Even after looking at game film on Sunday and talking with their coaches, most of the UK football team still doesn’t know what happened in Saturday’s first-quarter meltdown against Florida.

“I feel like we had a decent week of practice last week,” sophomore guard Stuart Hines said. “I don’t really know what happened. I can’t say ‘This is why we got beat, this is why it happened.’ You never know that.”

The Gators went out and scored 31 unanswered points on UK (2-1, 0-1 Southeastern Conference) in the first quarter. They outscored the Cats 10-7 the rest of the way, but the damage had already been done.

UK committed multiple penalties, had a punt blocked into the endzone for a touchdown and was gashed by the Florida offense for over 200 yards in the first 15 minutes of play.

“They pretty much just came out there and jumped on us,” senior cornerback Trevard Lindley said. “I guess we weren’t ready.”

Slow starts have plagued the Cats in the last few seasons. UK has been outscored 139-44 in the first quarters of its last 16 games, including a 122-17 margin in the first quarter of the nine SEC games in that span. Florida has outscored UK by a combined margin of 59-0 in the first quarter of their last two meetings.

“It’s still a mystery to me,” junior defensive tackle Ricky Lumpkin said. “I thought we were ready, honestly.”

UK head coach Rich Brooks said he will change the team’s pregame warmup in an effort to try and eliminate the slow starts.

The only possible explanation any of the players had for the Cats’ slow start against the Gators came back to speed. Where the Cats stumbled early, Florida was revved up and rolled to start the game. Lumpkin said that may be because Florida had begun its SEC schedule last week, and had a better idea of the level of competition.

“They played an SEC game against Tennessee and we didn’t, and next thing you know there’s SEC speed out there,” Lumpkin said. “I think their speed caught us off guard in the first quarter.”

Cats face back-to-back titans

When UK faces No. 3 Alabama on Saturday, it will mark the first time UK has faced top-five opponents in back-to-back weeks in the history of the program. Florida and Alabama represent the highest-ranked tandem of opponents UK has ever faced.

Brooks’ comments on Alabama sounded eerily familiar to what he said about Florida last week.

“They have no weaknesses,” Brooks said.

He said there’s nothing positive to take away from the first quarter of the Florida game but was encouraged by his team’s performance in the rest of the game.

The Alabama game might be especially important to the team’s confidence after being beaten thoroughly by Florida. If the Cats can play a top team like Alabama closer than they did Florida, that could be important moving forward.

“Alabama is as good as Florida in a different way,” Brooks said. “They have a totally different offense, but their offense is one of the best offenses in the league. Their defense is the best in the league. Their special teams are outstanding.”

The biggest difference between Florida and Alabama is the strength of the players. Brooks said while Florida is known mostly for speed, it’s the brute force of Alabama he has seen on film that makes the Tide “scary.”

“They appear to be a more physical team,” Brooks said. “Their linebackers, they don’t come up and play a block and shed it, they just run through it and go to the ball carrier and leave the blocker laying at their feet. They just run through him. That’s scary.”

Injury Report

Justin Jeffries – OT – Achilles strain – Questionable

Taiedo Smith – S – Bruised foot – Probable

Moncell Allen – TB – MCL sprain – Questionable

Paul Warford – CB – Quad strain – Questionable

A.J. Nance – FB – Hamstring – Questionable