Kentucky-Florida Postgame Quotes
Mark Stoops, Kentucky Head Coach
Florida 48, Kentucky 20
October 19, 2024
Opening statement…
“Once again, frustrating. This one didn’t come down to one or two plays. They physically were very
much pushing us around and moving us up front. It felt like we were playing catch-up the entire day.
Still, with all that, we play a little cleaner, a little sharper early in the first half, get the ball in the end
zone when we had it in at the two. I think it helps us mentally, it helps us play better and gives us a
shot. Overall, pretty good butt-whooping there. They played very well, give them credit. Billy had his
team ready to play. It’s always a hard place to play. I thought with DJ, getting all the reps with the
ones and turning the offense over to him, he really did a nice job. They did some really nice things.
There’s always a wrinkle or two, but they just ran their offense very effectively. They played very well,
give them credit and we’ll go back to work.”
On the secondary…
“You credit them and there’s certainly things we can do better. We knew going into it, we watched
them and see the skill level that their wideouts have. They have a lot of juice and a lot of speed and
we saw that going into it, and it certainly feels that way now.”
On the fourth and goal call…
“He’s getting a handoff there and if he feels like he has to, then he has to. We needed a half a yard.”
On moving forward and improving offensively…
“We stay the course. We’ve had a lot of turnover at the position. I have a lot of confidence in Bush
[Hamdan]. It’s tough. Not going to point any fingers. There’s been opportunities as you know, but
each game it’s like we’re shooting ourself in the foot. It wouldn’t be so eye popping if we get several
other possessions in the end zone and those are the times that we will just keep working on.”
On keeping the team together…
“Big plays in these environments, the place gets rocking and they happen. We’ll just stay the course.
Our guys have responded and responded well at times on the road and tonight we took a buttkicking.
Give them credit; they played very well. I have no worries about our guys falling apart. We
need to play better and we’re getting better-defended and we’re getting beat up. That’s natural
this time of year. We need to build the depth that we need to play at a high level.”
On the decision to play Cutter Boley at the end…
“Gavin’s [Wimsatt] got plenty of reps. It was more about giving Cutter an opportunity. It’s a tough
situation for him and he can handle it. It was harder and until you get in there, obviously it’s a tough
place to throw and run in there. He’s a tough young man mentally and he loves it. We just wanted to
give him some reps. There’s nothing that can compare to game reps. Even Brock [Vandagriff],
tonight he was sped up tonight. He didn’t get great help either. It’s a team effort.”
On DJ Lagway’s performance…
“They hit some of their first-second down plays going into the game and I was concerned about that
on Monday. I know the strength of his arm and I know the speed they have at wide receiver. I think
what added to that was the run game and the way they were creasing us and some of that run
game magnifies it a little bit as far as the coverage goes. You put that together and it’s just not
good.”
