Mark Stoops Monday Press Conference
Mark Stoops News Conference
Post-South Carolina, Pre-Mississippi State
October 10, 2022
Opening statement …
“Really looking forward to getting back on the field, obviously, after a tough, difficult loss like that. There’s only one thing that fixes that and that’s getting back to work, moving on to your next opponent. Disappointed with the way we played this past Saturday, give South Carolina credit. They beat us, and it is what it is. Obviously when you lose one of the top players in college football, it doesn’t help your football team, but that’s still no excuse for the way we played around him (the quarterback). There are certainly things we could do better, I’ve addressed it after the game and that holds true after watching the film.
“Moving on to Mississippi State. Very good team. Obviously, any time you are playing Mike Leach, he can move the football. They are very good at what they do. Their quarterback, Will Rogers, is playing at a very high level, extremely comfortable and in total command of that offense. They have two dynamic running backs and always have playmakers on the perimeter. Defensively, I think they’re doing a very good job. Zach Arnett (has) got those guys playing. Very experienced group, they have a bunch of guys on their two-deep that have played a boatload of football. I want to say maybe eight returning starters and bunch of guys in the two-deep that are juniors and seniors, so very experienced. I think they play very hard. Zach does a very good job. Put that combination together with offense, defense and special teams, no surprise that they’re ranked in the top 25 and looking forward to us getting back home and playing with the intensity, playing with the excitement that we need to play with. I failed to mention it Saturday, but obviously, you’ve heard me say it before, when you don’t deliver for the fan base, it kind of bothers you as a head coach because you appreciate them so much. I thought coming into the game Saturday, the tailgating, the people, the environment, the stands, it’s been remarkable and greatly appreciate that. Need it again here this week to get back on track and sorry we did not deliver, and I can promise you our team is working hard, and we are excited about this week and need to have that same environment we’ve had all whole year. We really appreciate that, and we are going to need it.”
On if a home game and good crowd this Saturday against Mississippi State will help fix what is broken…
“No, the only thing to fix anything is to get back to work. We know that, we’ve been there. We understand what it takes, our team knows what it takes, our coaching staff knows what it takes, and we got to get back to work. There’s nobody that’s going to feel sorry for you. You get back to work, get back on the horse and get back at it here this week.”
On if you turn to your leaders more in a time like this…
“Certainly, part of the process, yes.”
On if it is a day-to-day approach for Will Levis this week…
“It is.”
On concerns about playing saying the energy isn’t on the sidelines at this point in the season…
“Well, I think it’s always concerning. We talked about it, I talked about it since Monday. I challenged them in the locker room the week before, postgame, and challenged them again Monday, every week, about high energy, so I guess I can talk about until I’m blue in the face. But I think they better do something about it. I think that has to do with how we played, too. When you play very well, you seem to feed off the energy that is going on the field.”
On how you think Kaiya Sheron performed last Saturday after watching film…
“I thought he made some really good throws. He made some poor decisions on where his eyes were that led to bad plays and led to sacks. We’ve talked about that with Will (Levis), it’s going to happen at times, it isn’t always on the o-line or protection, things of that nature. So, for the first time, and I mentioned that it felt like that during the game, and it held true after watching the tape, that we didn’t play very good around him at times. There’s people that, there’s plays, but again the inconsistency (led) to the breakdown – a breakdown here, a breakdown there. You can’t put it on any one person, we just as a group didn’t play very good around him. I felt like that during the game, and I said it after, and that was certainly true after watching the film. So, he did some very good things, we need to play better and respond better around him.”
On if there is an updated timeline on Jacquez Jones…
“No.”
On what happened to the defense in the third quarter last Saturday…
“Very disappointed to be honest with you. In some support, without getting to in detail or throwing any person under the bus or any one group or anything like that. It just was missed plays, I mean missed plays. Really no excuse for it, honestly. Just no disrespect to them, because we do it too, but even the screen, it wasn’t pulled them back, it took forever and like when we do that usually we get blown up. Goes for a touchdown and just poor angle, wrong fit and there’s no excuse. It’s kind of very aggravating.”
On how important Kaiya Sheron’s self-awareness is as young player…
“It certainly says a lot about him, and it comes and you’ve heard me talk for many years just experience matters. You know, playing and being in that situation, it matters. He was put in a tough situation and responded well. He’s a tough young man and he’ll handle all that criticism from us, from himself very well. He’ll get better.”
On what you liked about Kaiya Sheron over Deuce Hogan in practice…
“It’s just a matter of what Kaiya has done, yeah just like you mentioned. It’s not anything with Deuce, it’s what Kaiya has done that led him to that spot.”
On if you like what you have seen out of the tight end room or if you are expecting more…
“I feel like there’s more in that group. There’s things that you don’t see. The catches, the touchdowns, the effort in the open field, we all appreciate and you see that. They’re doing some good things. It’s blatant to the naked eye if somebody drops a pass or something of that nature but what you’re not seeing is missed assignments, blocking schemes, technique, angles, straining and finishing, doing all the dirty work that’s not seen. I believe we could be better.”
On if Chris Rodriguez Jr. is getting in better game-shape after two games…
“I think the anxiousness in the game, the breathing, the things that go on, you can’t replicate that no matter how great a shape you’re in. I think that’s the difference in playing games or not. He’s in great shape. It’s a matter of feeling that pressure and feeling the breathing, seeing the holes, that type of thing. And, of course. you get better with the more reps you have.”
On if you think Chris Rodriguez Jr. was underutilized in the second half last Saturday…
“Again, you probably know the answer to this if you know me clear enough – plays. They had the ball, we didn’t. I think we had nine plays without a penalty (in the third quarter). He ran it four times, then the game’s out of touch after that. We utilized him how we needed to in the first half, I wish the fumble didn’t happen, there’s some things I wish you could do over, but we were using him and getting that five yards and six yards. I think it’s plays and team, that’s going to put you in that position.”
On if Kentucky’s lack of plays is from playing better complementary football or picking up the pace …
“It’s both. They had two long drives in the third quarter. They took the ball, like you mentioned, we talked about it at halftime. Very disappointing when, I mentioned this postgame, with the things that happened in the first half, to tie it at 7-7 and playing very good defense to that point, to come out and give up a long drive for a touchdown to start doesn’t help things at all. So yes, it (goes) back to not very good complementary football, us not getting first downs and getting negative yardage plays. So, defense we need to get off the field and offense we need to sustain drives.”
On if you’re comfortable with the pace of the offense…
“It is difficult, especially when you’re behind, there’s no question. There are things that are fair criticism you need to look at. When you’re behind it’s very noticeable. Part of the thing with the pro system, verbiage, time with a new quarterback. The operation takes some time.”
On if Mississippi State has as high-tempo of an offense as Ole Miss…
“Not quite, they’re not trying to go as fast as Ole Miss or Tennessee, the high tempo teams.”
On Mississippi State’s offense and QB Will Rogers playing at such a high level…
“That’s Mike Leach offenses, they are very efficient. They are at 72% completion percentage. They’re running the ball this year over 100 yards a game, throwing it for over 350 and high completion percentage. Will is very, very comfortable back there. It’s hard, because as you pressure, they have answers. They are very efficient getting the ball down the field, so there’s always that fine line when you play them and you watch everybody try a lot of different ways. They are very good at completing the ball down the field, you got great coverage, (they make) back shoulder catches, they have answers to a lot of things. We have to worry about ourselves and playing much better. Obviously, we know we went down there a year ago and look at that, certainly missed tackles were a thing, yards after catch, that’s what they do, all those things, but again you mix it up, you bring pressure and they can get it down the field as well.”
On Mississippi State’s 3-3-5 defense…
“It gives a lot of people fits. I want to say they have maybe 12 turnovers, eight interceptions, four fumbles, 33 points off turnovers. They create a lot of havoc on a lot of people. They do a nice job with it. I think they’re very comfortable, they have great experience, I think Zach (Arnett) mixes it up and I think their team can handle it. They adjust and make calls based on formation sometimes and what you’re doing. They’re efficient at what they’re doing, so anytime they’re in that kind of configuration they can bring a lot of havoc in a lot of different ways and they have, again, with the numbers I just said.”
On not getting Destin Wade in the game last Saturday and what you like about him…
“We didn’t get to that point, obviously, with the way the game played out and we would love to get Destin in there a few plays and a package and see but the game didn’t play out that way, so we’ll see where it goes in the future.”
On how Destin Wade’s development is going…
“We’re impressed with the way he’s developing. We really are. We feel like he’s made a lot of improvements since he’s been here.”
On guys not knowing how to handle prosperity going into an SEC game…
“This past week? I don’t know, I hope not. I’m not sure. We have to get with some guys individually, talk to some guys individually, talk to guys collectively. I’ve got to talk to groups like you’ve mentioned. There’s a lot of work to be done but we’ve been here, we’ve been through this. We’ll work. There’s one way to get back on track and that’s to work, for everybody, to take accountability, to look at their area first and have an impact on others.”
On if the young guys on the team are grasping the lessons you’re teaching them…
“I don’t know exactly what the reason is. I can tell you from experience that this is all new to them. Playing under this pressure, with this intensity, with this type of consistency is new. That’s a fact. We still need them, count on them and appreciate the work they’ve done up to this point. They’ll continue to fight through it and we have to continue to coach them through it.”
On if it is that time of the season that everyone is banged up…
“It is, you’ve seen it. You saw other quarterbacks in the SEC that were not been able to play. Will (Levis) went through all last year (without missing a game), we were fortunate in that regard, this year we weren’t able to do that in this case. Injuries are a part of it and every team has them. You’re going to go through some ups and downs. Not sure we’ve gone through seven straight since I’ve been here, this might be the first time. Maybe once or twice, I don’t know. We’ve got to heal up and fight hard this week. We’ve got to get back to work and work exceptionally hard to prepare for this game. There is a bye (week) coming up after that and the guys will definitely need some time to rest.”
