UK football needs a winning culture
Kentucky quarterback Patrick Towles gets sacked during the second half of the University of Kentucky vs. Missouri football game at Faurot Field in Columbia, MO., on Saturday, November 1, 2014. Photo by Jonathan Krueger
November 5, 2014
By Joshua Huff
Winning games in sports is a by-product of a winning culture. Be it excelling in execution of the fundamentals or developing a mindset geared solely towards winning, the culture of winning is not only taught but embraced.
Unfortunately, that culture has yet to catch on here deep in the Bluegrass.
After UK’s listless performance against Missouri on Saturday, the Cats have buried themselves within a three-game losing streak. And with a remaining schedule that looks tougher each week, the likelihood the Cats win their sixth game appears bleaker by the week.
Lack Of Fight
The theme of the Cats this season has been their Jekyll and Hyde tendencies at home and on the road.
Commonwealth Stadium has been a sanctuary for the Cats while the road has been a black hole that sucks all the progress and confidence out of UK. Take Missouri for example, UK entered the game riding a swell of confidence after the Cats’ “victorious defeat” against Mississippi State at home. Enter Missouri, a program that in two years had won more SEC games than any other team in the conference. UK was primed for the upset; it had a quarterback coming off an excellent overall game, a group of receivers who stepped up and delivered and a defense that locked down when needed.
However, all that was discarded when UK stepped into Faurot Field and faced a hungry Missouri team that embarrassed UK in all areas of the game. UK head coach Mark Stoops summarized it best on Monday when he described his team as mentally weak.
“We need to be a more disciplined football team,” he said. “We need to be tougher mentally and physically to win on the road and win in environments like that. It gets down to us and what we’re doing and how we’re coaching.”
UK entered the game intent on running the ball against the Tigers’ defense despite the talent of their defensive line and the lack of consistency within the UK running game.
That decision sent UK to two straight three-and-outs during its first two possessions as Missouri passed its way to a 14-3 halftime lead. The passing game, typically UK’s saving grace, was limited to just six pass attempts in the first half. With most attempts just check downs to running backs or short passes.
The coaching staff has the idea that UK can be a balanced football team. With three games left in the season, we know that the Cats can’t run the ball.
A weak offensive line and running backs who can’t follow blocks are what UK is stuck with this year.
If UK has any notion of what it wants to become it needs to take a long hard look at Patrick Towles. If he can remain consistent and display the fight he showed against Mississippi State, then the Cats have a potentially deadly air attack awaiting in the wings.
The young Cats just need to buy in to the culture Stoops is slowly building. Winning doesn’t come without hard work and that doesn’t stop on the practice field. It’s a mindset that need to be developed and nurtured.
