Mark Stoops won’t answer question on getting over the hump: ‘Not going to give you a headline’

Mark Stoops led his Kentucky Wildcats into a game against the top-ranked Georgia Bulldogs on Saturday night. It was a chance to make a statement for the Wildcats, but they ultimately fell flat in a 51-13 blowout loss.

For Kentucky, the game was a chance to claim first place in the SEC East. However, there is clearly still a separation between the Wildcats and Bulldogs. After the game, Stoops was asked if there was something that Kentucky needed to get over that hump but he wasn’t interested in answering at the time.

“I mean, we’ve got to just keep on grinding,” Mark Stoops said. “I don’t know, I mean, I’m not gonna give you a headline. We’re gonna keep on working. It’s a game. It’s one game that we weren’t prepared for and they beat our butt, and if you ask me one more time I’m gonna say ass. They beat our ass.”

With the loss, Kentucky fell to 5-1 on the season and is 2-1 in SEC play. The Wildcats are also maintaining their spot in second place in the SEC East, thanks to the tiebreaker over Florida.

For his part, Mark Stoops has led Kentucky to more success than the Wildcats had in a long time preceding him. Stoops inherited a rebuild and has a record of 71-60 with seven straight bowl appearances during his time in Lexington. Stoops even has multiple 10-win seasons, which hadn’t been done at Kentucky since 1977, when the team was coached by Fran Curci.

So, Stoops has stabilized a historically difficult place to build a successful football program. He just hasn’t gotten over the hump to win the SEC East, which is naturally the next step many fans want the program to take.

Mark Stoops discusses lack of discipline against Georgia

Kentucky struggled with its discipline against Georgia. After the game, Mark Stoops spoke about that, taking the blame.

“I just didn’t have them ready for that moment. The moment was too big for them. We didn’t play very well, we didn’t play very disciplined, we didn’t play very tough. We didn’t get it done. It’s not coach speak, but we as a staff and I have to do a better job of getting them ready and getting them prepared. That’s a very good football team. I know some guys on their staff. They’re putting it together and they played a complete game tonight,” Stoops said.

“I saw a lot of missed tackles, I saw them making us miss, and then I saw also us uncharacteristically undisciplined with dirty eyes. I also complement them with the way they were creating some plays that we all look at and say, ‘How in the world does a guy like [Brock Bowers] get so open?’ Well, some of it they’re creating, they did a nice job and they got us bad vision.”

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