What Kentucky’s Mark Stoops said following close win over Eastern Michigan
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The Kentucky Wildcats survived a scare on Saturday, defeating Eastern Michigan 24-20 at Kroger Field.
For whatever reason, Kentucky has had trouble with all of its non-conference opponents this season. The Wildcats barely escaped Southern Miss 24-17 and only beat Eastern Kentucky 27-16.
Kentucky moves to 4-1 on the season with the shot at a SEC East title still in play. After the win, Stoops met with members of the media to discuss the win.
Here is what he had to say during the presser:
Mark Stoops: ‘Well, the good news is we got the victory. That just didn’t feel very good the whole game’
— Mark Story (@markcstory) September 30, 2017
Stoops: “I think the second half we played very good football (defensively) until that last drive.”
— Kentucky Football (@UKFootball) September 30, 2017
Stoops: “I appreciate that we’re 4-1. … Good football teams win when they don’t play their best.”
— Kentucky Football (@UKFootball) September 30, 2017
Mark Stoops says he doesn’t want to believe that this team plays down to their competition….but they didn’t perform today.
— KSTV (@KSTV_Sports) September 30, 2017
Mark Stoops: “No excuse for not playing our best.”
— Jen Smith (@jenheraldleader) September 30, 2017
Stoops: ‘No excuses, we need to play better than that. What I like about this team, they found way to win when they didn’t play their best’
— Mark Story (@markcstory) September 30, 2017
On special teams: That punt block was huge, Stoops said. Dean Hood has done an excellent job.
— Jen Smith (@jenheraldleader) September 30, 2017
Charles Walker had a back/rib injury, Stoops said. “He had to go get that checked out.”
— Jen Smith (@jenheraldleader) September 30, 2017
We left a lot on the field last week right here, Stoops said. “We have to find ways to get them back and energized.”
— Jen Smith (@jenheraldleader) September 30, 2017
Not very good protection, Stoops said. “We need to protect better.”
— Jen Smith (@jenheraldleader) September 30, 2017
“You’re not going to play your best for 12 games,” Stoops said. And good football teams can win even when they don’t play their best.
— Jen Smith (@jenheraldleader) September 30, 2017
We were kind of chasing it uphill from that first fumble, Stoops said.
— Jen Smith (@jenheraldleader) September 30, 2017
Tye is a contributing writer for Saturday Down South. He works on-air for ESPN Arkansas in Fort Smith. You can follow him on twitter @TyeSportsRadio.
