Kentucky players had a lot to be happy about last year when they beat Florida and hope to do the same thing again Saturday night in Gainesville. (Vicky Graff Photo)
If there is one huge change Mark Stoops has made in the Kentucky football program it is the team’s belief in itself.
I’ve covered a lot of Kentucky football teams that hoped to win at Florida, Georgia or Tennessee.
This Kentucky team EXPECTS to win Saturday night at Florida.
Quarterback Will Levis got a win over Florida last year at Kroger Field. He knows UK won at Florida in 2018. He sees no reason Kentucky cannot win again.
“In years past, we’ve been underdogs against Florida and there’s really none of that mentality now,” Levis said. “We made it happen last year and a couple years before that.”
“We know it’s going to be a tough environment, but we’ve just got to embrace it, but we’re no longer that Kentucky team from 10 years ago.”
He’s right. Stoops has changed “that Kentucky team” into an annual bowl team and competitive team in SEC play. A win at Florida on ESPN would only verify that for more folks nationally.
“We know that we deserve to be on this stage and as long as we play the ball game that we know we can, we know we can win the game,” Levis said.
The Las Vegas oddsmakers made Florida the favorite after it beat then No. 7 Utah last week. They might also remember UK lost 31 straight times to Florida before winning in 2018.
However, the only history or odds that concern Levis are based on UK’s win over the Gators last year.
“We have to have that confidence, we do have that confidence and I’m just excited to get out there and play in an electric environment like the Swamp,” Levis said.
Stoops likes a confident Levis. However, he doesn’t want him to be so hard on himself. Levis was visibly disappointed with his play last week despite throwing for 300 yards and three touchdowns.
“We don’t need him to put that kind of pressure on himself. We love and respect his drive and motivation and that’s obvious. But there also can be added pressure when the expectations go high on him. We just need him to be him,” Stoops said.
“He is very driven and playing at a very high level. Again, there are some throws in there that with people in his face, he made some remarkable plays when you sit there and watch the film.”
2 Responses
I look for Will to light it up, but the game will be won by the play of the UK defense I think. Each player on the field for UK on defense must do their job. UK has to play loose and confident.
Play every play. No plays off!
Be ready to compete at the kickoff
I think UK wins by 4, 28-24.