Kentucky Wildcats Football: UK vs. Georgia Postgame Quotes

Kentucky Wildcats football coach Mark Stoops addressed the media following the game against the Georgia Bulldogs.

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Mark Stoops: Very embarrassing effort by our team, our coaching staff, starting with myself. Not acceptable. Just very disappointed in the way we played, the way we’re playing. Like I said, embarrassing is the word that comes to mind.

We’re a .500 football team. We’ve got our two biggest rivals left, so we’ll see if we can regroup.

You look at a team like Georgia, they lost a tough one a week ago and responded with a complete football game and beat us in every phase. We’ll see if our team can have the resilience to bounce back and find a way to go on the road and get a victory this week.

The good news is as bad as that is, it only counts as one. That’s where we’re at. They’re a good football team. They played much better than us. They coached much better than us, and they beat us in every area.

Q. What are you thinking? You tried to fire those guys up and get them ready, had a good week of practice.

Mark Stoops: Yeah, I mean, that’s just kind of how the day went. It’s hard to have an explanation for that. It started with a terrible kick and some guys not doing their job. You play a very good football team and they make you pay like that, it kind of takes the air out of the stadium right from the start.

You know, we didn’t give our fans much to cheer about all day, starting with that kick.

Q. Can you remember a game that went like this on defense for you?

Mark Stoops: I can’t recall playing defense like that, no.

Q. What do you say to the team at halftime? You came back, you had it say within 35-24, you’re going to get the ball. What was the message you were trying to tell your guys?

Mark Stoops: Well, we were trying to keep the energy up on offense. They had been moving the ball in that second quarter, and we were getting the ball to start the second half, so we were talking about keeping the energy up and defensively getting some snaps and regrouping and trying to go out there and get some snaps and play some good football or some better football in the second half.

You know, we start with the interception that was a play that was probably there for a 1st down, and once again, we don’t execute.

Q. Do you feel like you guys were in the game right before the interception?

Mark Stoops: It was an uphill climb. If we weren’t able to turn it around defensively, you never know. If you get some energy, get some things going, get a bounce here or there, you know, we had the ball on the ground once and we don’t get the bounce again. You know, who knows. We didn’t play very good. We didn’t have a very good chance of stopping them most of the day. You never know what would happen if you get it closer.

Q. With special teams you did have the turnover on special teams but of course the kick returned, the punt returned today.

Mark Stoops: Yeah, the kick return, the punt return, then the interception to start the second half and give it to them. That’s 21 points right there against an offense that’s hard to stop. They’re averaging 40 a game. I’ve said all week that they were going to be tough to stop, and then when you give them that 21, you know, we have no shot.

Q. It’s been a long grind; do you think the kids are getting more down?

Mark Stoops: I’m not sure. That’s what I just talked to them about right there. I just talked to them about it’s not acceptable. We’ll all accept responsibility for that, once again. We’ll look at all the things we could do better. But the fact of the matter is we’re a .500 football team with two big games left, starting with Tennessee, and we’ll see. We talked about all week becoming men and playing big-boy football, but we didn’t do that today. We’ve got to find some ways to get them motivated, to get them out there and play better. It is a tough grind, but it is what it is. We’ve got to be able to respond.

Q. Do you have any concern with this lack of energy and this streak you’re going through that your kids are losing their belief that they can win?

Mark Stoops: No, I really don’t. Our guys, they’ve had a good attitude in practice. They’ve worked. They’ve given me no indication throughout the week. This team was better than us and played much better than us and took it to us. They had a lot to do with it. I think we’ll see. This will be a test of our character here this week. We’ll see how we respond and dig down and how we come back and play.

Q. Do you believe it’s in there, the resiliency?

Mark Stoops: Yeah, I do. They give me no reason not to believe that. We’re all disappointed. I’m embarrassed for our fan base to come out here in our last game of the year and play like that and not give them much to cheer about. That’s tough. That’s a tough game to go through right there.

But you know, the fact is we’ve got to bounce back, and again, we have a chance to still do some very good things, and we’ll see.

Q. What do you think it was more of on defense, effort or lack of —

Mark Stoops: No, I think it was a very tough match-up for us. I’ve said that all week. That team is very hard to defend. They’ve put up over 35 points on everybody and averaged 40 with the exception of Florida. Florida played them exceptionally well a week ago. Like I said, I think it got their attention. This team responded and came out and played lights out, and they’re very good when they play at a high level. Their tempo was good. They’re very physical. Their backs are hard for us to tackle. And then when we have to play with numbers, our match-up outside was very difficult for us.

Q. Do you think that final score reflects more on what Georgia is capable of doing compared to you guys playing poorly?

Mark Stoops: Probably a combination.

Q. Any update on Za’Darius?

Mark Stoops: No, I really didn’t. I didn’t get an update before I walked in here. I addressed the team and came right over.

Q. Do you try to take something positive out of this this week or just throw it out?

Mark Stoops: Yeah, I’m not much on throwing things out, but I may have to throw this one out. I don’t know, I generally — that’s how we do things. We look at it and face it head-on and look at the things we did good and things we did bad, starting with our coaching and all that. We’ll certainly do that. And with the players, I’ll see; I’ll think about how we’re going to handle that on Monday.

Q. Slow starts have been a problem all season. Can you put your finger on why that is?

Mark Stoops: Yeah, you know, actually I think the beginning of the season we’ve had some fast starts, and now I think it’s been the other way. That’s been troublesome here lately. It’s hard to put my finger on it exactly why.

Q. Have you ever coached in a game where you’ve never forced a punt and never had a 3rd down conversion?

Mark Stoops: No, I just saw that, eight for eight. No, I don’t think so. No.

Q. Is this a little — obviously you didn’t expect to be here, but is this a come back to earth a little bit? If somebody said you were going to be 5-5 at the halfway point of a season in year two of a rebuild, no one would probably be disappointed, but after starting 5-1, the way the schedule is set up, people —

Mark Stoops: Yeah, and that’s where — I already said it. I don’t want to keep on going on and on, but when I say I’m embarrassed, I’m embarrassed. We didn’t play good, and I’ll sit here and accept that, and it is what it is. But that’s the truth. We’re a .500 football team with two big games left. Let’s go do what we have to do to put ourselves in a position to win this next game.

Q. Taking Xs and Os out of it, whatever schematic things you might do, do you have the physical ability to go head-to-head with them?

Mark Stoops: This was a difficult match-up. These guys are as talented as anybody in our league. I have some friends that — opponents that they have played them this year and talked to them, and that’s what they said. They said, you’re not going to want to hear this, but they’re darned good. They’re a good football team. They out-coached us, outplayed us, and it is what it is. It was going to be a difficult match-up all along, and then when you give up 14 on special teams and then a turnover right to start the second half, it doesn’t give you much of a shot.

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