Stoops: Kentucky Must Execute Better in Situational Football

The Kentucky football team is at crossroads. The bye week provides an ideal opportunity for Kentucky to stop the bleeding and turn this season into one the Big Blue Nation will remember fondly. The turnaround starts in practice, and Mark Stoops’ team got after it on Wednesday.

This week Kentucky is running more “good on good” than usual bye weeks. The first team offense is going toe-to-toe with the first team defense more often than previous years. The offense performed well, until the defense stood strong in the 2-minute drill.

Situational football will be a primary point of emphasis for the Wildcats this week. You may forget the good plays, but Kentucky has executed well at times. They’ve just fallen short in crucial moments of games.

“You could play 95% of a game well, but any situation can lose you a game,” said Stoops.

From the outside looking in, confidence appears to be a problem, particularly on offense. Stoops feared it might have been the case after the Georgia loss, but his players took it to the chin.

“They started fast. We just didn’t execute and didn’t play well enough, no excuses. Those are the plays that we have to find and the answers that we have to find,” said the Kentucky head coach.

“I like our team’s mentality. And I think, you know, we’re not perfect but it’s a good group and they’re working really hard and they want to be better. I want them hungry, looking to improve.”

Undisciplined play has dominated the conversation around the Big Blue Nation after Kentucky had more penalty yards than passing yards against Missouri. The Kentucky coaches are preaching it. Now it’s time for the players to do the right thing between the whistles.

“I don’t believe our team is as selfish as it appears, I really don’t. I believe in this team. I really like coaching this team, and I told you that before and I believe they love each other and care. I think, part of it is frustration and part of it is, they could be pressing. We certainly got to look at all areas, and some of it is just flat out inexcusable. I’m not making excuses for anybody. But we do have to look at a lot of things.”

Time for Kentucky to Reassess and Finish

Mark Stoops saw the passing game take steps forward in practice leading into the Missouri game. Devin Leary completed 8-of-13 passes to start the game and the Wildcats built up a 14-0 lead. Just because it was close to clicking, doesn’t mean the offensive playbook will remain stagnant.

“I don’t want to say too much (about what will change)… We definitely take our time and look at things and how we can improve,” said the head coach.

The Kentucky head coach is not throwing out the baby with the bath water. But it is abundantly clear that they must be better. He sees players trying, maybe too hard, once things go awry. This team needs to execute and it starts by relaxing and just playing ball on Saturdays.

“It’s a four quarter game. There’s been games where we started slow and finished. I had to answer those questions a lot. It’s hard to really put your finger on it exactly what it is. You could emphasize it, you could talk about it, but it essentially comes down to execution and doing things (right). I was really proud of our team, the way we started, and I think that there could be times when we’re pressing too hard across the board. We just got to get out there and play. We got to get better.”

If Kentucky gets better and plays four quarters of sound football, there are quality wins still on the table for the Wildcats.

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More from Mark Stoops

Today was the only day we will hear from the Kentucky head coach during the bye week. In addition to his speaking engagement with the local media, he also answered questions on the SEC Teleconference. Hear everything Mark Stoops had to say on Wednesday.

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