Kentucky Practice Report: Mark Stoops is 'pleased' as fall camp ends

Mark Stoops has been the head coach at Kentucky for a long time. Nearly every fall camp, the media receives at least one outburst from the man in charge about his team’s play or effort. That has yet to happen this month.

On Saturday, Kentucky held its final scrimmage of fall camp which officially wraps up this weekend with classes beginning at the University of Kentucky on Monday. When that occurs, UK will switch to its typical afternoon practice schedule. Game prep for Ball State is right around the corner. Stoops seems happy with what Kentucky has accomplished over the last two weeks.

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“We got some good work today. Did quite a bit of situational work. Did some red zone, two-point, coming off the goal line, four-minute, two-minute. Lot of situational work,” Stoops told reporters on Saturday. “It was good, guys were energetic, focused. Overall, pleased.”

“Nothing overly dramatic to report. We’re relatively healthy. Playmakers made some plays, and both sides did some good things.”

The head coach seems to like his team. Two areas of emphasis on the roster are improving, and a star player is playing like a star player with the start of the regular season just two weeks away.

Kicking game is more consistent

The third phase had some rough moments for Kentucky football last season. To fix the issue, Mark Stoops hired former Oklahoma and Texas special teams coordinator Jay Boulware to run the kicking game. There were numerous transfer and high school recruiting additions added to the roster.

So far, the kicking game looks improved.

“It’s going well. I feel like we have really solid guys there,” Stoops told KSR when asked about the kicking game. “They’ve been good and more consistent. That’s been good.”

Kentucky is “not there yet” but real improvements have been made. Georgia Southern transfer Alex Raynor is the favorite to open the season as the starting placekicker, while less is known about the punting situation. However, confidence in the kicking game appears to be higher. UK won’t shy away from taking the points when they’re available.

“If we have to kick a field goal, we have to get it through and get the points,” Stoops said.

Offensive line is improving

The kicking game was a big question mark for Kentucky, but the offensive line was a bigger worry. The Wildcats simply could not block people last year and it led to some disastrous moments on offense. The top goal for offensive coordinator Liam Coen and offensive line coach Zach Yenser was to fix the trenches.

Mark Stoops likes what he’s seen from the big guys up front.

“We are better. We’re more consistent,” Stoops said. “I think we’re able to have that balance that we’re looking for. Protection has been better.”

For the second time in a week, we heard about UK’s need for improvement in pass protection, but it’s clear that the coaching staff seems more confident in the offensive line. Just remember, this time last year, UK had no real clue who the starting left tackle would be and had a new player primed to start in every position along the offensive line.

Kentucky is improved. How improved? We’ll find out soon.

Deone Walker is still good at football

Deone Walker busted on the scene as a true freshman and immediately became one of the best defensive linemen in the SEC. The Detroit (Mich.) Cass Tech product was Kentucky’s best pass rusher and made a ton of plays against good competition.

That year one performance set expectations high for the sophomore. Walker appears to be playing to the standard that he established.

“I had to throw you out of the scrimmage today so we could get a play off,” Mark Stoops told Walker when he walked into the football facility. “He’s been a force. He’s hard to deal with.”

Buy Deone Walker stock. The sophomore could be the best player on Kentucky’s team and could become a household name in college football by the end of the season.

Dekel Crowdus is improving

Lexington (Ky.) Frederick Douglass product Dekel Crowdus is entering year three with the Kentucky football program. The wide receiver with vertical speed has a great opportunity as a redshirt sophomore as the Wildcats are looking for depth. Crowdus is improving, but the coaching staff wants to see more consistency.

“Dekel is getting much better. Trying to get him to be totally consistent,” Mark Stoops told the media. “What’s different about where he’s getting better is if maybe he’s going through traffic and maybe has a drop. You see him respond the next day and make a play.

For now, Kentucky wants Crowdus to “take the coaching” and “worry about getting better”. There’s a role for the in-state product in this offense, and Kentucky will need the wideout to make some plays at some point this season.