HOOVER, Ala. – Kentucky is aware of the road that lies in front of it.
A 10-loss season season and an 0-8 conference record shows just how much work the Wildcats need to do to compete again in the Southeastern Conference.
Coach Mark Stoops has a system to go down that road, and the 2014 season is the first step in becoming relevant.
“We don’t dwell on anything that’s gone on in the past, anything certainly before I arrived at Kentucky we really don’t talk about much,” Stoops said Thursday at SEC Media Days in Hoover, Ala. “We all take accountability in wins and losses. We all accept that. Again, we got to do whatever we can to put ourselves in a position to win.”

The Wildcats bring back 16 starters as they look to snap a 16-game conference losing streak that goes back to November 2011. Kentucky ranked 14th and 12th in total offense and defense in 2013, but the school remains confident in Stoops and his plan.
The coach received a contract extension through the 2018 season back in May.
The defense brings back eight starters, and none of them are more dangerous than senior defensive ends Za’Darius Smith and Alvin “Bud” Dupree. The pair combined for 13 sacks last season, and Dupree was named 2014 Preseason All-SEC second team early Thursday morning.
Smith said he enjoys practice against Dupree and that they compete against each other all the time to raise each other’s talent level.
“We do it every day at practice. That’s something I like about Bud and that’s something that he likes about me,” Smith said. “We do compete, each and every day to get better.”

The offense will depend on who plays quarterback, with four different players still battling for the job. The leading candidates appear to be freshman Reese Phillips and junior Maxwell Smith, who started four games last season and threw for nine touchdowns.
Stoops said in his opening statement that he still was far from deciding who the quarterback will be, but was confident the position would be improved from last season.
Kentucky’s schedule will feature its annual rivalry game against Louisville moving to the end of the season, as well as road games against LSU, Missouri and Florida. With all the challenges ahead, players know they need to continue the work they’ve done since the offseason.
“It’s a cliché, but we have to get better every day,” said junior offensive tackle Jordan Swindle. “So if we come to work every single day, there might be some teams that kind of slack off every once and awhile. So it is my goal to make our team better every day.”