Mark Stoops prepared for 'very creative' Akron under Joe Moorhead

Kentucky has game experience against Akron head coach Joe Moorhead. The 49-year-old had a two-year stint at Mississippi State from 2018-19, where he accumulated a 14-12 overall record and 7-9 in the SEC. It was a series split, the Wildcats winning the first matchup in Lexington 28-7 and the Bulldogs taking care of business the following year in Starkville 28-13.

What should fans know about the coach on the opposing sideline at Kroger Field on Saturday? Mark Stoops expects creativity. His defense shut down Moorhead’s offense the first time around, allowing just 201 total yards and seven points in the blowout win in ’18. Then Mississippi State returned the favor with a 421-yard, 28-point effort in Starkville in ’19.

Both times, Stoops says, Moorhead threw the kitchen sink out there. And the film shows more of the same in Akron’s first two games this season.

“They’re doing a lot right now, very creative,” Stoops said Monday. “I think creative minds, when they have time over the summer, you look at the first two games and there’s a lot in there. They hit a T-pipe, they hit the back out of the backfield that they tried on us a different way but they’ve done it over. We stopped [it], I think Yusuf [Corker] broke it up. I know they hit us maybe a year or two before with the quarterback runs, and the back leading, if you’re at any split safety stuff, they’re always sneaking that back down. It’s a tough play and we stopped it in 2018 or ‘19 and they may have hit us on it; it even might’ve been when Coach [Dan] Mullen was there.”

Akron is led by quarterbacks DJ Irons and Jeff Undercuffler Jr., who have combined for 467 yards, three touchdowns and four interceptions on 66.7% passing to open the year. That presents a unique challenge for Kentucky in its own right.

“They rotated quarterbacks this past week, we got to be ready for a little bit of everything,” he added. “It’s not exactly like Mississippi State but you see Joe and his philosophies still showing up and you see the creativity from him. I really like Joe.”

Stoops shared similar praise for Moorhead and the Zips during his call-in radio show Monday evening. But not before another quick told-you-so regarding Walt Wells and the Eastern Kentucky Colonels’ effort this past weekend.

“Give EKU a lot of credit. I said that going into it, they’re a well-coached team that has a lot of pride, played extremely well a year ago. So it doesn’t surprise me one bit that they played very good. Credit them,” Stoops said. “With Akron, it’s another good challenge. Joe Moorhead, he’s a guy that we played against back in ’18 and ’19. I think we split games. He’s a very creative offensive mind, has been around a lot of different places. He was very good at Penn State and he’s been a play caller. Joe’s a great guy and does a very good job so we’ve just got to get back to us.”

The good news? Kentucky is ready to do just that, starting this week of practice off on a high note. That’s a positive sign in the long run.

“What makes me feel good about this team is they’re eager to do that. We had a really good day today,” Stoops said. “It was good for them to get back into it and get going, get to practice. I felt like that a week ago. That doesn’t mean we were perfect in this game, but if they continue with that attitude, good things are gonna happen. So I’m excited about it.”

Kentucky vs. Akron kicks off inside Kroger Field on Saturday, Sept. 16 at 7:30 p.m. with the game broadcast live on ESPNU.