ESPN: Kentucky vs. Florida a "Prove It" game for the Cats

On3 imageby:Tyler Thompson09/28/21

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Kentucky is one of 26 undefeated teams in college football, 16 in the Power 5 conferences. If the Cats beat No. 10 Florida to improve to 5-0, it will be a significant turning point in the Mark Stoops era, says ESPN’s senior college football writer. Adam Rittenberg included Kentucky vs. Florida in his list of six “Prove it” games this weekend. The ESPN insider said the fact that the Cats keep winning despite having the worst turnover margin in the country (minus-nine) is proof they are “good enough to win ugly”; however, they’ve gotta clean it up to take down Florida.

Kentucky begins a season-defining stretch — Florida, LSU, Georgia — with the Gators, who are improved on defense from 2020 and are making strides on offense behind quarterback Emory Jones. Stoops took notice of the scare Florida gave to Alabama on Sept. 18. Jones, who is completing more than 67% of his pass attempts and leads Florida with 375 rush yards, will stress a Kentucky defense allowing just 4.1 yards per play.

Led by senior end Josh Paschal, sophomore outside linebacker J.J. Weaver and others, Kentucky forced three turnovers on downs in last week’s 16-10 win against South Carolina, which Stoops equates to actual turnovers. But Florida represents a much greater challenge for the Wildcats defense and their entire team.

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So far this year, Kentucky has lost six fumbles and thrown five interceptions. Mark Stoops told reporters yesterday ball security is a primary focus in practice this week.

“There is no excuse — we need to clean up the turnovers, the fumbles in particular. We will work extremely hard on that this week. I believe it is something that we can get corrected, and we will.”

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