Stoops, Cats Hoping to Continue Improving
Kentucky rolled past Tennessee Tech 42-10 on Saturday for its third consecutive victory. The Cats are now 5-5 on the season with two games remaining.
On Monday, UK head coach Mark Stoops met the media and while he was pleased with his team’s performance on Saturday, he knows there are still areas where his team can be better.
“Very pleased with our team’s effort and our execution this past Saturday, we got quite a few players in the game,” Stoops said. “Played relatively clean from start to finish. There’s always things to improve on, but also a lot to build on. So, some good things are happening. Obviously, we’ve got to continue to do the things we’ve been doing well the last several weeks and improve on them.”
One of the areas that has shown vast improvement over the last few weeks is the UK offense. Stoops likes how his team has been able to get going on that side of the ball.
“I think we’ve done a nice job of, when we get the balance, we can put pressure on teams as well,” Stoops said. “With the receivers stepping up and making big plays down the field and being able to run the ball, it could create some opportunities.”
Speaking of those receivers, Stoops credits them with making great strides this season.
“Yeah. Without a doubt, extremely important, especially the young guys, you know, but they’re playing really good as a group. So, you know, really pleased with their effort.”
Stoops pointed out that wide receivers coach L’Damian Washington has helped to bring the receivers along.
“Without a doubt, LD’s done a remarkable job,” Stoops said. “He really has, he does a great job at recruiting. He handles the room extremely well. They’ve been very unselfish and they’re getting better. They’re developing.”
This week, Kentucky travels to Vanderbilt to face the No. 12 Commodores and Heisman Trophy candidate Diego Pavia. Stoops knows how difficult Pavia makes it for opposing defenses.
“Well, it puts great pressure on the defense, and it doesn’t matter what defense it is,” Stoops said. “It doesn’t matter who you are. He makes plays, and he does it in every game he plays in. For us, you know, great team defensively, of course. He’s going to make some plays. We just have to make ours.”
Stoops and the Cats hope to make enough plays on defense and continue to improve on offense as they face a nationally-ranked opponent on the road this weekend.
