Saturday, September 18, 1999
UK looking to add passion to its play
The Associated Press
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — The heart of Kentucky's offense is in the right place. It's just the soul that's missing.
“I think you have to explain to kids sometimes what you want,” coach Hal Mumme said. “I think the first two games, we just had a lot of guys just worrying about where to line up.”
Even with a new quarterback this season, the Wildcats rank second in the nation in passing. But this week, as they prepared for today's game at Indiana, Mumme had them wear T-shirts under their practice jerseys that read, “Play the next play ... with passion.”
“I think that there's times that we haven't done that,” he said.
Kentucky, which has beaten Indiana the past four years, comes in with a 1-1 record, the same as the Hoosiers. Indiana is coming off a miserable defensive performance in a loss to North Carolina; Kentucky is coming off a big offensive show in a victory over Connecticut.
Quarterback Dusty Bonner is third in the nation in total offense at 378 yards a game. Last week, he completed 34 of 40 passes for 339 yards and four touchdowns, did not throw an interception and broke one of Tim Couch's school records by completing 16 consecutive passes in a 45-14 victory.
Defense has been the big weakness so far for the Hoosiers. The Indiana offense, however, appears to be thriving with sophomore quarterback Antwaan Randle El, who can run, pass and — as he showed last week — run the option effectively.
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