‘Good to get back into the win column.’ Everything Mark Stoops said after UK beat Ohio.
Everything University of Kentucky head football coach Mark Stoops said during his press conference following Saturday’s 41-6 win over nonconference opponent Ohio University at Kroger Field in Lexington: Stoops’ opening statement: OK. You know, it’s good to get back into the win column obviously. I feel like the last couple of weeks our guys have worked hard to get some things corrected. Had the right mindset in their preparation. We want to be more consistent. Obviously today was far from perfect. Many mistakes out there but a lot to get corrected.
I think it was important to play a lot of guys. There was players who worked extremely hard. A lot of young guys got in there tonight and I think that’s extremely important. The first half, I wish we could have got a few more points and got some guys to get a few more snaps but we pulled away late and I told you that all week it was going to be like. And I think our team had that mindset. They knew that you have to go beat ‘em. You have to go win the snap. It was going to be methodical in some ways. They are a good team and well coached and they keep things in front of them and they play extremely hard and they mixed up some pressures and they were adding on guys that got some pressures. A lot to fix but I thought we were very balanced. I don’t know what the stats were in the first half but I know we had a lot of yards and a lot of first downs but I wish we had a few more points. We screwed that up at the end of the first half and it’s on me and I knew better. I knew I should have kicked it on third like I was going to and it’s on me. We had to kick it with no timeouts — we had to kick it there. Good to see Gavin get some reps. I thought Brock did a really good job as well and played tough. Got some yards. You know, it’s good to get some yards and get the ball in the air a little bit and obviously we got to work some protection. Defense played really well most of the game. If we don’t give in that field position we would probably get the shutout. Defense had good effort. I will open it up to questions.
Did Kentucky make strides in the passing game? Yeah. I would imagine the big one was called back as well. That was him that caught that. Right? Yeah. So, I think it just shows for all of those guys, you know, they all as a group work really hard and their timing and they are running hard in practice and you know it’s been hot and they are grinding and running and running and sometimes the ball doesn’t find you and sometimes it does. If you do things right and you continue to work really hard eventually that ball will find you. Obviously, we need to do things to protect and put them into position. I think it’s just a testament to how consistent he’s been. The way he’s worked and the way he has just put his head down and got better. Offensively, you have talked about how there was some mistakes that you guys would like to fix. Looking at an offensive standpoint. What are some of those mistakes that you hope to address as you guys head to the road for the first time?
The ball on the ground. Penalties. Pre-snap. Holding. There is a lot of things that we could do better. All of those things. Your thoughts on Jamarion Wilcox’s performance the last two weeks. Jamarion is a guy that I have been — you’ve heard me say many times that I believe in his talent. He is a very good player. We are leaning on him to be consistent on and off the field. And you know, do things right. Be on time to meetings and little things. Know all of the protection. As he gets more snaps, he will be more engaged and he’ll get better with opportunities. As far as all the little nuances to the offenses and the protection in thing of that nature. As far as running the ball, he’s tough as nails. A week ago — you guys probably don’t even see it but he’s on kickoff running people over on the kickoff team getting to the football as a running back. You know, he has the toughness. Last week and this week just the way he runs it. He’s been very efficient and tough and trying to be more accountable in all ways.
