Kentucky enters bye week focused on building upon 'a lot of good with the offense'

A quarter of the way through the season, Kentucky sits at No. 95 nationally in total offense with 332 YPG — No. 119 in passing at 136.0 YPG, but No. 43 in rushing at 196.0 YPG. The Wildcats are also No. 35 in fewest penalty yards per game and No. 42 in time of possession. There has been some good, some bad and some ugly on that side of the football, but it was mostly good in the team’s 48-23 win over Eastern Michigan in week three. That was a performance that saw the offense rack up 492 total yards with 240 through the air and 252 on the ground for the balanced attack with two passing touchdowns and four rushing scores.

It comes at the perfect time, too, finding their footing going into the bye week with Cutter Boley seemingly set to keep the keys once they return.

How would the team’s offensive coordinator assess his unit’s play through three games with the team’s record sitting at 2-1? Bush Hamdan‘s confidence is high.

“I think it’s been a constant improvement in my mind, you know? Even from week one to week two,” Hamdan said. “Maybe it didn’t feel as much there, but it was about us this week. It was about us cleaning it up, taking care of what we needed to take care of. I think they saw the effort they put in this past week and I think they’ve just got to understand it’s got to look like that week in and week out with this thing.”

Now isn’t the time to get complacent simply because they finally got the ball moving and found the end zone against MAC competition, though. It was a feel-good performance to build upon with conference play set to ramp back up after the break.

Take this time off for what it is and then be fresh and connected in Columbia when the Wildcats take on South Carolina on the road on September 27.

“We’ve got to really take advantage of this bye week and really prepare,” Boley said of his mindset coming off his first start of the year. “We’re going to get back to it tomorrow, getting started on South Carolina. Coming into SEC play, it’s kind of nice to have this bye week to get a little bit more time and get our guys’ legs back.”

Seth McGowan, who currently leads the SEC in rushing touchdowns with six scores and is the only Wildcat in the last 40 years to hit that mark in three games, feels Kentucky is in a solid spot. There is obvious room for improvement, but the things the Wildcats are doing well, it feels sustainable in the final three quarters of the season.

With Boley running the show and McGowan finding the end zone thrice, excitement is valid.

“I think just keeping this energy up, keeping this momentum,” the standout running back said. “We made some necessary changes from last week and I feel like the communication was a lot better. I think we were a lot smoother in our operation as a whole. I still think there are opportunities still out there. I still think we left some stuff out there. That’s how I’m feeling. I think that’s the message that I want all of us to be on. We’re excited about getting better this week.”

Competition aside, sometimes you just have to see it to believe it. The passing attack was no attack at all through two weeks, but they found something there against Eastern Michigan in week three.

As a result, confidence is high, just as it was through fall camp. Now it just has to bleed over into SEC play.

“Yeah, it feels good. I think there’s been a lot of good with the offense,” tight end Josh Kattus said. “There’s been ups and downs and stuff. I think we really put it together out there today and, obviously, there’s stuff we want to clean up from any game. 

“I think it gives us a confidence boost going into some big SEC games for the next two weeks.”