Important Kentucky Football Lessons Learned Ahead of Ole Miss

College football coaches across the country are sharing the same message to their players. Teams make the most improvement from week one to week two. This cliche is not a guarantee, but there are a few lessons this Kentucky football team has learned that should be valuable ahead of the SEC opener against Ole Miss.

Kentucky Offense Overcame Adversity

The Kentucky football preseason was essentially a month-long stress test. Mark Stoops‘ program did not answer the bell whenever things went wrong in 2024. Many mistakes were made in the opening game of the 2025 season, but one thing they did not do should set them up for success in the future.

“A big thing that we didn’t do last week is panic. We went through some adversity,” said offensive guard Josh Braun. “We didn’t start as well as we wanted to, and we knew that, and we didn’t point fingers and blame anybody. We stepped up and did what we needed to do when it came crunch time. I think that’s going to pay us dividends throughout the season.

“We’ve already seen adversity and this week when we see adversity again, it’s not going to to be the first time we’ve seen it. Because of that, I hope we’re able to respond well, respond how we did this past game and keep striving for perfection.”

Winning Experience vs. Ole Miss

Mark Stoops diminishes any notion that something from a previous year can impact the current year. Trends say otherwise. How else can you explain why Stoops’ defense typically has success against Kiffin’s offense?

The Kentucky coaching staff has prepared for this opponent in two of the last three years. They are not starting from scratch when devising a gameplan.

“Schematically, there’s a lot of (carry over),” said offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan. “The coordinators are still in place. Getting a feel for what we tried to do and how they played it, it’s a little bit of a cat-and-mouse situation on what we showed.”

Eric Wolford has an intimate knowledge of the Ole Miss defense. Pete Golding was the defensive coordinator for Alabama when Wolford was on Nick Saban‘s staff. That knowledge helps prepare his players for the unexpected.

“One thing you know is they’re going to be well-coached, they’re going to play hard, they’re going to play fast, and they’re always going to have some wrinkles that you haven’t prepared for,” said Wolford. “That’s what the game of football is, it’s how you adjust. Can you make the right calls, and can you see things pre-snap to make sure you have an anticipation on what you can expect to happen once the ball is snapped?”

Proof of Concept

Can Kentucky beat a Top 20 team? Folks who just watched the Toledo game may have their doubts. This group of players should not share those feelings. They’ve been in the trenches against this opponent and left them with a win.

“There’s certainly something from a confidence standpoint with those guys knowing, having enough players that played in that game last year, but we’re going to have to flip that focus,” said Hamdan.

The Wildcats know they have enough in the tank to pull off the win. It’s their job to produce results on Saturday.

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