Kentucky Played Hard, Not Smart Against South Carolina

by:Nick Roush•09/09/24•

RoushKSR

Kentucky’s 31-6 loss to South Carolina was an all-systems failure. Those weren’t the exact words Mark Stoops used in his postgame press conference, but that’s exactly what it felt like. The piss-poor performance was stunning.

About 48 hours after the defeat, Stoops had more time to rewatch the game and collect his thoughts. There’s not a whole lot he would change about his initial assessment, with one exception.

“I actually do think our guys played really hard. We just didn’t play very smart,” Stoops said during his weekly Monday press conference.

“We didn’t execute very good, we didn’t play very disciplined, we didn’t play winning football at all. We played hard at times. Guys were physically up for the challenge, but mentally we got to do a better job.”

Undisciplined vs. Bad Execution

Stoops saw the strain on tape, particularly on the defensive side of the line of scrimmage. South Carolina was just 3-of-14 on third down and only gained 252 total yards. Kentucky had 12 tackles for loss, three sacks, and three forced fumbles, but most of that good was overshadowed by blatant missed assignments in coverage and an offsides penalty on 4th and 1.

“We were clearly undisciplined at times. The defense played exceptionally hard. We created a bunch of negative yardage plays, the ball’s on the ground. Heck, in one series the ball is clearly up for grabs two plays in a row, and we can’t get it. That doesn’t mean we didn’t play hard. We just didn’t play very smart.”

The “we” Mark Stoops is referring to includes himself and his entire coaching staff. Going for it on 4th and 1 from the 31? Dumb. Jet sweep on 2nd and 1? Bad idea.

“I can’t put that all on (the players). After watching the film, we have to own our part too. We have to put them in a position to be successful… We’re all in it together. We’re going to take ownership of it. The big thing is, everybody’s got to take charge of their own self and their job in their area and take pride in what we do,” said the Kentucky head coach.

Stoops is forcing the coaches to take ownership. That doesn’t mean he’s letting his players off the hook for being flagged 11 times.

“You can’t have penalty after penalty after penalty. That part of it — the execution and the undisciplined play — was embarrassing,” said Stoops. “The penalties and things of that nature, you just can’t do it.”

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Kentucky has No Time to let this Stinker Linger

Kentucky laid an egg against South Carolina. Stoops spoke for 26 minutes and for about 90% of the time he talked about what went wrong a week ago and how to correct it, rather than the difficult task that lies ahead.

“We better turn the page quickly, but we have to own that first and that’s what we’re all going to do. We’re going to own it. We all have to take charge of our responsibility, our job, and do it with pride,” said Stoops.

There isn’t a get-right game with an FCS opponent on the horizon. No. 1 Georgia is coming to town. The Dawgs are the class of college football, but they aren’t the only potential CDB Playoff team on the schedule. Kentucky has to figure this thing out quickly or things will get ugly in the Bluegrass.

“The schedule only gets harder. I think we get the opportunity to play four of the top six in the coming weeks, so that’s a joy,” said a deadpan Stoops. “But you know, it’s a great opportunity.”