Coach Mark Stoops says there are still elements in the offense that needs to be fixed

As he usually is, Coach Mark Stoops was very candid about the game in which Kentucky beat Ohio 41-6. It was a good game and a game that I believe that the Wildcats needed It wasn't a perfect game to get them ready for SEC play, and Coach Stoops admits that.

One of the things that many people were upset about in this game was the bungled time management at the end of the first half. It was some impressively bad display of how to end a half, with tons of time left on the clock, two time-outs, and on the opponent's side of the field and still running out of time. "We screwed that up at the end of the first half. That's on me; I knew better; I knew we should have kicked in on 3rd that I was going to; that's on me...with no timeouts, we should have kicked it."

Stoops talked a lot about how he wanted to see the offense cleaned up, and as SEC games start back up again next week against Ole Miss, they have to be cleaner. When asked what that exactly looked like, Stoops said, "The ball on the ground, penalties, pre-snap, holding, there are a lot of things that we can do better. All those things."

This is important as the SEC will expose more flaws than Ohio did today. I think Kentucky fans also hope to see more from starting QB Brock Vandagriff, who has been underwhelming in SEC play, both against South Carolina and Georgia. "He was 17/24, but that probably doesn't count, probably running for his life on 6 or 8 and the sacks. But to him, we have to speed up, and he has to go through a progression. For us to progress, we have to give him some time."

He didn't address how they would get him more time as the offensive line doesn't seem to give him much to work with on most plays. Is it scheme? Is it personnel? We will have to see each other next week against Ole Miss. Either way, Coach Stoops says they must play with more focus and discipline, "You always have to play with an attitude and an effort. That's a non-negotiable for us...I think we need to play disciplined and more focused. Today, at times, we were... we have some areas where we have to get better."

While Kentucky has already had two SEC games, they are going into the rest of the conference play. They are taking on a top-five ranked Ole Miss next week on the road and a bye week to follow. There isn't much more time to continue to talk about "getting better." It's time to improve, as the SEC schedule kicks into gear now.