Kentucky-South Carolina Postgame Quotes
UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY MEDIA CONFERENCE
September 7, 2024
Lexington, Kentucky, USA
Coach Mark Stoops
Press Conference
Kentucky – 6 , South Carolina – 31
MARK STOOPS: you know, last week after our game, I sat here and said I hadn’t been through anything like that in my time here. And this week I could kinda feel the exact same way. You know, we’ve been beaten, you know, pretty badly by some really good football teams. But I felt like our team always fought back. You know, we talk about it all the time. You get punched, you get hit, you swing back. Very disappointed. Not happy with us. Our coaching, our response, the way we played. You know, last week I thought under all of those chaotic circumstances, you know we played relatively clean like we’ve coached them. Today it didn’t look like we were a really well coached team and a team that didn’t really want to respond. You know, no coach – that’s 100% on me and on us. No excuses. They beat us in every facet and we didn’t respond. We didn’t play very good and we didn’t coach very good. We have a lot of work to do. It’s up to our team, how we respond and how we bounce back. I know the coaches will clearly put a lot of this on our shoulders. It is on us to get our team to compete at a higher level and execute with focus and have some discipline and execution because there wasn’t a lot of that today. Maybe get back to work. Again, there is no way to sugarcoat it. We got our butts beat and we will keep on swinging back.
Q Not to put words in your mouth. Are you saying you felt like they quit today?
MARK STOOPS: I didn’t say that.
Q Mark, obviously you had injuries on the offensive line, and even before that. It seemed like you were getting whipped up front. What do you think was happening in there?
MARK STOOPS: We talked about it early. We watched their game last week and we knew they had some guys up front that could wreck Some plays. You know, we were concerned about that going into it and knowing that we need to chip and protect our tackles from time to time. There are things we could do better with that. We have to play better. I thought, you know, full disclosure, like some calls I wish we could do over again. Some reads, you know we talked about not getting the ball in the perimeter early and letting those guys get up the field and hit big tackles for loss. You know, that is on me again. I gotta reemphasize that. When we run for 9 yards on first down, second and one. I’d like to go that way again. You know, I’d like to go forward, and not sideways. You know, we go backwards and lose 7 yards and there goes that possession. It’s just things of that nature that’s on me. I’ve got to do a better job. I’m sorry.
Q I was going to ask you. When Gavin was out there – was not working out for him or just trying to take care of the ball?
MARK STOOPS: I think both, Brock took a shot on the shoulder down there on one of those plays. And then just trying to get Gavin some reps. We wanted to him last week as well and just get him in there. Clearly, we were having a hard time with pass protection. So Gavin could scramble a little bit as well.
Q Could you see Brock kind of shaken up by that pressure?
MARK STOOPS: well, I don’t know if just shaken up but they clearly affected the quarterback and that is a good job by them. You know, and not good enough by us. I would not put it on him personally. I would credit them. They certainly disrupted him and his comfort level and that is what you are looking for on defense. It is affecting the quarterback whether it is multiple or certainly pressure and mixing things up and they affected him.
Q Was there any common threat of the ground coverages and throwing passes?
MARK STOOPS: Yeah, there was. There was two of them. There was one late and it was no excuse and we had seen it and corrected it and didn’t get it done. You know, that is the only complete blown coverage. The other ones, the same routes and they drained us out of some zones. You know, just didn’t play very good.
Q There seem to be a lot of optimism in the preseason about the offensive line. Was there a disconnect between what you saw ahead of the season and what happened today?
MARK STOOPS: We didn’t play good enough today. Period. I’m not going to put it all on the offensive line. But they didn’t play good enough. And I could probably say that about every group. We are in this together and every group needs to play at a higher level and they certainly do.
Q Mark, considering what everybody saw today, do you believe all of these problems are fixable going forward?
MARK STOOPS: they are going to have to be. We are going to get it fixed. I told the team that. We are going to have total buy-in. Guys are going to get to work. And they better come Monday ready to compete and fight and get better and pay attention to details and little things. You know, if you continue to strain and work then good things will happen. I did not see that effort like that. I did not like our response. Certainly, we’ve got to do our part on the coaching end to put them into the position to be more successful.
Q Mark, the decision to go for it on that fourth-down . Can you tell me your thought process, how do you think that impacted?
MARK STOOPS: Yeah, I think that was a bad decision, obviously. When it doesn’t work it’s a real bad decision. And probably pressed a little bit there. You know, honestly. Just a little frustrated. We weren’t moving the ball very good and it cost us three points and probably wasn’t a very good decision.
Q Mark, this happened early in the season and it’s just a game two and every team in the country is on their way in. What is the message to the team to try to get them to respond better?
MARK STOOPS: in so many words what I talk to you guys about, I mean, we are going to respond. When people hit us, we are going to hit back. I did not feel the edge and attitude and fight that we normally play with. But again, all of that stuff, it comes down to disciplined execution. You know, you have to strain, you have to play hard, but that’s during the week. That’s in the little details in doing things right and being mentally strong and physically strong and then compete when we are out there. You don’t know what’s gonna happen come to gametime. Wild things happen and you have to respond. We didn’t respond to that very well today.
Q Mark, how surprised were you by the amount of flags on the field today?
MARK STOOPS: Again, I didn’t see that coming. It hasn’t been our nature to have that many. It just goes to show you how undisciplined we were today.
Q On the offensive line, was there lack of cohesion there with that unit or effort?
MARK STOOPS: No excuses. We will see exactly what it was. Whoever is in there and whatever time, it doesn’t matter. But cohesion, you know, we have to execute better. We’ve got to block better and strain and do things better.
Q Mark, is there anything on Jager you can share with us?
MARK STOOPS: Jager was not available. He was out in this game. So, you know, to look forward it will be tough for him to get back by next week.
Q Mark, South Carolina – a win that helped build this program and went on to win five straight – what do you feel like needs to change the gain momentum?
MARK STOOPS: it’s hard, like I said, year to year with us. It’s hard for me to look back to last year and the year before. Win or lose, I said that to you guys, what? Monday? It’s an individual basis. I thought they did a nice job of responding. They felt like last week they could play better and they came in here and played a heck of a lot better and we need to do the same. I felt they did a nice job of cleaning things up and played very good football today, and beat us.
Q You had that nice, sustained drive in the first half and ran the ball 11 times in a row. When the offense is clicking, is that the tempo that you envision?
MARK STOOPS: yes, but we need to be more balanced. At that point we were running it and running it downhill and getting some yards and but the balance wasn’t there. We have to be able to protect and throw the ball. We were efficient doing that after this point, but not today.
Q I know Brock – bouncing back for him, what does that look like?
MARK STOOPS: I’m sure Brock will bounce back. He’s tough, he’s resilient. He will compete, I know that. We have to do a good job of putting him in position to be successful. We’ve got to get him some time and give him something to give him an opportunity.
Q Mark, earlier when you were talking about going sideways instead of forward. With Brock – was that the wrong read or the wrong play?
MARK STOOPS: It was the wrong read. Yeah.
Q I don’t want to put words in your mouth either. Are you implying it’s a loss of effort issue today?
MARK STOOPS: you know, I stand by what I said. I don’t need to put a headline out there. I’m not real happy with the way we played. I’m not real happy with the way we coached. I’m not real happy with the way we responded, you know, the way we executed, our effort, any of it. It’s not good enough. It’s not acceptable.
Q There was so much emphasis on how the team perform on Saturdays and how they do during the week. In hindsight, is there anything looking back at the build up that you could put your finger on?
MARK STOOPS: no, that’s what’s crazy. I felt like this week was cleaner and a little more focused than last week, you know. Again, no excuse whatsoever. This felt like game one. You know what I mean? Where you walk out there and it’s like – there are some things that happened today I can’t explain.
Q -He had a pretty decent game. Rushed for 70 yards. What do you have to say about him and the impact he’s had so far?
MARK STOOPS: He is a guy that has been very steady. He works hard. He ran the ball very tough today. He had some tough yards. I think we were efficient at time running the ball downhill. We have to get the balance that I talked about. When you drop back to pass you have to be able to protect, get the ball down the field, you know, when you can run the ball downfield it’s going to open up some play action if you can get it protected.
Q How do you feel about your offensive line depth? Did it feel like that drive – particularly this year especially if Jager –.
MARK STOOPS: guys are going to have to step up, bottom line. We need some guys to improve and get better. I think we all know that we need to continue to build depth in the offensive line and is a big point of emphasis for us.
Q Coach, there was a couple of times when Brock had his hands up before the snap and it was almost like he was confused or maybe – how do you feel like the communication was for this game? Because the last game you said the communication kind of took a second.
MARK STOOPS: I’m sure there were some issues, as I said. Across the board, there were some problems out there. I’m not sure exactly what play you were referring to. Thank you.
KENTUCKY FOOTBALL POSTGAME QUOTES
KENTUCKY VS. SOUTH CAROLINA
KROGER FIELD – LEXINGTON, KY.
SEPTEMBER 7, 2024
UK Student-Athletes
#12 Brock Vandagriff, QB
On the pressure…
“South Carolina’s defensive line played a great game. Some of that’s definitely on me though. I just got to be able to get the ball out and move around the pocket. Dudes were open. Just got to make sure I do my job in getting them the ball. Definitely could’ve played better back there myself.”
On bouncing back…
“We kind of shot ourselves in the foot today a few times. Everything is pretty correctable. I’m going to have to watch the film and get back to it. USC has a great team, but at the end of the day, we beat ourselves on offense.”
On looking forward to No. 1 Georgia…
“Yeah, Georgia’s got a good squad. We’ve got a good squad as well, but the main thing on my mind right now is putting this game to bed. Make sure we get in, get our corrections, and go through those at full speed on Monday. And then, we’ll attack Georgia when it’s time.”
#75, Eli Cox, OL
On how he feels the game went …
“It’s embarrassing. Our coach said to us before, we got ups and never responded. I think that was uncharacteristic of this program and where it’s been before. It’s an unacceptable performance from this whole team. No excuses from anybody.”
On if performance is fixable…
“I mean I think so, we haven’t watched the film yet but obviously it just feels like you’re one little detail off every play, and that’s special teams, offense, defense.”
On what’s coming next…
“You go to work. Nothing else you can do but go to work.”
#54, D’Eryk Jackson, MLB
On how the team bounces back from the loss…
“All we can do is come to practice Monday, and just work to be better for next week.”
On if South Carolina using two quarterbacks kept the defense on their toes…
“It did not really affect us because they are both kind of the same. They are both running quarterbacks, so we were prepared for it.”
On why the team did not have the normal response to this game…
“I can’t answer that because I really do not know. They just beat us, and we need to come back next week and be ready for the next week.”
#0, Demie Sumo-Karngbaye, RB
On being surprised from the outcome of the game…
“Very surprised, I never expected to lose and lose a game like that. I just never expected it.”
On the struggles in response…
“South Carolina had a great gameplan, we have to stay humble.”
On taking the ball 11 times and things going right then…
“I was holding the rock right. I had the right holds. Brock [Vandagriff] and I were connecting well, the offensive line was blocking right, and doing solid. Shoutout to the offensive line for that drive.”
South Carolina Head Coach Shane Beamer
Opening Statement …
“First of all best of luck to coach Stoops and his program. I told him after the game and it’s the truth that you know that we knew coming in here that we had to be really good to beat a team and a program like his and its respect for the way they do things and how well coached they are as well. Having said that, what a team win for our football program. The offense, defense, special teams, you talk about gritty. You talk about tough; you talk about competitive– we showed it all today. We said coming on the road you got to have great toughness, check. You have to have great physicality, check. When adversity hits you go to have great composure, check. And then great togetherness – and we showed that as well. We talked about [the] getting game into the fourth quarter and finding a way to win it and we absolutely did. You know I love you guys, think you’re fantastic at the jobs you do but frankly, there were some really false and lazy narratives out there. This week there was perception coming out of the Old Dominion game and I get it– it wasn’t great nobody thought we were going to win four games. But not just you guys, everybody out there – I get it. And that’s why the line, that’s why I don’t pay attention to gambling lines but that’s why the line continued to get bigger this week I think for Kentucky as the week went. I apologize if I just completely violated all protocols. There wasn’t a lot of belief in this program or in this team coming in here to be able to do what we just did against a really good team that has a veteran defense. I think 10 returning starters, great players, high draft picks, talented receivers but I told our team on Tuesday there’s perception and then there’s reality –and the reality was we got a good football team. The reality is that we played really good defense against Old Dominion last week, the reality is we started three true freshmen on offense last week and a redshirt freshman quarterback, and then we continued to get better. The reality is that we are really good on special teams, and we got a big-time punter as we showed today and ultimately the reality is we have a great belief. The 74 young men that came up here, the coaches and staff– this isn’t like some surprise. We truly expected to win this football game, knew it was going to take a lot. Knew it was going to take all of us, all 74 and we certainly were able to get it done. What a win and a lot of work to do. Nobody is sitting here anointing us right now, it’s a lot to clean up and we can play so much better– that’s what I just told the team in there as well. We scored 31 points, and I told the team on Tuesday nobody in this game, the winning team has not scored more than 24 points outside of COVID-19. The 2020 year, since I think 2015 or 16 and we got 31 and all three phases contributed to it so really proud of all the guys in our program, so happy for the older guys in our program that have been around here for a while. A lot of these guys, you know a couple of years ago when I came up here, I talked about it that I still needed this game up here in 2020 was the night Coach Tanner called me and after we made small talk for two or three minutes, finally said ‘are you ready to do this?’. I mean he offered me a job and Justin Keane sent me a text before the game with a picture of the spot he was standing at and in 2020 when he got word, the alert that I had been named the head coach of South Carolina and that was a great memory for me, for him. We came up here two years ago and that was a huge win for our program that night and to be able to come up here in ’24 on national television, first SEC game– we’re 1-0. We’re top of the SEC standings and it’s a great statement win for our program right now and a lot to build upon as well. We have to be a lot better; we have a big challenge next week with LSU but just so happy for the guys in the locker room. I’m sure you guys can hear them through the walls. We’re having a heck of a celebration as we should– it’s a great win against a really good team and our guys worked really really hard.”
On the line of scrimmage and physicality…
“I know our physicality and toughness up against anybody and we knew and said all week that this was going to be an extreme fight and that was the exact words we used with our team. It wasn’t going to be pretty when we played these guys and there was going to be some ugly runs. They are going to make some plays, in which they certainly did today. We needed to be greedy and physical and tough and composed through adversity because there was no question about it. There was a lot of talk about Kentucky’s defensive line and front seven and rightfully so. Deone Walker is going to play in the NFL for a long time, J.J. Weaver is a really good pass rusher, and D’Eryk Jackson and Jamon Dumas-Johnson are great linebackers. Our defense is pretty good too, there was not a lot of talk about our front seven. That group is really good up front. Kentucky isn’t the only veteran defense out there today. We’ve got a lot of guys that have played football for a while as well. The perception of our defense was really good and we are making that our reality. We are planning on playing like we did last season, as you guys are aware we won five out of our last six games. I know it is easy to say, ‘You won the games you were supposed to win, you beat the teams you were supposed to beat…’ five out of six is still five out of six and that is what excites me. We are just scratching the surface of how good we can be.’
On calling his team fighters…
“Hell yeah, if that’s what people want to say about my team, we were a bunch of fighters at the end of the season. Do I want it to be ugly at all, no. Would I like to run the ball for more than 86 yards and throw it for more than 166? But one thing about us is that we are going to continue to get better on offense and we are good on special teams and will continue to get better on defense. We played a lot of young guys out there. Fred Johnson got out there and played some today in our three-down package and we had some young defensive backs in there. So, we will continue to get better.
South Carolina Student-Athletes
#93, Nick Barrett, DT
On what it was like in the secondary today with successful edge rushing…
“It makes it extremely easy. Guys like TJ, Tonka, Kyle Kennard, and Dylan Stewart up there, like rushing the passing, you back there like chilling. I mean almost like they don’t need us better to play. It makes it extremely easy to play DB.”
On how fun it is to play football when the other team won’t throw it…
“It’s amazing. Once we figured it out. I guess, like, they want to play, like, smash ball type of football, you know, that’s what we want.”
On taking us through his pick-six …
“It was a certain coverage. Coach White was doing a good job calling his defense all game, and I just read the quarterback, turned my head, grabbed an interception, and took it for six. I think I got a flag. I apologized to coach, and coach was like, probably wasn’t smart football.”
#90, T.J. Sanders, DT
On what allowed them to exploit Kentucky’s offensive line …
“I don’t think it was anything special. I just think what we practiced this week, a lot of guys got pretty good in pass rush, one-on-ones this week, and all of that stuff you see translates to the game really well. There’s nothing special. It’s just about preparing for that moment.”
On what it’s like having Kyle Kennard and Dylan Stewart on either side of you…
“Oh yeah, knowing those two guys are out there… Like because a lot of times last year we have the running backs kind of blocking the tackles a little, but now, like, their focus is on our air guys. Boys, been balling lately, and that’s just freeing it up for us and vice versa. I mean, we complement each other out there really well..”
