Mark Stoops on fourth-down conversion: ‘Analytics will tell you to punt it’

Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Stoops left the loss to Georgia with a load of criticism on his shoulders for punting the ball late in the game. That wasn’t something that was going to happen in the win over Ole Miss, though.

Stoops proved to be aggressive against Ole Miss, going for it on fourth and seven from their own 19-yard line while trailing with just four minutes left in the game. Failing to convert there would put Kentucky’s back firmly against the wall, but they did, finding Barion Brown downfield and setting up the game-winning score.

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“It was a tough call,” Mark Stoops said. “Your analytics will tell you to punt it. I felt like they were going to be very aggressive. We would get a one-on-one and Barion made a great play. I felt like, at that moment where they were at, the way we were playing — in the red zone, we had been playing pretty good. If they get it there, there was really not going to be much time off the clock, and we could try to hold them to three. And one of the reasons, I felt like we could get a one-on-one. So, we went for it.”

The decision to go four it on fourth down likely could have been the reason why Kentucky beat Ole Miss. After all, the Rebels’ offense is more than capable of moving the ball downfield and holding onto it for the final four minutes of a game. That’s what happened against Georgia, with Kentucky not getting enough time with the ball to score.

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For Mark Stoops, that Georgia decision was on his mind not just in that moment but in the entire gameplan.

“I had it in my mind right in the gameplan. It wasn’t just at the end. With this style, with this offense, I knew I had to try to steal one. Rather than fake punt or something, I mean, I just felt like I had to steal one, a possession or two. We went for it early. I thought that was a little bit risky. We were back all the way on the 30, but it was only a half yard. We got that. Think we got a fourth-and-1 or 2 with the toss,” Stoops said.

“So it wasn’t just up the middle to keep them a little bit honest, a little bit off balance, but I’ve told Bush [Hamdan] all week to have critical third downs, critical fourth downs and he did a really good job. We had more plays in there in critical moments.”

From here, it will be interesting to see how Mark Stoops approaches fourth-down conversions moving forward. That starts in two weeks against Vanderbilt.