Kentucky fans made impact in upset win over Florida
Saturday was an event for the Big Blue Nation. The Wildcats knocked off Florida as underdogs at home giving Mark Stoops one of the biggest wins of his tenure.
On the newest episode of KSR’s Pin It Deep podcast with Max Duffy and Miles Butler, Mark Stoops joined his former punters and confirmed what we all witnessed on Saturday. Kentucky’s crowd had a major impact in helping the Wildcats get to the winner’s circle.
“Without a doubt, just one of the best atmospheres since I’ve been here,” Stoops told KSR. “True home-field advantage. As I’ve mentioned, thank you to the BBN because they really had a factor in the outcome of the game. At one point in time, they were third-and-one and it goes to third-and-six and third-and-11 and we get the stop. That’s a big deal.
For the game, Florida had eight false start penalties and only scored 13 points in three red zone possessions. The crowd was loud and boisterous for most of the evening. The home team and its supporters certainly received a major momentum boost when Trevin Wallace rumbled 76 yards for the go-ahead score.
As the offense has labored through the last two games, the defense has picked up the slack in more ways than one. The defensive-minded head coach has been impressed with his unit.
“The defense has been exceptional the past two weeks,” said Stoops. “Early in the year, we were just inconsistent. Doing some really good things at times, inconsistent at other times. But that’s what you have to see is our coaches hold the players accountable and really show them the film — you see when we do things right, good things are happening. People don’t really understand that. Certainly, there are some individuals that can have an impact on the game and we saw this with Josh [Paschal] this past week and others but on defense, if you don’t have all 11 guys doing exactly what they’re supposed to do you’re going to get exposed against good teams.
Kentucky’s defense has been locked in and it has gotten the team to 3-0 in SEC play. Now the Wildcats will look to do it again will LSU rolls into town this weekend for the first time since 2007.
Can the crowd deliver a wild environment again? It could be the difference in the game.
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