Stoops Hoping Cats Show Improvement Again This Week
The Kentucky football team had a tough week following a loss to South Carolina at Kroger Field. The loss left the Cats in search of better execution and trying to find a way to play smarter.
This week, the Kentucky program is dealing with a tough week once again, but in a different way. After coming oh so close to knocking off No. 1 Georgia, the Cats were left with being so close to winning a huge game, yet coming up short.
“Another difficult weekend for us, going in and watching the film,” UK head coach Mark Stoops said on Monday. “Equally as difficult as last week but in different ways. You feel like you had an opportunity to get a victory against a great football team and just came up short.”
However, after what happened against South Carolina, Stoops was pleased with how his team prepared for and played against Georgia.
“Very proud of our team, the way we responded after a tough week the week prior,” Stoops said. “I appreciate the resilience of our team and our coaches to put ourselves in a position to win that game. I firmly believe we had a great plan and we executed the plan very well for the majority of the night to put ourselves in position to win.”
The Cats spent much of last week cleaning up techniques and focusing on the game play. Stoops saw his team’s response to that on Saturday.
“I felt like there was great improvement and that was something we obviously needed to see,” Stoops said. “I feel much better about the growth and the improvement in our team. It just comes down to finding some ways to make plays in critical moments to pull off a victory. If we can continue to have that attitude, continue to work, then good things are in store for us. One day at a time, one week at a time.”
The Cats will get back to work on Monday, looking at the Georgia game tape and getting prepared for a talented Ohio University team that UK will face on Saturday. The Bobcats have impressed Stoops on tape.
“A very good team,” Stoops said. “Looking at the MAC and some of the very big victories they have had, they’re not a joke. It’s a good league, good teams, good coaches. They play very well. Extremely balanced on offense. Defensively, very tough. They play very hard and they make you earn every yard.”
So, what will Kentucky’s focus be on this week during practice?
“It’s about us and our preparation and what we do throughout the week to put ourselves in position to win,” Stoops said. “It’s back to work and we’re looking forward to the opportunity. Our focus, our discipline and execution. It’s focus, discipline and execution that’s going to put you in position to win those games and we did that much better in this game.”
Kentucky made great strides between the loss to South Carolina and the close call against Georgia. Stoops hopes that the Cats will continue to trend in that direction with Ohio coming to town on Saturday.
