Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops knows what his defense is up against when it takes the field Saturday against Kurt Roper’s Florida Gator offense.

Stoops and Roper both served as coordinators in the ACC, overlapping as recently as 2012. Stoops was the defensive coordinator at Florida State for three seasons from 2010-2012, and Roper was Duke’s offensive coordinator for six seasons from 2008-2013.

Kentucky’s head coach couldn’t recall exactly how many times he had to prepare his Seminoles defenses for a Roper offense when asked about their history following Thursday’s practice. He simply answered “several.”

Several really means twice, at least while the two coaches were serving as coordinators in the ACC. Florida State beat Duke 48-7 in 2012 and 41-16 in 2011, but to be fair, there was a vast disparity in the talent level of the two teams’ rosters.

This year, the roles have been reversed. Roper is now the one coaching at the traditional football power, while Stoops is now coaching at what is widely considered a basketball school. Roper has plenty of fun new toys in the Gators’ offense, while Stoops is still building the foundation for his Wildcats program.

So although Stoops and Roper are plenty familiar with one another from their days in the ACC, this year’s showdown may have a completely different feel.

“Oh, it’s different. Yeah, it’s definitely different,” Stoops told the Louisville Courier-Journal Thursday. “But I know this: In our preparation for Duke at Florida State – I think I mentioned this earlier in the week – always so precise. And you know that’s a quality of a well-coached team. They were just very good at what they did and we always had our hands full at Florida State with them. It was always a good contest and we had a lot of respect for them.”

It seems the key to a victory Saturday, in Stoops’ eyes, is to remain sound on defense and focused on what the Gators like to do on offense. Roper and Florida aren’t likely to adjust to Kentucky’s defense, meaning UK may need to be the team to make adjustments when trying to slow down the Gators.

“It’s much different at Florida with the players, which you would expect,” Stoops said. “They’ve got some guys that can really run outside and their backs are all good and their line’s healthy, so it’ll be a real challenge.”

If Stoops can lead the UK defense to the same success he had against Roper offenses at Florida State, the Cats will have a great chance to end their losing streak to the Gators. However, with the circumstances now in Roper’s favor, Saturday could be the perfect opportunity for a little payback in the Swamp.