For years, the critique of Mark Stoops's Kentucky football program has been singular and deafening: the offense isn't good enough. Opposing coaches have noticed, with Lane Kiffin calling the attack "one-dimensional" and Kirby Smart praising its "physicality", a backhanded compliment for a team that can't score.
Now, it seems the coaching staff has settled on a new buzzword to reframe their struggles, shifting blame away from poor game plans. That word is "methodical."
As the offense gets more 'methodical', fans are tuning out methodically
On Monday, when asked about his team's inability to mount a comeback, Mark Stoops offered this explanation:
"We are methodical right now and not overly explosive and therefore we have to play the game a certain way... you put it all together and it’s not a great recipe.“
This isn't an explanation; it's an admission. "Methodical" is being used as a synonym for "slow" and "ineffective." It’s an attempt to normalize an offense that cannot create big plays. It can not get people open and when they can, they can not give the QB time to find them.
Unsurprisingly, Offensive Coordinator Bush Hamdan is echoing the same sentiment. When pressed on the offensive struggles, he used the exact same language, confirming this is the official party line.
“I know everybody wants to sit around and throw it around... but right now, you look at the games in the SEC that we’ve been in, that we’ve had a chance — Ole Miss particularly last year, Georgia last year — it was a very methodical approach if you will."
Fans hear that and all they want to do is turn off their TV seats and stay at home on game days, methodically of course.
When your head coach and offensive coordinator are perfectly in sync on a talking point that excuses a lack of explosiveness, it tells you everything you need to know. This isn't a temporary issue to be fixed; it's now the accepted identity. And if 12 previous years have taught us anything, it's that a "methodical" Mark Stoops offense is, and always has been, simply offensive to watch.
Drew Holbrook is an avid Kentucky fan who has been covering the Cats for over 10 years. In his free time he enjoys downtime with his family and Premier League soccer. You can find him on X here. Micah 7:7. #UptheAlbion