Mark Stoops hammers team performances vs Mississippi State

Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops hammered his team for their performances in their 31-17 loss to Mississippi State on Saturday. The loss was Kentucky’s second on the season, and their second straight after a loss against the No. 1 ranked Georgia Bulldogs prior.

Mark Stoops disappointed after Mississippi State

“Pretty difficult to have an opening statement because it’s been a while since we played a game like that,” began Stoops in his postgame press appearance. “So, not a very good feeling. They beat us in all phases. I thought physically they played extremely hard [and] we didn’t match the intensity.”

“Felt like we got pushed around. We were not able to run the ball, they ran the ball. They made competitive plays, outcoached us — outplayed us in every area. So overall just a very deflating defeat. They kicked our butts.”

After a great 6-0 start to the season, Kentucky has strung together a pair of disappointing games. Georgia crushed the Wildcats for their first loss of the season and Kentucky responded with a lackluster performance in Stoops’ opinion by losing to Mississippi State.

Finding players who fit Stoops’ style

Despite the back-to-back struggles however, Kentucky has all their goals ahead of them. If they’re to reach them, Stoops realizes that the Wildcats have to embrace the disappointment and learn from it. He laid down a call to action for his players later in his postgame press conference.

“We have to address it,” stated Stoops. “It’s not a good feeling. I don’t want to have a football team like this. I don’t think these guys want to play that way. That’s not who we’re going to be, that’s not going to be our identity. We’ll get back to work and get it fixed. Make sure we get the right guys on the field who want to continue to play like we play.”

Kentucky’s dream of an undefeated season went by the wayside. However, they’re still 6-2 with a chance at one of the best seasons in program history. Stoops recognizes the moment, and needs his players to do the same.

Over the next month, Kentucky doesn’t exactly face any behemoths. It begins with Tennessee this Saturday, then the Wildcats face Vanderbilt, New Mexico State and Louisville. All in all, there’s reason to believe Kentucky can finish the season 10-2.

As Mark Stoops mentioned, his mission over the remainder of the season is identifying players who play the brand of football that earned them their opportunity. If he can’t, the Wildcats could squander their blazing start.

On3’s Stephen Samra contributed to this article.