LEXINGTON, Ky. -- A year removed from one of the most disheartening season openers in program history, Kentucky is trying to put a positive spin on lessons learned from its 2016 loss to Southern Miss.

The Wildcats appeared to be on their way to a blowout last September at Commonwealth Stadium, racing to a 35-10 lead just before halftime. But the Golden Eagles took advantage of a defensive breakdown just before the half and seized permanent control of the momentum.

Thirty-four unanswered points later, Southern Miss left town with a stunning 44-35 victory. The lingering effects carried over into Week 2 as the Cats were pummeled 45-7 at Florida.

Kentucky was able to overcome the early setbacks, winning seven games and reaching its first bowl game since 2010, but the memories linger.

"I look back very little, but you have to learn at every opportunity," UK head coach Mark Stoops said during Monday's weekly press luncheon. "We're in a learning environment, and we've got to learn from the first-game mistakes from a year ago and every week and every day. We learn from mistakes."

Those can be even more prevalent in a season opener for any team in college football.

"Anytime you head into a Week 1, there are a lot of unknowns," Stoops said. "You feel good about your team, you know you've put in a lot of work, but the first game is the first game.

"... We're going to have to make sure we adapt much better than we did a year ago in the opener and play a more sound football game."

Stoops suggested the Cats lost their edge after expending a lot of emotion early in the game against Southern Miss. As the Golden Eagles chipped away at the deficit, UK also let its fundamentals slide.

"Emotion's only going to take you so far. You have to be able to execute and play with poise," he said. "... I think last year, you look at the film and one bad thing led to another, guys trying to do too much. So we had a lot to learn from the loss."

From a coaching standpoint, Stoops said his staff must be able to identify issues earlier and help the players offset them before mistakes are compounded.

Southern Miss remains a bit of a mystery heading into the opener. The Golden Eagles still have star running back Ito Smith, who ripped the UK defense for 172 yards on 36 carries last year, but they must replace one of the top quarterbacks in program history, Nick Mullens, who passed for 258 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for two other scores in last year's win.

As of Monday, Southern Miss head coach Jay Hopson was undecided on which quarterback -- junior Kwadra Griggs or sophomore Keon Howard -- would start against the Cats. Both are dual-threat signal callers.

"I think the big thing is their quarterback with losing a great player in Mullens like they did," Stoops said. "I'm sure they have very capable guys that they're plugging in and are very high on right now, but I would think that would be a major difference."

The UK defense will be prepared for whatever looks it gets from Southern Miss, Stoops said. "We worked very hard this camp at many different styles of offense and all the quarterback runs that can go with it -- the designed quarterback runs -- and of course the offense that you know is going to be in place, the plays that you expect to see year in and year out.

"The nice thing is our offense is extremely versatile, and they give us a quite a bit. We get a lot of different looks from them as well."

NOTES:

* Stephen Johnson is the starter at quarterback entering Week 1, but Stoops said he would like to get backup Drew Barker into the game, if possible. He has no set plan to do so. "I think he deserves an opportunity. We'll see where it goes."

* Stoops said eight or nine "true" freshmen could play in the first game. The candidates are Jack linebacker/end Joshua Paschal, defensive tackle Quinton Bohanna, defensive back Cedrick Dort Jr., wide receivers Lynn Bowden, Isaiah Epps, Clevan Thomas and Josh Ali, running back Bryant Koback and offensive tackle Naasir Watkins. Stoops noted the program has reached a point in which he is playing freshmen because they forced the staff to, not simply to fill a hole.

* Transfer Matt Panton emerged as the No. 1 punter coming out of camp after battling the incumbent, Grant McKinniss. "I"m interested to see how Matt does in the game," Stoops said of the native Australian and rugby-style punter. "I'm not sure how it will go, whether both punters will get an opportunity." The UK boss noted that McKinniss has improved since last season, but is still working on consistency.