MARK STOOPS Q&A:
* Stoops on Texas film review… Did some good things at times, but overall, needed a complete game to beat a team like that.
* Louisville always very well-coached. A lot of respect for Jeff Brohm.
* Cutter Boley will start against Louisville, Stoops says. Did some really good things against Texas. Deserves an opportunity to start.
* On always being ready to play against Louisville… Started years ago when they were highly ranked. We knew that game was important to our fan base, our players, our coaches. It’s important that we go play well.
* On the UofL offense… Did a nice job building around a QB with a ton of experience. The Brohms always do a good job with balance. Starts with the run game. Committed to the zone scheme, but they’ll mix some things up to set up things in the pass. They’ll set up the deep shots with the run game.
* On the portal and evaluation… You learn from the past, the process, and just do the best that you can. We’ve got to make sure we get some problems fixed.
* On whether the OL problems can be fixed, long-term… Feel good about inside guys. May need some portal help on the outside at tackle. Need more depth at center. “We need to go get some help at tackle for sure.”
* Watching Cutter from this first game experience to Murray and now to Texas, you can kinda see that light going off. Excited for him, excited for the team.
* Cutter has that “moxie,” gets along with everyone on the team. Has that swagger when he gets in the huddle.
* Cutter also sees the field well, Stoops said. Has good vision, a good internal clock.
* Still defends BVG, saying other guys around him haven’t always played well enough to help him.
* On evaluating Barion Brown…. Frustration sets in (with the personal foul calls). That’s something I truly need to look at. We want to play with an edge and an attitude, but it comes down to discipline.
* On preparing Cutter for a home game with this anticipation and the possible distractions… Demeanor is right. Very mature. Very calm.
* On it being the first cold-weather game… It is a bit harder with the ball, the grip. But we’ll work it the best we can. It’s the same for both teams.
* On the UofL defense…. Coach English has been around a while, love how they play. Fundamentally sound. You have to go beat ‘em, make individual plays, tough throws, tough catches.
* On keeping your talent from the portal… Tough challenge in this era. Honestly, we need some attrition (with scholarship numbers holding at 85) but you hope to keep your very best players.
* We’re in a better position than we’ve ever been in terms of the portal and NIL. We’ve worked hard behind the scenes to catch up.
* On the defense at Texas… Hit and miss. Kinda what we expected. Needed to take some chances. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it backfired. You know that going in against a team like that and a really good playcaller.
* On evaluating Deone Walker’s year… Don’t want to get into summarizing that with any one player, but Deone is a great player, and great leader, and he’s given us all he can. Think he’d be the first to say he could do more, but people don’t always know when a guy is playing at less than 100% health.
* On Willie Rodriguez… Gives us much-needed size at that spot. He’s been making some tough catches. Excited about him.
* On HS recruiting… Going well. We like the players we have in there so far. We have to keep massaging the numbers and try to figure out if we’re going to be able to add anyone.
* December is going to feel weird with no on-road recruiting, no bowl game this year. Hard to answer the question because he’s never been through that, but he anticipates it will be equally busy with everything going on with this team’s roster.
* Any idea who will be in the portal come Dec. 9… Smiles, pauses, says no. Just says however it goes, nobody needs to panic. We’re going to work hard to get the pieces in place. We have the resources to do it.
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KENTUCKY DEPTH CHART:
