KENTUCKY
What Mark Stoops said after Kentucky's loss at Florida
Two years ago, Kentucky came into The Swamp and snapped its 31-game losing streak to Florida, a signature-win for Mark Stoops.
On Saturday, Stoops’ squad got off to the right start to make it two Swamp wins in a row. The Wildcats dominated time-of-possession in the first half and looked to be on track to take a 10-7 lead into the half.
A Kentucky punt, however, was returned for a Florida touchdown. UF took a 14-10 lead and it was all Gators the rest of the way as Florida went on to win 34-10.
In his postgame press conference, Stoops talked special teams, second-half struggles on offense and more:
- Tough loss. Tried to come out and play hard but didn’t execute.
- On if he “regrets” not having a dedicated special teams coach this year: Not sure if regret is the right word. On the punt, had a Ray Guy Award- winner (Max Duffy) shank one. Added that nothing has changed in the way they work with special teams.
- On Kentucky’s dominance in first half, Florida pulling away in second half: Wildcats knew Florida would go into halftime and try to take away the things the Cats had success with in the first half.
- On Kentucky’s second-half offense:
- “It’s losing football… it’s not good enough.”
- “We have to be able to counter [second half adjustments]… we’ve got to be able to convert… we’ve got to be able to complete some passes.”
- “We’re not efficient enough, we’re not good enough.”
[H/T Jeff Drummond, Kernel Sports]
Coach Stoops earned something respect today. After all that has happened this year to UK he still coaches hard. IMHO, the cats need an Offensive Coordinator. Grantham handed lanes and wide chunks of yardage with his idiotic play calling on defense.
Hope nothing but the best for Stoops and his program.
He basically said they didn’t adjust at halftime. Honest on his part. 2 years ago all I heard was Eddie Gran the wonderful. Even rumors to replace Chaney when he left. What does he do there?
Stoops is idiotic if he thinks it’s ok to get by without a special teams coordinator. The proof is in the pudding.
It is amazing how a 10 game All SEC season will fare for Stoops Troops. Maybe you can get past a defeated SC team and boast on a 4 win season. The media gives Stoops more breaks than Biden.
I could have curb stomped the Cats if I’d chosen to do so. I like Stoops, he never rubbed me the wrong way. Best of luck to Mark these next few games.