UK hopes to 'write a different ending' against U of L
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Kentucky football is no stranger to the situation it will face in its regular-season finale against Louisville.
Last season, the first year the annual rivalry game had been played on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, Kentucky entered the contest needing an upset win over the Cardinals to earn its sixth win needed for bowl eligibility. UK had lost five consecutive games entering the contest and despite posting its best performance of the second half, Kentucky was unable to avoid a 44-40 loss.
A year later, Kentucky sits at 5-6 again with Louisville standing between it and a bowl.
“Same story,” senior defensive tackle Farrington Huguenin said after a 58-10 win over Charlotte. “We just got to write a different ending.”
Unlike the 2014 team, this year’s Kentucky squad has at least erased the taint of a long losing streak before the rivalry game.
Kentucky had lost five consecutive games before the blowout victory over first-year FBS program Charlotte Saturday. While the 49ers represented a significant step down in competition from UK’s Southeastern Conference schedule and the challenge Louisville will represent, UK players expressed confidently that the victory was a step in the right direction.
“Beginning of the week I said we were going to start off these next two games 0-0,” junior running back Jojo Kemp said. “So it’s good to get this victory. Now we’re 1-0, on to Louisville.”
What is different about the 2014 season-ending loss to Louisville and the upcoming contest?
“We want payback, man,” Kemp said. “We want to work and just control what we can control, attack the week and just be ready to play come Saturday.”
Several Kentucky players pointed to a more veteran squad as one reason to hope for a different outcome.
“We just want to win,” senior defensive tackle C.J. Johnson said. “That ain’t different, but I feel like there’s more seniors on the field now. It actually like means a lot to us. I don’t know if that means anything, but with a lot of seniors being on the field I feel like the fight is going to be a lot greater.”
Kentucky started seven seniors in the 2014 game against Louisville, and seven more saw action off the bench or on special teams. The Wildcats actually started one fewer senior against Charlotte Saturday but played nine more seniors off the bench or on special teams. Of course, even the underclassmen who featured against Louisville in 2014 have and additional year of experience to draw on in the 2015 matchup.
On defense, the senior nucleus is particularly important with five starters set to play the last game of their collegiate careers without a victory against Louisville. The presence of senior nose guard Melvin Lewis, who has not played since suffering a leg injury against Auburn on Oct. 15 but could possibly return for a bowl game, will also likely loom large in the locker room.
“We’re just selling out,” senior linebacker Josh Forrest said. “We’ve got a week to think about it and prepare for it and try to make it different from last year.”
Cats gain confidence boost needed in blowout win
Kentucky’s chances at an upset win could be boosted by a large crowd at Commonwealth Stadium, but after the stands were well below half full on a rainy, cold night against Charlotte UK head coach Mark Stoops was left to plead for better support in the rivalry game.
“I hope it’s electric next Saturday,” Stoops said. “I appreciated the fans that were there today. I know it was a dismal day playing at 7:30 again in bad weather most of the day and cold, and I greatly appreciate the fans that were there.
“Next week we need everybody in those seats and we need it filled and to come root for this team because we’re going to put everything into it. But it will be a very important week, and it will be a great atmosphere here next week, I’m sure.”
The 2014 game featured no shortage of rivalry fireworks with players and coaches from both squads having to be separated during warmups before the game and five unsportsmanlike conduct flags being thrown during the game.
With so much on the line in the 2015 regular-season finale against Kentucky, at least one player expected similar emotion for the rivalry game.
“It’s part of a rivalry,” Johnson said. “It makes the game exciting. Anytime you play a rivalry because they’re right down the street it’s like bragging rights. You want to go out and fight, have a dog fight out there. We plan on making it like that this year too because I don’t like them.”
Email Jon Hale atjahale@courier-journal.com. Follow him on Twitter@JonHale_CJ.