Kentucky, Ole Miss expect improved passing attack from Cats
Kentucky fans may have been demoralized by the Wildcats’ passing attack after a frustrating day against Toledo in the season opener, but the opposing coach for this week’s matchup isn’t putting much stock into that stat sheet.
Lane Kiffin, who will bring No. 20 Ole Miss to Lexington on Saturday for the SEC opener,
“You can’t base anyone, especially Kentucky, off a game before or whatever because they’ve had games like that before, and then they came out and beat us last year a couple of weeks after that South Carolina game up there,” Kiffin said during Wednesday’s SEC Coaches Teleconference.
To wit, Kentucky went a woeful 6-of-17 for 44 yards and two interceptions in a 31-6 beating at the hands of the Gamecocks last season in Week 2. Three weeks later, the Cats defeated No. 6 Ole Miss 20-17 in Oxford while throwing for 243 yards and a touchdown.
Kentucky (1-0, 0-0 SEC) will need a similar turnaround in a shorter period of time if it wants to compete with an explosive Ole Miss (1-0, 0-0 SEC) squad that put up 63 points and 695 yards of total offense last week in a win over Georgia State.
Too Amped
On Monday during his weekly press luncheon, UK head coach Mark Stoops said he thinks grad senior transfer quarterback Zach Calzada, who went 10-of-23 for 85 yards and an interception last week in a 24-16 win over Toledo, may have been a little too amped up for his debut with the Cats.
“I think, just in general, the buildup and the lead-up to week one, some people handle it differently than others,” Stoops said. “As much as I constantly try to preach it and talk about it, I think that’s very real. (We) have a lot of new players coming here, playing for the first time wearing the blue and white. They want to play well, including the quarterback.”
“The past is behind us, Saturday’s behind us,” Calzada said after Tuesday’s practice. “This is a new week and a new opponent, and for us it’s just about getting better every day.
“I’ve got to make better decisions, I’ve got to put our team in better situations, and we’ve got to hit our shots when we take them.”
The Cats took five shots deep down the field against Toledo and went 0-for-5 on those.
Over-Thinking It
Kentucky offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan said he thought Calzada was thinking too much in the opener.
“I thought, initially, there was indecision from our standpoint at the quarterback position,” he said. “Sometimes making it more complicated than it needs to be.”
Stoops likes what he’s seen during the first two days of practice this week.
“I’ve seen him respond very well,” he said. “As I mentioned on Monday, I have a lot of confidence in Zach and the passing game to play at a higher level. He’s come out this week and worked hard. Just needs to calm down, settle in, and just play ball.”
Both Stoops and Hamdan say they generally subscribe to the notion that most teams make a big improvement from Week 1 to Week 2. That, along with a Calzada resume that includes 8.745 yards and 73 touchdowns in his career, gives the UK staff confidence that he will eventually play to the stats on the back of his proverbial football card.
Big Leap Between Weeks 1 & 2?
“We’ve got to make a huge jump,” Hamdan said. “… You can be out in practice and prep ’em and prep ’em and prep ’em, but there’s nothing like real game experience and them feeling that for the first time.”
In classic Kiffin form, the Ole Miss boss delivered both reason for UK to feel confident in the passing game and a playful zing of Calzada.
“It’s a quarterback that’s thrown for like 9,000 yards or whatever in his 10th year of playing,” he said. “It’s a guy who’s won a lot of games, played a lot, thrown it really well. It’s like college football has Joe Flacco now.
“So you can’t count on that struggle in the passing game last week showing up this week.”