Five Things Mark Stoops Said About His Football Team

Mark Stoops liked what he saw from his Kentucky team in the shutout of Youngstown State as the Wildcats moved to 3-0 on the season, but there were also plenty of teaching moments that will carry on into practice once the team regroups at Monday’s practice. Sunday’s film session will really identify next week’s talking points; in the meantime, here are five things Stoops said about his team’s performance immediately after the win:

Aggravated by offensive line issues

Kentucky’s offensive line was a weakness in the Week 1 win versus Miami-Ohio and then again at Florida, mostly in the first half. Against Youngstown State, the line began the day without starting guard Tashawn Manning, who was replaced by backup center Quintin Wilson, and there were troubles again opening holes and protecting Will Levis. Youngstown State sacked Levis four times and he was pressured all afternoon.

After the game, Mark Stoops indirectly addressed the offensive line in his opening comments by saying, “We did some really good things in certain phases and obviously some things that continue to creep up and get a little bit aggravating and things to work on.”

But he’s not hitting the panic button on the Big Blue Wall, he says, and he truly believes things will get fixed. “We’ve been through this before, as recently as last year, going through some ups and downs and the continuity.

“It is aggravating to give us negative yardage plays consistently. We gotta get that fixed and run the ball downhill. There’s a big difference between 2nd-and-8 or 2nd-and-7 or 2nd-and-6, and 2nd-and-12 or 13, as we move forward with the teams that we’re going to play.”

Inconsistent offense

Behind the offensive line, Stoops liked what he saw from Will Levis but the offense needs to develop some consistency as the competition gets tougher moving forward.

“Offensively, Will did some really good things,” Stoops said. “There are a few plays here and there that he wishes he could have over, maybe not his best. We gotta play better around him and it starts with being physical, moving the line of scrimmage, and running the ball downhill.

“You saw again at times today just too much inconsistency and that’s the bottom line, I think, offensively, just inconsistent. So we’ll continue to work on it and address it and I’m confident we will continue to improve and get it ironed out.”

Defense was outstanding

Outside of Youngstown’s one screen that went for 64 yards, Kentucky’s defense played about as well as Stoops could’ve asked.

“Outstanding effort by our defense,” he said as he switched the postgame conversation to the other side of the ball. “Again, Coach (Brad) White, that whole unit, defensively, played outstanding all game.

“Anytime you shut anyone out, it’s a really good effort and a big deal and I credit our coaches and players for playing a complete game.”

Solid special teams helped with early field position

Moving on to the third phase, Stoops was asked his thoughts on special teams, to which he called the day “solid” overall.

“Special teams have been really good,” said Stoops. “Y’all don’t bring it up unless we snap the ball high or something like that, and that’s one person that’s had thousands of good snaps. Like I told you last week, I wasn’t overly concerned about that and even got a backup snapper in there today. (But) the unit has been playing really good if you look at the entire group.”

Early in the game, Kentucky’s Martez Thrower blocked a Youngstown State punt in Youngstown State’s own territory to put Kentucky’s offense in great field position. Unfortunately, the Wildcats turned it right back over after starting at the 11-yard-line, but it’s one example of the special teamers doing their job to put the offense in the best position.

Stoops said, “The field position early was good, just because, we were moving it but couldn’t really punch it in.”

Gotta take care of the fumbles

Kentucky may have won the game in shutout fashion but it didn’t win the turnover battle after losing a fumble and throwing two INTs to Youngtown’s defense. In total, Kentucky fumbled the ball four times in the game but only once did it result in a takeaway for the opponent.

“The fumbles are just, personally, we gotta do a better job,” said Stoops afterward. “We coach that up, we work on it, we do drills, and we gotta keep on emphasizing that. I can’t tolerate that too much.”

But the interceptions?

“Interceptions are going to happen sometimes,” he explained. “It’s just like the interception a week ago. Is that really an interception when you get pressured, it’s tipped and it falls on somebody’s arm? That stuff is going to happen is what I’m saying. You don’t want it to, but it’s going to happen; deflections, things of that nature, bad pass here or there. Will’s playing at a really high level and I want him to continue to play that way, play aggressive and play confident, and do good.

“The fumbles we gotta take care of.”

Hear all of Stoops’ postgame remarks: