Mark Stoops ‘disappointed’ in UK offense at Saturday scrimmage

Kentucky conducted its second scrimmage of the spring on Saturday in advance of next week’s spring game.

And Wildcats coach Mark Stoops was not a happy camper.

Specifically, the fourth-year coach was displeased with the performance of his offense during the closed scrimmage session.

Stoops said he was disappointed in offense today. Overall not good enough.

— Jen Smith (@ByJenSmith) April 9, 2016

Stoops did say offense responded well in some situational drills like two minute and red zone

— Jon Hale (@JonHale_HL) April 9, 2016

Kentucky beat writer Jen Smith transcribed a post-scrimmage chat with Stoops, which sheds a little more light on the details of what caused his displeasure.

“I don’t know if it’s cold out here, windy, but it’s not excuse. Just was not up to par. I was pleased they did some situations very well. We did quite a bit of situational work in third downs. We did some third-and-shorts, we did some goal-line and we did some two-minute, and they executed in some situations well. But overall it just was not good enough offensively.”

Earlier in the week, offensive coordinator Eddie Gran praised the performance of presumed starting QB Drew Barker, though he did mention that the unit would need to work on fundamentals and consistency for the rest of spring practice.

Stoops acknowledged that Gran had to get on his players pretty hard during the scrimmage:

“Sounds like he is, but they need it. It’s hard. That’s just it: You know that’s been our story. We’ve been too much hot and cold, and we need to be consistent. We’ve harped on that all along.”

Nick Cole

Nick Cole is a former print journalist with several years of experience covering the SEC. Born and raised in SEC country, he has taken in the game-day experience at all 14 stadiums.