LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The early numbers are in: Las Vegas projects a 5-5 season for Mark Stoops and eighth Kentucky football team.
The Wildcats can topple that number on Sept. 26, when they open the revised 2020 schedule at Auburn. Depending upon the sports book, Kentucky will be a 7 1/2 to 9-point underdog.
Stoops did not dabble in predictions or point spreads Tuesday. He had a more pressing issue: The Wildcats opened practice.
Training camp has lost much of its camp atmosphere because of the novel corona virus. It will stretch over more weeks but Stoops said that initially his team will practice on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, similar to spring drills.
He said none of his players have opted out because of concerns about the virus. He said zero Kentucky players tested positive during the opening round of testing and three tested positive later, with six testing positive for COVID-19 antibodies.
Stoops said he had no predictions on how the season would unfold -- and no comment on the decision by leagues like the Big Ten that canceled their 2020 seasons last week.
He said he had no information on how many fans will be allowed at Kroger Field for UK's five home games.
"I'm personally optimistic we'll get started on time," Stoops said. "We have quite a few players returning that have a lot of experience."
Five Takeways as Kentucky begins life without Lynn Bowden Jr., and his nearly 1,500 yards rushing and 403 yards passing.
1. All signs are encouraging for quarterback Terry Wilson, who has recovered from the knee injury that ended his season after two games in 2019.
"We're grateful to have Terry Wilson back at full strength," Stoops said. "He looks very good. His legs look healthy …
"… we'll put him out there. He's full-go. He's cleared to go but obviously we will have a little bit of time until we get into any of these scrimmage situations.
"I'll have time time to assess (his progress) and see where he's at with any soreness or any setbacks at all. With our schedule the way it is right now we have quite a bit of time."
Stoops said the NCAA still has not ruled on the eligibility of Auburn transfer Joey Gatewood, the team's other top quarterback. He said he expected a decision soon but declined to speculate on how the NCAA will rule.
2. Opening against Auburn instead of Eastern Michigan, Kentucky has no time for cupcakes or experimentation.
"It can only challenge us even more," Stoops said. "It is what it is.
"We work through camp getting every one of our players a lot of reps, getting them prepared. I do feel like that this is the deepest team since I've been here.
"We are a deep team with some experience. That has to help when you're playing 10 conference games because we all know how difficult that will be.
"We know how taxing that will be on our players and our coaches. It will be a real challenge. But we do have a deep team. We have a mature team. That has to help us. We'll see where it goes.
"Like General (George) Patton said, and believe me, nobody misquote me, I know I'm no general and I certainly don't want to compare football to our military, which I have such great respect for.
"But we can learn from past leaders. General Patton said, 'I am a soldier. I fight where I'm told. And I will win where I fight.'
"That's going to be our approach. Prepare as a team each and every week to be ready to go, to be ready to prepare to win. We're going to take that approach every day."
3. Will the road be kinder with smaller crowds or possibly no fans? Will home games no longer be advantageous?
"It will be different," Stoops said. "There's no question about that. How it affects it one way or the other, we have no idea until we get into it and get to playing …
"… I really can't answer it because this has been unprecedented. So the energy will affect somebody. Hopefully it won't affect our team."
4. How has Stoops and his coaching staff dealt with the mental challenges that COVID-19 have presented to players, who have been wondering when the season will start?
"Our team has been very consistent," Stoops said. "That's not to say that individually if you polled every one of our guys, they would have different answers to what you just asked.
"I'm sure there has probably been some frustration and disappointment, excitement at times. You'd have to ask each and every one of them.
"I know collectively as a group, I try to communicate with them often and I want to hear what they have to say.
"In my conversations with them, they have been very matter of fact. They're trying to do the things that we've asked them to do for safety. They're trying to take care of themselves. They're preparing the best they can.
"As a consensus they're basically like, 'Coach, we're ready to play. We're ready to play some football. We want to play.'
"And that's where we're at. So that's what I have to go by. I've asked them as a group. I've asked them in leadership groups. And I've asked them to come talk to me individually if they had any concerns at all or if I need to address anything with them.
"To this point, they've been very clear that they adhere to the measures and the protocols that we have in place, but they want to play."
5. Would starting and then having to potentially stop the season because of the virus be better than not starting like the Big Ten?
"You know, I don't really enjoy speculation," Stoops said. "The situation is what it is. I have faith and confidence in the decision makers and the professionals that looked into this.
"I know that just from our perspective, we've done everything humanly possible to protect these young men and do the best we can at keeping them as safe as possible. We're going to continue to do that.
"What the Big Ten did and what their decisions are, I really haven't spent any time thinking about that. It is what it is. We're prepared to play and we're excited about that opportunity."
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