It’s beginning to look like the weight of expectations are taking their toll on Mark Stoops’ team.

Be that as it may, you have to credit Kentucky for finishing strong and putting away Vanderbilt to win 14-7 on Saturday night from Lexington. The win propels the Wildcats to a 6-1 record on the season and keeps the team’s hopes alive for an SEC East victory. Kentucky is currently tied with Florida and Georgia with 6-1 overall record and a 4-1 SEC mark.

Here’s what Stoops had to say following the win over Vandy.

“Well, I love the way we put that (final scoring) drive together,” Stoops said. “Obviously, it was a struggle all night long to move the football. I really appreciate the way our offense grinded it out, put one drive together. It was very physical, ran effectively and put it in the end zone.”

The Kentucky coach on the play of Benny Snell and Josh Allen.

“Just really appreciate their effort,” Stoops noted. “There’s no doubt, those are our guys, our leaders. We had to ride Benny on that drive and in two minute, that’s what Josh does. He’s been a terrific player for us all year.”

Here are the opening comments from Stoops’ post-game press conference: 

“Once again, very proud of our football team. In fact, finding a way to win the game, to grind out a tough, hard-fought victory. Nasty night. Very windy. Tough conditions. Really appreciate the way we fought it out.

“Love the way the defense played really all night. We gave up the one play early. Lonnie (Johnson) kind of lost his footing, got beat in a one-on-one situation. Really played a good game the rest of the game. Just appreciate their effort.

“Offensively we struggled at times. You got to love that drive (late in the game). We struggled in field goal kicking. Obviously it being balanced, but once again everybody in the stadium knew we were going to run the football, were able to run it, grind out a 70-yard or 80-yard drive, get it in the end zone to score. It says a lot about our football team, their attitude, their toughness, finding a way to win.

“Never going to apologize for a victory. Certainly, there are things we need to do better. We always do that. Win or lose, we’re going to go back to work, look at ourselves, look at things we can do better, starting with me.

“Again, you can’t apologize for being 6-1. Looking forward to another opportunity here this week.”

On if the layoff after the bye hurt his team.

“I’m not going to lie, I felt concerned about it,” he answered. “It felt like a very long two weeks… We had good practices, high-intensity practices… the guys were putting themselves in a good position to continue to win.”

Here is a video of Stoops’ entire post-game press conference following the game: