PHOTO - Vicky Graff
For most Kentucky football fans, Saturday night’s game against Arkansas falls into the must-win category.
The Wildcats have lost three straight games, all Southeastern Conference contests, and are 2-3 going into this game with an Oct. 19th game at Georgia the following game.
Kentucky coach Mark Stoops, though, is not ready to classify this as a season-defining or make or break game for his team.
“No, I’ll leave that to y’all. I haven’t heard for awhile, because it was kind of comical to me, about how every game was a make or break for me,” Stoops told media members Monday during his weekly press conference. “I was like, what game isn’t? You know what I mean?
“I think that’s all I heard for six years every week in here. So it’s, actually, I had to chuckle inside because every game’s important to us, and I don’t mean any disrespect by that answer. It’s just we, as coaches, I don’t care who we’re playing, what we’re doing, the way we lead up to a game, the way we prepare, all that is really most important to me.”
Still, three straight losses for a team that won 10 games last year and had a 21-10 lead over still unbeaten Florida going into the fourth quarter in game three this season would seem to make this a huge game for UK.
“The results are the results. We all want to win, but things happen in games that you can’t predict. That’s why everybody loves watching it,” Stoops said.
“But the preparation and how we go about it and everything, it’s all important. This game is important. Sure, I think just common sense the way we haven’t played very good and the way we have had some losses, yeah, it’s important to me.
“It’s the next game, it’s at home, it’s a conference game, so it’s important. “
