Here's everything Mark Stoops had to say on today's conference call.
Opening statement:
Excited about the opportunity this week to go down to South Carolina. It'll be a real challenge for us. I was very impressed with that place the last time we were there, two years ago. That was my first experience in that stadium and was really blown away by the energy and how loud it was. So, it'll be a challenge, and looking forward to the opportunity we have. Excited to get back to somewhat of a normal week. I think last week, renovating our stadium and opening our stadium, there was a lot going on, so looking forward to just getting back to a normal week and getting on the road and preparing our team for a great challenge.
On how he feels Towles is bouncing back from his performance:
Yeah, absolutely. I don't think it's anything to be overly concerned about. There was a few missed opportunities, but you could say that about a lot of our players and a lot of things. Nobody plays perfect. I thought Patrick did some very good things, and I anticipate he'll come back and have a very strong game. Like I said in postgame, like I said to the media, I thought he did some very good things that he was impressed with. He missed a few open receivers, but he'll get that fixed. I'm really not too concerned about it to be honest with you. I think -- I feel confident he's going to go out and play well.
On if it's nice to be talking about 'what if' with an offense that scored 40 points
Yeah, it does feel good about that. None of us, offensively, defensively or special teams missing two kicks -- we know we left some opportunities out there, but the nice thing is we're coming back and getting these things fixed after a victory. I think we can all learn from it and do better, and that's what we're trying to do to prepare for our next game.
On already bringing up the road losing streak to the team and why such an early emphasis:
Well, I don’t see why not. I mean, it’s a fact. They know that. And if there’s a few guys in there that didn’t know that, I wanted to bring it to their attention. Because you don’t win the game by just a bunch of hoopla, just a bunch of rah-rah on Friday and Saturday. You win the game by your preparation and what you do throughout the week. So I wanted to set the tone real quick that it’s going to be a great challenge and that we have to accept that challenge in our preparation and everything we do all week. And challenge our team and see what we will do, what little extras we will do to prepare ourselves both mentally and physically to go in there and go into that environment and try to get a victory.
On what UK can take from near misses at Florida and Louisville last year:
Well, that’s just it. I think you have to progress in your program. I don’t necessarily have to bring up those specific instances or specific games; I think our players know that we’re very close in a lot of situations. And I think if you look at our team, there’s going to be many games that are going to be very close, and you have to be able to step up and make plays to win the game at the end of the game. And that’s why in a way last week was good in certain situations, because it just wasn’t a runaway. We had to make some stops on defense and we had to go down and score on offense. You’re always looking to have learning opportunities and, again, we’ve just got to better prepare ourselves for the next time we’re in that situation.”
On if he’s satisfied with UK running ball enough in first game:
Well, I think so. We obviously can do some things better. We ran the ball for what? 180 yards. I feel like I know we can run the ball, but we’ve got to be more consistent offensively and I think they’ll tell you that; Shannon will tell you that, our players and everyone else. We rushed the ball well, but we had too many stops. What we have to stay away from is three and outs and not being able to move the ball when maybe the defense is struggling and not playing as well. We have to have some drives where we stay on the field for a bit. I think our longest drive of the night last Saturday was our last drive of the game. We didn’t have a possession over 3 minutes until the last possession of the game, so running the ball will help our whole team. And I think to answer your question, obviously you’re pleased when you rip off a 75-yard run to open the game, but I think we just need to be a little bit more consistent.
Opening statement:
Excited about the opportunity this week to go down to South Carolina. It'll be a real challenge for us. I was very impressed with that place the last time we were there, two years ago. That was my first experience in that stadium and was really blown away by the energy and how loud it was. So, it'll be a challenge, and looking forward to the opportunity we have. Excited to get back to somewhat of a normal week. I think last week, renovating our stadium and opening our stadium, there was a lot going on, so looking forward to just getting back to a normal week and getting on the road and preparing our team for a great challenge.
On how he feels Towles is bouncing back from his performance:
Yeah, absolutely. I don't think it's anything to be overly concerned about. There was a few missed opportunities, but you could say that about a lot of our players and a lot of things. Nobody plays perfect. I thought Patrick did some very good things, and I anticipate he'll come back and have a very strong game. Like I said in postgame, like I said to the media, I thought he did some very good things that he was impressed with. He missed a few open receivers, but he'll get that fixed. I'm really not too concerned about it to be honest with you. I think -- I feel confident he's going to go out and play well.
On if it's nice to be talking about 'what if' with an offense that scored 40 points
Yeah, it does feel good about that. None of us, offensively, defensively or special teams missing two kicks -- we know we left some opportunities out there, but the nice thing is we're coming back and getting these things fixed after a victory. I think we can all learn from it and do better, and that's what we're trying to do to prepare for our next game.
On already bringing up the road losing streak to the team and why such an early emphasis:
Well, I don’t see why not. I mean, it’s a fact. They know that. And if there’s a few guys in there that didn’t know that, I wanted to bring it to their attention. Because you don’t win the game by just a bunch of hoopla, just a bunch of rah-rah on Friday and Saturday. You win the game by your preparation and what you do throughout the week. So I wanted to set the tone real quick that it’s going to be a great challenge and that we have to accept that challenge in our preparation and everything we do all week. And challenge our team and see what we will do, what little extras we will do to prepare ourselves both mentally and physically to go in there and go into that environment and try to get a victory.
On what UK can take from near misses at Florida and Louisville last year:
Well, that’s just it. I think you have to progress in your program. I don’t necessarily have to bring up those specific instances or specific games; I think our players know that we’re very close in a lot of situations. And I think if you look at our team, there’s going to be many games that are going to be very close, and you have to be able to step up and make plays to win the game at the end of the game. And that’s why in a way last week was good in certain situations, because it just wasn’t a runaway. We had to make some stops on defense and we had to go down and score on offense. You’re always looking to have learning opportunities and, again, we’ve just got to better prepare ourselves for the next time we’re in that situation.”
On if he’s satisfied with UK running ball enough in first game:
Well, I think so. We obviously can do some things better. We ran the ball for what? 180 yards. I feel like I know we can run the ball, but we’ve got to be more consistent offensively and I think they’ll tell you that; Shannon will tell you that, our players and everyone else. We rushed the ball well, but we had too many stops. What we have to stay away from is three and outs and not being able to move the ball when maybe the defense is struggling and not playing as well. We have to have some drives where we stay on the field for a bit. I think our longest drive of the night last Saturday was our last drive of the game. We didn’t have a possession over 3 minutes until the last possession of the game, so running the ball will help our whole team. And I think to answer your question, obviously you’re pleased when you rip off a 75-yard run to open the game, but I think we just need to be a little bit more consistent.
