Good morning, HOB. We’ve picked ourselves off the ground, dusted off, and got back on the job Batman style today. It’s not going to be pretty, but we’ll have Mark Stoops’ thoughts on the Week 2 disaster against South Carolina and a look ahead to top-ranked Georgia this weekend at Kroger Field. Stoops will speak at approx Noon ET. Stay tuned for the latest news and notes…
MARK STOOPS Q&A:
* Stoops apologizes for being a bit late for today’s Monday press conference. “I had a few things to do, as you can imagine.” But says, after watching the film, his guys played harder than he thought, just didn’t play very smart. Undisciplined. Says you should also give SC credit for making them uncomfortable, getting them off their mental focus. We were not good enough, starting with myself, the coaches, the players.
* SC had 6 explosive plays for 150+ yards in the game. Give SC credit for some good plays, but three of them were complete technique breakdowns by UK defense. A lot that we can improve on.
* Offensively, we got out of rhythm. We did not play very good. The penalties were embarrassing. Just can’t do it. Totally unacceptable. We have to own that and turn the page quickly.
* Georgia deserves to be No. 1. You could probably flip a coin between them and Texas. We get to play four of the top six this season. That’s a joy. (Laughs)
* Georgia QB Carson Beck is a heckuva player. Making great plays with his arm and his legs. Leader. Tough. And his wideouts can really go. Bulldogs always have great backs. Defensively, you know what you’re getting. Always going to play great defense.
* Asked to reiterate his comments on playing hard, Stoops said when you do things that make you look bad, it can often look like you’re not playing hard. You have to play smart.
* Stoops says he’s got strong confidence in Eric Wolford to get the OL playing well.
* Stoops says he should have stuck with their plan to run it downhill like they started out doing, but they made some mistakes (including his 4th and 1 decision) that got them down two scores and got away from the plan. Allowed SC to pin their ears back and do what they do best.
* On how to handle BVG this week playing against his old team coming off a real shaky performance… He has to have some time, and we have to have a plan for him. We didn’t give him a chance half the time, let’s be honest.
* On 3rd down defense… Can’t have any breakdowns at all in those situations, especially on fundamentals. Some communications system issues on one of them where the guys getting the call played the wrong defense and everyone else saw the sign over on the sideline played the right one.
* Stoops says maybe the talked too much about BVG being over-aggressive in the run game Week 1, and that may have led to some indecision on his part in Week 2 when he could have pulled the ball down and ran a couple of times. Also don’t like giving him that read option on the 2nd and 1 play. Suggested he’s talked to Bush Hamdan about just running it there or passing it. Either one is fine, but not a read play on the perimeter where you can lose 7 yards.
* On leadership… Need it now. At times like this, who’s going to stand up and be a leader? How you respond to adversity is real leadership. We’ll see who owns it and who responds. I’ve had some conversations with a few guys I have great confidence in, and they know what they need to do.
* Asked if anyone on the O-Line played well, Stoops said not really. Too many mistakes in critical moments to say that. They’d strain and do some good things, then do something that really hurt us.
******
UPDATED UK DEPTH CHART:
MARK STOOPS Q&A:
* Stoops apologizes for being a bit late for today’s Monday press conference. “I had a few things to do, as you can imagine.” But says, after watching the film, his guys played harder than he thought, just didn’t play very smart. Undisciplined. Says you should also give SC credit for making them uncomfortable, getting them off their mental focus. We were not good enough, starting with myself, the coaches, the players.
* SC had 6 explosive plays for 150+ yards in the game. Give SC credit for some good plays, but three of them were complete technique breakdowns by UK defense. A lot that we can improve on.
* Offensively, we got out of rhythm. We did not play very good. The penalties were embarrassing. Just can’t do it. Totally unacceptable. We have to own that and turn the page quickly.
* Georgia deserves to be No. 1. You could probably flip a coin between them and Texas. We get to play four of the top six this season. That’s a joy. (Laughs)
* Georgia QB Carson Beck is a heckuva player. Making great plays with his arm and his legs. Leader. Tough. And his wideouts can really go. Bulldogs always have great backs. Defensively, you know what you’re getting. Always going to play great defense.
* Asked to reiterate his comments on playing hard, Stoops said when you do things that make you look bad, it can often look like you’re not playing hard. You have to play smart.
* Stoops says he’s got strong confidence in Eric Wolford to get the OL playing well.
* Stoops says he should have stuck with their plan to run it downhill like they started out doing, but they made some mistakes (including his 4th and 1 decision) that got them down two scores and got away from the plan. Allowed SC to pin their ears back and do what they do best.
* On how to handle BVG this week playing against his old team coming off a real shaky performance… He has to have some time, and we have to have a plan for him. We didn’t give him a chance half the time, let’s be honest.
* On 3rd down defense… Can’t have any breakdowns at all in those situations, especially on fundamentals. Some communications system issues on one of them where the guys getting the call played the wrong defense and everyone else saw the sign over on the sideline played the right one.
* Stoops says maybe the talked too much about BVG being over-aggressive in the run game Week 1, and that may have led to some indecision on his part in Week 2 when he could have pulled the ball down and ran a couple of times. Also don’t like giving him that read option on the 2nd and 1 play. Suggested he’s talked to Bush Hamdan about just running it there or passing it. Either one is fine, but not a read play on the perimeter where you can lose 7 yards.
* On leadership… Need it now. At times like this, who’s going to stand up and be a leader? How you respond to adversity is real leadership. We’ll see who owns it and who responds. I’ve had some conversations with a few guys I have great confidence in, and they know what they need to do.
* Asked if anyone on the O-Line played well, Stoops said not really. Too many mistakes in critical moments to say that. They’d strain and do some good things, then do something that really hurt us.
******
UPDATED UK DEPTH CHART:
