By Joshua Huff

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UK football enters its bye weekend coming off a heartbreaking loss to SEC foe Florida and now turns its attention to the Sept. 27 home clash against Vanderbilt.

With the time off, UK has focused on solidifying a run defense that allowed the Gators to rush for 237 yards.

“We’ve got to stop the power run game,” defensive coordinator D.J. Eliot said on Wednesday. “Those guys (on defense) have got to be able to defend it and that’s what we’re emphasizing and harping on this week.”

The Cats had trouble reacting to the Gators’ runs, especially from running back Matt Jones who ran for 156 yards. The team also struggled responding with physicality at the point of attack. However, the Cats are spending this week reflecting and looking at ways to come out even stronger against Vanderbilt.

“The attitude is good,” head coach Mark Stoops said of his team. “The players really took (the loss) to heart, looked at the film and were very critical of themselves on where they can improve. It’s been a good couple days.”

One thing UK can focus on leading up to its showdown with the Commodores is working once again with the new players. The time allows for freshmen and bench players to work their way into the lineup.

“We talk about it and look at them,” Stoops said. “We certainly work with those guys a lot. It’s good to get around them again and get some reps with them.”

The young players that have stepped up and contributed are living up to the expectations of UK’s coaching staff, such as freshmen wide receiver Garrett Johnson and running back Stanley “Boom” Williams.

“It does make you feel a lot better,” Stoops said. “We bragged on them and thought they were very good players coming in and they showed that in high school.”

Now they’re showing it in the college ranks. Stoops was impressed with the how they played during the first two games at home and even more so on how they stepped up their game in The Swamp.

“I was very encouraged,” Stoops said. “Again we’re far from perfect, we’ve got a lot of work to do with those guys but it is nice to see some playmaking ability.”

Another focus for the Cats is rest and relaxation for the players that are injured, something that has plagued UK during the young season. But Stoops feels confident that UK will enter the game against Vanderbilt healthy.

“I think we’ll get a chance to go into the Vandy game close to 100 percent,” Stoops said.

Despite the opportunity to heal and refocus, the Cats prefer to play this Saturday.

“If it was up to me, I think I’d love to go out and play,” Stoops said. “The guys are in good spirits, we have a lot left in the tank and we got a lot more left we can do. We’re excited to go back to work.”