Mark Stoops "pissed" after Kentucky's practice: "We've got to pick it up"

As fun as Kentucky’s win over Florida was, for the No. 20 Cats to pull off the upset vs. No. 1 Georgia on Saturday, they should already be well past it. That’s the message Mark Stoops and his staff have been hammering into their players this week, and as of yesterday afternoon, it had not been received. On today’s SEC Teleconference, Stoops spouted off about his team’s mindset in Tuesday’s practice, which he said was a step back from Monday.

“I’m worried about our team, like always, about making sure we get back out there and have a strong week,” Stoops said. “These are physical games. Every time we play Georgia, man, it’s gonna be physical. It always is. Every SEC game, and especially these guys. So, we have to be fully prepared.

“And the big thing for us is we have to have a strong belief system and the only way you’re going to have confidence and truly believe is having a great week of practice. In my opinion, we’ve got to pick it up. You know, I thought we had a decent Monday, but were not up to par on Tuesday to go play the No. 1 team in the country on the road.”

Kentucky is 3-16 all-time against No. 1 ranked teams, including 0-2 vs. Georgia. This is the third year in a row the Cats will face the No. 1 ranked Bulldogs. In 2021, they lost 30-13 in Athens, and last season, 16-6 in Kroger Field. As you know, Georgia went on to win the national championship in both seasons.

Stoops has not beaten Georgia during his tenure in Lexington and the Cats have only won in Athens four times in program history. It’s impossible to overstate how big a win on Saturday would be. When asked about it, Stoops simply said, “We’re not a history of our past,” but in hearing him talk about this week’s preparations, you can tell how much a victory would mean to him.

“You don’t have to,” Stoops said when a reporter said he didn’t want to tick him off. “I’m already pissed because I didn’t feel like we had a great practice yesterday.”

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“We want something that we haven’t done here in a long time”

If we’ve learned anything over the last decade, it’s that Angry Stoops does not appear by accident. More often than not, comments like this have a way of refocusing and reenergizing the team for what’s ahead. As Kentucky tries to do something it’s only accomplished three times in program history and never against the team they’re about to face, mindset is everything.

“We can’t deviate from the things that we’ve done well, with the preparation that we’ve had,” Stoops said. “I’ve said for weeks that I felt like our team was coming together and we can’t deviate from that. And the last thing is, as you go play these guys, you better be at your best and that’s what I’m concentrating on is trying to get our team to play our best.”

“If you want to do something that you haven’t done, then you’ve got to sacrifice. You’ve got to do things. We want something that we haven’t done here in a long time and we all have to sacrifice and do things that they haven’t done individually, either. And so we’ve got to get back out there and have a great day. I’m confident that the team will respond.”

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Stoops on Devin Leary, Wide Receivers

According to those in attendance, Liam Coen gave the offense a long lecture after Tuesday’s practice. As good as Ray Davis and the Big Blue Wall were vs. Florida, the passing game must improve. For one reason or another, Devin Leary and his wide receivers still aren’t consistently on the same page, which is concerning when you’re about to play the top-ranked team between the hedges.

“With Devin, he has been inconsistent,” Stoops said. “I still have a lot of confidence, a lot of trust in him. You know, we go back and look at the film and I thought during the game live that he was missing some throws and actually, a couple of them were deflected, so it wasn’t quite as bad as it felt on the field. But Devin’s a very good player. I know he’s going to continue to improve. And that’s the good news for us, there are a lot of things that we’re leaving on the field and I think we’re gonna continue to build on that.”

Stoops did not update the status of Barion Brown or Tayvion Robinson today but did mention Kentucky’s young wide receivers, which could mean one or both of the starting wideouts is out.

“We definitely need some of our receivers to step up. We’ve been a bit inconsistent. We’re a little banged up. So we’re going to need some of our younger guys to step up and play well.”

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