Mark Stoops Addresses Current State and Future of the Kentucky Offense

Offensive issues are not new to Mark Stoops’ Kentucky football program, but this year the Wildcats have reached a new low.

Entering the ninth game of the season, Kentucky has yet to score more than 20 points or more than two touchdowns against an SEC foe. They are averaging 19.1 points per game, the fewest of the Stoops era, and they still have a pair of top-five defenses on the schedule.

Even though it’s a new low, Kentucky fans have only seen two offenses in 12 years that have scored more than 30 points per game. This is not the first time that Stoops has discussed in November the need to look at big-picture changes to the offense during the offseason.

That’s what happened on Thursday when the Kentucky head coach was asked how he can help Bush Hamdan improve the offense from a non-play calling standpoint.

“It’s taking a good solid look at who we are and what we can do. With his first year, obviously very challenging, very tough time. Early on, I think he made that adjustment. This is who we can be to put ourselves in a position to be successful,” said Stoops.

“I think there’s always a balance there and a fine line because we obviously want to progress for the future too, and the program wants to always go forward, but the No. 1 objective right now is to go try to get a victory by any means necessary.”

Stoops added, “I think (Hamdan) does a really good job that way in a smart — we know we have some shortcomings and some areas of concern and some areas we have to get addressed. Those are program things that I gotta get fixed. But he’s done a nice job of trying to adapt the best he can with what we can do.”

The Kentucky head coach’s sentiment isn’t so different than the one Vince Marrow shared on Monday. Bush Hamdan is making the best out of a bad situation that he inherited.

The issue is that these are reoccurring structural issues within the program. As Adam Luckett wrote earlier this week on KSR+, the offense isn’t going to get fixed in November. There are serious personnel problems that must be addressed this offseason and they can’t afford more misses in the transfer portal.

One way to get better is by getting older. Injuries have changed the equation for multiple players, like Chip Trayanum, who could use this year as an opportunity to redshirt. “I’ll discuss a lot of things with a lot of people next week,” said Stoops.

Kentucky is in the middle of a big offensive mess, an all too familiar feeling in the Mark Stoops era.

Got thoughts? Continue the conversation on KSBoard, the KSR Message Board. Join now for $1 for the first 7 days and 50% off your first year!