Mark Stoops says EKU's Parker McKinney is 'special' QB

Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops wants you to ignore the 66-13 beatdown Eastern Kentucky took at Cincinnati last weekend. It’s not indicative of who the Colonels are as a team or how well they’re coached up top with Walt Wells and throughout the staff.

“Believe me, it’s not going to be, ‘Go out there and just roll,'” Stoops said Thursday. “… Coach Walt does a great job, they’ve won a bunch of games, and they were not very happy, I’m sure, with the way game one played out. They’re coming right down the road and they’ll be ready to play.”

If the Wildcats take the matchup lightly, they’ll get punched in the mouth. The 2022 film shows a seven-win team that lost by over eleven points just once. And after a rough opener in 2023, the Colonels will certainly be ready to get things figured out in week two down the road in Lexington.

“We have no belief we’re just going to roll out there and win. I tell our players that all the time, it never happens that way. They make things happen,” Stoops added. “There are no magical calls. We can work hard and put them in position, but they make it happen. We know this will be a challenge. It’s not going to be some smooth deal, believe me.

“I know Walt and I have a great deal of respect for him, his staff and his team. It’s evident. We’ve watched a heck of a lot of film on them from a year ago.”

Parker McKinney leads the charge at QB

A big part of that challenge? Sixth-year quarterback Parker McKinney. The ASUN Co-Offensive Player of the Year and Walter Payton Award finalist threw for 3,956 yards on 419 attempts, good for 9.4 yards per attempt while completing 68.2% of his passes overall. He also set a program record for single-season passing touchdowns with 33 while adding 350 rushing yards and eight scores on the ground.

“That team has a lot of good players, starting with (Parker) McKinney. That quarterback is special,” Stoops said. “He’s much like Devin (Leary). He can elude pressure and make good throws. That gets aggravating, so it’s not like that’s going to go (away). This is a prideful team that is well-coached.”

McKinney finished 13 of 24 for 177 yards and one touchdown to go with two interceptions in the season opener at Cincinnati. Certainly not his best individual effort, but again, the talent didn’t just disappear. He’s racked up 9,895 passing yards, 95 total touchdowns, 35 interceptions and 1,431 rushing yards during his standout career in Richmond. Last season alone, EKU averaged 36.2 points, 8.6 yards per pass and 6.6 yards per play with McKinney running the show, each ranked inside the top 15 in FCS.

Simply put, the Coalfield, TN native will be one of the most talented quarterbacks Kentucky faces all season long. And Stoops is clearly aware of that, working to get his Wildcats in the right frame of mind to slow him down.