Mark Stoops Monday Press Conference
Kentucky Football
Head Coach Mark Stoops
Kroger Field– Lexington, KY
October 23,2017
Opening statement….
“Just like I mentioned after the game, we didn’t play good in any aspect of the game. We need to get back to work this week and get some things corrected and play a heck of a lot better than we did this past week.”
On players voicing frustrations on social media…
“Of course we want it to stay in house. We’ll get it corrected; it’s a very easy fix. We had a discussion yesterday, we’ll talk about it as a team today and it’ll be gone.”
On Landon Young…
“Landon is better today; better than he was yesterday so that’s a good sign. All of the tests that have come back have been very good and he’s feeling better. He definitely took a very awkward hit. I could’ve been a lot worse, we’re grateful that it wasn’t a more significant injury. So, we’ll see. He’s day to day.”
On changes in preparation for Mississippi State….
“There are a lot of things that we could do better. The preparation, the mental aspect of it, structurally there’s things that I could do better, there’s things the other coaches could do better, there’s things that the players could do better. With the benefit of hindsight we all could be better. As I always say, you don’t always see that and that doesn’t make it okay or all right, but the fact of the matter is that there are very few teams in this country that could go out and play very good football 12 weeks in a row. The good teams, even when they don’t play well, they still win. In our league you see some weird scores and everyone points out the bottom line but it’s not always that easy for us. We don’t compare things. Nobody likes to lose like that. I know our fans don’t and we certainly don’t, but it doesn’t always correlate. It’s a very tough league, it’s very physical. You see scores sometimes that pop out at you. If you take a good look at Mississippi State, what they do at home, and how they play at home and what they’ve done this year – they’re impressive. It’s a tough place to play. I give credit to them. We certainly need to do our part to be more competitive and play better, that’s for sure. I felt like it was competitive until about three minutes to go in the half. It was a very close hard-fought three-point game until it got away from us.”
On Tennessee…
“If you look at the games, they played Florida close, we played Florida close. They played South Carolina close, we played South Carolina close. They had an opportunity to beat South Carolina, we all saw that. If one play had gone one way or another, they could beat South Carolina. That is a good football team. Same with Florida. Florida is a better team than people give them credit for and Tennessee had a good opportunity to win that game as well. We know what Tennessee can do. I know the way people pile on people when they’re not doing so well. I know how that goes, I’ve been there and we can’t control any of that. We can only control how we’re going to play. I expect Tennessee to come in and paly exceptionally hard just like they did this past week against the exceptional Alabama team. We expect them to come in with great pride and play very well just like we did a year ago.”
On how Mississippi State helped prepare for Tennessee…
“We need to make competitive plays. We’re not making enough competitive plays right now.”
On defining competitive plays…
“Sometimes you have an advantage and we’re not making plays. That’s not oaky. The secondary, we’re making very few competitive plays. In one-on-one situations in the Mississippi State game, we lost all ten according to my count. That’s not acceptable. Same with our offensive guys, they’ve got to make competitive plays. The one that stands out to me was when Lynn Bowden went up and caught the ball in traffic, when Drew threw a nice ball and he went up and got it. Outside of that, I don’t know if we made a competitive play.”
On the cornerbacks…
“We’ve just got to get it straight. We need to do a better job of coaching them and they’ll respond. I don’t want to act like they haven’t all year, they have at times. Mike Edwards has made some good, competitive plays, Derek Baity has made some good, competitive plays, and we didn’t this past week. We have to get back to making some plays.
On what happened three minutes before the half…
“We were fighting uphill until that point. Mississippi State was still playing better than us. But it was 10-7 and we had the football. You can tell sometimes when you need to just get out of the half and regroup and keep it close. We didn’t have an opportunity to do that. There’s never one play in any game that makes all the difference, there’s quite a few plays and I tell the team constantly “how do you know when any one play makes the difference in a game?” Some are more obvious than others. Maybe an interception or a fumble or a turnover or whatever, but it’s never any one play or one series or one drive. There was a critical moment in the game, but that wasn’t it.”
On loss of momentum going into second half…
“A few games we have and a few games we’ve stole some momentum. You definitely want to. I don’t think there’s anybody that wouldn’t understand how critical it is going into halftime. The last 2-3 minutes until halftime are critically important – going into it and coming out of it. So we certainly lost on both ends this past week, but there’s been other times when we stole some plays too.”
On losing momentum in bye week…
“It is what it is. You’d like to come out of a bye week a lot better than we just did. Our players were sitting there probably in hindsight sitting there 5-1. We all know there were things we needed to improve on, but we didn’t come out and play as good as we can and that’s ultimately on me. So I’ve got to get them ready to play. I believe in this football team, I believe in this staff and we’ll get back to work. It’s 5-2. It’s not a good showing, it’s not acceptable and it’s time to put this behind us after this press conference. I have to go meet with them team and we’ll put it behind us. I can’t wait really. I can’t wait to get in that meeting and get started with preparation for Tennessee.”
On Stephen Johnson against Mississippi State…
“It was not one of his better games, but it’s everybody together. That’s why you win or lose together. It comes down to protection; it comes down to making competitive plays. Even on the interception, there was a mistake by somebody else. I have no worries about Stephen. He needs to go back to work and paly better and he will.”
On if Benny Snell and C.J. Conrad are healthy…
“Yeah, they are healthy. C.J. needs to play better. I mean I think we threw it to him on the second play of the game and he dropped it. So, when you get opportunities you make them. Benny, the carries were definitely low and I think the game dictated that a bit. Like I just mentioned prior to your question, that’s not the recipe. We all know we need to throw the ball, but you have to be able to run the ball too. We have to have balance. So Benny running the ball and pounding the ball we need more efficient and were trying to find that. You know that. We need to. We’re not built to drop back and throw the ball lower the yard. Whether its protection, catching, catching, all of it. It’s not just the quarterback; in general you have to have balance. 80% of SEC football games are won when you out rush your opponent by one yard. Does anyone not quite understand the importance of that? Or do just need to get into another business.”
On if he’s confident he can still run plays the same way with this offensive line…
“Yeah, and that’s not the end all be all. We need to be efficient throwing the ball and I think we have at times been very good. Stephen has been very accurate and we’re leaning on some freshmen receivers and that’s not a business you want to be involved in all the time. We need to find that balance and have some sort of physicality about us. So, yeah we haven’t been as efficient as we need to be. Do we feel certain we can find that? Yeah, we have to be more efficient then we have been. There are no excuses we just have to get better in a lot of areas. In running it and having some balance is critically important. That opens up some of our RPOs and throws and things like that cause even in this past game we missed some RPOs where we handed it and should have thrown it. Those are some of the plays maybe that go to the tight end as well and other receivers where we are just a little bit off.”
On things that stand out about Tennessee…
“They always have good players. Butch has had a lot of success for a lot of years. I know they have had some tough breaks this year, but he’s obviously a very good football coach and they have very talented players. Going back and forth with their quarterback and made the switch and I see a very talented young guy there. They have playmakers and they are a big physical team. They are an SEC looking football team. You look at them across the board and I know they have had a couple bad games, but they have played good football at times. They are very prideful players and a very good looking team.”
On how Jordan Jones looked in his first game back…
“Little rusty but he’s still active. He is still productive which is good. It’s good to have his production back and his energy. He did some good things, but hopefully he will clean up some things as well.”
On if he expects them to handle bouncing back on their own or if they will need the staff to help…
“Yeah, there’s always a group effort in that. There is always a team effort in getting things back. I certainly have spent a lot more time in the last day and a half getting prepared for that. You know, we’ll see every team is different. We certainly handled adversity very well as a football team last year, much worse adversity than this and they responded the right way. Hopefully we will have the same character within this football team. I have no reason to believe that we won’t. But, I believe we will. Adversity kind of reveals a man to himself so we will see how we respond.”
On the guys he leaned on last year to help turn the tides…
“I think it’s a group. There was a group of them. Same way, I think we have good leaders. I have no reason to believe that we won’t respond and bounce back.”
On if he thinks the players have already had conversations about how they played this past week…
“I’m sure they have. I’m sure they have. There’s no reason for them to panic and call a team meeting on a Sunday. Everybody knows what to do. They have been educated they are a good group. They are tight and we just have to address some things like you always do, win or lose. You are always trying to improve and get some mistakes corrected. We will do that.”
On if you can teach physicality…
“Yeah I think it’s a little bit of both. Certainly some size matters and strength matters, but there’s also getting some things cleaned up. There are definitely areas we can get better, yes.”
On if he thinks teams are keyed into them throwing the ball down field…
“Of course. You know the basics of looking at us, certainly coming off a year ago were very effective running the ball and then getting you sucked up and throwing shots off of it. That’s one on one. We’ve been fractions off on some of that this year. We need to make them. Whether it be a receiver go up and make a great catch, getting open, or just leading them a yard or two the right way. It’s just been a little bit off. It’s not just shots, it’s not just home run balls, there’s intermediates. We’ve been effective at some intermediates. We’ve been effective at times on first and second down and that’s where when I talk about physicality and balance and running the football, that’s common sense 101. But also I understand very clearly that you have to take those shots and be aggressive as we have. Just like this past week again third-and-one I OK’d aggressive and going after it. It backfired. But, you have to live with it. It was calculated. I OK’d it and we wanted a shot. We knew you had to hit some shots to win and it didn’t happen.”
On how much time he spends preparing his message for the week…
“More than usual. I admit, probably more than usual today. I could very easily go with my gut five minutes before meeting. That’s just been my philosophy all through the years, but there are always some calculated messages in there as well. Definitely spend a little bit more time.”
On if he thinks his Monday message is most important…
“Usually, yeah a good portion of it.”
On what he sees in Quinton Bohanna that he likes…
“Quinton is just active. He’s active and we have to get more production out of that position. I felt like Naquez (Pringle) did some good things. Naquez was really banged up last week and for the past two weeks he really didn’t practice much. He came in and did some good things. Quinton is just playing better and he’s active and his movements are quicker we just have to get more production. We can’t get single blocked at the nose guard position all day and have winning defensive football, can’t do it. We have to get some production.”
On how the team is responding to new game plans…
“I think there is always a balance there that you have to look at. We always do. We look at that and critique ourselves very hard. It is fair criticism whether we try to do too much or too little. You are always just trying to find the right balance. We need to do better than we did this past week. So, we look at that, whether it is two weeks off to prepare and maybe try to do too much and we are always trying to find the right balance on that. “
On Mississippi State’s running touchdowns…
“It was just… You always have to give Nick (Fitzgerald) credit because he is a very good football player. I have a great respect for him. I sought him out after the game just to shake his hand and congratulate him because I think he is a really good player. Disappointed in those two plays. The first one, we had a spot, finally, at the point of attack where we had worked on some things and we had stopped and got cut out on the back side and not very smart football IQ where the back was set. It was an indicator. We knew that we had got weeded out. It is very disappointing. One player, you could see, had a little bit better instinct as he was running up the field. Sitting there. The other one was a mistake by a young guy. That was, it kind of puts a black cloud over you when everybody wants to just look at that stats and look at the score. It just stinks to be honest with you because you have a defense that is really overloaded and to take that away and we just made a mistake. But, those are things that you learn as a freshman and you get better. But, very easily corrected on that one. The fourth-and-one, it also really ticks you off because you kind of had the stopped at the point of attack and we always talk about football IQ and I felt like we did take a dip in football IQ this past week and I think that comes from that mid-season mental strain that you have to be included into and then there is a physical part of it, coming off the bye and all that. But, mentally, you have to be really, really sharp or you’re going to make a lot of mistakes. I think our football IQ wasn’t where it needed to be this past week. “
On getting over being upset after the Mississippi State game…
“I never got to that point. I haven’t got to that point yet. So, that’s not really going to happen until we get out there and play a game as far as me sitting back and thinking it is going to be okay because I never think that it is going to be okay but that doesn’t mean that you hit the panic button. Always, we always do. We are our worst critics and we always look at things, whether it’s a very good game or you win or you lose. You are always trying to get better and making sure that you have the pieces in place to be successful. That comes with the territory and sometimes, strategically, there are some things that we can do better and we need to own those and accept that and try to get better. There are parts of it psychologically or whatever it is. You have to get them right. I am excited to be honest with you about today and this week. I embrace it and I am ready for it and I certainly wish it was coming off a victory and a better performance but I can’t change the past.”
On checking on players being mentally drained…
“None of us, it is hard to see, but some of us talk and try really, really hard to overcome those things. The bottom line is you’ve got to be brutally strong both mentally and physically to endure that and to be able to handle that all the time. I think all of us fight that and there’s a few college football teams that are brutally strong mentally and physically. The other hundred and twenty, it is hard to overcome. It is hard as coaches. You try to combat it as best you can.”
On the relationship with Tennessee coach Butch Jones and what he has been through…
“Without a doubt, it is, you know, I don’t really want to get into it because then you know, it is sad. It just opens doors. But without a doubt, I do. I have friends all over this conference. So, it goes with the territory. We will just keep it within the fraternity and because if you say anything, honestly, in two weeks it will just be using it against me. It just is what it is. We are all big boys. We can handle it. But, it doesn’t mean that you like it for your friends. They are people in the business.”
On worries for Tennessee…
“Without a doubt, just look at some of their common opponents. South Carolina is playing very good football. We played very good against them, but they did too. Could we play better? There were some opportunities missed there and still have an opportunity to win that game and just missed and same with Florida. Sometimes, again, it is really easy for people who just want to look at the scores, that it should be this or that. It is different every week. Just like you were talking about, you don’t , teams are sometimes it is a few plays or sometimes it is, you just can’t tell. There is, it is a long season. Sometimes teams are hitting on all cylinders and sometimes you get a couple breaks or pull away late and make it look worse than it was. Nobody likes to lose 45-7. But again, I feel like we didn’t play very good and we deserve to get beat. But, there were definitely some plays that could’ve pulled that a lot closer than that. So, you could either chose just to look at the bottom line or to look at reality. The reality is that they have a bunch of good football players there and Jones is a very good football coach and they are playing hard for him. So, they’re going to come in here and play hard.”
On the crowd at the Mississippi State game…
“Well, what are their home scores? Like 49-0, 37-7, 35-10, and 45-7. It has an effect. I think we all know that. It is a great atmosphere. I give them credit for it. I am not complaining. I am crediting them with a great atmosphere that they put very well there. Very energetic. You know, you hate to be on the opposite side of some big plays and it gets everybody going and it’s a great atmosphere. But, that is what you embrace about playing in this league, the challenge of going into places like that and playing well.”
