FBS Charlotte stands in way of UK's bowl hopes

LEXINGTON, Ky. – There is no longer any ambiguity about Kentucky's 2015 football season.

The Wildcats have to win each of their final two games to reach the program's first bowl since 2010.

"That's always been the goal," senior safety A.J. Stamps said. "The way things have been going, it's been going kind of rough, but we still got a chance, and all we need is a chance."

Finding fans outside of the Kentucky locker room who share that same confidence may be more difficult after a five-game losing streak that was capped last week by a 21-17 loss at Vanderbilt, which had won just one Southeastern Conference game in the past two years.

UK head coach Mark Stoops heard much of that discontent during his call-in show Monday, but he remains confident his squad can bounce back Saturday against first-year FBS program Charlotte.

"Our team desperately needs one at this point in time," he said. "It's been a tough stretch for us, and (we're) looking forward to a good game and getting home this weekend and trying to play some of our best football of the year."

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On paper, Charlotte appears to be just what Kentucky needs to establish some momentum before the regular-season finale against arch-rival Louisville. The 49ers are playing just the third season of football in program history and the first as an FBS school. Kentucky will be the first power-five conference opponent for Charlotte in program history.

Charlotte enters the game with a 2-8 record and 0-7 mark in Conference USA play. The 49ers have lost eight consecutive games. The team's two wins this season came against 3-6 Georgia State and FCS Presbyterian.

Charlotte ranks 102nd nationally in total yards per game (352.8), 109th in points surrendered per game (35) and 113th in points per game (19.3). The 49ers rank 126th of 128 teams in interceptions lost (21) and are tied for last in the country in sacks allowed (37).

"We've been trying not to be down on ourselves just because of how everything is going, but this week it's definitely going to be like a load-unleashing week for everything that we have built up in us," UK junior outside linebacker Jason Hatcher said. "We're going to try to go out there and put it all on tape for a very dominant game."

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Kentucky can ill-afford to by picky about any victory, but simply winning against Charlotte may not be enough. A less-than-convincing performance like the one Kentucky posted against FCS opponent Eastern Kentucky in October would do little to build confidence toward Louisville and earning the sixth victory needed for bowl eligibility.

To help keep players confident, Stoops and his staff have spent the week emphasizing there were positives from the loss at Vanderbilt upon which to build.

"There were some things that were good," Stoops said. "The energy was good. Guys were flying around. On all sides we really did some good things. That's what I told the team: We can't forget those things. We've just got to be cleaner in certain areas and execute in critical situations. It is important to go out and play well and play with great energy and passion and focus and do the little things right."

That message appears to have hit home with several players.

"Nobody said it was going to be easy," junior running back Jojo Kemp said. "We've got to continue to work and keep on just working on the little things, because when you work on the little things the big things will happen."

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The pressure of having to win both remaining games to reach a bowl could motivate players to provide their best performance or it could compound the mental mistakes coaches and players have attributed to playing too tight at times.

Kentucky can do nothing to change the must-win nature of its last two games. How players respond to that pressure could be key to salvaging the season.

"We have to win these two or we're going home again on Christmas break, and no one likes going home and watching your friends on TV in bowl games," said redshirt freshman quarterback Drew Barker, who has been tapped to start Saturday. "So this is definitely really, really big. We're taking it one game at a time. This is obviously the first game in the way. This is all we're looking forward to right now, trying to get win No. 5, and then win No. 6, we'll get to that after this game."

Email Jon Hale atjahale@courier-journal.com. Follow him on Twitter@JonHale_CJ.