Mark Stoops Asks Kentucky Fans to Bring It vs. Tennessee

The Big Blue Nation has delivered a few raucous environments at Kroger Field this fall. Mark Stoops is asking Kentucky football fans to run it back one more time.

For the third straight home game a sold out crowd awaits the Kentucky Wildcats. His team delivered a dominant performance for the first sell out against an SEC opponent. Things did not go according to plan against Missouri. To get back on track, the Kentucky head coach is asking the Big Blue Nation to be at its best for the 7 pm kickoff vs. Tennessee under the lights at Kroger Field.

“We need every fan in there very loud. This is a very explosive offense,” the head coach said on Monday’s Mark Stoops Show.

“If you listen to any SEC football coach, we all have the respect and know it’s a challenge playing on the road. Even though we fell short that last time we played at home, our record has been pretty good lately at home and I greatly appreciate the support.

“Our fans make a difference and I can tell you talking with opposing coaches and talking to coaches that we’ve already played and then coming into our stadium, they commented on the atmosphere and how great it is. You know, we’re doing it, we just got to continue that and keep faith and I greatly appreciate the support. Need you loud and proud here this week.”

Kentucky has three losses at home as a ranked team in the last two seasons. The Wildcats have not defeated Tennessee at home since 2017. Saturday night seems like a great time to snap out of it and deliver an exciting win for Kentucky football fans.

One Kentucky Football Player to Watch

The self-scouting portion of the bye week gives the Kentucky football coaches an opportunity to explore what they’ve done well and where they’ve under-performed. It’s typically a time to identify which guys need to get the ball more often. After one 28-yard run and three receptions against Missouri, RB Demie Sumo-Karngbaye is carving out a role in Liam Coen’s offense.

“Demie’s a perfect example of a guy that we have to find ways to get him the football. He’s too good of a football player. He’s really good out of the backfield,” said Mark Stoops.

“You certainly don’t want to take a lot of touches away from Ray (Davis), because Ray has been so efficient for us as well, but Demie is versatile and we can use him and utilize him in certain ways. He’s a great example of a guy that I think you’ll see more of in the last half of the season.”

In other words, Kentucky needs more consistency from its pass-catchers and the running back transfer from NC State might provide a solution to that problem.

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More from Mark Stoops

You can watch his entire press conference from Monday morning, or see what Adam Luckett and I had to say about the chit chat with Mark Stoops in a new edition of KSR Rapid Reactions.

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