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By: LARRY VAUGHT
Not only would Kentucky be bowl eligible it if beats Louisville Saturday, but a win a also would mean coach Mark Stoops’ team would get the extra 15 practices that go along with the bowl preparation.
“We need the practices. I think we’re getting better as the season goes on. We’re developing younger players. We’re getting better. We need the work. As you know, we get to some stretches in the season with the depth of our team, we get beat down at times. With a little bit of time out and to get back and basically have another spring practice would be huge for us,” Stoops said Monday.
Yet he said he would not spend much time talking to his players about a bowl game this week because they know what is at stake against Louisville.
“We’re not afraid to mention it. We will. It’s important for us to get the sixth win, it’s important for us to beat Louisville and end the season on a more positive note,” Stoops said. “It’s about execution. Our team will be motivated to play, and so will there’s. So, I think it’s about controlling those emotions and executing at a higher level. That’s what we’ve been concentrating on: just trying to play better football and do the little things right.
“We’re a program that’s growing and getting better and working to become better. This is another great opportunity for that. So, the motivation will be there. Our players care. They’ve been preparing the right way the past couple weeks. Any rivalry game, there’s going to be more emotions involved, and we have to be able to handle that. If you go to last year, some of the emotions really hurt us. When we score a touchdown and we have some guys that maybe aren’t normally on the sidelines run out on the field and get a 15-yard penalty, that kind of stuff we can’t have. Every yard is going to be important.
“I know we’ve grown, and we’ll talk about those things, but it’s more important for us to be prepared today, to start the week off with a great preparation today through the rest of the week. It’s about our preparation and how we play and the details of the game. So, both sides are going to be excited to play.”
Stoops said there’s no denying that a bowl game, extra practices and added TV exposure are important to a building program like the one at Kentucky.
“I think it’s important for our fans, I think it’s important for our players and I think it’s certainly important for our program to get the practices in and to develop your team,” he said.
Kentucky also needed a win over Louisville last year to get bowl eligible and lost. Louisville coach Bobby Petrino denied that his team would take any extra pleasure from doing that again.
“I would hope they don’t even think about that. It’s really about us winning and finishing our season. Playing for our seniors and taking care of our business. I think that’s what the No. 1 thing is,” Petrino said.
Emotions got a bit out of hand last year during pregame warmups when players from both sides got into a fracas that also involved coaches, including Petrino.
“We just have to focus on playing football really. Really not looking forward to any of that to be honest with you,” Stoops said about the pregame fracas last year. “We don’t need to do that, we need to worry about playing football and I will talk to the team about that. It’s about execution.”
Petrino doesn’t want to see a repeat of last year’s antics, either.
“It's always hard for me to understand, when there's a big game on the line, someone going out and getting a 15-yard penalty. But I was proud of some of our guys in pregame. There were some guys who were surrounded and kept their poise, got hit the face mask and didn't do anything back. So I was proud of the poise we had,” Petrino said.
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