improved the Commodores record to 3-2 this season.
Kentucky is also coming off a massive upset win, stunning No. 6 Ole Miss down in Oxford to also improve to 3-2 before its bye week last Saturday. With both teams coming off big wins, the two square off this Saturday.
Kentucky upsets No. 6 Mississippi 20-17 with late TD and missed FG by Rebels in final minute “Coming into this press conference I don’t have to worry about selling Vanderbilt anymore and telling you how good they are and how good Clark Lea has done,” Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops said in his weekly press conference on Monday.
Facing Vanderbilt is proving to no longer be an “easy” SEC win, who also pushed a top-10-ranked Missouri team to overtime earlier this season. Stoops and Kentucky know this all too well after the Commodores came in to Kroger Field two years ago and stunned the Wildcats.
“I have a lot of respect for Clark and what he’s done and what he’s been building for some time. Of course, they beat us not long ago, so I know what he’s capable of and what type of quality person and coach he is in the job that he’s doing at Vanderbilt so congratulations to them to see some of that hard work paying off, getting such a big victory,” Stoops said.
Cats confident in bye week after win over Ole Miss Although the Wildcats picked up some confidence after that Ole Miss win, by the time that game against Vanderbilt kicks off it will have been over two weeks since that game.
That signature win has the potential to turn a season around, but it has not done so yet. The Wildcats have three massive games in the month of October to capitalize on: Vanderbilt, at Florida and Auburn.
“I didn’t really see anything totally different on the practice field or anything like that. It’s not like they’re out there trying to psych themselves up every day or things. I mean, they have a lot on their plate, but they have to handle their business and that’s the bottom line. Just, you know, embrace that process and embrace the challenge of the preparation and really mentally dial in.
And then, of course, it ultimately leads to to Saturday, where we need to go show it, go prove it and go do it,” Stoops said.
The players echoed a similar mindset this week in practice, acknowledging that they have stashed that extra confidence in their back pockets but are still playing with a chip on their shoulders.
Where is UK football projected to play a bowl game after 3-2 start? “I say hold on to it to a certain extent. Like don’t get the big head about it because any given week we can be that team to fall if we’re not prepared or we’re not focused. So yes, I’d be telling the boys we got to stay locked in, everything we want is right in front of us, we just got to keep grinding for it,” Kentucky junior wide receiver Barion Brown said.
“I think obviously we have that little bit of confidence, but then we know we got to hone in this week, get to work. You know, the bye week was good to get our bodies right and stuff, but we know we got to at the end of the day we got to go execute, put the work in this week, like I said, it’s going to be a big challenge. And we always got to be confident. But we know they’re gonna come bring it,” Kentucky junior tight end Josh Kattus said.
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Kentucky and Vanderbilt will take the field on Saturday at 7:45 p.m. under the lights at Kroger Field.
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