Mark Stoops previews South Carolina on the SEC Teleconference

Kentucky plays a very important football game in Columbia, South Carolina on Saturday. This afternoon, Mark Stoops hopped on the SEC Teleconference to preview the matchup vs. the Gamecocks, who won in Kroger Field a year ago. Stoops said he likes how his team has looked in practice so far this week and that the Cats must “get back to ourselves” to close the season strong. That starts with shutting down Spencer Rattler, Mario Anderson, and the Gamecocks.

Check out a full transcript of Stoops’ comments below. We’ll hear from him one more time this week, tomorrow night after practice, before the Cats depart for Columbia.

Opening Statement

Our team is off to a good start here this week. I really like the way we started the week in our preparation. You know, obviously, you get to this point in the season, you play some very difficult teams and we certainly have and as I told our team on Monday, it’s time to get back to work. There’s no time to feel sorry for yourself. We played a very good team a week ago, not unlike the majority of our league. You sit there and look at it, we had some tough games against Georgia and Alabama and then we have an opportunity to win two other games that are highly ranked and playing very good football.

So we just got to get back to ourselves and have a great week of preparation, go on the road, and get a victory. We did that a couple of weeks ago with an SEC opponent and we’re going to have another great challenge here this week in a very exciting environment. It will be very loud, very hostile. South Carolina is a team that has been playing much better the past couple of weeks, led by their quarterback with a ton of experience, Spencer Rattler, who’s playing at a very high level.

Certainly, just like always, they have some dynamic playmakers on the outside at receiver. Very impressed with Mario Anderson, their running back. Playing very, very good football. Very physical. Seems like they’re getting some continuity on their offensive line. And defensively, they always play hard, well-coached. So, just concentrating on ourselves and trying to have a strong finish and get the victory here, the last SEC chance we got.

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On the importance of checking in on players who don’t get as much playing time in the transfer portal era

We’ve constantly worked that relationship and made sure we touch base with those players in particular and all of our guys. This is a relationship business. As busy as we are, as much as we all have to do, spending time with the players, investing in the players, having the players at your house, having them in for meetings, and keeping that contact is, in my opinion, one of the most important things.

On whether or not there is more emphasis on relationship maintenance

Absolutely. I mean, I feel that way. I kick my staff out of their offices once in a while and tell them to get down in the weight room to spend some time with the players or just be around them. I mean, that’s just the way I am, the way I believe. I mean, we could draw 9 million Xs and Os and there’s a lot of ways to skin a cat and there’s a lot of good football coaches out there, but if your players don’t want to do it or don’t want to execute it, then it’s not going to happen.

On South Carolina WR Xavier Legette

He’s a guy with experience. He’s got great size, so he’s made a lot of plays. He’s played a lot of football in this league and against a lot of different teams so he’s definitely a big-play wide receiver and I have a lot of respect for him. He’s a very good player, very strong, and he’s also very competitive. He’ll come down with a lot of 50/50 balls.

On how his job has changed in recent years

Quite a bit, quite a bit. And you know, I think even in the last two years, it’s just a different world, it’s definitely changing. It’s evolving for all of us, I feel, regardless of what’s going on in the field, but I definitely feel like I made some adjustments this year that I feel are more helpful and hopefully, we’ll finish strong but it’s constantly evolving, and you must stay up with it. So, there’s a famous general who once said, if you don’t like change, you’re gonna like irrelevance even more, right?

On this being Kentucky’s last SEC divisional game before the schedule changes next year

I really hadn’t put much thought into next year, to be totally honest with you, you know, with the sole concentration on this year. I know you probably think that’s coach speak but it’s the truth. We’ve kind of been consumed with what we have going on right now.

This is our last SEC opponent. I mean, it’s important to me to win and improve our bowl position. It’s important to at least battle back to .500 in the SEC and this is our last opportunity to do that. That’s really our concentration. We’ve had a tough schedule, but so do a lot of people in this league, so, we’re looking to just finish strong and get our players in the right mindset and get ready to go on the road and with the tough attitude and be ready to play.

On the rule changes this season to speed the game up

I have noticed. It definitely I think affects us because we’re a huddle team. So definitely a change, definitely something that I’m thinking about and we’re thinking about and it needs to make some adjustments on. It’s definitely affected it.

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On more hand-fighting being allowed between defensive backs and wide receivers

Yeah, I mean, I do. And I appreciate that because they’ll take some of the judgment out of it. You know, I’m a DB guy and it’s like, I don’t want to sit here whine about calls because sometimes you’re gonna get some, sometimes you’re gonna lose some. When you’re losing games, sometimes you feel like you’re on the wrong side, right? And sometimes you feel like you get a break.

But I don’t like to bail out. I don’t like giving an offensive bail-out when maybe it’s a third and long and you feel like you have a stop and that it’s a ticky-tack foul and they give them the first down. I’d rather let them play. I feel like I complement our league in this regard. I feel like it’s been more consistent. It’s never going to be perfect. That’s a judgment call. And it’s never going to be perfect. And I’m sure there’s been some mistakes and a lot of areas but I feel like we’re working harder to improve in that area.

On Alabama

That’s a very, very good football team just like you’d expect from a Nick Saban-coached team and an Alabama team. And they are getting stronger as the year goes on. I mean, obviously early in the year working through the quarterback situation, they found that answer and I think they’re playing at a really high level and getting stronger as the season goes on.

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