Mark Stoops assesses 'stout' defensive performance in Week 2 victory over Florida

Mark Stoops’ team put on a fantastic performance overall in their win at Florida. With that said, it was the defense that stole the show. The Gators opening week win over Utah showed an offense that would be tough to slow down, especially with Anthony Richardson at QB. Even so, Kentucky’s defense was more than up to the task and Stoops loved every bit of it.

Stoops went into further detail about the defense’s performance during his Monday press conference. He loved the preparation that turned into effort on the field in what was a ‘stout’ performance for the Wildcats.

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“On defense, (we were) very well prepared. Coach (Brad) White and the staff had a great plan and the players executed it. They played extremely hard,” said Stoops. “We weren’t oozing, weren’t giving up soft yards where maybe a three-yard run turns into five. Pretty stout at the line of scrimmage. We were really good on containing the quarterback and were really good at pulling him up when he did scramble out of the pocket. Our guys looked fast. We were running them down and not letting them get settled. Changing up a lot of looks, but overall played stout.”

Florida started hot with 14 points in the first half that turned into 16 due to a safety. Kentucky shut that down quickly, though, as the defense held the Gators scoreless for the remaining 34 minutes of the game. After the safety, the Wildcats forced an interception, a pick-six, two punts, and two turnovers on downs. They made Richardson look human as a whole with a 40% completion rate and just four yards rushing.

Mark Stoops credited the entire defensive performance to DC Brad White and his players. White’s game plan for this game has been in the works since fall camp and he and his players executed it to perfection down the stretch.

“I just felt like (Coach White had us) thoroughly prepared. I felt like Brad had some things that he had been working on (that) we worked on through camp that we maybe didn’t break out in game one. So there were good change-ups, the guys were in really good position,” said Stoops. “When you don’t miss many tackles and really are that firm in containing the football and containing the deep passes and everything that went into it, that’s a sign of a really good plan. Brad is to credit for that. Brad and his staff did a very good job and really were well prepared and had the guys mentally ready to go, the whole bit.”

Kentucky is two weeks into their season and their defense is the topic of conversation. Yes, Will Levis and the offense under Rich Scangarello have done great things to start. However, the defense has given up just 27 points in two weeks. UK’s offense should continue to get better, especially once Chris Rodriguez comes back, but if Mark Stoops’ defense keeps playing like this? The offense won’t have to be that much better in order for the Wildcats to compete and win games.