Mark Stoops’ Monday Pre-Louisville Cardinals transcript

Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports

1. Did you catch the Louisville game?

COACH STOOPS:  Most of it.  I caught a good portion of it.  Obviously very impressive win for them.  Their coach is doing a great job.  They haven’t missed a beat to what they’ve been doing.  They win a bunch of football games, they play extremely hard.  They’re very well‑coached, and that’s an impressive win.  They’re playing good football.

1. What are your impressions of Reggie Bonnafon?

COACH STOOPS:  I’ve been impressed.  Very cool.  He’s been just very poised back there, making good decisions.  I think it also speaks a lot to Coach Petrino and what he does and how he calls plays and protects him.  He’s got a very good football team around him that are physical, they can run the ball.  They do a nice job of mixing it up, keeping you off balance.  You’ve heard me talk about that all year.  That’s why you need balance.  They have very good balance.  They’re physical.  Can hurt you in the run game, and then they have the play actions off of it.

I think Reggie has played some very good football, along with their whole offense.  Certainly them having DeVante (Parker) back outside is a real weapon.  He is a fantastic football player and a guy you’ve constantly got to have your eye on and know where he’s at.

1. Some rivalries are built on respect, others are built on a dislike.  How do you define this rivalry?

COACH STOOPS:  Well, we’re trying to create it to be a bigger and better rivalry.  I think that comes from us having to play better football and winning more games and putting ourselves in a position where we can get this game on a more national scale.  But it’s important.  It’s important to the people in this state.  It’s important to our fans and our players and coaches.

So, you know, I think it’s just like most of these games.  It’s important to a lot of people, and you feel that, and you want to go play well.

1. In retrospect as you look back, do you like it being the last game of the year?

COACH STOOPS:  I really don’t put any thought into that anymore.  It is what it is.  So we’re excited and ready for this opportunity.

1. Coach, we often talk about the physicality of playing in the SEC.  How do they stack up compared to the opponents you guys have had?

COACH STOOPS:  I think there is no question they’re a nationally ranked, top‑20 team and deserve to be.  They’re a very good football team that’s physical and they’re balanced.

So it’s hard to say.  I don’t know.  You’d have to make your own decision on where they stack up with the rest of the SEC.

1. They ran the ball pretty effectively in the second half, Louisville.  They ran some sets where they ran offset lines and tackles with tight ends.  What would be the key to try to stop that?

COACH STOOPS:  I think they do a very good job.  I don’t think it’s any secret that Coach Petrino does a nice job of setting up his run game and scheming the run game, not so much like some teams (that) are gonna line up and pound you with certain run games.  They scheme their run game really well.  They have some really good boots (bootlegs) and play actions off of everything, and they keep you off balance.  I think that is the key to any good play‑caller is keeping you off balance.