Stoops & Co. frustrated with offensive inconsistency
Kentucky was up and down, offensively, on Saturday in their Week 3 matchup with Youngstown State. (Jeff Drummond/Cats Illustrated)
Jeff Drummond • CatsIllustrated
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Midway through his weekly radio call-in show, Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops had to stop and chortle.
Stoops caught himself -- and most of the fans who called the show or texted a question -- being critical of the 8th-ranked Wildcats coming off lopsided victory over Youngstown State.
"It hasn't always been the case when we won 31-0 that everybody, including myself, is pissed off," the UK boss joked.
Indeed, Kentucky (3-0, 1-0 SEC) owns a historically unfamiliar mindset between both happy and unsatisfied entering a Week 4 matchup with Northern Illinois, the final tune-up before re-entering league play.
The Cats put 480 yards of total offense on the board Saturday against Youngstown State but came away feeling like the effort should have yielded many more points. They were hindered by 10 penalties, sloppy ball security (four fumbles, one lost), and two more turnovers via interceptions.
"“After reviewing the film and coming in here, really kind of disappointed and a little unhappy with some of the undisciplined play that we had from this past week," Stoops said earlier during his Monday press conference.
"Offensively, there are some things that we have to get ironed out. It just felt like there was a person here, a person there, just undisciplined play... attention to detail was not there."
Stoops noted the contrast between the focus UK displayed the previous week in a 26-16 win at No. 12 Florida and what he saw Saturday.
"We go on the road a week before, play in a hostile environment, and we only have two penalties and play relatively clean," he said. "We play at home against Youngstown and put that kind of play out there, it’s not very good. There are so many things we need to improve on."
Near the top of the list is the Cats' uncharacteristic rushing attack. They've been playing the first four weeks without suspended star tailback Chris Rodriguez, but the results have still fallen well below what UK commonly refers to as "the standard."
Going into this week's game, Kentucky ranks 13th out of 14 teams in the SEC and 122nd out of 131 Division I programs in rushing offense at just 74.33 yards per game. The Cats are averaging only 2.23 yards per attempt on the ground.
There has not been just one culprit.
“It all fits together," Stoops said. "There are certainly things we could do better at the running back position, and there’s holes that we can create better as well.
“There’s one play with a missed assignment, it goes for negative-4 yards, and everybody is going to say it was on the offensive line. We have it all sealed up if we do what we’re supposed to do. It’s probably a 20-yard gain instead of a 4-yard loss. That’s not on the offensive line, that’s on a wide receiver completely whiffing.”
Asked about the difficulty of getting young receivers understand the importance of blocking, Stoops quipped: "They're going to learn, or they won't be catching passes."
One of the bright spots early in the season has been the play of senior quarterback Will Levis. He completed 27 of 35 passes for 377 yards and two touchdowns against Youngstown State while also adding a rushing touchdown. He tossed a pair of interceptions, but Stoops said they weren't necessarily his fault.
"Will did make some exceptional plays," he said.
In contrast to the national rushing stats, UK ranks No. 26 in passing at 294 yards per game.
Nobody at the Joe Craft Football Training Center is ready to panic, noted Stoops, who reminded fans that last year's strong offensive club did not find its rhythm under former offensive coordinator Liam Coen until Week 5.
"It’s a matter of getting everybody on the same page," the UK boss said. "Again, it’s not a matter of are we able to do it or are we talented enough to do it. There are no excuses. We’ve just got to play better. We’ve got to be more disciplined... You know, the little things. It’s always a person here or a person there that is throwing us off offensively, and we need to put that together.”
