Kentucky Wildcats poised for bowl game in Mark Stoops’ third year?

Will Kentucky be the dark horse in this year’s battle for the SEC East?

“We can get to Atlanta”, regardless of what the rest of the country thinks. These are just the words Big Blue Nation wants to hear from their returning quarterback Patrick Towles.

Towles made these remarks during an interview last week on The Paul Finebaum Show. Although it’s been six years since Kentucky has had a winning football program, they came extremely close last year. The Wildcats, under head coach Mark Stoops, were well on their way to having a great year in just his second season at the helm, winning five out of their first six games, including an upset victory over South Carolina.

In fact, the Cats would have been bowl-bound had they been able to close out Florida in a triple-OT thriller in Gainesville in Week 3. After such an amazing start, however, things went downhill quickly with a six-game losing streak to end the season, but this team is not focused on the past. With Towles’ enthusiasm and determination, Stoops and company are confident they can compete for the SEC East title in 2015.

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It all starts at the top and Stoops has been impressive since his arrival on campus in Lexington three years ago. This includes excellent recruiting classes and getting the fans to “buy back” into Kentucky football. This year, the Wildcats will take the field in a newly renovated Commonwealth Stadium that cost $120 million. Stoops looks to “renovate” the offense, as well, and will be relying on first year offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson to do just that.

Dawson inherits an offense with notable experience and explosive playmaking ability. Towles accounted for more than 3,000 yards of offense and Stanley “Boom” Williams who rushed for 486 yards and five touchdowns as a freshman last year. Look for Dawson to try to mimic the fast paced balanced attack that he used during his time at West Virginia.

As for the defense, Kentucky returns seven primary starters, which is great, but the impact that All-American Bud Dupree had on the defense will be a tough act to follow. Now a Pittsburgh Steeler, Dupree was a nightmare for opposing quarterbacks producing 7.5 sacks and one interception for a touchdown last season.

Fortunately, an experienced linebacker crew consisting of Josh Forrest and Ryan Flannigan will be back to serve as tackling machines in the middle. Also back is A.J. Stamps at safety. Teams will definitely think twice before throwing the ball deep in his direction, having hauled in four interceptions in the 2014 campaign.

While Kentucky is known for its basketball, and rightfully so, they do have quite a history on the gridiron as well. Not many people know this, but the great Paul “Bear” Bryant was head coach of the Wildcats for eight years in which he produced a National Championship (according to retroactive Sagarin rankings) in 1950. That team lost only one game to rival Tennessee, led by none other than General Neyland himself. They went on to win the Sugar Bowl, over then undefeated Oklahoma. Also, the Kentucky Wildcats produced the number one overall draft pick of the 1999 NFL Draft with Cleveland’s selection of Tim Couch. The All-American led the Cats to a seven-win season including back-to-back bowl appearances.

The reality is this: Kentucky is and always will be a basketball school, but I am willing to bet this year’s football team will return to bowl competition.

Furthermore, I believe these Wildcats will contend for the East, having pulled off upsets over a couple familiar SEC foes. If this happens, Stoops will become the most sought after coach in all of college football, but to do this, he will have to not only start strong like last year, but finish strong down the stretch. As everyone in the Bluegrass State will tell you, it’s not how you start the race, it’s how you finish that counts.

Let’s hope the Kentucky Wildcats have the horsepower necessary to get the job done this year.

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