WATCH: Mark Stoops recaps Southern Miss win

Saturday was a wild night at Kroger Field. Mark Stoops and the Kentucky football team had to wait a long time to play a real game and couldn’t even finish the contest before another storm cell arrived. Lightning in the Bluegrass create a long wait, but the Kentucky head football coach was not leaving the stadium upset.

Stoops watched his team play true complementary football for two-plus quarters as Kentucky leaves Week 1 with a 31-0 victory. New offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan‘s offense showed balance, new starting quarterback Brock Vandagriff looked the part, and the defense pitched a shutout despite allowing some explosive plays early. The kicking game even made a splsah against Southern Miss.

Kentucky’s head coach recapped the big win in a press conference at Kroger Field after the game. Smash that play button.

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Transcripts

UK Coach Mark Stoops

Mark Stoops: A very strange situation there. I’ve been here 12 years and never been through the delays like that. I was proud of our team. We had felt like that this could happen today. We talked about it all week and I talked with you about it and I talked with the team about being so excited for game one. And burning all of that energy too early. Whether it is pregame warm-up or waiting for the game to start. Low and behold we get here and what, two hour delay, is that what it was? Something like that. And the players handling that and coming out and playing relatively clean. We had to burn a timeout early with a substitution, you know, that’s on us. Honestly, one of our players couldn’t hear. It cuts out on what personnel we were trying to get in there. Overall, just pleased with the operation. I felt like offensively, I really liked the way we were getting balanced there in the second quarter. As we were getting more comfortable, I like seeing the run game start hitting. We made some really tough catches as well. You know, Brock, I thought did a super job managing the game. For a guy playing his first time starting like that in our stadium. I listened to coach Hamdan a lot and the way he coaches he does an excellent job with them but he talks to them about a couple of times a game you have to make plays with your legs. You have to make plays extending it and throwing the ball and you guys all watch football and you see it all the time. I thought he did an excellent job of making good decisions. Pulling the ball down and scrambling for tough yards and buying time in the pocket to throw it. And then throwing it on time and in rhythm as well. We hit some shots down the field as we were getting more plays. You guys also heard me talk a lot in the of-season about just getting plays, getting in a rhythm. I think you saw a glimpse of that today and we were certainly getting in good rhythm. Defense, we played pretty solid and I was frustrated giving up the second and long early in the game. That was frustrating. But they did a heck of a job getting the turnovers. You know, really played a couple of the situations really good. There is a lot to build from. It’s a start and what we play, two quarter’s and five minutes or 10 minutes or whatever it was. A different situation but we will make the most of it. I’m proud of our guys and we got to get back to work and we got a league game next week so we got to get some sleep. It’s late for these guys getting out of here. They got to get home and try to get some sleep. I’m sure they’re going to go right home and get to bed. I will open it up to questions.

Q: The running backs, you had Demie do his thing and then the rookie got in there and had a little balance there in that second quarter also?

Mark Stoops: You saw what I had been talking about. We felt very confident with Demie and Jason I thought showed his physicality and vision and Jamarion and can go and I think he is going to give us something this year. He needs to continue to push and grow and be reliable so we can trust him. And they have some talent.

Q: Mark, how important was it for you and the players to see most of the stadium packed for 2.5 hours?

Mark Stoops: I meant to open with that. Thank you. I’m going to redo my opening statement. I sincerely can’t even begin to thank the fans for what they were like. To go out there two hours after we were supposed to and see them. Going nuts and cheering us on and rooting us. That was truly amazing. Just now as Mitch and I were walking down we were discussing that we didn’t know what was going to transpire. We were just going to go down and communicate and get on the same page with them. A bunch of fans were still out there going that’s and I said be easy, the game is not over. Just great appreciation for our fan base. I’m glad we played a pretty decent game, relatively clean. I know our guys played hard and they were excited to play for them and I felt like our team really did that, they played their hearts out. They were excited to play and I felt like we were relatively disciplined as well.

Q: The flexibility to keep playing the line. It’s hard to simulate in practice since its not live contact . How much have you seen of that and how impressed are you?

Mark Stoops: It’s a great point because you see it simulated and it’s not live. There is a comfort level for them in practice because you know you’re not getting someone from behind. I really want to see them – just go play today as well. Let’s be honest, you’ve heard me say it and it is true until that quarterback goes to the other center and goes plays in that stadium and games, you don’t know exactly what you have. He played like I thought he would. He’s not perfect and none of our team is. I think there is a lot to build on that. We all know that the challenge is going to step up starting this week. I really like what I saw.

Q: [Question regarding Brock looking like Will Levis on some of his QB draws]

Mark Stoops: He did look like Will on a couple of those runs. He’s tough and physical and he played about like I expected him to.

Q: Speaking of tough, – is a fast guy but he’s not the biggest. What does that say about him willing to take some shots?

Mark Stoops: Just him taking those shots and having tough yards on the perimeter. It is such an important part of the game now. You can see us getting threatening with the perimeter and hitting it inside and mixing it up. That is a big piece of it when a guy can run like him. You always have to be alert for that and I thought he was tough and showed maturity and he showed some toughness. He’s grown up. Again, it’s a great starting point for him.

Q: Something we haven’t seen before but almost immediately. Even doing stuff –

Mark Stoops: Yeah, we are always messing with him on the sidelines. He’s right out there right now. I am going to go quick. You guys can ask them a couple of questions so they can get home more than anything. I was joking on the sidelines saying I didn’t think you had that in him and I was telling you guys. He’s a little more sudden than you think. Yeah, he’s done some really good things. I think Jamora is another guy I’ve been telling you about in practice, in practice that I was talking about. When the lights come on and you see him in the stadium, he’s a guy that can some competitive plays, and he did.

Q: Mark, you guys had talked about the depth that is in there for the defensive line and fight through injuries. How impressed were you guys with the ability to get pressure and all of that stuff?

Mark Stoops: We feel good about our front. We have to continue to work and bring guys along and develop guys. You know, we want to continue to mix it up. With that, if we can continue to improve and tighten up some coverage it gives the ability for Brad and Coach White to mix things up more and bring some pressure and tighten up some coverage. Pretty good effort tonight. They did a nice job on that interception. That was well played by our defense. We pushed it and anticipated that play and they pushed the zones and really played it really well.

Q: With a new offensive coordinator, is that the most new thing in the world for you? Is it the newest thing for the world for you the last couple of years. Like work a little bit different when the lights come on?

Mark Stoops: Again, he operated like I anticipated he would. I listened in the meetings and listened to him in the headsets starting scrimmages and games and practice. He is a very calm demeanor and I thought he was very decisive on his checks. We missed one late when the guys did not get lined up and we were trying to check it audible to what they were in I had to call a timeout and some of that’s going to happen. Whether we want to continue to be a little cleaner and clean up that operation. He really coaches them hard about winning that pre-snap with formations and motions and all of that stuff. I thought we were pretty clean and I’m not sure if we had any pre-snap penalties or false start or anything like that. I thought we were pretty clean on that.

Q: When you break down the game, what was your impression of the offense?

Mark Stoops: I liked what I saw. I think we mixed up our runs well. I think we stretched it out and hit it downhill. We hit them with some gaps games. You know, I told them and that was probably my fault on the fourth and one. That scrimmage was going of and they left the down marker and I thought it was going to be fourth and like two or three and I did not going to be it was going to be fourth and one or I would have probably gone for that. Once they are out there, if they are going to make that field goal, I don’t want to take points of the board. We were playing good defense. In hindsight I don’t regret it. I guys have to quit getting into skirmishes so I can see exactly what the heck is going on fourth down, you know, see what the yardage was there.

UK Student-Athletes

#12 Brock Vandagriff, QB

On waiting to play because of weather …

“It was the first time that I have ever had any monster delay like this. It was definitely different, you know, there was several times we got up and got our shoulder pads on and beginning to walk out and, ‘oh, nope you got to go back.’ That happened two of three times. So finally people were just taking off their shoulder pads and laying on the ground. It was just different, definitely mentally, trying to get ready three different times and stuff like that. At the end of the day, both teams had to do it, same circumstances. That is how it was for me. “

On the QB draws …

“Definitely, there are two rules, going back to high school and playing with my dad, third-down and going for a touchdown, you are going to try to go get that extra yard. Maybe I was just a little amped up going into tonight or something, but just trying to make some plays for the boys.” 

On taking shots down the field in the third quarter … 

“Ja’Mori, he did his job. He won his one-on-one on the perimeter and give us his best release and then go and catch the ball. I had ball faked and put my eyes in the middle of the field to see where that safety was and he kind of went to a little four and was playing down in the boundary. So Ja’Mori did his job, won his battle on the outside and for a while he was so wide open, I was like, ‘just don’t overthrow him.’ He had done such a good job at the line, just try to put it on him and he will make a play. As y’all saw tonight, if you put it anywhere near those dudes, they are going to make a play for ya.” 

#2 Jamon Dumas-Johnson

On the interception …

“Definitely felt good. They were dragging me up and riding me down two plays in a row. I knew the second one, they were trying to get it over my head because they had the tight end up the line. I just tried to get my hand on it, when I saw it spinning in the air, I knew I had a chance to get it. It was kind of déjà vu, my freshman year at Georgia, my second play of the game, I had an interception. It was a pick-six, but I didn’t get it this time.”  

On seeing Brock a lot in practice and what he saw tonight …

“Yeah, Brock’s first game starting in his career. I didn’t have any expectations for him. I just wanted him to go out there and play freely. First game, first start, he had a lot of practice reps. To be live, he did a good job. Interceptions happen and things like that. It will only go up from here. Expectations only going up from here. SEC opponent next week, so have to turn it up a little bit and keep moving on.” 

On what started to work on third down …

“First half, two-hour delay, I think that is what got us. You know, just coming to the sideline and figuring out what they are doing and come to the sideline and make a few adjustments and take it from there.” 

Southern Miss Head Coach Will Hall

Opening Statement … 

 “No, I have not ever experienced anything like that before. But you know, I thought we played extremely hard. We didn’t play well at times. In the first half, we start the game with a big flea flicker, beautiful play design and get tackled. Next play, we do a little RPO and it just gets tipped. If it doesn’t get tipped, you know, that was kind of the way it goes offensively. We get tipped right there and get it intercepted. Then we get in down in the redzone and hit Davis Dalton on an over route and if we can throw a better ball and keep him up right there, he probably scores. We get tackled on the low red and then we get tipped again. We had two picks on two tipped balls. I think if we get points out of those two drives, offensively I think the game looks different. We had another big drop on an explosive play that we had timed up to Ti Mims. So those are things that we can correct and will correct. Defensively, I thought we played extremely physical and hit extremely hard. We gave up a redzone touchdown early in the first half on a scramble by their quarterback. I thought their quarterback scrambling was huge in this game, he extended some plays and made some plays when we had them stopped. You know, Ques McNeal broke on a perfect break and had a pick-six. If you look at it right there, you are playing at Kentucky in some adverse circumstances against a SEC team that thinks they have the best roster in the history of their school, if we score in those two redzone opportunities and we get that pick-six, we go in at halftime in either a tie game or a one-score game and it looks totally different. You just cannot blow those opportunities. I was pleased with the effort and we have to shore up a few things and we will. We have to get to work and I am excited to get back to work with this bunch moving forward.” 

On Tate Rodemaker’s play …

“Yeah, both of his interceptions were tips. It is kind of a 50-50 deal when they are tipped at the line of scrimmage, some of that is on him and some of that is on the others. That is not all on him. He was 13-of-19 so he knew where to go with the ball consistently all night. He had some throws that I think he thought he should throw it better like the deep ball to Davis Dalton I was talking about and the first flea flicker. If those are a little more accurate we may get more out of those and score. I thought game one and the adverse circumstances with the warming up and now warming up and the rain and all that. We are going to get better. We are going to execute better. We have a lot better talent around him and we have to get to executing better around him and we will.” 

On Dylan Lawrence …

“Huge by him and that is kind of the way we are. We were feeling them out early and they did a good job of running their quarterback and man we were hitting him hard. We got in the redzone and got eyes on the ball and got a big turnover right there. I think that was our only turnover we got. We had an opportunity with another with the pick-six and it would have been huge. I thought our kids were running and hitting and understood the situations. We let that quarterback scramble out third and long in the redzone on us and get a touchdown, which was unfortunate. We had one guy out of position right there. I thought they were extremely physical and I think we have the makings of a really good defensively unit as this season progresses on.” 

On type them of question here …

“We said going into this season we are going to take it one week at a time. We feel like we have a really good football team. We still feel that way. We will get back to work this week and have a really good game at home. They just played Tulane this week, who is a really good team. As soon as we can land this plane we will get to work on it and look forward to fixing these issues and having a really good week.”

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