Kentucky Wildcats Football: Mark Stoops’ Monday Transcript

Oct 11, 2014; Lexington, KY, USA; Kentucky Wildcats wide receiver Demarco Robinson (9) warms up before the game against the Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks at Commonwealth Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark Zerof-USA TODAY Sports

1. (Question regarding Demarco Robinson being physical at the line of scrimmage.)

COACH STOOPS:  He did do better, you’re right in saying that.  Number one, he’s a senior, that helps.  So he’s got a lot more experience playing against these big dudes that are up there locking them down but Demarco has done a nice job of beating people and playing one‑on‑ones.

1. (Question regarding if his team can take anything away from playing Mississippi State close last season.)

COACH STOOPS:  I think every team is different but I hope it helps us a little bit and we’ll see how we prepare and how we go through the week.

1. In your experience do coaches tend to set the same tone after a lopsided loss and what’s the right approach?

COACH STOOPS:  I’m not sure if everybody takes the exact same approach every week.  I don’t know what other people do.  It’s been different from the coaches I’ve been around each week.  As I’ve said before, you have to have a good plan, but I go on my instincts and my gut a lot and they’re sometimes right and sometimes wrong, even in making decisions on the field, and that’s where that hindsight comes in.

But I think, with this, definitely I put some thought into the message.

1. (Question regarding if some coaches put on an act after a loss.)

COACH STOOPS:  I don’t think it’s ever an act.  I would never use that word to define it.  It’s about making sure that you clearly define the message that you want them to hear.  That really doesn’t change much for us a lot as well.  Maybe how you deliver it and in those things it does, but the bottom line is we’re all going to accept our responsibility and we’re going to look at things, get it corrected and move on.  So, again, we’ll see how well we respond this week.

1. Mark, even with the slow start last week, they had a chance to do something in the second quarter.  Can you take anything from that or is that sort of lost?

COACH STOOPS:  No, I don’t know if you could take much from it, because I felt like, as you know, from watching the game it was an uphill struggle from the first kick‑off of the game.  But I do feel like we were battling there.  That’s what I was commenting on defensively for a while there.  We were hanging in doing some things.  And offensively we were moving it.  We had third and 1, a long drive, and we missed that opportunity.  That was part execution and part would you do it over?  Well, yeah, because it didn’t work you would do it over.

So there are things that we can and need to do better in that situation.  The bottom line is we didn’t make it happen, we didn’t deliver, they stopped us and that was a big turning point, because I believe there was roughly five minutes in the half there.  If we get a first down, obviously that’s time off the clock and even when we got the ball back after that I believe we stopped ’em right after that, maybe a three and out.  They hit a great punt and backed us up and even then I’m trying to get out of the half.  That’s what I want to do at that point.  It’s been an uphill climb, it’s 17‑3 on the road, we haven’t moved it well, we’re backed up, I want to get first downs and get out of the half, unless we make big plays and get moving, of course, but I’m really trying to cut our losses at that point and then as we know, they get 10 more points from there and that was impossible for us to catch up from that point on.

1. (Question regarding importance of playing well this week in front of a national audience.)

COACH STOOPS:  I think it’s very important.  It’s important for us to play well.  Anytime you’re playing a No. 1 team in the country, you’re going to have great exposure.  We want to play well and represent our program and what we’ve been doing and all the hard work, so it’s important for us to go out and play well.

1. I don’t think Jabari Johnson played in the game last year, what has he done to work his way into the line this year?

COACH STOOPS:  He gave us size and he’s been doing a nice job at that position, what we call the “Jack linebacker” there.  He’s big.  He has a nice feel for it.  He’s good on his feet, and we felt like we needed more size in that game.  So he’s done some good things, he’s earned the right to play, so we’ll continue to rotate between Bud (Dupree) and Jabari and (Jason) Hatcher at those spots.

1. (Question regarding how Jabari Johnson played.)

COACH STOOPS:  He did good.  He played well, he really did.

1. Your outside guys, they’ve had discipline issues playing containment on the outside.  How do you preach and emphasize the discipline with an exceptional athlete like Prescott?

COACH STOOPS:  It’s not always on them.  I mean, it’s always team defense.  Sometimes he may step up and then get out as well so they’re trying to get speed rush and our inside guys have to be disciplined.           We’ve had our discipline issues but containing on the pass rush is not always one of those with them, it’s not always with them, let’s put it that way.  But it does bring up the point that you’re making here, that we need to have great team defense and great discipline with our pass rush.  They have disciplined runs and plays where he (Prescott) ad‑libs and makes plays.  He’s very talented.  Anytime it’s tougher on defenses and it’s frustrating at times anytime you play a quarterback that has the experience and feel that he does of making plays.  That’s why they’re No. 1 in our league in total offense.