Mark Stoops Impressed with Kentucky's Attitude in Mississippi State Prep

The air was sucked out of Kroger Field last Saturday night. You could feel it from the sideline to the stands. The juice just wasn’t there after Kentucky started the game by handing South Carolina seven points. After the game Mark Stoops was disappointed his team did not play with “our normal competitive character.” He saw the Cats flip a switch ahead of the game against Mississippi State.

“I’ve been impressed with the guys’ approach this week. They’ve worked really hard. None of us feel good about last week’s effort, so we’re anxious to get back out there,” he said Thursday evening.

It’s difficult to accurately describe intangibles like “juice” and “energy.” It’s also a cop-out to blame an entire loss on it, however, Kentucky’s body language clearly did not have “it.” Mark Stoops has seen his players respond by bring it in practice.

“Just the attitude, it’s the way we approach it. Watching the film and going through what we went though, nobody can be proud of that. Those guys are resilient and they will respond in a good way. They have with the preparation. It doesn’t mean it’s a given. We gotta continue to have a great day tomorrow and go out there and play a very good game Saturday. It’s another big challenge obviously.”

Kentucky and Mississippi State have split the series at home and the two meetings against Mike Leach. In 2020 Kentucky picked off six passes. The following year the Wildcats turned it over four times. There’s no secret to replicating that 2020 success to stop the Air Raid.

“That’s a million dollar question,” Mark Stoops said. “People have tried everything. They try it all. It’s hard. You just gotta play very well.”

We’ll find out if Kentucky’s preparation pays off Saturday night when the Top 25 matchup kicks off around 7:39 pm EST on the SEC Network.

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