University of Kentucky Football Media Conference
Saturday, October 12 2019
Mark Stoops
Kentucky – 24, Arkansas – 20
MARK STOOPS: Obviously, I am extremely proud of the team and appreciate their preparation and ability to adapt to a difficult situation with our quarterback being banged up. I am so proud of Lynn, obviously, for what he has done and how he has prepared the last couple of weeks. But also just the team for playing really good around Lynn. Offensively, guys were very unselfish, did what they had to do. Blocking, doing tough things on the perimeter, just doing whatever we had to do to move the football. Defensively, really put them in a tough situation a lot of the night. They ripped off the first run early and one guy cut out and created the long run. And after that the defense really settled in and played good. We put them in a tough situation when I went for it and didn’t get it. And then off the punt return. Both times they responded with holding them to a field goal. I thought that was huge.
So just proud of the team. Just across the board. Just overcoming and doing the things necessary to win and so it’s a big step.
Q. When did y’all know that Lynn would start?
MARK STOOPS: We felt like we were going to have to start him for a week or two. But Sawyer was getting better, he did practice this week. And so it was getting close but we invested a lot of time in that game plan with Lynn.
Q. It had been a rough couple weeks for you guys. How bad did you need tonight or this team need tonight?
MARK STOOPS: Well, you know, it’s always important. Tell me what game we play that isn’t. So we always look at it that way. But there’s no doubt, when you go on a losing skid that we hadn’t been on for awhile that that’s not a good feeling. And I was really proud of our team, because I think that, they just, something clicked, the switch went off and really gelled the past couple weeks and we worked hard at that. And it felt, we felt good tonight.
Q. How much more patient were the running backs today and I guess, is that part of the switch-flipping like you mentioned?
MARK STOOPS: I thought they obviously did some really good things, hit some good runs. We, there was one or two, I always remember the negative, because that’s what we just do. There was one late that we could have been more patient and hit it but we were backed up, so you can understand why he was thinking about just getting some yards.
But overall they did a really nice job. The backs were very unselfish, they blocked hard on the perimeter, they ran the ball hard. Really proud of our coaches, across the board. Both sides did an exceptional job, just really proud of Eddie, Coach Hinshaw and the offensive coaches really had some good things in there and some unique plays and it really stood out tonight, and it put our guys in a good situation defensively. Brad did an exceptional job. All those guys they did a nice job tonight.
Q. With having Lynn at quarterback, how do you go through keeping the defense honest but also putting him in a position to succeed, talk about that.
MARK STOOPS: Well that’s part of it. That was part of it as we’re going through the night. Getting off to that start wasn’t good for us, again. And we have got to get that fixed and try to start better. I think my decision to go for it there certainly backfired on us as well. It put us in a tough situation, gave them the three. I was proud of our defense for limiting them to the three. But I felt like I was going to have to steal a possession or two tonight and I felt like that was as good an opportunity as any, whether a fake field goal, fake punt, just whatever, going for it on fourth. It obviously backed up, in hindsight, yeah, dumb decision.
But I felt like fourth and a half yard we were going to have to steal one tonight. I felt like a possession or two, we needed to be aggressive and it didn’t work and that put us in a bad situation. So with calling the plays, it gets tough because we had to stay ahead of the chains all night. But Lynn is dynamic and there were some shots, there were some plays that we had called. But also I thought the coaches did a nice job because we talked to ourselves all week about staying patient. So I thought Eddie did a really nice job and had some really good plays. We stalled one on the missed field goal, we stalled out on second and two, and third and two, that drive was a nice drive, we came up with nothing, that kind of hurt.
Q. It seems like that offensive game plan worked better tonight. Were there any thoughts on the sideline of changing things on how to keep that in mind to do that I know or stick to the plan?
MARK STOOPS: I thought Eddie was really good in being firm on that. I talked about it. And they were confident in their game plan and we were confident in the game plan and Eddie and them were committed.
Q. What was different on the sidelines with the players getting down early this time instead of the last two weeks?
MARK STOOPS: Well, I think we learned from it, number one. We’re at home, at home helps, our guys are rested a little bit and I think mentally and physically we talked a lot about that but there’s a lot to be said about that. Look around our league and look around college football. When you play teams in the state of your team it makes a difference. Just, these guys get beat up and they get beat down and it’s a tough grind. And the more mature you are, the more you can overcome some of those things. And I just think that we learned from it. And the guys, and do I think it was the difference, as I mentioned. I don’t want to beat a dead horse but I just think the guys really responded well the past two weeks.
Q. Mark, you guys have talked about Clevan coming on and making a push in practice. He had a big play for you tonight.
MARK STOOPS: It was really big. I talked to the team about that because it’s easy to be proud of Lynn for doing what he’s done and sacrificing and stepping up and playing quarterback and doing anything necessary. But that’s, I talked a lot about that because Clevan has been working for years and doesn’t always get the opportunity. And it’s too easy in this day and age for guys just to chuck it in and throw in the towel or pout and all those type of things. And it’s really good to see guys grind their way through and when they get their opportunity make the most of it.
Q. (Question regarding the confidence of the defense to get a fourth-down stop)
MARK STOOPS: I thought that was a really big thing for us to get that stop. Because it did go back to me, unfortunately, a few years, because we busted a coverage again late there that gave up the chunk play on their sideline. And we did that once before in a very similar call and I had to get that back out of my mind real quick. But we just can’t give up that kind of chunk, a big play, by giving it to them and just didn’t execute a call and so to then come back and bow up and get the stop was real big.
Q. (Question regarding the game being in honor of Jared Lorenzen)
MARK STOOPS: Well, really proud that we got win for in Jared’s memory and for his family. And proud of our team by the way they played and hopefully they kept him in the back of their mind because that’s how Jared played. He really laid it on the line for his team each and every week and I was proud of our group tonight in his memory.
Q. When you got a young team, how much can a win like this, the way you won the game help them build?
MARK STOOPS: Well I think it can help a lot because it just, I think the guys grew up the past couple weeks and the way their approach was really good and their unity was really good and I mean I thought guys were very selfless the past couple weeks and just doing things necessary to for the benefit of the team and that showed up tonight.
Q. It looked like Sawyer was warming up most of the night on the sidelines, do you anticipate having him back at 100 percent in another week or so?
MARK STOOPS: We hope so. We wanted to keep him warm most of the night. There was some talk of using him possibly on third downs as well and so we were just trying to keep him loose.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
Rev #2 by #398 at 2019-10-13 03:31:00 GMT
Kentucky Football Postgame Quotes
Kentucky vs. Arkansas
Kroger Field – Lexington, Ky.
Saturday, October 12, 2019
UK Student-Athletes
#96 Matt Ruffalo, So., K
On backing your kick up five yards due to the false start…
“Honestly, I was a little more relaxed. If I miss, it won’t look that bad, but I wasn’t really thinking that much, just thinking I have to make this.”
On what range you’re confident from…
“I would say in an actual game I am pretty confident from 55 yards in. So, if I need to step up and make it from that range, I am ready for it.”
On how important your role is to the team…
“Everyone, including me, just has to step up and do their job. On my first one, it sucks that I missed, I pulled it just a little bit, but you just have to forget about it and bounce back and go do your job.”
#10 AJ Rose, Jr., RB
On Eddie Gran wanting the running backs to play patient…
“I feel like I was patient but I wasn’t patient enough. There were a couple runs I left out there but that’s just the game of football. We’re going to watch film and I’m going to get better.”
On how proud he is of Lynn Bowden Jr…
“I’m very proud. Lynn went out there and did his thing. Sawyer (Smith) being down and picking up a receiver who played quarterback in high school so you know it is different at this level but he went out there and competed and he played every play.”
On how hard it was to stick with the game plan being down 13-0…
“It was tough but like coach said it’s a game of runs. You have to stay in it, we can’t get down on ourselves and you have to compete to the end. We played all four quarters and that’s what we wanted to do.”
#3 Jordan Griffin, Sr., S
On how hard it was to stay in the game after giving up the long run on the second play of the game…
“That’s just what we challenged ourselves to do. Stay in the game. You know, it’s four quarters, 60 minutes. That’s one thing that we challenged ourselves to do and we have to continue to do so.”
On the Arkansas’ final drive…
“The coaches challenged us to want that for ourselves, to control what you can control. That was the moment we could control what we could control and we had to do so. Everyone stayed together, everyone uplifted each other even when they didn’t make their plays, we continued to push on. We continued to lean on one another and the outcome showed.”
On how special of a night it was honoring Jared Lorenzen…
“An absolute blessing. Just being able to go out there and play for him. That’s one thing we said before the game as well, play for him and his family. That was one thing that we focused on and we feel like he carried us today.”
#14, Ahmad Wagner, Sr., WR
On Lynn Bowden’s near-200 rushing yard day…
“He’s a hard guy to tackle. He’s elusive, he’s smart with the ball, he knows how to make people miss. So, I’m not surprised that he had a lot, I’m just surprised…two hundred, man. That’s a good job.”
On catching Bowden’s passes…
“Good ball. Me and Lynn have thrown a lot of times. Sometimes we don’t have a quarterback and we’re just staying after practice, throwing around and Lynn will be the quarterback and throw to us. So, I know how he throws the ball. He threw two good balls, one of them was my fault and the other one we got a pass interference call, so he threw two good balls to me, I’m not mad at him.
On snapping a three-game losing streak…
“It’s great. It’s a big week for us and we really hit the reset button and we feel good about what we did. It’s good to get that monkey off our back and to move on from our past failures and it’s good to start a new streak and get one under our belt.”
On not having Lynn in the wide receiver room this week…
“It was definitely strange the first day when he was in the quarterback room and we were in the receiver room, and then seeing that in practice, but we got some time with him and we got used to it, and Lynn’s an amazing athlete, amazing player, smart player, so he made the adjustment real easy for us.”
Kentucky Football Postgame Quotes
Kentucky vs. Arkansas
Kroger Field – Lexington, Ky.
Saturday, October 12, 2019
Arkansas Head Coach Chad Morris
Opening statement …
“Alright, you know, just extremely frustrating. Did not feel like we executed in the key moments when we needed to the most, to get a stop, to get the ball or get the ball, come away with points in the red zone early in the game, was disappointing. You know where we are in our program right now, we get the ball in the red zone, we’ve got to score touchdowns and we were unable to do that especially early on when we had the momentum. Came away with points which was good but again as I mentioned before we got to score those touchdowns, we got to score touchdowns. Credit to Coach Stoops and obviously Lynn Bowden, just a unbelievable football player, we knew that coming in, we knew he was going to be quarterback, we felt you know that they were going to be the ball in his hands most of the night, and they did that. Fifty-four runs, defense was on the field entirely too much in the third quarter. We went two-three and outs and again six plays, six yards in the third quarter, had the ball three minutes and 45 seconds, it’s hard to hold on any momentum when you do that. That was very disappointing. They had the ball 11:15 and obviously flipped the momentum in the third quarter. (I) was proud the way our guys fell back and gave us a chance but you know we couldn’t sustain the momentum early in the game but it’s just frustrating. A lot of hurt in that locker room and you know it’s something we just going to get back in and go to work.”
On trials on the red zone …
“Well I thought tonight we had a couple opportunities, I think we had CJ open one, we were just unable to execute and unable to just, you know, hit it, you know hit the play, hit the pass, you know whether that’s get a TFL or you know or whatever that is. We had opportunities. It wasn’t we didn’t have the opportunities to score especially on that first quarter of the game and getting down there and we just got to execute that’s really what it comes down to.”
On Nick Starkel’s Health …
“Well, yes he was healthy. You know he’s worked out for two straight weeks with us, hadn’t missed a workout. But I just felt that he wasn’t in synch, wasn’t in rhythm. I felt that early in the game but really even more so at halftime. I thought we got the lead, we got a little bit of momentum on our side let’s see what this quarter holds and we go two three and outs and I needed a spark and I felt that Ben was going to provide that for us.”
On Considering bringing Ben in earlier …
“No I didn’t. I was thinking about it but really it was there at the second three and out.”
On revaluating position …
“Yes, yes no doubt. We’ve got to get something that’s going to provide consistency and provide that spark for us and we’ll revaluate that when we get back on.”
On things were attempted on defense …
“Well, obviously, we were trying to pressure a little bit. You saw that playing man coverage behind it. When you do that and they run a lot of gap schemes and get the ball on the edge, especially in the first half on some of their toss sweeps, and you know when you get him in space. He’s definitely dynamic with the football.”
Arkansas Player Quotes
#6 Ben Hicks, Sr., QB
On the position of QB being reevaluated…
“I’m just going back to work. That’s what I’ve done since I got here. When I was named a starter, I just went back to work. I lost the job and went back to work. When he named Nick (Starkel) the starter last week after I got to play I just went back to work. That’s all I know and that’s all I’m going to keep doing. I’m just trying to be a great leader for the team and be a great teammate and that’s what I’m going to do next week.”
On staying focused coming into the second game in a row…
“I love playing football. I’m chomping at the bit at every opportunity I can possibly get so it would be silly of me not to be ready to play when I got my opportunity. It would be very immature of me as well, so I’m just trying to enjoy it. I’m running out of opportunities to play college football, so I’m just trying to be ready and have as much fun as I possibly can. Again, I’m just trying to be a great teammate and find ways to win the games, I mean we’ve been so close and that’s cute and all but we’ve got to find a way to win the game.”
On the last few plays offensively…
“I can’t remember what the 3rd down play at the time was, but the 4th down play was obviously 4th and 18, I think. I was just trying to give somebody a chance, specifically on that last play trying to give Traylon (Burks) a chance and looking back on it I wish I could have just scrambled and bought myself some time, and when you’re backed up like that the best thing to do typically is buy yourself some time, and I just didn’t do it. I’m frustrated, but again just trying to give somebody a chance.”
#5 Rakeem Boyd, Jr., RB
On the long drive at the beginning of the game…
“I saw the hole, we hit it, we were blocking up front pretty well in the first quarter so it was there. After that we just had to keep it crisp and we didn’t. They had the plays laid out for us and we didn’t execute.”
On ending up with only 15 carries…
“I feel like I had more than that, I feel like I had about 20. When I was rolling I think I was at five and they said, “Hey let’s go some more,” and I said, “I’m ready for it.”
#10 Bumper Pool, So., LB
On the difficulty of stopping the run game…
“We didn’t do a good enough job stopping runs. That led to Kentucky getting the ball a lot in the second half and getting long drives and scoring. We needed stops.”
On wearing down in the second half…
“We can play all night. Being on the field too long is never a good thing. Getting off on third down would have helped us a lot.”
On facing 14 straight SEC loses…
“It is definitely one of the more difficult things I have been through. At the end of the day, we will get back in there and work hard and fix mistakes. That is all we can do. We aren’t going to get down on ourselves. We have a lot of good guys. Our team culture is strong. Even though we aren’t there right now, we are close.”
#8 De’Jon Harris, Sr., LB
On being a leader and mentoring younger players after a loss…
“I just tell them how I experienced a loss when I was younger. A lot of the freshman are playing early. I try to use myself as an example. I also try to keep them positive as much as I can. They are good and probably better than I was as a freshman. The future is bright for them.”
On Lynn Bowden Jr. taking over a new role as quarterback…
“He makes the right plays at the right moment. He is a great athlete and a hell of a player. We knew what was going to be expected, especially with him as quarterback. We just didn’t stop him when it was needed.”
On keeping a positive mindset…
“This year you can see the big turn-around between year one and year two. The majority of our games are very close. We will win soon. We need someone to step up and make plays in the tough times.”
