Kentucky-Vanderbilt Postgame Quotes
UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY MEDIA CONFERENCE
October 12, 2024
Lexington, Kentucky, USA
Coach Mark Stoops
Press Conference
Kentucky – 13 , Vanderbilt – 20
MARK STOOPS: You know, another disappointing loss. And when I turn on the film tonight and I’m
going to see a lot of the same mistakes that we made in another loss earlier this year. I tried to head
it o1 as best I could. I obviously didn’t get it done. About our team and controlling our emotions and
executing. You know, you don’t win games by being all psyched up or just being irrational. It comes
down to disciplined execution. I tried like hell to beat that into our heads and to play winning
football in all areas. When you continuously hurt yourself with penalties, turnovers, missed
assignments, not making plays, I’m obviously not getting through to them. You know, I understand
what winning football looks like and I know what it doesn’t look like. We certainly didn’t do that
today and I’m very disappointed in myself and our sta1 for not getting this team ready. And I have to
do a better job. I can promise you it wasn’t for lack of e1ort. You know, I need to challenge them
some more and I need to call upon some leaders on the team and hopefully, you know get some
help in some di1erent areas and have some guys step up. Because we can play winning football.
I’ve told you many times. You guys have seen it. We have to play very good. We have to play
complementary football. We have to do things right to win games no matter who you are playing. I
think you’ve seen that across this league. Very clearly that wasn’t winning football. With the
penalties and turnovers and missed assignments. Basic stu1 that, again, it’s going to go back to a
loss that we had earlier in the year. It’s going to look very similar in a lot of ways. Obviously, that’s
not very good on my part to let that happen again. Again, I can promise you I tried like heck not to let
that happen.
Q Mark, We talked so much about the possible momentum since that South Carolina game,
did you see signs of this during the buy week or do you feel like we are still competing?
MARK STOOPS: No. I really didn’t. Since week two our guys have gone about it in a businesslike
approach. It comes down to doing things right. Nobody is going to be perfect but we are striving to
be and we’ve been playing some good football. And we go back to playing non winning football
today. That is very frustrating on all of us. Unbelievably amazing environment. Great support, you
know, beautiful night. We go play like that. It’s very frustrating and, obviously I’ve got to do a lot
better job.
Q Mark. You have been able to move the ball o-ensively, but the red zones were touching on
been an issue all year. Tonight – is there a common theme or anything?
MARK STOOPS: Well, penalty really killed us tonight. It’s one, you know we should have came up
with at least three and drop that one so thats obviously very frustrating. To have the ball at the half
yard line and come away with zero points. It comes down to discipline. Getting the penalty. And
getting backed up and knocked Burton. I don’t know if I can point it to any one thing. Just lack of
execution in the critical moments. I think when you are a play caller and it’s probably a fine line
when we’re getting it down there and hammering it and pounding it and getting some good yards,
you know, call the shots, do you run it, you know, if we could have that one back over again, we
would get under center and sneak the thing and we’ve been pretty e1icient with that.
Q Would you consider taking the o-sides before that – they got o-sides on the – first and goal
versus second and goal for one?
MARK STOOPS: The ball was on the 6 inch line. You know, the ball was on the 6 inch line, I guess I
don’t even – I mean I guess we should have in hindsight give it to the center and sneak the ball into
the end zone. We got I want to say 2 to 3 yards on that play. So, it still would have been, instead of
being at the 6 inch line or 4 inch line, it would’ve been at the 1.5 or 2 and I thought we could get 4
inches, 6 inches, whatever that is.
Q Mark, it felt like a struggle to find a way to get some explosive plays at times in a couple –
What do you think you guys have to do to be able to break some of those o-?
MARK STOOPS: I think getting into a rhythm and getting plays. We knew going into this game that
possessions were going to be at a premium. I don’t have that final stat line. I think it we had six at
half and there was not many possessions at this game. With way they possess it. Just looking at
the final. I just got a quick copy here of the stats. We have 23 first downs and that’s pretty good.
They usually have a boatload too because of the way they move it and they had 19 and we had 23
but they obviously made the most and scored some points and we came away with a goose egg in
the red zone there and we also fumbled in the high red and didn’t help us as well. You know, as bad
as we played, we still had opportunities.
Q Mark. It felt like a lot of the big momentum shifting plays were on special teams tonight. The
field goals, the extra points. What did you see out of those groups?
MARK STOOPS: Very uncharacteristic and frustrating. You know, I felt like Barion had the big kicko1
return. He’s going to be kicking himself because I felt like one cut and he might’ve had a touchdown
there. That is if’s and butts and I’m still grateful he got it out to the 50. And then on the punt return
he got a great return and a big spark when we needed it and we had a foolish penalty. There is no
excuse for it. It’s a young man that plays very hard and is a freshman and is away from the ball and
it was a foolish penalty. And a very costly one.
Q Mark, it seems like in the last couple of weeks you been able to get o- the field – but tonight
it wasn’t the case. What do you think went wrong?
MARK STOOPS: I think it was, they kept them- I see the final statistics here. 8 of 13. I would imagine
if you looked at that a lot of the ones that converted were pretty reasonable. Probably three or less.
And they do a nice job with their o1ense of executing. I bet you our number was pretty high if it was,
5, 6, 7, 8. We had some critical stops in some critical moments. I felt like later in that game again
we put ourselves in a bad position.
Q Mark. How would you assess the best overall player tonight?
MARK STOOPS: It is one of those games that frustrating and they do a nice job and we knew that
going into it and we knew possessions were going to be key. You know, you hold them to 20. I think
that part is pretty good but there was clearly some frustrating yards in there. And as you mentioned
some critical first downs that were hard and keeps you o1 balance and they do a nice job of
converting and – was a playmaker and does some really good things and he’s been doing it all year.
Q What conversation do you think – receptions – fumble –?
MARK STOOPS: You know, it’s just like the whole team. I talked, clearly tried to get our players to
control their emotions and be disciplined in what we are doing. On defense, it is the eye discipline
and in control of our eyes because of all of the deception and fall back plays and all of the di1erent
options and di1erent things they do that we have to be very clued into. And then just overall as a
team, I knew I think the guys were excited coming o1 of a big win and coming and playing at home
and you asked me that question last week, Mark, about playing at home. It’s a fair question and I’ve
looked at it too and thought about it and talked to the guys and talked to them about coming here
and having our composure, having our control. I talked to them about it openly. Like what is it man,
like no distractions? Do we have a lot of people coming in? Do you have ticket problems?
Whatever it is, like – put it away and dial in and commit to doing the things necessary to win in this
game and obviously I did not do a good enough job. I tried to addressing it and addressing all of it
about really focused and disciplined and like I said emotion doesn’t win you games. Execution,
discipline execution wins you games.
Q You had a long discussion with o-icial before you called the timeout. What happened with
that situation?
MARK STOOPS: I was trying to buy time to see if they were going to look at it but theythey were
telling me that they couldn’t get a clear view why they didn’t buzz it in and my guys upstairs thought
that it was a fumble. I was buying time in our discussion. And then ultimately, I got feedback that I
should. So, I did. I felt like that was a pretty critical moment. I ended up with 3 there but it was a
critical time in the game.
Q Mark. It’s easy to cherry pick staff, when you go back out and plan on -average of 12 yard
carry and 3 touches-?
MARK STOOPS: Yeah. I think overall rushes, what we had today. 31. A lot of them are going to be
Brock. I think it just depends. I mean, Jamarion is a good player, we are bringing him along and I’m
happy with him and he does run very good but there’s a lot of other things that go into it.
Q Mark. Do you think there was a big emphasis on – the o-ense got a slow start – consistently
this year?
MARK STOOPS: I think if I’m not mistaken that first one we had a pretty good chance to get points
and we got a stupid penalty. That didn’t help. And you know, I believe, was that the opening drive?
We were in the 4 down territory right there and I already told them. Again, we didn’t play winning
football today. Bottom line. Whether it was the first drive or last drive. We didn’t play winning
football. We were not very smart in any way. You know, we didn’t play well enough period.
Q What do you think the voice is not getting through?
MARK STOOPS: I don’t know. They hear me talk a lot and I clearly have tried to work extremely hard
on messaging and getting through to them. I think they have responded since earlier in the year and
I hope they have the same response right now. This league is very di1icult right now. If you haven’t
noticed, I think it’s pretty tough on a lot of people. If you don’t come and play well you will lose.
Everybody, we all know that and feel that as coaches. So, I don’t know if it’s not being heard. I
wouldn’t say that. You said that and you are allowed to say whatever you want. I still feel like this
team will respond the right way and I will continue to grind over this team to put them in a position
to be successful.
Q I think you were the least penalized team in the SEC coming into the game. When you get
into a situation like this. How many – frustration in a game behind and you are trying to catch
up?
MARK STOOPS: I think it’s a fair point. I think our guys were frustrated. Things happen in games in
that pile and commotion. I will just leave it at that. That part of it had no bearing on the game.
There was some things going on that were really frustrating for our guys.
Q You had to can keep your composure?
MARK STOOPS: Yeah, we do. I don’t think that changed the outcome of the game – it could have, it
can, and it could rear its ugly head at any time. If you are undisciplined. There was some frustrating
aspects of it. And I think I’m sure I’m going to look at it and I’m sure I will feel like some of the fouls
could have been very touchy or 50-50 and I will feel like some of them are clearly warranted.
KENTUCKY FOOTBALL POSTGAME QUOTES
KENTUCKY VS. Vanderbilt
KROGER FIELD – LEXINGTON, KY.
October 12th, 2024
UK Student-Athletes
#0, Demie Sumo-Karngbaye, RB
On continuing the mindset of doing your job and being more explosive…
“I can do well and we still lose which is not the ultimate goal, so it’s kind of a double-edged sword. I can’t get too happy about what I’m doing and be selfish about the things that I’m doing when we’re losing games. It’s just hard.”
On if keeping a positive mindset after losing is getting easier or harder…
“It definitely doesn’t get easier taking another loss, but that just shows true character. Our true colors are about to show after this week, so whatever happens behind the scenes when adversity hits, that’s when your true character and your true colors come out.”
On coach not getting through to the team about playing with emotion…
“I just feel like that was the case tonight. It showed tonight and we can’t point the finger at anybody but ourselves, so I agree with coach. We need to go back to the drawing board with what we did at Ole Miss and doubling it, whatever we did with film, practicing hard, just going two times harder than what we were doing, because clearly, it’s not enough.”
#12, Brock Vandagriff, QB
On beating Ole Miss on the road but losing at home…
“I didn’t really play well to start off with. I did some things I shouldn’t have done, obviously. I thought our guys up front played well, but I just have to be better back there at quarterback, be a better leader, be a better player and be better on the sidelines, things of that sort. I have to look myself in the mirror and get better obviously. We have a week to prepare, and we will be back out there next Saturday.”
On if he felt like the offense lost any faith due to the penalties…
“No, sir, I think our squad is a bunch of dudes that are going to go out there and fight. Especially on offense, we had to settle some guys down. I mean, we were down 20-7, and the dudes were juiced up on the sidelines and ready to go out there and play, and its kind of finding the happy medium between being juiced up and being reckless and making sure that we were not hurting the team and not hurting the offense with our actions. Like I said, I have to be a better leader on the sidelines and things of that sort, making sure that everything is running smoothly, and I just have to step up.”
On how he feels physically…
“Physically, pretty good. I just played a football game, so I have some dings and bruises of that sort, but we have a great training staff here, and I’ll be ready to go next Saturday.”
#54, D’Eryk Jackson, LB
On the UK pick six and sack and how that affected momentum…
“It just didn’t go our way. But we just have to go out there and just work. Then go out there next week so we can play Florida next week.”
On conversions how UK plans to correct their losses….
“People just weren’t doing their jobs, we weren’t doing our jobs. We just have to come in next week and practice hard and just try and put this loss behind us, and come in and practice hard next week.”
On the energy in the locker and player morale…
“I know we are going to bounce back. I know we are going to come in next week to practice, and have a good week, and try to put this out of our minds.”
On what he does as a leader when the game is not going their way…
“I mean I lead by example and how I play on the field. You can talk to people, but you really just have to come in and everybody has to do their job, and we will be straight.”
#10, Jamarion Wilcox, RB
On overall thoughts on the game…
“Communication problems. We have to talk better, play better, play smarter on both sides of the ball, play as a unit. Kudos to Vanderbilt for sticking with their gameplan, doing what they did.”
On their home record and keeping their composure…
“I don’t think… I mean, it’s not about the message, I think, you know, no matter what message you give to the team, you got to go out there and execute the call, play as a team but you know, I don’t think we played our ball today, but the reason why? I don’t know but we got to play the ball, you’ve already seen what type of ball we can play as a team, that just didn’t happen today, like I said, why? I don’t know but we got to go back in the lab and fix a couple things, it’s already over now.”
On when things are going wrong, how to vocalize it to the defense…
“I calm them down, you know, I’ve been in situations like this and came out on top multiple times so you know, get a good stop, get a quick stop, clearing out, give the offense a chance and I think that’s what we did, last two minutes, but, you know, the message is calm down, we’re good, get it through, get it quick, get the ball back, get some time, give them plenty of time to do what they do. But, you know, flags are a part of the game, we got to limit the flags, when we limit the flags, we have a chance, but you know when we get flags we kind of take the game out of the picture, that’s it, you know, calm down, just get through and out quick, give the offense a chance to score.
On responding to the last loss well and repeating that…
“No, I don’t want to keep repeating losing. Play another team and win again. I’m not used to that, I am not from that, and I am not trying to get used to it, you know. We have to make some changes, not try, we’ve got to make some changes, I’m not used to this feeling, and I don’t like this feeling.”
KENTUCKY FOOTBALL POSTGAME QUOTES
KENTUCKY VS. VANDERBILT
KROGER FIELD – LEXINGTON, KY.
OCTOBER 12, 2024
Vanderbilt Head Coach Clark Lea
Opening Statement …
“That was a physical, tough, hard fought win against a really good opponent and I give credit to Coach Stoops and his team. That was a gutsy win and we had to bring it for four quarters, they weren’t going to let off. I thought it was emotional early, I thought there was a little too much emotion there early on. You know that’s a signature of Kentucky teams, they’re gonna fight and be tough, and then coming off a bye week, I thought in the first half they kinda had the physical edge but as the game settled there, as the half extended, I felt like we started to get into rhythm and we were able to play to our identity. To obviously finish the half with points was huge. I’m proud of our team, you know we’re not surprised to be here. We knew it was going take everything we had. The guys delivered and we get to celebrate a win on the road which is always special. You know, for us, this is going to be a chance to – we’ll celebrate on the bus ride home, we’ll get home late and pretty quickly there afterward were going to switch our attention there to Ball State. Again, I’m grateful for the team I have, I’m grateful for their competitive spirit. I’m very proud of the fight they’ve shown and the belief they have in one another and, you know, we expected to win that game and they delivered. And so credit to them.”
On coming off the win and keeping focus throughout the week…
It says that the team is hungry for more and we are not going to let one game define our season. I think sometimes external narratives try to paint that picture and it has never been our reality. We know how to celebrate and we know that last week was an important marker for us, we do get that, but it is always about what comes next. There are things we can clean up tonight. How we can find our highest level as a team and really have some fun. This team is focused and I think we are having a lot of fun right now. Just not even independent results, this team likes each other and I hope that everyone is watching the competitive spirit and affection these guys have for one another, because I don’t know if that happens everywhere in college football anymore. I shared that with the team afterwards. I am inspired by the way they play for one another in a world that has been defined by transaction. Not that transaction is not important but this is a team that is fighting together and they understand that they are apart of something bigger than themselves and I am very proud of them, but I think that defines a lot of the process that they take and the focus that they have because they want to be great for each other on Saturday.
On Diego Pavia’s knee and him playing…
Well, short of amputation I think that dude is playing. He is tough, I mean I am not sure of specifics but he got his knee banged up, they just wanted to check on it, he’s fine. He’s going to get banged up, this is a tough stretch. He is a fun player to have on the team, he fights every night, he’s got the chip on the shoulder that defines our program and he is going to be okay.
On Miles Capers injury and if he is going to be okay…
Miles is doing well, he joined us for the end of the game on the sideline. I want to credit our medical team, I think anytime you are dealing with a neck injury you want to be so cautious and take every precaution. Our doctors and Ray (Lysinger) the work they did to get to Miles, assess Miles, I mean you want to talk about a group of pros. The way they talked to Miles and calmed him down. I also want to thank Kentucky’s medical team who was there to assist. And also want to thank Coach Stoops, who at that moment, anytime as a coach that you have a player down and they are bringing the board out, that is a tough moment and Coach Stoops was such a class act to check on him and check on me. Again I think this program has been the signature for a program builder that sustains success. I am happy to report that Miles is doing well, I don’t know if there will be lingering effects, but he is doing just fine and he has a smile on his face. He was happy to be back on the sidelines, a scary moment but again I thank everyone involved medically that took the precautions necessary to make sure he was okay.
Vanderbilt Student-Athletes
#5, Richie Hoskins, WR
On Diego getting banged up…
“We’re not surprised. That kid’s a dog. We’ve known it since he’s been here, we knew it when he was on his way. That’s a true leader. He’s going to put the pain aside and go win a football game, and we love that about him.”
On the offense controlling the line of scrimmage…
“Fully the union, the offensive line, they’ve been physical. We saw last week versus Alabama, and they came out and did it again. Smacked them in the mouth, and it all starts there with everything.”
On having good stats …
“There’s not necessarily any satisfaction; there’s obviously still a job to do, individually and as a team. I think it’s important that I, myself, and the rest of the team… I mean at the end of the day stats don’t matter it’s the points that do, and the wins that do, and that’s what’s important to us.”
#24, Nick Rinaldi, LB
On his sack late in the game …
“Shoutout the rest of the d-line on that play. It sort of led to me being able to rip up on Brock late and sort of fall into a tackle. It wasn’t necessarily a move that I put on, it was just trying to cage the quarterback. At the end of the game, you really just need to make him stay in the pocket. I had a mistake on a play earlier and let him roll out, and that was a lesson learned. The next play I stayed in my spot and the rest of the d-line pushed him into me and I made the sack, so shoutout the rest of the guys.”
On keeping Kentucky from making big plays …
“Coach Lea is a mastermind, as you guys can probably tell in his press conferences and the way he talks. The guy’s an absolute genius, and in football, it’s even more. He schemes up the offense so well in ways that I can’t even describe. Shoutout Coach Lea, Coach Lezynski for the run game. All those guys they work their butts off. I love them and I appreciate what they do.”
On the closeness of the team …
“[It’s helped us] a ton. When you can celebrate each other’s successes as much as your own, it’s a pretty unreal feeling. Like today, when we won, I was just so appreciative of everyone else and their efforts, just as much as my own. And I credit that to the coaching staff for creating a collaborative sense of unity amongst the team. I appreciate that.”
#2, Diego Pavia, QB
On keeping the media separate from game preparation this week …
“I feel like younger me would’ve for sure just been mentally all over the place, but I’m 22-years-old. I’ve got to be the example for the younger guys in the locker room. I obviously didn’t play my best tonight. I had one turnover that I really wanted back, I just had to put a little more on it. But other than that, I felt I played a pretty complete game. But if we want to go where we want to go, I can’t turn the ball over.”
On the play that led to the first touchdown of the game …
“So, we drew up a play, it wasn’t even supposed to go to AJ, it was supposed to go to Cole Spence coming across. But, they brought a lot of nickel fire tonight, and then I was just trying to make a play. AJ’s so alert, he got familiar with how I play; I play backyard football. So, he just kept on the move. Richie didn’t get in the way of AJ either. He slowed down, if you see on the black slide, and then we scored. So those guys, I feel like right now we’re just clicking, all on the same page.”
On coming in and getting another win …
“I think there’s something bigger out there for us that we want. We have a goal in mind that the only people who could stop us is Vanderbilt Football. So, leaving from here, we’ve got Ball State to prepare for. So tomorrow, or whenever we get home, I think it’s probably going to be like three in the morning, we’ve got to be back at the facility around twelve and get to work. And so everyone has that mindset. I’m probably going to be the last one out of the locker room, but I promise you there’s going to be people watching film on Ball State heading back.”
