‘It’s pissing me off, to be honest with ya.’ UK coach angry ahead of Alabama trip.
Mark Stoops was angry on Monday.
Between a private funeral and memorial service later in the afternoon for the late John Schlarman, Stoops addressed the media in his usual weekly news conference. And he didn’t mince words about the play of his defense against Vanderbilt on Saturday.
“I think the urgency needs to be greater. The attention to detail throughout an entire game needs to be greater,” Stoops said. “Defensively, for me, there’s no excuse. I sit there and watch us, and at times, I see a group of young men that, they want somebody else to make the play. They want some miraculous call to stop the play. ‘Coach, you call something good so we can stop this play because I don’t want to stop it, I’m not gonna make a play. I want my neighbor to make a play but I don’t want to make the play.’ Or, ‘I wanna do my own thing, I don’t want to execute the defense, I just want to do my own thing so I can get a stat.’
“That’s what I see, and it’s pissing me off, to be honest with ya.”
A defense that gave up 35 points to a Vanderbilt team averaging a third of that this season has less than a week to get ready for the Southeastern Conference’s best offense. Alabama averages 47.2 points per game, first in the league, and 555.2 yards per game, second in the league, just 10 yards behind Mississippi. Unlike the Rebels, with whom the Wildcats were able to hang in the second week of the season, ‘Bama trots out a defense to match its firepower: the Crimson Tide give up 389.2 yards per game (No. 5 in the league behind Texas A&M, Georgia, Mississippi State and Kentucky) and allow only 22 points per game (second to Georgia and Kentucky).
Kentucky has made a habit of playing well on one side of the ball but not the other. That formula to date has resulted in three wins and four losses against teams a tier (or several) below Alabama, which this year will probably play in its sixth SEC title game in nine seasons and is a favorite to win the national championship.
“We need to play the very best we can on all sides and it doesn’t seem like we’re doing that, and that’s very frustrating to me,” Stoops said. “That’s not the way it’s been for years, but it is this year. We’re terribly inconsistent on one side or the other, and we’ve not put it all together. For a coach, that’s frustrating. You have to look at yourself. You have to look at whatever I’m doing or not doing to motivate ‘em and put ‘em in a position to be successful.”
Perhaps the opposing quarterback, Mac Jones, can provide some kind of spark for UK’s defenders. The one-time Kentucky recruit spurned the Wildcats for the Crimson Tide after a yearlong commitment to Stoops’ program. There are no hard feelings there, but he will go toe-to-toe with several of his would-be teammates who signed with UK as part of the 2017 recruiting class, including eight defensive players: Abule Abadi-Fitzgerald, Ty Ajian, Quinton Bohanna, Yusuf Corker, Cedrick Dort, Josh Paschal, Phil Hoskins and Jordan Wright.
Notes
▪ Stoops shared during his news conference that Alabama Coach Nick Saban recruited him as a high school player. Saban was a defensive backs coach at Michigan State at the time he would have went after Stoops, who ultimately landed at Iowa.
While he didn’t join him in East Lansing, Stoops has great admiration for Saban as a coach.
“You’d be silly, as a football coach, not to look at some of the things he does and listen to him and just see his approach and not try to grab a few things,” Stoops said. “You have to be yourself, you have to be authentic. But you’re also stupid if you don’t look at some things that people like him and the success he has. If you don’t try to grab and learn from people like that, you’re not very bright.”
▪ Starting guards Luke Fortner and Kenneth Horsey again are listed No. 1 on the depth chart but both are likely to be game-time decisions. Horsey missed last week due to an injury suffered against Georgia; Fortner started but played few snaps before sitting the remainder due to an injury also suffered against the Bulldogs.
▪ Four Kentucky players received weekly honors from the league office. Linebacker Jamin Davis’ career-high 15 tackles netted him Defensive Player of the Week recognition. Kicker Chance Poore, starting in place of Matt Ruffolo, was named Specialist of the Week after making a field goal and going 5-for-5 on extra-point attempts. J.J. Weaver was named Freshman of the Week after recording four tackles, a tackle for loss and a pass breakup. Landon Young, who wore John Schlarman’s jersey number, 65, against Vanderbilt, was named Offensive Lineman of the Week; he graded out at 91 percent and didn’t have a missed assignment or penalty on Saturday.
▪ Kentucky’s game at Florida is scheduled to kick off at noon on Nov. 28 on ESPN. It is the first time this season the Cats will play on a TV channel other than the SEC Network.
Next game
Kentucky at No. 1 Alabama
When: 4 p.m. EST Saturday
TV: SEC Network
Records: Kentucky 3-4; Alabama 6-0
Radio: WLAP-AM 630, WBUL-FM 98.1
Series: Alabama leads 37-2-1
Last meeting: Alabama won 34-6 on Oct. 1, 2016, at Tuscaloosa, Ala.
