Kentucky-Louisville Postgame Quotes
UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY MEDIA CONFERENCE
November 30, 2024
Lexington, Kentucky, USA
Coach Mark Stoops
Press Conference
Kentucky – 14 , Louisville – 41
MARK STOOPS: Okay. The end of a very tough and difficult season. Give Louisville credit, I knew going into it that they had a very good team. You know, that was I’m sure very motivating to come in and play very well, and they did. You can tell it’s a veteran team led by a very experienced seventh year quarterback that managed the game very well. I thought Jeff and their staff did a very nice job keeping us off balance very multiple in the run game. You could see that very evident by the stats. You know, kept us off balance and mixed it up and did a very nice job against us. You know, for us, the start was very hurtful to get a drive going, to get some runs of our own, to get some momentum and to get some field position and put the ball on the ground. You know, you are not going to beat good teams that way. With all of the turnovers that we had, you know, we didn’t give ourselves a good shot. With that, I think it takes a little bit of the hope away late, we get the game to 20-7, we get a little bit of momentum and get a little hope and it goes away quickly with another turnover. So, you just can’t do that. You can’t do that in any game, let alone a rivalry game. Give them credit. It’s been a long time. We’ve been on the right side of that for many years and we know what it feels like to be the right side of it. We know now for the first time in a long time what it is like to be on the wrong side of it. It’s not very much fun. I know the year was very frustrating to a lot of people, you know, to our fan base, they were wonderful and stuck with us the entire year. Once again, out there today. Sorry we did not deliver a better performance today and throughout the season. I told the team how much I appreciated the guys, that that was their last game and what they done for this place whether it was a short amount of time or many years, like some of those guys. I just greatly appreciate them. The players that are returning, if they do return, because we’ve got a lot of meetings to have this week and organize what our plan is moving forward. But, you know, we’ve got to go back to work, we’ve got to go back to being who we are and be very tough and be very disciplined and very fundamental and we were not always that this year. You know, it wasn’t very good, I understand that and it’s very frustrating, I understand that and I accept the responsibility of that. You know, we’ve done good things in the past and we know how to do it. I feel like we have a good plan to move forward here and there will be a lot of moving pieces in the next two, three, four weeks and we will get it fixed. That excites me and motivates me and with that, now I will open it up for questions.
Q Mark, – guys in the last game – made so many mistakes in the last game -.
MARK STOOPS: Yeah, I don’t think it takes – it doesn’t diminish anything because we feel like there is some very good young talent there. It obviously needs to be blended with other great players. You know, there is not any one person that can make a massive difference. Some of our deficiencies showed up again today. In a minute you get something going and we give up a sack or the turnovers, as I mentioned. We feel like there is really good pieces in place and let’s be honest, we’ve seen teams do that, right? I just caught the end of one team in there that didn’t go to a bowl game last year that just finished with nine wins in our league. So, you have to make sure that you have the resources to move forward in this landscape to really make a big jump and I really feel like that’s in place. So, we worked hard to get some things and pieces in place to build a very good football team.
Q You talked us through today and – obviously the – class last year didn’t turn out the way you wanted it. If you get that fixed –?
MARK STOOPS: Well, it is not much different anywhere. The turnover is real, right? And as I said a couple of weeks ago. And again, I think you guys have done the research but I think the number one team in the country has 14 portal players, right? They recruit pretty well. Not every team needs to have massive turnover, some of them do. Old Miss put together a heck of a football team with a lot of turnover. I think the norm, the normal team these days are going to turn over 35, 40, over 40. That is different. You know, it’s different everywhere. It’s going to be most definitely different. Is there things we can do better in that area? Absolutely. I didn’t think or ever say that was portal or perfect or the end-all be-all. I said that last time, it’s not end-all be-all. You have to have a strong nucleus of some good players and then supplement it. But it is everywhere. It is every program.
Q Mark, question about the culture. You’re a good team. Hard-nosed, disciplined, you finish games – really, the last three years – this year – what do you think that happen?
MARK STOOPS: Well, I think that this year, you know, we didn’t do a good enough job in any area. There’s just no way around it. We failed in that area. We didn’t have the discipline that we needed. We didn’t play as good as we needed to. There’s, every level needs to improve and accountability needs to happen. Again, I’ve mentioned it and I think you’ve seen that throughout the SEC, the difficulty of constantly thinking you’re going to go to a bowl game every year, again, I think it is three of 16 teams that have gone to eight straight so we have been pretty consistent. To that, I will defend. This year, there is no defense on that. You know, I agree with you, it’s just not good enough. You know, it’s not like we know how to do it. We’ve got to have good players; we’ve got to have good coaches. We’ve got to all do our part. That part excites me.
Q Mark, you mentioned the turnover. To the guys that you want to stay, what is your pitch to them to sell them in the future sequence?
MARK STOOPS: We will cross that bridge when it comes. I told them that if they stay here they’d better be ready to go to work. You know, to fix that culture that we are talking about and make sure that we get back to being who we are. That is a tough disciplined football team. That’s the first message. If they don’t want to do those things, then don’t come back here.
Q Is that a change at all from the last two years? You have been very honest about your best players – would it seem hard to keep those guys accountable when you have to convince them to stay?
MARK STOOPS: It’s not hard to keep them accountable. They stay here, if they want to be here they are going to be here. Listen, there’s going to be some change and there needs to be some change, clearly. Again, we will go through that at the proper time.
Q Mark, how would you assess the quarterback position?
MARK STOOPS: Well, I have a lot of confidence in Cutter. We’ve got to make sure we build a very good team around him. We have to make sure that we have strong competition. Gavin really stepped in there today and looked very impressive at times. I feel good about that.
Q Can you tell me about Brock?
MARK STOOPS: I will let Brock discuss that. He and I have had our conversations and it’s not for me to talk to you about what Brock wants to do.
Q Coach, you kind of used a lot, resolved many games when you got down and always fought back. Some games this year, that didn’t happen. What is the next step in getting that back into the program again, you talked about players, but to get that resolved back?
MARK STOOPS: Yeah, we’ve got to be better. We’ve got to be better. Today is another one where we get it and we come in here and it’s 20 to nothing at the half and we get three and out to start the second half and we go score and get some momentum and then fumble it, you can’t do that. You need to be a better football team, you know, you just have to be better.
Q Mark, -defense has known for stopping the runs. But a couple of times this year just hadn’t been the case. What do you think kind of went wrong this year?
MARK STOOPS: Especially today. I thought today they did a really nice job in the multiple in the run game. We didn’t do very good at support, just crack replacing, you know, make the corners tackle sometimes, cutting out our safeties once in a while. Late in the game we moved a little bit trying to create a negative yards play and one D lineman goes too far, it looks horrible and they are running the ball. The coach did that because earlier they captured the edge on us a little bit and got an 8 yard run. We solidified the edges and moved inside and overrun it. Bottom line, it looks worse than it is and it was by no means very good at times. But that one just got out and we didn’t play it very good.
Q Mark, a lot of fans have taken to social media today, obviously, kind of expressing their frustrations. Can you just kind of have a message to them or what do you have to say to them about where this program is at?
MARK STOOPS: Yeah, I understand the frustrations completely. We are not very happy as well. I can promise you that we are going to get back to work and get it fixed. The misery index goes around, you know, it goes around. For myself, I’ve been around a long time and I’m really concerned and concentrated and excited about the rebuild. Fans got to wait a long time. I get to go to work tomorrow and for that I understand it and accept it and can promise you we will go to work to get the team back to being a team they can be very proud of.
Q How does it get to get back on track now compared to getting it on track in the first place? What’s the difference between the two?
MARK STOOPS: Yeah, you know, getting it on track when I first got here, you couldn’t turn the roster over like this. I mean, you could only sign 25 guys per year. Much more difficult and I don’t feel like, the record is what it is and I know we did not play acceptable football at times, I get that. But again, you’ve seen it. I just caught the end of a game in there and Mitch and I were talking and I caught the end of an SEC team that didn’t go to a bowl game a year ago, just one nine. You know, it can happen. You just have to make sure that you keep the right pieces in place and you keep the foundation that’s there and go back to work. We are not nearly as far off as we were when I walked in the door here, that’s for sure.
Q Mark, you mentioned about changes going forward, what are the changes?
MARK STOOPS: There may be some organically and guys that get opportunities and we will see where that goes and what happens. I think consistency, I definitely need. We’ve had great consistency on the defensive side of the ball and it kind of shows. Obviously, that’s my background. Offensively I think it’s relatively important. There is people, if you watch college football, if you watch other teams and you see the consistency year to year you can see them getting better. I think I’m excited to keep that continuity and it better. I watched some of the Georgia-Georgia Tech game last night and I watched Georgia Tech’s team improve in year two. Offensively, in particular, looked really good and that kind of excited me. We’ve got to have some continuity. We haven’t had any continuity on the offensive side in a long time. And that’s hurt us, it’s caught up to us. That excites me to get back to work on that.
KENTUCKY FOOTBALL POSTGAME QUOTES
KENTUCKY VS. LOUISVILLE
KROGER FIELD – LEXINGTON, KY.
NOVEMBER 30, 2024
Kentucky Student-Athletes
#9, Ja’Mori Maclin, WR
On Gavin throwing two touchdowns…
He just gave me a chance. I appreciate him. I appreciate all of our quarterbacks. But he just gave me a chance to make the best opportunities. I did drop one of them so I’m not even happy about the two touchdowns. I mean he did great. He stepped up. We didn’t get the win, obviously, but I am proud of them and I am thankful for him.
On the issue of not scoring many points this season…
It’s a collective thing. You can say the receivers, the running backs, the o-line, it’s all of us. Stuff we know we could have worked on and we could have done better. I still feel like we are a great team. We just made a few mistakes and we have to look back on the season and learn.
On the culture of the team and what needs to be fixed…
A lot more leadership. Holding guys accountable for things. A lot more discipline. I feel like that will help us make the next step.
#14, Ty Bryant, DB
On losing to UofL…
“It’s really tough, especially being from Kentucky and being from Lexington. As I was growing up, it was ‘you don’t like Louisville, you don’t like Louisville’. It was put in my head and then, you come out here and lose, yeah, it’s definitely a tough one.”
On what went wrong…
“I don’t know. I just feel like too many costly mistakes on both ends of the ball. I feel like there’s definitely some things we could have done better on offense and defense, so there’s no pointing fingers at one side of the ball because definitely it was both sides of the ball. Fundamental things that went wrong and can’t have that against a good team like that.”
On correcting mistakes throughout the season…
“It is tough because I know throughout the week it’s being addressed in the meeting rooms. I just feel like when it comes game time, sometimes we just don’t apply it, and I don’t know, I feel like it’s two-fold honestly.”
#3, Alex Afari Jr., LB
On the tough loss and season…
“We just didn’t have the season we wanted to. Especially in this house as well, not what we expected to come out. We have to come back next year with a better team, better discipline, more as a team.”
On what’s missing…
“We just have to go back and watch the film. There is a lot of things we have to fix.”
On being hard to get leadership with the transfer portal…
“Not really. The people that have been here, they have to set it straight, and let them know how it is over here.”
KENTUCKY FOOTBALL POSTGAME QUOTES
KENTUCKY VS. LOUISVILLE
KROGER FIELD – LEXINGTON, KY.
NOVEMBER 30, 2024
Louisville Head Coach Jeff Brohm
Opening Statement …
“The team followed up a good, solid victory last week with another one, and I am so proud of our guys. We worked through a little adversity during the season without question. That is part of it every year and you try to play as clean as you possibly can, but football is football and when you play a good team then things are going to happen. So, our guys hung together, stuck together, and worked hard. Our coaches continued to work through things, and we had a solid finish today to finally get the Governor’s Cup back, represent our university, and bring back our fans. It is a really good day for us.
On what it means to get the Cup back…
“Well, it is huge. I am fully aware of this rivalry, what it means to the fan base, to the university, and to two really good programs, and we came ready to play. I thought our guys wanted it. We worked really hard. We knew the importance of finishing the season. We talked about finishing as strong as we could, that every game matters, so to come through on the road in a pretty convincing fashion, it was a really good win.
On if he thought they would have such a major game on the ground today…
“Well, watching them on video, it is a really good defense for teams that try to throw the ball out there. They are really good, they defend things, they walk out over your slot receivers, and, you are going to have to run the ball to keep them honest. A lot of teams that have not done well try to throw a little bit. We wanted to establish the run. We have got good runners, and our quarterback got us in the right place when we needed to check here and there, and we had huge plays. When you can take pressure off the passing game, Corey (Ja’Corey Brooks) got hurt and could not play the second half, so we put out a few guys. It really makes the team and things go much better. So just a great rushing attack today, credit to our running backs. Isaac (Brown) is tremendous, and Duke (Watson) is a tremendous young running back and all our guys work hard. Our O-line really works hard, and our tight ends did a really good job blocking, so that is all important for coming out with a rushing attack like that for sure.”
On how the team did not get complacent at halftime and kept playing hard…
“I think this team is very mature. We have handled some close losses the right way and they are going to happen. Everybody, pretty much every year, loses games. You got to be able to handle it and bounce back as fast as you can. I think our guys work hard and would love to have some close losses back, but we won some close games too, so that happens. You just got to continue fighting, but to finish the season with two convincing wins, where all three segments played much cleaner, feels rewarding. A really good way to go out.
Louisville Student-Athletes
#41, Ramon Puryear, DL
On the pregame emphasis not to let the talking become part of the game…
“We knew this is their last game of the season; they’re not going to a bowl game. They want to throw everything they can at us, so we’ve got to keep our cool.”
On rattling Kentucky’s freshman quarterback…
“Going into this game, we knew we were going to have an opportunity to create turnovers, so we had to have great lanes, create pass rush, and give us those opportunities to capitalize on that.”
On the difference defensively to win at Pitt and then at Kentucky…
“Everybody being on the same page, communicating, executing. That’s really what it’s been all year. Things are finally clicking, so it’s coming into fruition what we prepared for.”
#9, Ashton Gillotte, DL
On what it means to win this game and get the Cup…
“It’s a surreal moment. I think it’s a great team win. I think we needed it as a senior group, just to be able to basically get the last laugh almost. That’s just something I think we all were anticipating and were preparing ourselves for, and it came to fruition.”
On the defensive focus today…
“Obviously, I think we did a good job of pressuring the quarterback. They have a good running game, so they’re going to run at any part of the game and keep running. I think we did a good job of stopping their run, forcing them to take those shots, and I think our DBs capitalized on the moments, and I think we capitalized in terms of sacks.”
On how the last two wins impact their view on the whole season…
“It’s about finishing. People are going to remember who you finish. It’s not how you start; it’s not the middle points; it’s how you finish. I think we did a good job of finishing and preparing these last weeks and just keeping it moving.”
