Everything Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops said after South Carolina's 31-6 win
Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops spoke to the media following the team’s 31-6 loss to South Carolina on Saturday. Here’s what he had to say.
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Opening statement
“Last week, after our game, I sat here and said I hadn’t been through anything like that in my time here. And this week, I could kind of feel the exact same way. We’ve been beaten pretty badly by some really good football teams, but I felt like our team always fought back. Always. We talk about it all the time. (When you get punched, you get hit – you swing back.
“(I’m) very disappointed and not happy with us – our coaching, our response, the way we played. Last week, I thought, under all those chaotic circumstances, we played relatively clean like we’ve coached them. Today, it didn’t look like we’re a very well-coached team, and it didn’t look like a team that really wanted to respond.
“No coach speak here – that’s 100% on me and on us. No excuses. They beat us in in every facet, and we didn’t respond. We didn’t play very good. We didn’t coach very good. And we have a lot of work to do. It’s up to our team how we respond and how we bounce back. I know the coaches will clearly put a lot of this on our shoulders, and it’s on us to get our team to compete at a higher level, to execute with focus and have some disciplined execution because there wasn’t a lot of that today.
“(We) need to get back to work. I mean, there’s no way to sugarcoat it. We got our butts beat, and we’ll keep on swinging back.”
On whether Stoops said he thought Kentucky quit during the game
“I didn’t say that.”
On Kentucky’s offensive struggles
“We talked about it early. We watched their game last week, and we know they have some guys up front that could wreck some plays. So, we were concerned about that going into it, knowing we needed to chip and protect our tackles from time to time. There’s things we could do better with that.
“We have to play better. I thought, full disclosure, some calls, I wish we could do over again, as well, (and) some reads. We talked about not getting the ball in the perimeter early and letting those guys get up the field and and hit big tackles for loss. I think that’s on me, again. I got to reemphasize that when we run it for nine yards on first down on second and one, I’d like to go that way again. I’d like to go forward and not sideways. We go backwards and lose seven yards, and there goes a possession. It’s just things of that nature that’s really on me, and I got to do a better job.”
On the decision to play quarterback Gavin Wimsatt
“Brock (Vandagriff) took a shot on the shoulder down there on on one of those plays. And, then, just trying to get Gavin some reps we wanted to get him last week, as well, and just get him in there. Clearly, we are having a hard time with pass protection, so Gavin could scramble a little bit, as well, and be a dual threat.”
On how Vandagriff responded to pressure from South Carolina’s defense
“I don’t know if it just shook him up, but they clearly affected the quarterback. That’s a good job by them, and not good enough by us. So, I wouldn’t put it on him personally, but I would credit them. They certainly him and and his comfort level. That’s what you’re looking for on defense – affecting the quarterback, whether it’s multiple looks, certainly pressure and mixing things up – and they affected him.”
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On Kentucky’s blown coverage plays
“Yeah, there was (a common thread between the) two of them. The second, the late, one – no excuse because we’d already seen it and corrected it and didn’t get it done. That’s the only complete blown coverage. Other ones, the seam routs – they drained us out of some zones and just didn’t play it very good.”
On the disconnect between preseason expectations and Saturday’s performance for Kentucky’s offensive line
“We didn’t play good enough today. Period. I’m not going to put it all on the offensive line, but they didn’t they didn’t play good enough. I could probably say that about about every group, so we are in this together, and every group needs to play at a higher level. And they certainly do.”
On whether Kentucky’s problems are “fixable”
“They’re going to have to be. We’re going to we’re going to get it fixed. I told the team that we’re going to have total buy-in. Guys are going to get to work, and they better come Monday ready to compete and fight and get better and pay attention to details and little things. If you continue to strain and work, then good things will happen.
“I did not see effort like that. And I didn’t like our response. Certainly, we got to do our part on the the coaching end to put them in a position to be more successful.”
On Stoops’ thought process on the fourth down in the second quarter
“I think that was a bad decision. Obviously, when it doesn’t work, it’s a real bad decision, and probably pressed a little bit there. Honestly, (I’m) just a little frustrated. We weren’t moving the ball very good. But it cost us three points and probably wasn’t a very good decision.”
On Stoops’ message to the Wildcats to get them to respond
“(It’s) just, in so many words, what I talk to you guys about. We’re going to respond you know. When people hit us, we’re going to hit back. And I didn’t I didn’t feel the edge and the attitude and the fight that we normally play with. But, again, all that stuff, it comes down to disciplined execution. You have to strain. You have to play hard. But that’s during the week. That’s in the little details and in doing things right and in being mentally strong and physically strong and and then compete when we’re out there.
You don’t know what’s going to happen come game time. Wild things happen, and you have to respond. And we didn’t respond very well today.”
On the number of penalties Kentucky committed
“I didn’t see that coming. (It) hasn’t been our nature to have that many, and it just goes to show you how how uh how how undisciplined we were.”
On whether there was a lack of chemistry along the offensive line
I mean, no excuses. We’ll see exactly what it was. Whoever’s in there at whatever time, it doesn’t matter about cohesion. We have to execute better; we got to block better. We got to train; we got to do things better is there.
On offensive lineman Jager Burton’s status
“Jager was not available. He was out in this game, so you look forward. It’ll probably be tough for him to get back by next week.”
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On what needs to happen to bring momentum back to Kentucky in this series against South Carolina
It’s hard. Like I said, it’s always year-to-year with us. It’s hard for me to look back to last year (or) the year before, win or lose. I said that what to you guys, what, Monday? It’s an individual basis. I thought they did a nice job of responding. They felt like, last week, they could play better. And they came in here and played a heck of a lot better, and we need to do the same. I thought they did a nice job of cleaning things up and played very good football today.”
On what Kentucky’s offense looks like when it’s clicking
“We need to be more balanced you. At that point (the first half), we were running it downhill, and we were getting some yards. But the balance wasn’t there. We have to be able to protect and uh and throw the ball. We were you know efficient doing that to this point, but not today.
On what bouncing back looks like for Vandagriff
“I’m sure Brock will bounce back. He’s tough. He’s resilient. He’ll compete – I know that. And we have to do a good job of putting him in a position to be successful. We got to give him some time. We got to make sure we’re doing things to give him an opportunity.”
On Vandagriff running sideways instead of forward, whether it was a the wrong read or play call
“It was the wrong read.”
On whether Kentucky had an issue with effort
“You know, I stand by what I said. I don’t need to put a headline out there. I’m not real happy with the way we played; I’m not real happy with the way we coached. I’m not real happy with the way we responded, the way we executed, our effort – any of it. It’s not good enough. It’s not acceptable.”
On whether there was an indication during the week that indicated Kentucky would perform the way it did
“No. That’s what’s crazy. I felt like this week was cleaner (and) a little more focused than last, but, again, no excuse whatsoever. This felt like game one, where you walk out there and you don’t know what. Like, there things that happened today that I can’t explain.”
On Demie Sumo-Karngbaye’s performance
“Demie is a guy that – he’s been very steady. He works hard. He ran the ball very tough today and had some tough yards. I think we were efficient at time running the ball down downhill but, we have to get the balance that I talked about. When you drop back to pass, you have to be able to protect (and) get the ball down the field. And when you can run the ball downhill, it’s going to open up some play action if you could get it protected.
On Kentucky’s offensive line depth
“Guys are going to have to step up, bottom line. We need some guys to improve and get better. I think we all know that we we need to continue to build our depth at the offensive line, and it’s a big point of emphasis for us.”
On communicating with Vandagriff, who sometimes had his hands up before plays, during the game
“I’m sure there were some issues, as I said, across the board. There were some problems out there, so I’m not exactly sure what play you’re referring to.”
