Mark Stoops explains why he does not comment on officiating: '50 grand's 50 grand'
Mark Stoops is “absolutely” sending tape of Kentucky‘s 13-12 loss against No. 1 Georgia to the SEC headquarters in Birmingham, Alabama, he told reports on Friday.
Many members of BBN have been outraged since Saturday’s loss over the officials calling back a pick-six in the second quarter. It was ruled an interception and touchdown on the field, but was later overturned by the officials after review. It erased what would have been the only touchdown for Kentucky on the day. Instead of giving the officals an earful for the controversial call, Stoops has learned to bite his tounge when it comes to things out of his control.
“I get very frustrated but 50 grand’s 50 grand,” Stoops said in front of a crowd of laughing reporters. “I get pissed enough I can afford it. It doesn’t do you any good because honestly. We are having fun [at the press conference]. When people see the whole content of our conversations and when I say things tongue-in-cheek and having fun that is one thing but then everybody grabs it out of it and just takes that little blurb, right? Say I’m whining and crying about calls and everything so no, it is what it is. No really, after 12 years I did realize that.
“I can completely lose my mind if I just hang onto every little thing. Just like the ball bouncing around seven times and we can’t get an interception that we have that leads to a field goal. We just have to make the plays. There are no excuses, the officials are going to make mistakes as well. We have to overcome those things. It is what it is.”
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Stoops has been known to get on the officiating crew from time to time. However, in a matchup against the top-ranked team in the counry — Stoops has nothing to lose. Or at least you’d think.
While that call might not have gone their way, Kentucky had every chance to pull off the upset of Stoops’ career. With the ball back and six minutes left in regulation, Kentucky found itself in a position to retake the lead over the Bulldogs. Down one point and facing 4th & 8 near midfield with three minutes left, Stoops decided not to go for it and instead elected to punt the ball back to Georgia. His offense never saw the field again.
Whether that was the right call oon Stoops part remains to be seen, but had that interception not been overturned they may not have had to be in that position in the first place.
Kentucky will look to turn its fortunes around when they host Ohio inside Kroger Field this weekend. Kickoff is set for 12:45 p.m. ET live on the SEC Network.