Hello HOB. It‘s a beautiful day here in LEX, and I’m back over at the JCFTC for a practice report during the open date on the schedule. It’s our only media opportunity of the week. They’ll be sending Mark Stoops out today to speak with us at approx 5:30 ET. Stay tuned for the latest news and notes…
MARK STOOPS Q&A:
* Good work, good effort, physical practice today. Got better. Needed to get better as a football team.
* On focus during an open date... Look at the areas you're doing well, how do you continue, how do you build on it, how might opponents counter? And on the other side of things, where are we falling short and why? Is it coaching? Is it personnel? Whatever it is, you have to get it corrected. And, finally, you want to develop some younger players a little further.
* They started out really well last week. Hard to put a finger on why it changed, but, essentially, it comes down to execution. Maybe sometimes just pressing too much and losing focus, allowing individual plays to change the outcome.
* On situational football... Worked on a lot of that today. It's a fair criticism. Penalties are part of that, too. Were first last year and last this year. Not sure why, but it has to be fixed.
* Was really proud of the team's response to playing poorly at Georgia. Prepared well all well, and came out really strong against Missouri. Liked the mentality. Just gotta figure out why it got away from them so quickly and why the execution broke down. But thinks they remain hungry and eager to improve.
* Getting healthy is important this week. It's as big as anything. But probably did as much "good on good" today than they have in a while.
* On the passing game and hype from this summer... Thinks it's fair to ask what happened. Said there was a bad period today that wasn't up to Liam's liking, and they had to address it. "We have to play better around Devin."
* What can you do at this point in the season to improve the punting game? "Punt the ball better." (Laughs) But concedes that it is hurting the team right now, just like penalties. A lot of hidden yards lost in both areas.
* On OL reaching and grabbing on some of these holding penalties... Getting beat off the ball at times with movement on the D-front. And the tendency is to reach out and grab when you do that. A variety of things go into that. Gotta get better because everyone is going to use that movement. Can't have those mistakes. But apparently, there's been some simulated snap calls from D-linemen that could be contributing to that.
* On fixing end of first half issues... Working on it more. Did some more things situationally today to address that today. We need to do better with it. Need a better sense of urgency in those situations.
* On being too aggressive at times and the penalties... Really likes coaching this team, but thinks a lot of it is guys pressing and frustration coming through. And some of it is just flat-out inexcusable.
* On using extra time to change some things schematically to help Devin Leary and the passing attack... Doesn't want to say too much publicly, but yes, they are looking at some things this week.
* On the secondary... Gotta make better plays on the ball. Gonna be put in a lot of tough one-on-one situations against this next opponent. Just have to be better.
* On Barion not making guys miss as much as he did last year... Hasn't been 100% Probably plays a big part in it, but we don't want to make excuses.
* On Ray Davis' season so far and being on some mid-season All-American lists... Proud of how he's growing and improving without the ball in his hands. Natural to want the ball and want yards and recognition from that, but he's really playing well when he doesn't have it, when he's pass-protecting, etc. Unselfish kid. He has led and tried to bring people with him to the top.
MARK STOOPS Q&A:
* Good work, good effort, physical practice today. Got better. Needed to get better as a football team.
* On focus during an open date... Look at the areas you're doing well, how do you continue, how do you build on it, how might opponents counter? And on the other side of things, where are we falling short and why? Is it coaching? Is it personnel? Whatever it is, you have to get it corrected. And, finally, you want to develop some younger players a little further.
* They started out really well last week. Hard to put a finger on why it changed, but, essentially, it comes down to execution. Maybe sometimes just pressing too much and losing focus, allowing individual plays to change the outcome.
* On situational football... Worked on a lot of that today. It's a fair criticism. Penalties are part of that, too. Were first last year and last this year. Not sure why, but it has to be fixed.
* Was really proud of the team's response to playing poorly at Georgia. Prepared well all well, and came out really strong against Missouri. Liked the mentality. Just gotta figure out why it got away from them so quickly and why the execution broke down. But thinks they remain hungry and eager to improve.
* Getting healthy is important this week. It's as big as anything. But probably did as much "good on good" today than they have in a while.
* On the passing game and hype from this summer... Thinks it's fair to ask what happened. Said there was a bad period today that wasn't up to Liam's liking, and they had to address it. "We have to play better around Devin."
* What can you do at this point in the season to improve the punting game? "Punt the ball better." (Laughs) But concedes that it is hurting the team right now, just like penalties. A lot of hidden yards lost in both areas.
* On OL reaching and grabbing on some of these holding penalties... Getting beat off the ball at times with movement on the D-front. And the tendency is to reach out and grab when you do that. A variety of things go into that. Gotta get better because everyone is going to use that movement. Can't have those mistakes. But apparently, there's been some simulated snap calls from D-linemen that could be contributing to that.
* On fixing end of first half issues... Working on it more. Did some more things situationally today to address that today. We need to do better with it. Need a better sense of urgency in those situations.
* On being too aggressive at times and the penalties... Really likes coaching this team, but thinks a lot of it is guys pressing and frustration coming through. And some of it is just flat-out inexcusable.
* On using extra time to change some things schematically to help Devin Leary and the passing attack... Doesn't want to say too much publicly, but yes, they are looking at some things this week.
* On the secondary... Gotta make better plays on the ball. Gonna be put in a lot of tough one-on-one situations against this next opponent. Just have to be better.
* On Barion not making guys miss as much as he did last year... Hasn't been 100% Probably plays a big part in it, but we don't want to make excuses.
* On Ray Davis' season so far and being on some mid-season All-American lists... Proud of how he's growing and improving without the ball in his hands. Natural to want the ball and want yards and recognition from that, but he's really playing well when he doesn't have it, when he's pass-protecting, etc. Unselfish kid. He has led and tried to bring people with him to the top.
