Kentucky offense gearing up for Gainesville

The Florida fight song and band music pumped through the speakers at Kentucky’s practice Tuesday as the team prepared for their Saturday night clash with the 25th-ranked Gators.

Kentucky tried their best to mock the wild environment they are going to have to play in Saturday night, but like Mark Stoops said Monday, there is no way to completely prepare for what’s coming in The Swamp.

Preparation for Kentucky began with fixing their personal problems Tuesday. The team committed four turnovers in their win over Central Michigan. They were able to come out on top, but offensive coordinator Eddie Gran knows the team won’t be so lucky if they turn the ball over against Florida.

“It won’t be good; we won’t go anywhere.”

Quarterback Terry Wilson was responsible for three of the turnovers Saturday, throwing two interceptions and losing a fumble. Wilson knows he can’t let that happen again.

“I should have thrown the ball away. It’s just an experience, and I have to learn from it.”

Kentucky’s offense will be in for a challenge as they get set to play a Florida team who dominated their opening game. The Gators held Charleston Southern to six points while causing three turnovers this past Saturday. The victory helped the Gators jump into the AP and Coaches Poll at #25.

When looking at the film of Florida’s defense Coach Gran was impressed with the talent he saw.

“Their front is a big-time SEC defensive front. Their linebackers are fast, their two corners are long, and they’ll press you.”

Wilson added, “They have a good defensive line, and they have defensive backs that can run. They play man outside. They have defensive ends that are long and elusive and can come up the edge pretty fast. We have to be ready, and I know we will.”

Despite the talent on the roster, one Wildcat who isn’t worried is senior captain and offensive lineman George Asafo-Adjei. When talking about the matchup, Asafo-Adjei expressed confidence in the face of a 31-year losing streak,

“I’ve played against the top dogs earlier in my career. They’re a good defensive line, I’ve played against them. Been through it. There’s nothing I can’t do.”

For many of the Wildcats, it will be their first visit to The Swamp.

Quarterbacks coach Darin Hinshaw broke down how the team was preparing for the 80,000-plus screaming Gators fans they’ll play in front of Saturday night.

“Today, we did crowd noise so they wouldn’t be able to hear at all during practice. It’s hard to prepare for that environment, but we’ve been preaching since Sunday, we have to be ready. It’s adversity, and you have to be ready when your numbers called.”

For Wilson, calling and adjusting plays will be a challenge with the crowd noise. He says, however, his time at Oregon has helped him for this environment.

“I already know it’s going to be crazy. Being at Oregon, I’ve been to Nebraska and some rowdy places. It’s football, so you have to love those environments.”

For sophomore AJ Rose, who ran for 104 yards and two scores a week ago, he was given advice from fellow running back Benny Snell on how to prepare for the noise.

“Go out there and play your game. Don’t let everything be so big to you. Just focus in on playing football.”

Despite the challenge, there is great excitement heading into this rivalry game.

Rose said “I’m very excited. I’ve never played in Florida. Going out there and getting this win would be a great success to our state.”

Kentucky will do all they can this week to prepare physically and mentally for the challenge that lies ahead Saturday.