By Annie Dunbar

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The chances for the Cats to become bowl eligible are dwindling with just three games remaining in the regular season. With that win dangling in front of a team hungry to prove itself, Senior Day against No. 17 ranked Georgia on Saturday could potentially be that golden opportunity.

After last week’s loss to Missouri, UK head coach Mark Stoops gave the team a reality check on Monday and, according to defensive coordinator D.J. Eliot, the players responded.

“They got the message and they came out in practice all week and have focused on being disciplined and doing the little things right, practiced hard and paid attention to detail,” Eliot said.

The disciplinary aspect of the game has recently become an issue for the Cats. Stoops was unhappy with the effort level he saw in UK’s performance against the Tigers and expected to see players do a better job of battling in one-on-one situations through the week of practice, while also holding players accountable.

“(It) gets down to simple things: habits, creating winning habits,” Stoops said. “When I talk about toughness, it’s not just always physically. Mentally being tough. If you’re supposed to run a six step out, run it six, not eight. If you’re supposed to follow the guard on a run play, follow the guard, (don’t) just run anywhere you want to run. That’s what I mean by ‘untrained’. It’s creating those habits and training to play when you’re under pressure.”

Stoops said that his squad would have to put up points to have a chance at pulling off the upset, which starts with quarterback Patrick Towles being consistent and his receivers making plays. Stoops wants to see his offense perfect their routes, create space and beat defenders in man coverage.

“Georgia is going to present a real problem to us because, first of all, they’re not going to give you anything,” Stoops said. “They’re one of those aggressive defenses. They’re very well-coached. They’re not going to give you anything easy. So you’ve got to go earn your yards. You have to win your one-on-ones. You heard me talk about that last week. It was evident in watching the tape. It comes down to winning some matchups.”

Creating those “winning habits” also applies to UK’s defensive ‘Bad Boys,’ especially when facing Georgia’s strong ground raid. One of UK’s biggest defensive downfalls is its inability to stop the run game. The Bulldogs are ranked No. 18 nationally in rushing yards, which will challenge UK, and ranked No. 11 nationally for putting points on the board, averaging 40.5 points a game.

“I think they bring a power running team that we know has hurt us in the past as well,” Stoops said. “They can run the heck out of the football. They’re very talented. They can throw it. They’re very balanced … I think they’ve been held under 20 one time in (the) past week. Florida played an inspired game. Give Florida credit. They played a great football game and held them to 20 points, which is amazing because nobody all year has held them under 34, 35 … They’re extremely hard to defend.”

Stoops believes that the deciding factor in how the Cats perform in their final stretch of the season could come down to one group of guys – the seniors.

“I think it’s important to show some leadership and some character,” Stoops said. “We need those guys to step up and push us over the top, push the younger guys to, again, be more disciplined, to do the little things right, to create those winning habits.”