Another week and another must win for the Kentucky Wildcats as they play host to Charleston Southern today at Commonwealth. Why is this a must win? Well, the Wildcats really need to win the final three games of the season to call it a success and secondly, if they don’t beat Charleston Southern then we have real problems. I mean real problems. So while we await kickoff at 12:30pm, let’s see what Jokers thinking.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
[B]Offensive key No. 1- Execute:[/B] “We’ve told our offensive guys, when you see teams that lose to I-AA teams, the thing that happens is you don’t protect the ball, you play sloppy, you get minus-yard plays, you miss blocks and assignments. Those things you cannot do in a game like this. It’s all about execution. Execute your assignment and make sure you’re not careless with the ball.”
[B]Offensive key No. 2- Re-establish the run:[/B] “We’ve definitely got to try to rush the football, which we’ve tried to do every game. We’ve never been one of those teams to just abandon the run, and this is one of those games that we’ve got to run the football to get some confidence. If Derrick Locke can go, we’ve got to try and get him some confidence with being able to take a hit and being able to protect the football. You’ve got to give him some reps to feel good about himself, but you also have to be smart and can’t wear him down either. … Locke, one thing he does, is when you get the ball out to him in space in our passing game, he’s really dangerous. We’ve been more of a perimeter running game this year, especially with some of the schemes that Coach (Mike) Summers has brought us and with Locke’s speed. People have tried to take that away since Locke has been gone. When you get him on the perimeter, that’s when he’s the most dangerous, and we haven’t had that the last few weeks.”
[B]Defensive keys – Build on last week’s effort:[/B] “I liked our defensive effort last week. We’ve still got to get better at tackling and getting guys to the ground. We’ve still got to do a better job of doing it for 60 minutes and not letting guys open up big holes for the other team. This week, we will have to defend more in the passing game than the running game.”
[B]Key matchup – CSU quarterback Andre Trudnowski vs. UK’s pass defense:[/B] “We’re going to have to make it very uncomfortable for their quarterback. They’re one of the top teams in the country in throwing the ball. They’re throwing for nearly 250 yards a game. We’ve got to make it really uncomfortable for him and play really good in pass coverage. He’s played good for them. He actually played with DeQuin Evans and Chris Matthews in junior college so he’s a mature guy; he’s not a young guy. This is his second year in their program. He’s more than adequate.”
[B]Charleston Southern player to watch for – Kick returner Gerald Stevenson:[/B] “They’ve got a kick returner that has returned three kickoffs for touchdowns, so we’ve got to do a good job of kicking the ball where it needs to be kicked and a good job of covering and tackling him to the ground.”
[B]UK player who must step up – Offensive lineman Stuart Hines:[/B] “A guy that hasn’t played great for us of late that was playing really, really good earlier in the year is Stuart Hines. We’ve got to get Stuart Hines back on track. He got injured a few weeks ago and hasn’t played well. He’s just struggling with inconsistency a little bit. He’s been hobbled. We’ve got him healthy enough now that he should be able to play well for us this week.”
[B]Final injury report:[/B] Locke practiced this week and will be a game-time decision. Sanders, who did not practice this week with an abdominal strain, is also a game-time decision. Tight end Tyler Robinson is out.
