Kentucky-Youngstown State Postgame Quotes
UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY MEDIA CONFERENCE
September 5, 2026
Lexington, Kentucky, USA
Coach Will Stein
Press Conference
Kentucky – 45 Youngstown State – 13
WILL STEIN: Yeah, first off I want to thank everybody for braving the heat. I know it was hot out there. Good thing we wore white, so they were probably a little bit more cool. But I’m sure the tailgate was great. The new concessions, everything that we are doing to make this fan experience as good as we can. More importantly, winning. Like I told you guys, winning is really fun. So I was really happy for our guys. After all the work they’ve done the last eight months, a long fall camp. To go out there and reap the benefits of all their hard work. Plenty of stuff for us to clean up. You know, offensively we started very fast, very strong. We were able to run the ball. Able to give them a bunch of personnel groupings to keep them on their toes and different tempos. So, we rushed the ball for, what was it? We had 305, oh, that’s Youngstown. 301 passing, 205 rushing, so that’s very balanced. You know, we had a great plan. I thought Joe called a great game. Our staff did a great job with substitutions. Especially with all of the personnel groupings that we have to try to get guys on the field that we feel that could impact us. I thought we did a pretty good job on defense in terms of stopping the run, especially, they had 28 rushes for 59 yards. It’s a team that has a quarterback that is elite. I told you all of that, and I was not joking around. I told him after the game, I think he is one of the best players in the country, I really do. I think that guy can played a lot of different places. Not just in this league, but all over the country. He can run it, he can throw it, and for the most part we stopped him running the ball, which was a big part of the plan. What you take away, sometimes you give up. We’ve got to do a better job getting off the field on third downs. A little bit tighter matches. Hey, that’s why you play the game to figure out what you need to fix. And thankfully it’s after a win. Special-teams is really good. You know, we got a lot of touchback’s. At kickoff, we hit some field goals. Our extra points were somewhat clean in terms of blocking. We got a turnover on punt, which was awesome. That really, I think change the game and got it wide open. We talk about changing the game all the time on special-teams and owning the ball and no penalties. We did have a penalty on a crack back ball that we didn’t get coached up. For the most part, happy to get the win and ready to watch the tape to improve. With that, I will open it up.
Q Will, what is your assessment of Kenny?
WILL STEIN: I thought Kenny played well. He got in a, not a rut at all. But like forced the ball down the field and just like a drive, get DJ a touch, get DJ a touch. And that’s not how you play quarterback, how you play quarterback is you take the easy money. You take what they give you. I thought the majority of the game he managed extremely well. He had a lot of checks and kills built-in. He was able to elude some rushers on nakeds. I think for his first start I was very pleased with his performance. 18 of 27, 304 yards, 4 touchdowns. Definitely things to improve on. But for the most part, I’m happy with how he played.
Q What were the emotions just with the afternoon as a whole?
WILL STEIN: I mean, like I said, I had some emotions coming over here on the ride from the hotel. And then just get into game mode, right? I’m ready to watch this type and get our team better and kind of life the emotions happen when I get home with my family. Right now, just focus on what we could do better and happy that we got a win. I know there’s a lot that we can improve on.
Q Will, what was it like sharing that walk off with your family. Your mom and dad is there, your wife and kids, all of that stuff. This is been something that’s been a long time waiting for you.
WILL STEIN: For sure, yeah. And it’s very exciting, it’s something that I will cherish forever. But my kids know their dad and my wife knows that her husband has got a job to do. And we’ve got to continue to push. You know, stuff to improve on as a whole. I am really thankful that they are here to support. They are my biggest fans. My wife is my biggest cheerleader. My kids love me no matter what, which is great. So I don’t care what you guys say about however we play, I know my little kids are going to love me no matter what. No, it was really cool.
Q Did you have your starting quarterbacks up there today? Are those long terms?
WILL STEIN: Not long term, no, not long-term. Just stuff that kind of dealt with over the last month or so. You know, fall camp blues a little bit. I’m expecting Hassan to be out there next week and we will see on Terhyons status. But yeah, Hassan should be ready to roll.
Q What about Malachi?
WILL STEIN: Malachi will be ready to roll. Yeah, he really could have played. He kind of got tangled up a little early and practice on Monday, which was a complete freak deal. Nothing structurally wrong. Just had some bruising in his calf that we said, you know what, We feel like Olaus can go out and play this game and we don’t want to jeopardize Malachi for the future. So he will be completely active for the next game.
Q For the first game, how do you think you all handled the pace, obviously, the first possession was kind of a pass – trying to run the ball.
WILL STEIN: Yeah, we dictate the pace of the game. That’s how our offensive is really built. You will see us huddle, you will see us speed break, you will see us know huddle. To me, if you just go one pace the whole game, that’s where the defense can kind of catch on and get your rhythm. We like to mix it up on people. There is still a possession later in the first half where I feel like we broke the huddle slow, back to the huddle. That’s where it pisses me off as a coach. Like you have to play at a certain standard every single snap. Regardless of circumstances. I don’t care if it’s hot, I don’t care if it’s freezing cold or raining. Sleeting, snowing, you need to get your butt back to the huddle and get to the line of scrimmage ASAP so we can dictate the pace. Or else, there’s a lot of standing around. But this is why we practice in the heat. This is why we scrimmage our first time out here when it was 120° on the turf. That’s why we practice three days a week in the afternoons during fall camp and not in the mornings where it is convenient. I thought that played to our advantage this game that we were acclimated to the heat.
Q Did you learn something about your team today that you were not going to be able to find out until they played a game?
WILL STEIN: Yeah, I think not just our team. Our coaches, our substitutions, communication on the headset, our pregame, everything I felt like, for the most part it was relatively clean. But again we’ve got to go back and watch the tape and really figure out how was our ball security? How was our effort down the field? I feel like we could have played harder on spots. I thought we kind of left the circumstances dictate how hard we played. Which is not our standard. That’s something that has to get cleaned up ASAP or else we are not going to like the results.
Q Your thoughts on CJ?
WILL STEIN: We really went in this game saying let’s try to get him 12 to 15 carries max. He had nine, which I thought was perfect. Just to get him back. Jason Patterson, I talked him up in here to you guys multiple times. He’s explosive. He’s playing really well. We want to keep feeding him. Martels, I’m glad he had success. It was important for him to go out there in a real game and feel success. But yeah, CJ did a nice job, especially in the first two drives of the game, getting the ball to the in zone.
Q Will, you got explosive touchdowns from 2 true freshman wide receivers. What can those guys become for you?
WILL STEIN: They are really good. We’ve had improving players in that room because of their youth. But very talented. Kenny Darby has done it since he showed up. First day he ever got here, went there, watched him throw some routes. That guy can play football. You can just see it. He’s got twitch, he loves the game. He never wants to come out. He’s a real deal. And the same with Prince Jean. He’s a real deal. He’s got one cut mentality. He catches the ball in traffic. He’s smart, he’s tough, dependable. I want to credit DJ on that play, too, for the perimeter blocking. When the ball is not coming to you in a game it can be frustrating. I thought the guys handled adversity in terms of identifying him. We were trying. There’s times we were trying, but it just doesn’t find you sometimes. And how do you respond? You play your ass off and you go out there and you block.
Q He did not disappoint, I’m sure we will be seeing more of that this year.
WILL STEIN: Yeah. We want to use our best players and those three are some of our best players. So yeah, we definitely want to expand that.
Q Will, obviously Kenny already committed shortly after you got the job. How far did your relationship with him date back and what was it like?
WILL STEIN: My relationship was zero. It was Joe Sloan and his relationship working at LSU, recruiting him, he was committed there. So it was really all Joe. That’s why we hire guys like Joe and Jay who have been in this league who recruit this area of the world to get great players like Kenny.
Q Will, it’s been a minute since you’ve been in a football game where you were calling plays, how was that today?
WILL STEIN: It was great. It was great. I really enjoyed the prep that we did. The work that our offensive and defensive and special teams staffs did all week, having say in all three phases of the game. And helping all three phases of the game with specific situations, with calls, and credit to all three coordinators. I thought they did a great job.
Q Will, Alex there, it’s like the plan to kind of work him in slowly after all of the stuff he’s dealt with off the field recently?
WILL STEIN: Listen, he’s been practicing. But it’s hard to be fully and on somebody if you don’t know if he’s going to be able to play. We will continue to ramp him up and we want him to be an impact player for us.
Q What can you say about the Nic Smith helmet sticker and what does that mean for the team to play with that on?
WILL STEIN: It means a lot. I saw his dad before the game walking into the stadium, which was just a reminder about how precious life is. You know, I’ve got a little boy, I’ve got a little girl, and I can’t imagine losing them. So we are always going to remember him. We are going to leave his seat open, we are going to leave his locker there for him and we are going to have a patch on our helmet for him.
Q Coach, can you talk about the play of Bo Barnes in the middle of the defense today?
WILL STEIN: Yeah, Bo is, I think a terrific talent. Somebody that gets better every single practice, every single day. The skies the limit for him. I’m excited about his growth and what he’s going to be doing for us.
Q Isaiah McMillan was all over the place today . He had five solo tackles, a tackle for a loss, a pass breakup. What can you say about the way he responded to the challenge today?
WILL STEIN: When he got his opportunity in practice, he played the exact same way. Our second scrimmage I think he had an interception, he had two fumble recoveries, he had like seven tackles. I’m like, Dang, let’s play this game. He can go. He’s smart, he’s tough, dependable, and really proud of him just stepping up when his number is called.
Q Will, you talked on Tuesday about how often Youngstown third and short, is that any issue on third downs today, what did you see?
WILL STEIN: Yeah, we had some, not coverage busts, but just like the technique and fundamentals when they run four verts and we are not carrying the seam routes. It’s difficult because then you give Brumgarden, if you carry everything, then now he’s got one-on-one opportunities to run. We will go back and look about what exactly happened. I know some of it we got beat in one-on-one coverage. You know, there was one coverage, the long one at the end of that half that got the two minute drive going where we didn’t carry the seam of the number two receiver. That is stuff that I know we are going to get corrected.
Q Will, when your game plan is kick, like it was, is it more difficult to evaluate the offense because you don’t have to reach so far into the playbook?
WILL STEIN: I don’t know if you saw we were in balance, we were 11, 12, 02, 03. I don’t hold stuff back. We call the games to win. We will lay our plays on the next game. We aren’t holding anything back today. It was how do we have the best plan possible to go score points?
Q Are you going to take any time to enjoy this, or are you going back to the office to look at the Alabama video?
WILL STEIN: I will pick at Bama later. I’m going to go have a cold beer and f*****g, excuse my French, I was going to say F-ing hang out with my family, sorry. Apologize, sorry Big Blue Nation. They probably liked that.
Q How much is there, just you got football coaching talent, but also really that it looked the way that you thought was going to look coming out today, it is your first game.
WILL STEIN: Yeah, it was the first game, I don’t know if it’s relief. It’s just the expectations. When you practice a certain way, when you have great players, it is supposed to look like that. We were physically the better team. You should show up and physically play a certain way. How do teams get beat in situations? They are not ready. This week it was all about us. It wasn’t about Youngstown, it wasn’t about anything else. It wasn’t about the pregame. What people were eating, what the music was, I don’t care. I want our guys to play to that standard and play Kentucky football. That was the main focus.
Q Will, it looked like Jacob warmed up some, did Adam just win the kicker job or what was that?
WILL STEIN: No, Jacob was dealing with some stuff earlier in camp as well. A little soft tissue deal that he is, I would say, pretty much recovered from. But just the time on task the last three weeks, we felt like it was our best option to put Adam out there who had been working the last three weeks.
Q Coach, what did you see from Kenny Darby and Prince Jean today, both getting on the score sheet. And how many touchdowns does Kenny have to score for him to be your favorite?
WILL STEIN: Yeah, obviously they played well. And you know I think a lot of guys played well. With what Mikael did and Willie and Henry, the way they blocked. So, I think there was a lot of good.
Q It’s hard to tell without doing the film evaluation. From an execution, crisp operation. Was that pretty seamless?
WILL STEIN: I felt good going into the game with how we built our call sheet. And it’s really a limited call. I don’t feel like we were doing a bunch of stuff. It’s just how do you dress up a million different things, but just run simple schemes. And so, I really could feel it the last couple of days just how crisp it felt at practice. They went out there and did a nice job of executing.
Q What went into your dad being the honorary captain of the team, being the best liked right now?
WILL STEIN: What went into it? The time we spent here at UK together and being a Letterman. And being the reason why I’m here. So that’s why, and was thrilled that he got that honor.
Q I guess the second scrimmage in here, you mentioned how frustrating you were with the offense to put the ball on the ground and commit turnovers. How pleased are you to come out of this game without having turnovers?
WILL STEIN: Yeah, that’s our number one job. We talk about ball excellence all the time. Protecting the ball is the number one job of our entire team. And obviously, on defense is creating turnovers. So they did a good job early in the game punching out the ball. We just kept talking about it, reminding on every series it’s not just coaching the play, it’s coaching the effort, the technique, the fundamentals to protect the ball. Yeah, so we will have to go look on tape how many times the ball went loose. What you put on tape is what people are going to try to do to you in terms of punching at the ball.
Q The focus was on, I think Jordan Castell dealing with multiple tackles for loss today. Is that what you are expecting out of him, or was that just completely surprising?
WILL STEIN: Not surprised. Jordan shows up every day. He’s not extremely vocal, but he’s a leader because how he preps, how he practices, and that’s really how he’s been since he’s gotten here. I think he’s a really good player, and I am glad he’s on our team.
Q Coach, obviously every game is important, but you have the most historic program coming into Lexington next week. How much are you emphasizing, hey, we can really put our money where our mouth is and shock the nation?
WILL STEIN: I don’t worry about it. I really don’t. I just worry about my team and what we can control. Making it about us. There’s going to be a lot of good teams that come through here. So, obviously got a ton of respect for those guys. We’ve got to watch the tape and develop a great plan and get better as a team.
Q Will, mentioning going back to looking at the film. I know you will know more once you look at it. Just walking off the field, what was the thing that you are most pleased about?
WILL STEIN: There’s a lot of things. I thought we played relatively clean. There wasn’t a ton of penalties. But there is a lot of stuff, you know, we’ve got to fix. And so I am not mad at all. I am ready to just keep rocking. And then once you get into game mode, the weeks, they are going to go quick now. There’s not all this time to prepare. Now is truly a game week where it is sped up. So we have to do a really good job getting our bodies right and getting a good plan for our next opponent.
Q What is at the top of the list to be fixed?
WILL STEIN: Again, I’ve got to watch it. But I’m going to grade the ball security, then the effort running to the ball on defense, and the effort chasing the ball on offense harder than anything. And so, that has to improve, I know that. To me, that was where the standard lacked today, and it wasn’t for a lack of want to. It’s literally we just got to practice running to the ball and chasing the ball on offense better. All right, thanks.
KENTUCKY FOOTBALL POSTGAME QUOTES
KENTUCKY VS. YOUNGSTOWN STATE
KROGER FIELD – LEXINGTON, KY.
SEPTEMBER 5, 2026
UK Student-Athletes
#19 Kenny Darby, WR
On scoring his first college football touchdown…
“It felt so exciting, that was my first touchdown. When he called that play I knew it was coming to me, so I knew I had to get in that end zone.”
On being the first player to commit to Coach Sloan’s roster…
“I was committed to LSU and he was the offensive coordinator at LSU. So when he got here I was like, I have to go play for Coach Sloan.”
On what drew Darby to playing for Coach Sloan…
“The way that he calls plays. We also have a good connection. He always calls me to check on my family and stuff so I knew I had to go.”
#81 Willie Rodriguez, TE
On that 4th down TD from Rodriguez’s perspective…
“We went in naked and slipping out of the backfield. Kenny put it on me and gave me a chance to make a play.”
On Coach Stein’s attitude in the locker room postgame…
“He was really good. I think it was emotional for him for sure. First win at Kentucky and I think it was really exciting for him also.”
On CJ’s touchdowns …
“A lot of explosiveness. He’s very explosive out of the backfield, and I think he’s really smart about hitting gaps and jump cuts.”
On the atmosphere at Kroger Field …
“It’s awesome. I thought the fans came out. The white out was awesome, and a lot of energy. I thought it was great. Great show from the fans.”
On what the offense is like …
“I think there’s just so much that goes into our offense, and we have so many different weapons, and I think when we play clean and execute, like we did today. A lot of good things could happen from that.”
#0 Elijah ‘Bo’ Barnes, RB
On what it felt like to get the first game done …
“Oh, man, so great… it was just a great team effort out there.”
On playing against Youngstown’s offense/quarterback …
“He was a running quarterback, so we tried to contain him as much as possible. I mean, it wasn’t too much… we kept our vision on the quarterback and we were going to get them when it was time.”
On what the defense needs to work on …
“You know, it’s always something and always room for improvement. Never be satisfied with what happens and get back to the drawing board. We got to clean some things up.”
#3 Kenny Minchey, QB
On how it feels finishing the first game …
“Just good, good to be able to go out with the guys and play against another team.”
On emotions after his first play/completion …
“Yeah, I think I was probably a little relaxed before the first play, so it was a little different today. But, yeah, it felt great seeing our O line handle guys off the line of scrimmage was great. And then getting a pass on the second play was good.”
On his debut at Kroger Field …
“There was a few plays that I wanted back, I’ll learn from those on tape, but overall, obviously a pretty decent day, but definitely a few things we can work on.”
