Mark Stoops called on fans to “donate more” to assist in Kentucky’s roster-building efforts after the program’s 51-13 loss to Georgia in Week 6.

Stoops made the comments on his weekly radio show on Monday night. He alluded to the use of NIL to assist in recruit efforts by Georgia and other top programs and said the Bulldogs “bought some pretty good players.”

According to Kentucky.com, Stoops’ comments were made in response to a disgruntled fan who asked Stoops about Kentucky’s struggles vs. elite teams in the SEC.

“Fans have that right, I give it to them. I just encourage them to donate more, because that’s what those dudes are doing,” Stoops said, via Kentucky.com. “I can promise you Georgia, they bought some pretty good players. You’re allowed to these days. We could use some help.”

Stoops also said fans should “pony up” if they’re frustrated with the program’s struggles vs. teams like Georgia.

“That’s what they look like, you know what I mean, when you have 85 of them,” Stoops added. “I encourage anybody that’s disgruntled to pony up some more.”

Stoops has led Kentucky to 7 straight bowl appearances entering the 2023 season. The Wildcats also have a pair of double-digit win seasons during that span — a feat the program had not accomplished since 1977 before Stoops took over.

However, UK hasn’t had as much success vs. the top teams in the SEC. Kentucky has now lost 14 games in a row to Georgia and 7 in a row to Alabama.

Kentucky will host Missouri on Saturday.