Mark Stoops on last-second loss: ‘We didn’t make enough plays in critical moments’

The Kentucky Wildcats led the Ole Miss Rebels 34-30 late in Saturday’s game in Lexington.

However, with only seconds left in the fourth quarter, Ole Miss QB Jordan Ta’amu found WR D.K. Metcalf in the corner of the end zone for the go-ahead score.

The amazing catch put the Wildcats down by three points with only five seconds left, and an ensuing kickoff return failed to reach the end zone.

Now, Kentucky is 6-3, having lost two of its last three games. Coach Mark Stoops wasn’t happy after the narrow loss, but had some nice things to say about the Rebels.

Here’s what Stoops said after Saturday night’s loss at Kroger Field:

On last-second touchdown catch by Metcalf:

It’s a difficult loss, Stoops said. “I thought we had it won with the fumble. … They made a super competitive catch in the end zone."

— Jen Smith (@ByJenSmith) November 4, 2017

Stoops: "The bottom line is we didn't make enough plays in critical moments. They did."

— Ben Roberts (@BenRobertsHL) November 4, 2017

On struggling pass defense:

"We've tried everything," Stoops said on his team's pass defense.

— Kernel Sports (@KYKernelSports) November 4, 2017

We tried rolling it. We tried playing zone. We tried a bit of everything, Stoops said of secondary play.

— Jen Smith (@ByJenSmith) November 4, 2017

On three-and-outs offensively:

The three-and-outs hurt, especially up 10 on a couple of those. “We just got off balance,” Stoops said.

— Jen Smith (@ByJenSmith) November 4, 2017

On the blame being spread evenly:

Stoops: “Team loss. Each phase had an opportunity to make a difference and we didn’t."

— Jen Smith (@ByJenSmith) November 4, 2017

On the pain of Saturday’s loss:

"It should hurt a lot if you invest a lot," Stoops said. "This should hurt."

— Kernel Sports (@KYKernelSports) November 4, 2017

On moving forward:

We’ve got to get back to work. We have three big games left, Stoops said.

— Jen Smith (@ByJenSmith) November 4, 2017

The Wildcats will try to regroup next weekend at Vanderbilt, a team that is 4-5 overall but 0-5 in SEC play.

Adam Spencer

Adam is a daily fantasy sports (DFS) and sports betting expert. A 2012 graduate of the University of Missouri, Adam now covers all 16 SEC football teams. He is the director of DFS, evergreen and newsletter content across all Saturday Football brands.