Dominant Mentality Transformed Brenden Bates and Prepares UK for Florida

A wise man once said, “Football is 80% mental, 40% physical.” Kentucky’s mentality in the trenches altered the trajectory of Brenden Bates’ career and has the Wildcats prepared to take down Florida.

Kentucky developed an identity as a physical, blue collar football program running the ball behind John Schlarman’s Big Blue Wall. That approach resurfaced Saturday at South Carolina, rushing for 230 yards and averaging 5.5 yards per carry.

“South Carolina, we really wanted to take it to them,” said Bates, a fourth-year tight end. “We gave the ball to Chris (Rodriguez) and Chris was just a freight train running through people. This is working, why stop it? That’s where that came from.”

To physically dominate an opponent, it starts in between the ears. The Wildcats did not enter the previous week’s game with an edge against Chattanooga. They rediscovered the chip on their shoulder in Columbia and are bringing an “us against the world” mentality into Saturday night’s game against Florida.

“They are short-sighting us a little bit. It’s how they look at us. Florida thinks Kentucky is the same old Kentucky. Even when we have close games with them or beat them and we’re obviously a very dominant team, they still see past that because it’s Florida” Bates said. “Watching us practice and seeing our games, we haven’t seen our team to our true, full potential, obviously. If we put everything together, I see us being very dominant in this game.”

Discovering an Aggressive Mentality

When Brenden Bates was recruited to Kentucky, he was a 220-pound pass-catcher. Before he could catch a pass in Lexington, he had to prove to Vince Marrow that he could block in the trenches. That’s much easier said than done.

I can recall one practice in particular in 2019 where the Big Dog was relentless. “Did they teach you how to do that at Cincinnati Moeller? I don’t think so.” Despite some early struggles, Bates never backed down.

“You have to have a different mentality in the trenches, especially a guy like me. In my high school I was more of a receiving tight end. When I came here I put on some pounds and showed Marrow that I’m very physical. I had to completely change my mentality and that’s what we did to Izayah Cummings,” he said Tuesday evening.

Infectious Selflessness

Once a pass-catcher, Bates did not record a reception until 2020. Then an injury put him behind the 8-ball. His role changed, and he did not mind it one bit.

“I just focused on what’s my role and to win my reps and focus on yourself and your assignment to help the team. That’s what I focus on. I don’t care about the hype. I just care about winning and what’s best for the team. If they want me to run through a dude’s head, I’ll do that. If they want me to sell a decoy route so we can get one-on-one Wan’Dale in the post, I’ll do that. I’ll do anything to help the team and I think everyone has that mentality, to do whatever for the team, especially in the tight end room.”

Leading by example, that message was promptly received by Izayah Cummings. Lauded in the preseason for quickly adjusting to a new role as a tight end, he was praised by the masses following his first touchdown catch against Chattanooga. He might have received even more praise internally for his efforts against South Carolina, springing Kavosiey Smoke free for the only UK touchdown on the night.

“If you watched his film and saw what he did, dude was wrecking some people. I’m really proud of him to see how far he’s come. Dude was a wide receiver a couple months ago and now he’s kicking some big dudes out, defensive ends, backers. To play in the trenches, to be a tight end, you gotta be mentally strong and you gotta have a different mentality to go knock some dudes’ heads.”

Bates was the only tight end to catch a pass at South Carolina, but Stoops awarded the position room as the offensive players of the game.

Confident Entering Florida Game

Kentucky has struggled to put together a complete game all season long, but they are close. Bates is one of many inside the UK locker room that believes their best game is on the horizon this Saturday night.

“If we put it all together, we can truly see how good of a team we really are. I’m pretty sure Chris is the leading rusher and we have the leading receiver, but we’re also leading in turnovers. Just to see our team truly come together — and I really see it happening in this game — we can show everyone, the fans, college football rankings, that we should be up there. We’re a dominant team.”

The goal is to dominate the opponent, no matter who it is. If Kentucky can accomplish that goal in the trenches, the BBN will be rewarded with a big win.

“It would mean a lot, especially for this season and to show the fans we are elite. We are an elite team. We’ve got some great athletes. Especially to do that in front of all the fans, Kroger Field is already packed out. To do that in front of all of them would mean a lot to me and I think show the fans our appreciation. Thank you for coming. Thank you for sticking out with us through all these years, even when we were down here and now we’re up here. It would mean a lot.”