Hello HOB. We didn't have a weekly news conference with UK head coach Mark Stoops today, but we're still having his Monday night radio show. I'll be following along as usual and sharing any of the interesting news and notes that may come from it. Show is starting now, 6 ET...
* Today was a day off for the players. Need to start healing, physically. The staff got into self-scouting, looking at things they need to improve on themselves over the final five games of the season.
* Biggest takeaway from MSU win was great effort, strain. "That's who we have to be." Said the Cats "met the challenge." Winning is important, he added, but you can be happy with the results, win or lose, if you play that hard.
* On C-Rod... Easy to compare him to Benny Snell the way he put the Cats on his back, but Chris is one-of-a-kind. His presence movitvates everyone around him to be more physical. Some of his greatest runs are when he gets hit and it looks like it's going to be zero or a loss, and he turns it into 5... or sometimes a touchdown.
* Stoops said he almost called timeout and nixed the play call on the TD pass to Lewis. They showed a different defensive look than they anticipated, but decided to trust Will Levis and his talent.
* Caller asks what has happened to Izayah Cummings... Good question, Stoops says. A little different role with the change in offensive style. The TEs haven't been as involved as they had hoped. They want to find more ways to get those guys involved, including Izayah. They all blocked better Saturday than they have so far this season.
* Caller asks how you keep momentum going when you take a week off from playing... It's a concern, Stoops said. "It's something I think about a lot. Believe me, I understand." Says he's talked to a lot of people seeking input on how to approach it.
* Caller asks about OL improvement... Manning has been a steady influence for the group, played good football, Stoops said. A big, strong presence. Buford is getting better. Tries extremely hard. Strains every rep. Just needs more experience. Liked how the group played against a defense they have a lot of respect for. Pointed out that one of the only times that Will really got hit bad on a pressure was his own fault, calling the wrong play on his armband.
* A caller asks about freshman kicker Jackson Smith from Boyle County... Matt is their kicker this year, and until he beats him out, he won't kick. Stoops said he's not opposed to using him, but it wouldn't be anything past four games. If he was absolutely needed, he'd be open to it. Until then, needs to get better, stronger, and keep improving.
* On Tennessee... A very, very good football team, Stoops said. "That goes without saying," but adds that he's focused on his team this week and will talk about the Vols a little more next week."
* Stoops says he's hopful WR Tayvion Robinson and OL Jeremy Flax will be back after a week-plus of rest.
* John Short calls and asks for the Wide Tackle 6 to return... Stoops got a kick out of that. (I would not expect to see that vs. UT.)
* Stoops says he still feels good about the play call/clock management at the end of the first half. Says he knew how important it was to get that 0 off the board going into halftime. Getting the ball to start the second half, they needed to be at the very least even and not stewing over a 0. "I'll admit when I make a mistake... That decision was the right decision."
* Caller asks about LB/DE Sam Anaele... Says he's been hurt but getting better, and you should see him back soon.
* Told his team is 9-0 when it has something like 10+ penalties, Stoops laughs and says sometimes it's hard to tell what to make of that, but penalties can come from being really intense and aggressive.
* Tackling in the secondary was much, much better last week over the previous game. MSU depends on getting those YAC yards, and the Cats really did a nice job of shutting those down.
* Today was a day off for the players. Need to start healing, physically. The staff got into self-scouting, looking at things they need to improve on themselves over the final five games of the season.
* Biggest takeaway from MSU win was great effort, strain. "That's who we have to be." Said the Cats "met the challenge." Winning is important, he added, but you can be happy with the results, win or lose, if you play that hard.
* On C-Rod... Easy to compare him to Benny Snell the way he put the Cats on his back, but Chris is one-of-a-kind. His presence movitvates everyone around him to be more physical. Some of his greatest runs are when he gets hit and it looks like it's going to be zero or a loss, and he turns it into 5... or sometimes a touchdown.
* Stoops said he almost called timeout and nixed the play call on the TD pass to Lewis. They showed a different defensive look than they anticipated, but decided to trust Will Levis and his talent.
* Caller asks what has happened to Izayah Cummings... Good question, Stoops says. A little different role with the change in offensive style. The TEs haven't been as involved as they had hoped. They want to find more ways to get those guys involved, including Izayah. They all blocked better Saturday than they have so far this season.
* Caller asks how you keep momentum going when you take a week off from playing... It's a concern, Stoops said. "It's something I think about a lot. Believe me, I understand." Says he's talked to a lot of people seeking input on how to approach it.
* Caller asks about OL improvement... Manning has been a steady influence for the group, played good football, Stoops said. A big, strong presence. Buford is getting better. Tries extremely hard. Strains every rep. Just needs more experience. Liked how the group played against a defense they have a lot of respect for. Pointed out that one of the only times that Will really got hit bad on a pressure was his own fault, calling the wrong play on his armband.
* A caller asks about freshman kicker Jackson Smith from Boyle County... Matt is their kicker this year, and until he beats him out, he won't kick. Stoops said he's not opposed to using him, but it wouldn't be anything past four games. If he was absolutely needed, he'd be open to it. Until then, needs to get better, stronger, and keep improving.
* On Tennessee... A very, very good football team, Stoops said. "That goes without saying," but adds that he's focused on his team this week and will talk about the Vols a little more next week."
* Stoops says he's hopful WR Tayvion Robinson and OL Jeremy Flax will be back after a week-plus of rest.
* John Short calls and asks for the Wide Tackle 6 to return... Stoops got a kick out of that. (I would not expect to see that vs. UT.)
* Stoops says he still feels good about the play call/clock management at the end of the first half. Says he knew how important it was to get that 0 off the board going into halftime. Getting the ball to start the second half, they needed to be at the very least even and not stewing over a 0. "I'll admit when I make a mistake... That decision was the right decision."
* Caller asks about LB/DE Sam Anaele... Says he's been hurt but getting better, and you should see him back soon.
* Told his team is 9-0 when it has something like 10+ penalties, Stoops laughs and says sometimes it's hard to tell what to make of that, but penalties can come from being really intense and aggressive.
* Tackling in the secondary was much, much better last week over the previous game. MSU depends on getting those YAC yards, and the Cats really did a nice job of shutting those down.
