By Keith Taylor
Kentucky Today
As Kentucky delves deeper into fall camp, the Wildcats will start tightening the belt in preparation for the season opener set for Sept. 2 at Southern Mississippi.
Overall, Kentucky coach Mark Stoops likes the way the team has progressed during fall workouts, but moving forward it will be a matter of “putting it all together” during the final two weeks of camp.
Kentucky running back Benny Snell and the Wildcats are stressing ball control and protection during fall camp. The Wildcats open the season on Sept. 2 at Southern Mississippi. (Keith Taylor/Kentucky Today)
“I think we’ve worked really hard fundamentally at doing some things better,” Stoops said. “I think that showed up today. There was definitely some positives, some good things.”
Despite the progression, past issues are still haunting the Wildcats. During a scrimmage Saturday, Kentucky pieced together a 10- to 12-play drive only to fumble the ball away at the goal line. During the second drive, a lack of execution stalled another drive that could have ended with a possible touchdown.
“It took the air out of us a little bit,” quarterback Drew Barker said of the opening drive. “You just have to regroup and learn from that.”
Protecting the football continues to be a point of emphasis for Stoops and the coaching staff on both sides of the ball, especially offensively. Kentucky was 107th in the nation in turnover margin last year at minus 7, placing the Wildcats last in the Southeastern Conference. The Wildcats forced just 21 turnovers and committed 28 miscues — 16 fumbles and 12 interceptions.
“We talk about ball security all of the time,” Barker said. “The thing about ball security is you can’t be 99 percent of 98 percent (accurate), you’ve got to be 100 percent. You never know when a play might change the game.”
Starting signal caller Stephen Johnson agreed.
“That’s one thing coach (Eddie) Gran and coach (Mark) Stoops have been stressing is making sure we protect the ball, especially in the red zone,” Johnson said. “That’s one thing coach (Eddie) Gran and coach (Mark) Stoops have been stressing is making sure we protect the ball, especially in the red zone.”
Despite the inconsistencies, the Wildcats produced some long runs and running back Benny Snell was impressive during the scrimmage. Johnson was impressed with the team’s staple of talent in the backfield.
“Some of (the long runs) were Wildcat runs and some of them were just normal runs,” Johnson said. “Our offensive line is doing a really good job of seeing things as they come and our running backs have done a really good job as well, seeing the hole and hitting it.”
Kentucky offensive coordinator Eddie Gran said the Wildcats will “build” on the first scrimmage.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do,” Gran said. “You find out when the lights come on you find out where we’re at. If we’ve got too much in, we’ll tone it down a little bit. That’s what it will be when we watch it on film, how many missed assignments we had, how much of it was a lack of execution and technique.”
Keith Taylor is sports editor for Kentucky Today. He can be reached at keith.taylor@kentuckytoday.com and on twitter @keithtaylor21.
