JJ Weaver identifies what a successful season will look like at Kentucky

This college football season, the Kentucky Wildcats are poised to have another strong year and improve on their 7-6 record from last season. During the offseason, the Wildcats’ improvements on the field have been evident to many watching closely. And with those improvements, a certain level of success is expected. That is why, at the SEC Football Media Days, star Wildcats linebacker JJ Weaver outlined what a successful campaign in 2023 would look like for Kentucky, along with highlighting the signs of the program’s improvement.

“Going to a straight eighth bowl game. We’ve been to seven bowl games straight. If we go to eight bowl games straight, it’s a success for us,” said Weaver.

While becoming bowl eligible is a commendable achievement and typically signals you finished the season at .500 or better, getting a win in said bowl game would be even better. And the Kentucky program and their fans are well aware of that. As Weaver highlighted, the Wildcats have gone to seven straight bowl games where they currently have a 4-3 record in those games under head coach Mark Stoops. In fact, before their tough loss in last year’s Music City Bowl against Iowa, the Wildcats were on a four-game bowl winning streak.

“Being consistent, going back to that. Being consistent with everything we do. We can’t take no days off, no relax day. We just got to be consistent, hit everything hard.”

Weaver will look to build off of his success in 2022, where he had career highs in total tackles (47), solo tackles (27), and forced fumbles (3). If he can do that, the odds of Kentucky improving from their 2022 campaign significantly increase.

Weaver reacts to Kentucky’s winning streak against Florida

Another sign of success Weaver talked about is Kentucky’s winning ways over SEC rival Florida. For years, the Gators have dominated the Wildcats in an early SEC East showdown. While it might not be the biggest rivalry for either team, getting a win over one another was important to kick the year off correctly. The Gators experienced that for a long time.

But recently, Stoops has Big Blue Nation on top. Kentucky has won two matchups in a row, both in Lexington and Gainesville. Stoops continually talks about taking the next steps as a program and at the time, beating Florida was one of those. Mission accomplished.

For Weaver, he would love to add to the winning streak, making it three in a row against Florida. He said as the Wildcats get their goals together for the season, taking down the Gators is always one of them.

The past two seasons, that has been accomplished. Doing so again in 2023 would be another check marked for a critical year.

“It would be good,” Weaver said at SEC Media Days. “We getting to our goals, accomplished the goals we always set every other year. Beating Florida, we’re going to feel accomplished to the goals we set to ourselves.”

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