Why Mark Stoops chose to look inward during Kentucky football’s off week
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Preview: Kentucky football vs. No. 21 Tennessee
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On paper at least, the timing of Kentucky’s annual rivalry game with Tennessee seems advantageous for the Wildcats.
Yes, Kentucky dropped its last two games, but an off week gave the Wildcats needed time to get closer to full health and address recent issues. Meanwhile, Tennessee must bounce back from a deflating loss to Alabama, which saw the Volunteers jump out to a 20-7 halftime lead before being held scoreless in the second half on the way to a 34-20 loss.
“I felt like we improved as a football team a week ago (during the bye),” Kentucky coach Mark Stoops said. “We needed to. We needed the time to heal up a bit. Certainly, get some things corrected, improve as a team and get prepared for a great game this week.”
Stoops knows the narrative of good timing will do little to affect the outcome when the game actually starts though.
A vocal portion of the fan base has been critical of Kentucky’s play after off weeks previously in the Stoops era, but it is difficult to draw firm conclusions about the way the staff has utilized its off week previously.
In Stoops’ first 10 seasons at Kentucky the Wildcats were 5-7 after an off week (there were two off weeks in 2013 and 2014), but four of those losses came in Stoops’ first three seasons before the Wildcats had reached a bowl game.
Since 2016, Kentucky is 4-3 after its off week. The four wins all came in home games. The three losses all came on the road.
“I think you’ve got to repair, reflect, and readjust a little bit,” Stoops said of his coaching staff’s approach to the off week. “… We have to recruit, as well, but there is a touch more time. … Not every night, all night. Things of that nature. Certainly helps. Most importantly gives us a good chance to look at ourselves. Maybe slow down and take a good look at ourselves and then also prepare for future opponents.”
While the staff did spend part of the off week getting a head start on its Tennessee preparations, much of the week was designed at addressing Kentucky’s own issues.
Stoops elected to spend more of the allotted practice time on “good-on-good” periods that feature matchups between the first-team offense and defense than he has in years past. That decision had less to do with a change in philosophy about the off week than a response to the team’s inconsistency in recent weeks.
“I just felt like it was a moment that we just needed to improve, we need to be better,” Stoops said. “We needed higher competition, we needed faster practices, and I felt like we got that accomplished.”
Kentucky also played Tennessee after its off week last season, but that extra preparation time mattered little in a 44-6 loss in Knoxville.
Simulating Tennessee’s fast tempo and extreme spread scheme in practice is “almost impossible,” so choosing to spend much of the off week addressing Kentucky’s own issues makes sense. Still, Kentucky’s defensive backs will need to do a better job executing against that tempo than a year ago if the Wildcats are to beat the Volunteers in their last season as SEC East rivals.
“You can’t have any mental breakdowns, that’s for sure,” Stoops said. “It’s hard enough and they put enough stress on you and make enough one-on-one catches that you can’t have your own mental breakdowns.”
Mark Stoops’ record after bye weeks
2022: L (at Tennessee, 44-6)
2021: L (at Mississippi State, 31-17)
2020: W (Vanderbilt, 38-35)
2019: W (Arkansas, 24-20)
2018: W (Vanderbilt, 14-7)
2017: L (at Mississippi State, 45-7)
2016: W (Mississippi State, 40-38)
2015: L (Auburn, 30-27)
2014: W (Vanderbilt, 17-7), L (at Louisville, 44-40)
2013: L (Florida, 24-7), L (at Mississippi State, 28-22)
Next game
No. 21 Tennessee at Kentucky
When: 7 p.m. Saturday
TV: TBA
Radio: WLAP-AM 630, WBUL-FM 98.1
Records: Tennessee 5-2 (2-2 SEC), Kentucky 5-2 (2-2)
Series: Tennessee leads 83-26-9
Last meeting: Tennessee won 44-6 on Oct. 29, 2022, in Knoxville
This story was originally published October 24, 2023 at 7:24 AM.
