Kentucky-Eastern Michigan Postgame Quotes
UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY MEDIA CONFERENCE
September 13, 2025
Lexington, Kentucky, USA
Coach Mark Stoops
Press Conference
Kentucky – 48 , Eastern Michigan – 23
MARK STOOPS: You know, Good win for us. I was glad that we were able to play quite a few players and get some guys that have been working extremely hard and get them in and get them some snaps. Like I told those guys that got in, there’s no replacing game reps and they will get better with each opportunity. So that was good to see. The same with Cutter. I thought he did a really good job for his second start. Was much better prepared and he operated very good and I thought we were much more clean in our operation. Tonight, it was a point of emphasis for us all week. I thought he did a very good job of managing the game. So, I’m happy for that. I thought we were physical running the ball for 252 yards was good to see and was also good to see Cutter hit some very good passes and throw for 240. Overall good effort. Offensively, I felt like we really moved the ball pretty consistently all day. A couple of third downs there, we had one drop and some possessions that weren’t as clean as we’d like, but that’s going to happen and we have to be able to overcome that. Defensively it was really an odd gang because you felt like you played extremely well for most of the first half until the end. And then we got beat on the double move, you know, just not very good, not a very good play. No way around it. And get back out there and give up and over route and just we need to be better and play some of that better at the end of the first half. Obviously the double move, but then the second possession where they got some points as well. We need to just be cleaner in the way we were playing some of those plays. We were matching it and should have carried the over route and just a couple of things that frustrated us. They moved the ball very efficiently, give them credit. They had us a little off balance and those are things we need to work on. You know, obviously, kind of frustrating that way. I will open it up.
Q On Cutter Boley’s performance
MARK STOOPS: I was pleased with the way he operated; I really was. I don’t think it would be right for me to make that decision right here and now. I was pleased with the way he played. We will get some time and look at it and get back on the practice field.
Q What stood out to you about Cutter’s pocket presence and just the way he carried himself?
MARK STOOPS: Yeah, I thought he was really good with his operation and his presence. As I mentioned with some of the defensive players, the same with Cutter, game reps, theres no replacing that will get better with that each opportunity and each snap. I thought his awareness was very good. There was some plays where there were some other things out there, like we mentioned in the first two games, that he will look at and know that he can play better as well and get more comfortable. But overall, very pleased.
Q How do you think he handles pressure whenever the pocket was played or not?
MARK STOOPS: I didn’t, you know, just watching it without watching the film and everything. I felt like his awareness seemed to be pretty good. I think when he buys time and scrambles and has a lot of time it will be different against different opponents. That’s something we’ve got to look out for. You know, but overall he looked pretty comfortable back there.
Q Any update on Dante?
MARK STOOPS: He should be fine. He got hit a couple of times in the same spot. It maybe was something where he could go back in but if you got hit again it may lead to something more drastic.
Q.[INAUDIBLE]
MARK STOOPS: CJ, we repped it the other day and he was a little iffy on it and we wrapped the exact, if not the exact, I’d have to look at it but it seemed to be exactly play and his eyes were a little funky the other day in practice and Coach J does a remarkable job, Jay is relentless and he will get after those guys. He made his intentions clear. We got it fixed and we gotta big stop.
Q.[INAUDIBLE]
MARK STOOPS: Yeah. I thought Josh was very close to catching the one in the endzone too. I looked like maybe he had it for a moment but then didn’t clear the ground. But Josh had some very tough catches and been close too, same with Willie and all those guys. It’s been good, we need to get them involved. They are good players. It’s been fun to get them more involved. If Cutter doesn’t snap the ball a little too soon on the one we have another touchdown by a tight end there, right? He was just a little quick on the draw there.
Q The night that Seth had tonight with three touchdowns, I don’t know, what can you say about what he did?
MARK STOOPS: Seth has been very steady. I think you know that. He’s been very efficient this year and he runs very tough. He’s a guy that runs with a lot of energy. He’s kind of wild with the way he runs. I don’t know what’s gonna to come out, you know? It’s between him and God. He’s been running very tough, you know, very tough yards when he has to. But also will make some very drastic cuts and moves. I’m very pleased with the way he’s playing too.
Q How did you feel about your defensive depth right now and how important is it to develop that?
MARK STOOPS: You know, I mentioned that. I said that earlier here and I’m sure you guys would put that out to me. I said that secondary could be a strength and I still think that. I did back it up that day by saying, well, if you get an injury or two, you know, all of a sudden you could be not where you want to be. Right now, we have a couple that was to Ryan was the same thing. He was battling an injury and we just didn’t want to push it. You know, It led to some points but we need him healthy. He was tight and he’s been battling something that we felt like if he went in there and pulled something then he’d be out for weeks. We couldn’t afford that.
Q You guys talked about the off-season, getting that offensive line to a new place and improving getting it better. You are a quarter way through the year. What is your analysis of how they improved?
MARK STOOPS: Yeah, without question, I think it’s pretty obvious that they are playing much better. I really have talked about it, but I really like that group. It’s not just Coach B and me up here blabbing. I like those guys; they have a great mentality. They care, they fight, they work well together. They are bringing along the younger guys and getting them in there. I could tell it was only two snaps and I could tell that group got in there, the twos, that they were trying to move some people as well. I like the mentality that they are working with. Like I said, they are just a very mature group and physical, you know, they are playing well.
Q You attempted a lot of shots downfield and the first couple and you weren’t able to connect. Just how much easier does it make the offense if you connect-?
MARK STOOPS: Yeah, without a doubt. I thought the guys made some competitive catches today. We even left a few more out there. There was some more plays out there. It was a good starting point with Cutter starting his first game of the season. It definitely could loosen it up. I think at halftime, I looked at the stats at halftime and just looked at the quickie stats and we were dead even with runs and passes and if you can get that kind of balance, we could have some efficiency that we are looking for.
Q I think the word you would probably use is leaky in some of the stuff in the first half. After halftime, in the locker room. What did you say in the halftime locker room to get their attention?
MARK STOOPS: It was kind of little aggravating for us. Give them credit, I thought they did a nice job with their presentation and some of the stuff they did. They just hit the plays late and got some momentum and got some big plays. We worked all week, you know, we talked about last week last week. We wanted to detail some things up and worry about us. The guys had a great mentality all week as far as their effort, their attitude, and their attention to detail. It doesn’t always carry over to games. That’s why experience matters, that’s why games matter, that’s why you want to get better as a season goes on because you are seeing things just presented different and things move fast out there. Guys want to do well. But they’ve got to play with clean eyes.
Q Zach was in uniform. Was he available for an emergency situation?
MARK STOOPS: Zach was very good about that, you know, dressing and being available in an emergency situation. I had confidence in Bo and I have confidence in the other quarterbacks. You can’t rep them all. Zach has all those reps banked and you might be out there to be able to throw something short and hand the ball off and operate. I appreciate him doing that. A lot of quarterbacks with their arm, you know, they don’t want to mess with that. He was great and he tried to throw each and every day this week after Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. Just wasn’t feeling great and wasn’t worth it to hurt him worse. But he was great, you know, he wanted to dress and be there if we needed him.
Q How do you approach this by week with the extended time with kind of the teeth of the SEC schedule?
MARK STOOPS: We’ve got to have a great week. Much like last week, we’ve just got to really attack the week and worry about us and get better. The early part of the week we will play ball, play fastball, we will have a normal practice Monday and give Tuesday off and coaches will prepare and we should have a full game plan and be ready to put that in for practice on Wednesday and Thursday and that would be a Tuesday and Wednesday practice. We will have a good week. Get one extra day with Tuesday, you know, getting in the weight room and trying to get their bodies right for the next game and for the season. Keeping their weights up and really lifting and trying to get them as healthy as they can be.
Q Are you telling your guys to pick off the first pass of every game?
MARK STOOPS: Yeah, it would be nice, I’d like to see them. Maybe I should have them pick off the last two minutes of the first half. It was a really nice start. You know, it was nice to get the fans involved. I thought it was good offensively, was efficient defensive, it was efficient early and got some energy in the stadium and played well. We gave up some late that took a little air out but we came back and responded, like you said in the third.
KENTUCKY FOOTBALL POSTGAME QUOTES
KENTUCKY VS. EASTERN MICHIGAN
KROGER FIELD – LEXINGTON, KY.
SEPTEMBER 13, 2025
Kentucky Player Quotes
#90 Mi’Quise Humphrey-Grace
On how putting together a complete game…
“Obviously there’s things that we could have cleaned up late in the second half, but it felt good to be able to get the win.”
On how it felt to get a sack…
“It felt good. It was the first sack of the season, so it felt good just to get it especially at home.”
On the focus during the bye week…
“The focus for me is getting 100% healthy again, getting my body some rest to get ready for these tough away games that we have, we’re going into some tough environments. But just getting back to 100% I feel is the main goal for me.”
Coach White’s message after the game…
“We’re better than what we did today. Harping on the little things like good communication, getting set right, things like that. We have to be better with the little things.”
#84, Josh Kattus
On seeing results in the passing game..
“It was cool. Cutter threw a good ball, great play call by Coach Hamdan, and it was a well-executed play, and it’s always nice getting in the end zone and celebrating with the team.”
On Willie Rodriguez to catching his first touchdown pass..
“Oh, I was so happy for him. That’s my guy. You know, I actually hosted him on his official visits, and to see him progress as a man and as a player, he’s doing really good, and it’s always something you’ll remember—one of your first touchdowns—so I’m glad I got to be a part of that and support him and hype him up and all that.”
On getting a big win with the offense working well before an off week..
“It feels good. I think there’s been a lot of good with the offense, and there are ups and downs, and I think we really put it together out there today, and obviously there’s stuff we want to clean up for many games, but I think it gives us a confidence boost going into some big SEC games for the next two weeks.”
#25, Jordan Lovett
On Jordan’s failure of a pick…
“Oh my goodness, I played the man instead of playing the ball. I looked at all my feet coming at the end of the season, and I don’t know why, but I am going to get one of the SEC plays.”
On the energy in the field…
“I can definitely feel the energy, like an all-for-one, one-for-all type of mentality. Like I said, we are going to take this by-week to get some rest, prepare for South Carolina, and I know we will be great.”
On the team’s mentality of not playing at Kroger for a few weeks…
“The team’s mentality should be one step ahead of the other and take this as an advantage. Don’t mess around, get everybody back healthy, and just step by step, day by day type of mentality.”
#3, Seth McGowan
On Seth’s three touchdowns in one game…
“Creating a lot of explosives in the last game really opened up a good run for this game. We just have to continue to keep establishing that identity of staying ahead of the change and playing OUR brand of football.”
On Cutter’s performance…
“I think Cutter did great, you know. He was really down on his morale this week, but that is also a kudos to Zach. I think he did a great job of keeping his head up and eyes focused. I think we just have to go out there and execute every single time. So, Cutter did great, we are proud of him, and he really stepped up. We have two quarterbacks that are dialed in and ready to bring this team some success.”
On the explosiveness of specific plays and the impact it has on the games…
“It is absolutely vital to the success of this offence. We are going to establish the run, you know that, when we get to some of those bigger bodies on the interior of some of those road games and tougher opponents, it poses a challenge. I think what we’ve all been seeing since summer, and what has all of the coaches excited about this season, is the game that was played tonight.”
EASTERN MICHIGAN FOOTBALL POSTGAME QUOTES
KENTUCKY VS. EASTERN MICHIGAN
KROGER FIELD – LEXINGTON, KY.
SEPTEMBER 13, 2025
Coach Chris Creighton Quotes
Opening statement…
“I mean super frustrated. We only get one of these a year, and every game is its own week, but, this is one that everybody gets excited about right? And you know the locker room is, there’s probably a sweet spot between frustration and not winning the game and not playing better than we played. There were things that happened throughout the game and really every area of that there were bright sports and things that we felt better about right? Both things are kind of happening at the same time. You’re super super frustrated and you know guys taking care of each other in there. It’s not pointing fingers or throwing helmets or anything like that. But I don’t know if we’ve ever gone three games to start a season without taking a ball away. I think that’s just unusual, and then obviously we turned it over on the first play which makes it tough. They’re a good team, first class, you know just seems like a first class organization and operation and I hope that they have a great season.”
On the first play…
“Yeah it’s like, I don’t know if you’ve ever been sucker punched right? You’re not expecting that, right? And I haven’t seen the film yet but our coaches in the box just kind of nonstop about it was a tough situation for us. You know what I mean? It’s hard to catch a ball if somebody is getting there before the ball does, and the ball goes up in the air, catches it, and then goes down and scores. So, to give that team a seven-nothing lead isn’t good.”
On first downs…
“Yeah, I mean, I’ve got to go back and look at it all, but I don’t, I’m not trying to be negative but you know, our first first down of the second half, we did the boot right? Incomplete, had to throw it away. So we didn’t get off to a start, the third quarter wasn’t a great quarter for us. We had tons of time to think about the call. I was all in for it, you know the boot, and whatnot, but you know we weren’t able to get at least five into the flat, and maybe a bigger play. So that’s an instance right where you just put yourself in a tough spot.”
On the fake punt…
“Probably miscommunication. It wasn’t a decision to go for a fake punt. It was just a miscommunication.”
On the rest of the season…
“Yeah, just again, taking the ball away. At halftime we were two of seven on third down, and then at the end of the game we were four of fourteen, right? So obviously we talked about that at halftime. I think we had some tougher third down situations in the second half. Some due to the penalties and whatnot. We certainly don’t want to be four of fourteen and one of four on fourth down. We had 461 yards of offense. We left points out on the field. Again there were some good things. We rushed the ball at times well, we threw the ball. We played a different version of our front and cover, and basically had three opportunities to get ready for that. But I did think there were some positives. How our guys have responded to some of those changes. But I give credit to Kentucky. They’re a really good team that rushed the ball really well. Played good defense man, going up against a tough opponent things aren’t going to be perfect all the time.”
