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Kentucky gave top-ranked Georgia all it wanted on Saturday.
In the end, however, the Wildcats came up short, as the Bulldogs escaped Lexington with a 16-6 victory.
Mark Stoops’ team had its chances but couldn’t make the plays it needed, especially in the 4th quarter.
The Kentucky defense did its job, holding Georgia to three field goals on 1st-half drives. The Wildcats also allowed just 116 passing yards in the game.
The offense, however, couldn’t follow suit. A failed 2-point conversion try and a missed field goal in the final 15 minutes could have changed the complexion of the game.
Instead, missed opportunities continue to be the theme for Kentucky (6-5) this season.
After the game, Stoops met with the media to discuss the outcome and his team’s play.
On his team’s performance after the upset loss to Vanderbilt:
Mark Stoops: "I am proud of the response of our football team."#BBN #ukfootball
— John Clay (@johnclayiv) November 19, 2022
Mark Stoops is proud of the way his team bounced back after the Vanderbilt loss.
“It took a lot of digging and soul searching for our players to reinvest and put in that kind of effort.”
— Nick Roush (@RoushKSR) November 19, 2022
On Georgia making the plays it needed to win:
MARK STOOPS: "They're the No. 1 team in the country for a reason."
— Matt DeBary (@MattDeBary) November 19, 2022
On the key stops that his defense got throughout the game:
Stoops: * Defensive effort was really impressive. Appreciate how they dug in and came up with stops. The guys really competed and hard against an extremely physical team, if not the most physical team in the country.
— Jeff Drummond (@JDrumUK) November 19, 2022
On Barion Brown’s big receiving night:
“Impressive,” Stoops says of Barion Brown’s 10 catches for 145 yards & a touchdown
“I saw some of the competitive catches down the field were really good to see. Stuff to build on”
— BBN Tonight (@BBNTonight) November 19, 2022
On the costly missed field goal, which was influenced by a bad snap:
Mark Stoops on the kicking struggles:
“I don’t have a good answer. Anyone can see it’s not good. We do it (bad snap/bad kick) all the time and we have multiple people doing it. It’s not good.”
— Cole Parke (@ColeParke_wsc) November 20, 2022
On Tayvion Robinson and Kenneth Horsey missing the game:
Stoops says Tayvion Robinson was hurt, as well as Kenneth Horsey, says something happened pre-game with the starting LT, will have an update on Monday.
— Hunter Shelton (@HunterShelton_) November 20, 2022
On what his team can take away from the game:
Stoops says the performance is something we can build on.
“I don’t want to take a shot at a moral victory. But there is something about when you play and prepare and compete, and when you don’t.”
“I was proud of our teams response, to adversity, because it’s very easy to cave”
— Sarandon Raboin (@sarandon_raboin) November 20, 2022
On his team’s mood/morale after the game:
Stoops on the team’s attitude post-game:
“They know when they put on the film whether that’s something to be proud of or not. Nobody’s celebrating because we played close, but they know the difference between a prideful effort and one that’s not.”
— BBN Tonight (@BBNTonight) November 20, 2022
"Chris Wallace covers college football for Saturday Down South. He has covered college athletics for multiple newspapers and also worked previously for Rivals.com and GolfChannel.com."