Hello HOB. It’s not the Monday discussion we all expected to be having when we entered last weekend, but UK head coach Mark Stoops will be joining us today at Noon ET to discuss the Vanderbilt calamity and preview this week’s matchup against Florida. Stay tuned for the latest news and notes…
MARK STOOPS Q&A:
* Opening statement…. Thin line between success and failure in this league, and we are definitely shooting ourselves in the foot to make it that much harder. We’re falling short offensively. We are. But we had seven possessions where there was a chance to score on five of them. Just killed ourselves with mistakes. No excuse for what’s happening. We have to take a hard look at ourselves and find out why it’s happening at critical moments. Our team has responded before and I anticipate they will again.
* Florida plays hard. Always loaded with players. They’re similar to us in that thin line between wins and losses. Both teams will be hungry, desperate for a win.
* Asked if he’s frustrated that holding a team to 20 wasn’t good enough to win, Stoops says they don’t look at it that way. They had a chance to get off the field on all four of Vandy’s scoring drives, and they didn’t do it. You have to do whatever it takes to win, not look at number.
* On why the big plays aren’t happening offensively… Not any one thing. Hard to put a finger on it.
* On Wilcox having great production but not carrying the ball much… Stoops says here’s a simple thing: tie your shoes. His shoe came off after one time he was in the game, so he had to come out. It’s little things at times that maybe people don’t realize.
* On holding players accountable… One of the players who made a lot of mistakes on Saturday has been one of their most consistent guys on and off the field this season, so he’s hesitant to call guys out publicly when you have situations like that.
* Stoops sends his sympathies out to Florida QB Graham Metz, who is out with a terrible injury. Says he got to know him and developed a nice relationship when he recruited him. Tough break. It’s next guy up for Gators, and he’s pretty talented as well. Cats were going to be ready for both of them.
* We’re going to have a good meeting today. Says he consulted with a lot of people on how to handle it, put a lot of thought into it.
* On the kick-holding situation… Talked to Boulware about it during the game. Thinks they let one mistake turn into two. Not sure how to explain it because the placekicking game has been literally routine. They’ve worked for countless hours on it.
* On Gavin Wimsatt at QB…. Brings an element that is very useful. Likes how Hamdan has worked him, taken a few shots with him throwing the ball. Brock was banged up a little bit coming into this game, so the plan was to take some of that load off him with Gavin.
* D-Jack is doing some really nice things at ILB, showing some flash plays that really jump off the film.
* On the fans… We still need ‘em. We understand their frustration, we really do. But we need them to keep bringing that energy. I want us to play well at home and deliver for our fans.
* Drop-back predictable pass still isn’t a very safe place for us right now.
******
UK DEPTH CHART FOR FLORIDA WEEK:
MARK STOOPS Q&A:
* Opening statement…. Thin line between success and failure in this league, and we are definitely shooting ourselves in the foot to make it that much harder. We’re falling short offensively. We are. But we had seven possessions where there was a chance to score on five of them. Just killed ourselves with mistakes. No excuse for what’s happening. We have to take a hard look at ourselves and find out why it’s happening at critical moments. Our team has responded before and I anticipate they will again.
* Florida plays hard. Always loaded with players. They’re similar to us in that thin line between wins and losses. Both teams will be hungry, desperate for a win.
* Asked if he’s frustrated that holding a team to 20 wasn’t good enough to win, Stoops says they don’t look at it that way. They had a chance to get off the field on all four of Vandy’s scoring drives, and they didn’t do it. You have to do whatever it takes to win, not look at number.
* On why the big plays aren’t happening offensively… Not any one thing. Hard to put a finger on it.
* On Wilcox having great production but not carrying the ball much… Stoops says here’s a simple thing: tie your shoes. His shoe came off after one time he was in the game, so he had to come out. It’s little things at times that maybe people don’t realize.
* On holding players accountable… One of the players who made a lot of mistakes on Saturday has been one of their most consistent guys on and off the field this season, so he’s hesitant to call guys out publicly when you have situations like that.
* Stoops sends his sympathies out to Florida QB Graham Metz, who is out with a terrible injury. Says he got to know him and developed a nice relationship when he recruited him. Tough break. It’s next guy up for Gators, and he’s pretty talented as well. Cats were going to be ready for both of them.
* We’re going to have a good meeting today. Says he consulted with a lot of people on how to handle it, put a lot of thought into it.
* On the kick-holding situation… Talked to Boulware about it during the game. Thinks they let one mistake turn into two. Not sure how to explain it because the placekicking game has been literally routine. They’ve worked for countless hours on it.
* On Gavin Wimsatt at QB…. Brings an element that is very useful. Likes how Hamdan has worked him, taken a few shots with him throwing the ball. Brock was banged up a little bit coming into this game, so the plan was to take some of that load off him with Gavin.
* D-Jack is doing some really nice things at ILB, showing some flash plays that really jump off the film.
* On the fans… We still need ‘em. We understand their frustration, we really do. But we need them to keep bringing that energy. I want us to play well at home and deliver for our fans.
* Drop-back predictable pass still isn’t a very safe place for us right now.
******
UK DEPTH CHART FOR FLORIDA WEEK:
