Levis, Kentucky Embracing Tough Road Challenge at The Swamp

On Saturday, Sept. 10, No. 20 Kentucky will head south to Gainesville to take on the No. 12 Florida Gators inside Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.

The crucial SEC East tilt comes early in the season, though its already the second big-time home game for the Gators, who are fresh off of a win over then No. 7 Utah, which also came in The Swamp.

Ben Hill Griffin Stadium holds 88,548 people, and there likely won't be an empty seat on Saturday. It's the sixth-biggest stadium in the SEC, though it feels much larger at times with the crowd practically sitting right on top of the field.

Kentucky quarterback Will Levis, as well as his fellow teammates, are embracing the upcoming challenge:

"It's just football, I love playing away, I think the extra energy, the extra excitement you get when there's a bunch of fans booing you, it gets me amped up," Levis said. "I think the only thing that's different is handling the crowd noise and everything that comes with that, but at the end of the day you're just playing ball. After that first snap, all those nerves and everything about the environment kinda go away. Just want to make sure again, that we're preparing with our O-line, making our calls as loud as we can, we know that it's gonna be tough, but it's nothing we can't handle."

Levis said Kentucky's signals won't change, though he'll have to alter his cadence when he's under center and in shotgun formation. Kentucky is implementing crowd noise during practice to prepare for the noise that'll come in The Swamp on Saturday:

"We just have to be as loud as we can, practicing that in practice with the extra crowd noise that we're pumping in. I talked to our video staff yesterday, just saying how like, I know we had some crowd noise last year for some away games, but we gotta pump it up," Levis said. "We're trying to make sure that how we practice is as close to how it's gonna be come game day."

Part of the challenge that comes with enduring rowdy environments is making sure the offensive line is on the same page. The Big Blue Wall allowed four sacks to Miami (OH) at home in the season-opener, a performance that called for a shuffle on the left side of the line.

Team Captain Kenneth Horsey has since been slotted into the left tackle position, replacing freshman David Wohlabaugh Jr. Kentucky is hoping that Horsey's veteran ability and leadership will translate just fine in Gainesville.

"We need to understand that it's 11 guys that need to be on the same page at the same time and it's the same thing about the offensive line. If three or four guys are doing the right thing and one is doing the wrong thing, bad things will happen," Horsey said. "We just need to make sure that we're locked in our chemistry with each other and making sure that we know exactly where we're going to be and what we need to do."

It's not easy developing chemistry when you have to make a change after one game, but Kentucky is confident in the O-line gelling as a unit, even if it has to happen in a hostile road environment.

"The biggest thing is to not worry about the crowd noise, if you're worrying about the crowd, you're not worrying about what's on the field. Like I say, football is football, we have to be able to lock in on our assignments no matter where we're at. We want to get to where to where we want to go," Horsey said.

Kentucky's mixture of freshmen and transfers that see the field on a regular basis may point to potential issues on the road, but there have been no signs from the Wildcats leaning in that direction.

Time will tell come Saturday night in The Swamp.

Wildcats Today will have updates on injuries, game notes and more throughout the week as Kentucky prepares for its matchup against the Florida Gators.

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