Mark Stoops Monday Press Conference
Mark Stoops News Conference
Post-South Carolina, Pre-Georgia
September 9, 2024
Opening statement …
“Apologize for being a few minutes late, had a few things to do this morning as you can imagine. I would like to start with reiterating how proud we are of Tim and congratulations to Tim Couch and going into the Hall of Fame, well deserved. We are very excited for him.
“After watching the film postgame for South Carolina, much of what I said after the game holds true, with one exception and it’s a good thing. After watching the film I do think our guys played really hard. We just didn’t play very smart, I said that in the postgame as well and it holds true. We didn’t execute very good, and we didn’t play very disciplined, we didn’t play winning football at all. We played hard at times, guys were physically up for the challenge, just mentally we have to do a better job. And you have to put a lot of that and give credit to South Carolina for that as well, they affected us, they played very good. They played better than us, that’s the bottom line. They played very good especially defensively, offensively they did a really good job as well. I think Dowell Loggains (South Carolina offensive coordinator) does a heck of a job. They hung in there.
“Somebody asked me a question postgame about going for it (on fourth down) and that was clearly a mistake on me. The game was very tight at that point and both teams were struggling to move the football. I think they went up 17 on the eighth or ninth possession of the game and that was on the (South Carolina) 4th and 1. I think we had them stopped and I think they were going to punt the ball and it’s 10-6 game at that point. Would have been closer possibly if I had punted the ball instead of going for it 4th and 1. The next possession there were two or three balls on the ground and we just can’t scoop it. We had an opportunity to do so with those things.
“Bottom line is, in summary, is what I said after the game — give them credit, South Carolina played very good and we didn’t play good enough, starting with myself, our staff, all the way down to the players. I talk about it all the time, I don’t think we have to deliver it to a different way to the players but it comes down to disciplined execution. I talk about it all the time but it holds true. In that game I think South Carolina had six explosive plays for 152 yards. And of the explosives three of them were complete technique issues, just playing football. Several of them were good on their part, one was a realcompetitive play on an RPO between one of our wide receivers and Max (Hairston) on a really tight play. The other wheel route was a good concept, they sucked up one of our guys’ eyes and hit the wheel route for the touchdown to make it 17. So, just a lot that we can improve on. And again, give them credit, Shane Beamer and their staff did a better job than us, they beat us and late it got away from us with a pick-six.
“Offensively, clearly, we got out of rhythm, we didn’t play very good and you cannot have penalty after penalty after penalty. That part of it, the execution, the undisciplined play, was embarrassing. The penalties and things of that nature, just can’t do it. We are still in the game and hit the big pass out to the 30 or so and then we have 2 more penalties after that. That is just totally unacceptable, unexpected and it is what it is. So, we better turn the page quickly but we have to own that first. And that is what we are all going to do, we are going to own it and all have to take charge of our responsibility and our job and do it with pride. We have to hone in on what we are going to do and clearly do it better and make sure we put our players in a position to be successful.
“We must improve as you know, the schedule only gets harder with playing Kirby’s (Kirby Smart) team, playing Georgia, the number one team in the nation. They deserve that and I guess you could flip a coin between Texas, they both look like they are awfully impressive. We get the opportunity to play four of the top six in the coming weeks. So, that’s a joy (laughter). But, it’s a great opportunity and I mean that. I have great respect for Kirby, Georgia, their staff. Mike Bobo has been there forever, off and on, played there with Kirby and those guys do a great job. Carson Beck, just a remarkable player, hitting on all cylinders right now, and just a very good, tough player. He throws it in rhythm, he throws it very precise, but he is awfully tough as well. He’ll pull it down, scramble, buy time, run with his feet, lower his shoulder. You name it, he does it. You can see he is a clear leader on a very good veteran team. Their wideouts can really go. They have some wideouts with great top-end (speed) and always have great backs. This year with (Trevor) Etienne and the freshman (Nate Frazier), they are very impressive young men.
“(Georgia is a) Very good team defensively, you know what you are getting there. You are always getting a great defense with a bunch of guys that have a lot of length, a lot of strength and that are coached very well and play very well. So, we know that going in with Georgia, you have to compliment them because they deserve it. They have done it with consistency for a long time.
“For us, we have to improve. Bottom line. We have to get better and we have a great opportunity to do that this week against one of the very best teams in the country. We will be up for that challenge. I do expect our team to respond. There were so many good plays that got overlooked. Defensively, we created a lot of negative plays, had the ball on the
ground, we have to get some of those to give us an opportunity, that spark that we needed. There was a ton of negative yards created and a lot of pressure, and then some ones that we missed, even late, after it got to 17, I think the next one we had a couple of opportunities. Those third downs were hurtful, they only converted three, but they were painful, they were a painful three. We lost contain to give up the score to make it 24 on a play that is just fundamental football. I think a lot of things are fixable and the other things we have to make sure we have a good plan to get fixed and improved.”
On distinction between playing hard and playing undisciplined…
“Yeah, it’s a great point and it’s true. We were clearly undisciplined at times. Defensively, we played exceptionally hard, created a bunch of negative yardage plays, the ball’s on the ground. One series the ball is clearly up for grabs two plays in a row, and we can’t get it. And so that’s what I mean, they played hard. We just didn’t play very smart, and with execution and with the discipline. You know, like the (defensive) 4th and one, it looks like a comedy of errors at times, but it’s like guys are up there and I have to look at it, and the creative way that they did it, I thought you weren’t allowed to do. By putting somebody under center, and then the quarterback clapping behind him, with him moving his foot. I didn’t think you were allowed to do that. But, no excuses, we have to be smart and understand those things, so that’s what I am talking about. They are playing hard, just not very smart right there. Offensively, there’s things of execution that were inexcusable. Give them credit, they’re hard to block, we said that going into it. We knew they were hard to block. We knew their edge was going to be a threat, and they have some really good talented players that can create some havoc. And their inside guys, people underestimate them. I talk about them; they’re experienced players, they’re good through the middle, and guys have been around, and they added some edge. They disrupted us, and that gets us a little out of rhythm. I thought there was things we could do better, and we have to own that part. You know, when we ran the ball downhill, like we did in the third or fourth drive, by that time is takes some confidence away. I made the bad decision to go for it, put it to a two-score game, you start getting negative yardage plays on your side, you start losing that confidence. For us, our part we could take better ownership. Stick to our plan of running down early, not letting them wreck us with the edges, with their dynamic guys. We started doing that, we just lost the confidence in throwing, at that point in time, our protection, at that point in time.”
On how there can be a difference between run blocking and pass blocking…
“Yeah, you know we have to be able to run the ball, so we can protect. For defenses, if you get in predictable, if you get the offense in predictable pass, then those guys are going to tee off and again we knew that, their front was hard to block, and certainly their all front. They hurt inside, and they hurt us outside. So, if we are chipping and trying to help the tackles, their inside guys got pressure as well. And, you know, with run game, I thought our coaches did a very good job of anticipating the three down (linemen) with the spoke defense, and they did that. They opened the game with it. We had an answer for it, and they got back in the four down (linemen), and we didn’t have a real good answer for their pass rush on that, so we became one-dimensional, and you have heard me say it a bunch of times, you get one-dimensional, it’s not good.”
On if pass blocking issues were communication or missed assignments…
“We had guys getting beat. We got beat inside, two guys inside got beat with one-on-ones. On the edge, we got beat several times. We chipped, and just the overall pocket was, not good enough. There’s a lot of people in that boat. That’s why you got to be creative and do the things we can do well. We just got out of rhythm. And give them credit, we talk it about all the time affecting the quarterback, making him uncomfortable, and they certainly did that.”
On getting the ball out quickly…
“We took ourselves out of position with that big pass to Dane (Key), we go quick, we throw it outside, and we lose five yards. Then, the next play, I think we got sacked, or had a penalty. We took ourselves completely out of field goal range trying to go quick. We had numbers, missed a block, and they played it very aggressively, and we got beat on it. But we were trying to get the perimeter. I think a painful play, as I mentioned after the game, was the nine-yard run on first down, and then second down, lose seven or eight on the perimeter. The read, the pull was there to get the first down. There is another play, the same play that you are talking about, on the perimeter we could’ve handed it, and I think a hand would’ve gotten five yards, instead we go back five.”
On handling Brock Vandagriff going into Georgia…
“Yeah, I think he’ll be fine. We have to play good around him. You’ve heard me say, and it’s very, very true, he has to have some time, and we have to have a good plan for him. He’s playing a great defense. Brock is a tough, resilient guy. We have to play well around him. We have to put him in positions to be successful, and he’ll be good. We’ll just leave it at that. I have confidence that he’ll get back and play well.”
On if pass protection issues are a product of changing systems again…
“I’m going to own it, I’m going to take my bullets. The continuity clearly doesn’t help. And recruiting it doesn’t help with the inconsistency we’ve had in the turnover. We have to settle in, we have to recruit. I have unbelievable confidence in Coach Wolf (Eric Wolford), especially with the way he recruits and the way he coaches. We just have to continue to build that up. Over three/four years, attrition, it takes its toll on you.”
When recruiting Brock, with having thrown 21 passes at Georgia, did you have to go back to his high school film for evaluation…
“I’ve addressed that several times already, and I’m not going to second guess myself because of this game. Brock, we saw him play a complete game in game one, and we saw the way he’s capable of playing. We did not have a good game on Saturday, that is not all on Brock. We didn’t give him a chance half the time, let’s be honest. So, you can’t put that on him.”
[Rephrase of question, did you need to look at Brock’s high school film for recruiting evaluation] “Of course you do. You look at all avenues. You look at everything you can and make the best decision.”
[On how he played against UK last year, if that impressed you] “Of course it did. As I’ve mentioned several times, when you did see him in there, you see the way he operated. You know the system that he comes from; it’s a complicated, very good system. He’s been asked to do a lot, and when he came in, it was just very smooth, very good, and very clean. Again, he’s one play away from playing in some of the most important games of the year. So, I think that tells you that he’s a pretty good player.”
On opponent’s completion percentage…
“Again, it’s just like the third downs. We had some great negative yardage plays, we mix it up, we were getting pressure on them, getting the ball on the ground, got the pick, but you know, you can’t have any breakdowns at all, especially when it’s just fundamentals. Sometimes they’re going to beat you. It’s like the one third down, on third and 11, we played some man (coverage), and they beat us. They won the one-on-one. And then the third and 14, that hurt us bad. Again, no excuses. We had two guys playing the wrong coverage because of the technology. And that’s no excuse. The guys that had the communication were actually playing the wrong call, the two inside guys. So, everybody else wasn’t because they saw the sign (from the sideline), and he heard what he heard.”
On Trevor Etienne…
“You see a very good football player, him and (Nate) Frazier, they’re dynamic. Georgia, they always have guys that are explosive, but Etienne, yeah I think he’s just another added weapon for a very good football team that has an O-line that is very cohesive. They play very well together and very well coached with Stacy Searels. They’re just a good group with Carson (Beck) at quarterback and the dynamic receivers they have and now you put the running backs in there, it’s an explosive group.”
On team responding and the difficulty in college football of cultivating resolve when there are so many moving parts (player movement) in college football…
“Like I told you postgame, we’ve taken some tough losses, gotten our butts whooped pretty bad but teams have always have had the resolve, the toughness and the grit to fight back and get themselves up. I can’t put that all on them, you know what I mean, after watching the film. We have to own our part too, we have to put them in a position to be successful. You know some of the penalties are inexcusable. They’re not coached to do that, but we also have to do our part, put them in a position to be successful. So we’re all in it together, we’re all going to take it, take ownership of it and the big thing is everybody has to take charge of their own self and their job and their area. Better execution and take pride in what we do. We have done that, we’ve done that well, that’s why we’ve had the consistency that we’ve had. We want more wins, we want to play better but we’ve also had some consistency that is not exactly easy in this league.”
On Brock being less likely to run last week after being over-aggressive in the first game…
“I do, I think that’s part of it, on us and making sure he’s not getting hit too much. There’s going to be some designed quarterback runs but also not putting it all on him. That is a perfect example in hindsight again I’m not throwing Bush (Hamdan) or anybody else, we talk about things openly, we’re going to own our stuff. To me there’s no read there, you hand the ball off or you throw it. If you want to play-action, throw it, but don’t put the read in there. Don’t give him that decision. Hand the ball off or throw the ball. But something where we’re reading it, when he was knocked around quite a bit in that first game, and we are talking to him about being smart and protecting himself. Now with that being said, we knew early on we didn’t want to get that ball on the perimeter and taking negative yardage plays with how disruptive getting up the field some of those guys are.”
On the importance of team leadership this week…
“I think it’s going to be super important, and it started yesterday with guys filtering around the office, and I had a conversation with somebody that’s been a captain around here for a while, great guy, and Eli (Cox) and I sat there and talked and that’s the first thing I asked, ‘Am I missing something here, what am I missing?’ and I think he had the same feeling that I had, that we did not see that coming and it felt like we have the toughness and the grit and the pride to get things fixed.”
On the week of preparation…
“No, I think that holds true, again, just reinforcing to your question, Eli (Cox) is a guy that I trust, he’s mature, he’s smart, he’s been around here forever and that’s what he said, without me feeding him anything or hearing anything I’m sure I read or said, he (said) it was a great week, we felt like everybody was really good and tuned in. You have to go out there and play and, they played better than us and they coached better than us.”
On the selection of team captains this season…
“The way it was distributed, there were a lot of guys with votes and a whole bunch of them that were separated by one vote. it’s just one of those situations where you can just rotate, who’s playing well, who’s leading, who’s showing, in times like this, who’s going to stand up this week and be great leaders and some people vote for captains at the end of the year because they want to see the whole body of work and how we do respond to adversity, that’s real leadership, so I think that’s a big part of it. Adversity will reveal a man to himself, through this adversity we’ll see who responds and who owns it and pulls their own weight and pulls some people up with them, and I felt fine about that. Again, conversations with some guys on the team that I have great faith and confidence in, they felt the same way, I always use the 10-80-10 analogy, 10% elite, 80% in the middle, and 10% at the bottom, and before I said a word guys are telling me, ‘Coach don’t worry about it, there’s no 10% pulling anybody down.’ We just have to stick to it, we have some problems, we have some areas that we knew, we’ve got to continue to develop and get better. Meanwhile, we’ve got to make sure that we have a plan to help them be successful.”
If anyone on the offensive line graded well…
“Not really because, there was like one play, maybe, but it was a big play, what I talked about on third down, can’t give up any of those in critical moments, in a tight game, and that’s where they did a much better job than us. I think each of us only converted three (third downs), but two of theirs, I know went on the touchdowns, but offensively, I think there are some guys that strained, that did some good things but they had one play that hurt us inside. It’s not for lack of effort all the time, some of it is things that I preach all the time, we have to just be mentally on point, 100% of the time and that’s what we have to get back to this week, just making sure we have a game plan that they can execute and operate and hold everybody accountable to do that.”
