SPORTS

Cats face "playoff" against Cards for Governor's Cup

Kyle Tucker

LEXINGTON, Ky. –

Whether or not you like the Kentucky-Louisville football rivalry game in its new scheduling slot as the regular-season finale for both teams, this much is undeniable: It couldn't have delivered much more drama for the Wildcats.

After a thrilling 5-1 start, then five straight mostly uncompetitive defeats – and now 13 days between games to rest and regroup – it all comes down to this for UK and second-year coach Mark Stoops.

"It's pretty self-explanatory: If we win, we're going to play another game," he said. "A win this weekend would do an awful lot for these players. I think they deserve it. That's what I've told them. They put in the work. They've put in the time and they care and they deserve to win and have that taste of success and that taste of a bowl game. I'd like to see that for them."

Punching the program's first postseason ticket since 2010 has eluded the Cats (5-6) for a month and a half. Needing just one victory since Oct. 11 to make it happen, they've lost to LSU, Mississippi State, Missouri, Georgia and Tennessee all in a row.

So now Kentucky either wins at 24th-ranked Louisville (8-3) this afternoon or the Wildcats will literally go home – and stay there through the holidays, while those rival Cardinals and so many other teams go bowling.

"It's a huge game for us this year, especially since it's our playoff game," offensive tackle Jordan Swindle said. "That is a big topic of what the coaches have been saying. It's a huge focus point for us. I definitely want to get this win and get us bowl eligible."

There's even more than that on the line. Stoops, who is 7-16 in almost two full seasons as UK's coach, has lost all three games (in ugly fashion) since receiving a midseason contract extension and huge raise. He could use some positive momentum heading into the offseason.

Stoops inherited a 2-10 team and most would've been happy with a five-win second year if not for how this season has unfolded. Fans want to feel that things are headed in the right direction and six consecutive losses to seal a fifth straight sub-.500 season would not scream progress.

"I'll let you decide on whether it's been successful or not," Stoops said. "I know we're a better football team. I felt like coming into the year that we'd be better. I think we are better. Are we where I want to be? No, and probably not where a lot of people want to be. So we're going to keep on working and keep on getting better.

"I am proud of this team. I felt like they've been a fun group to coach. They mean well, they work hard, and they have a great attitude. We're just not quite as good as we'd like to be."

That doesn't mean the Wildcats won't put everything they have left into one final swing at an upset to extend their season. They swear they aren't desperate, rather supremely motivated.

"Desperate seems a little dark," offensive coordinator Neal Brown said. "It is a desperation game, I guess, (but) I choose hungry. That's what I want to see. That's the first thing when I addressed the offense, I said, 'Listen, I want a hungry outfit.' I likened it to an elimination game. You win, you're in."

Sophomore Patrick Towles, who has struggled the last three games after an otherwise successful first season as Kentucky's starting quarterback, recognizes the cleansing power of a game like this one. He knows how the 2014 Cats will be remembered if they can end a three-game losing streak against the rival Cards and earn a bowl invitation simultaneously.

"We win on Saturday, it's a successful season," Towles said, "and everybody forgets about the last five or six. So we're looking forward to this one."

There's no more coachspeak from Kentucky, no more just-another-game, or one-game-a-time talk. Because now a phrase that has come to be associated with Wildcats basketball – appropriate, as folks are usually talking about Cats-Cards on the court, not the field, this time of year – applies here.

It's one and done for UK.

"It's really not a regular game, like every other week," senior receiver Demarco Robinson said. "You've got to take a different approach on this, because it's a rivalry game and we know a lot of people are counting on this game."

Stoops said he and the entire coaching staff is "excited" about the Cats' chance to write their own happy ending. He wants the players to see that and feel the same.

"When you win, it obviously builds that confidence within your team. That's why it was great to get off to the start that we did," Stoops said. "But any time you've lost a certain number of games in a row, that doubt is obviously going to creep up into your mind, and that's what we have to get out of there. … It's a beautiful thing (to) have this opportunity in front of us to get the sixth victory against a big rival.

"I think they all know what we're playing for. There's no point in hiding from it."

Kyle Tucker can be reached at (502) 582-4361. Follow him on Twitter @KyleTucker_CJ.