UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

September 4, 2021

Mark Stoops

Press Conference

Kentucky - 45 , UL Monroe - 10

MARK STOOPS: All right. Very good win. It's always good to get off the start of the season with a victory. And, you know, it came with us making some mistakes, like I talked all through the preseason that we were going to have some highs and some lows in practices and games and throughout the season. There's going to be some ups and some downs.

I thought our team responded. They were confident. There was a few mistakes early that we've got to get corrected. You know, the interception was -- Will has a little time there, be a little bit more patient. Put it on Josh a little better. Josh could catch it. So we'll get that cleaned up.

No excuse for putting the ball on the ground with fumbles and we've got to get cleaned up defensively - keeping that drive alive with penalties. That's aggravating.

But with that being said, responding. The way they came back, the way we finished the game. It didn't feel like that, is that accurate with -- do they have 63 plays on 87 yards? It felt a lot more aggravating than that. But it's a credit to Coach White and the staff. They were really -- they really did a good job of preparing for many things. And I really credit Brad. They were well prepared for a lot of things. They knew they could see a lot of different things.

And our guys played hard. We've got to quit with the penalties. And the same with Liam and the offensive staff. I thought it was nice. We worked on ourselves today. And we needed to just get better, get game reps. Get some confidence. I think there's a lot of people that know we have a lot of good potential but we've got to go out there and play.

And it was a good start. There's way too many penalties -- way too many mistakes we've got to get cleaned up. We have a big game next week but it's a good starting point.

Q. In some ways is it demonstrative of Will having a mistake early when you saw how you responded to adversity instead of just going out and cruising through an entire opener?

MARK STOOPS: I think so and I think none of us want that. Work all year long and then come out and start down 7-0 and, you know, it just pisses you off but you just regroup and truly, I have to practice what I preach as well - go on to the next play. It is what it is. I have a lot of confidence that we would. And he was hyped up and he throws the ball hard as you can see today. You could see all that he's been advertised for with his arm strength.

So it was good to go through adversity. Same defensively. Well, not really. That just pisses me off (laughter). Yeah.

Q. What did you think of the down field passing attack?

MARK STOOPS: Obviously what I've been looking for, and very happy about that. I talked a lot about it in the spring that we were getting the ball completed down the field. And Will wasn't here but just the offense in general. The receivers gaining some confidence. And we built on that this summer and it was great to see them throw for -- just complete the ball, just the basics. We still have a lot of work to do with making the routine look routine. We have some pitch and catches out there that we're fighting a little bit but we'll continue to get better.

Q. Obviously Will gets a lot of the attention but Josh, he also responded, had a huge game. How have you seen him improve?

MARK STOOPS: It was really good for both of them to get some touches and, you know, especially Josh I think coming back for an extra year, having confidence that we were going to get some things corrected and get the ball thrown down the field, and to see him respond to that was really good. I think both he and Wan'Dale had really big days, and it could have been a lot more had we went heavy in the second half as well with those guys. But I'm happy for him.

Q. More often than not there was somebody open every time. Not every time but there was somebody out there. Was that more you guys or personnel or a little bit of both?

MARK STOOPS: A little bit of everything. You know, schematically we're going to put pressure on people and it's really good. I think our quarterbacks really know where to go with the ball for the most part. We're not perfect yet. We're going to strive to be. But they're getting better and they have a good understanding of things. And Liam called a really good game, and I love it. He gets as aggravated as me when they don't go score. He gets a little upset if we have to punt so I like that.

Q. Is there anything about today that you said hmm, that went a little better than I actually thought?

MARK STOOPS: Well, again I think really I just told the defensive coaches I was really proud of them. I thought they were really in good position for some creative people. They're always creative offensively. I know it's new and they'll get better as they go. But I felt like the guys were in really good position. Frustrates me when we're not.

And then offensively, for the most part again, with the terminology, getting the plays in, communicating, he did a lot of different personnel groups. A lot of different shifts motions there. You could see there's a lot going on. And for the most part very clean. And exceptional getting the ball down the field. There's some basics like I said with the pitching and catching and some things that we can clean up that we'll be much better.

So I don't know, just rambled a little bit. I didn't directly answer your question. I don't want you to put me on the spot there and quote me with what I'm not happy with because there's a lot to clean up but there's also a lot of good. It's game one. You're happy to win by whatever we did and know that there's so many things we could improve on.

Q. Can you talk about what J.J. Weaver has done, to tear his ACL in the second-to-last game came back and had two sacks.

MARK STOOPS: I didn't realize he had two sacks. Yeah, I was trying to get him out of there, and he talked me into another series and it's good for him just to build his confidence and know because through camp we were protective. He's fully cleared but I know from going through that, the more you play, you get more confidence, the stronger your leg gets and the more reps you get.

So that's good for him. I didn't realize he had the two sacks. But I know with late in the game, J.J. talked himself into getting a few more snaps. I think he wants to get his legs up underneath him.

Q. Is today an indication of a change of identity for Kentucky football, the way he threw the ball?

MARK STOOPS: I think it's fair to say how -- word it however you want. I mean, you know, you know what I was trying to look like. I was talking about balance. We haven't had balance. Any time you're one dimensional any which way, it's not good whether you can only throw it or run it, you've got to have balance. Again, I've been a defense coach, you all know that, but from a defensive perspective the more pressure you put on with personnel groupings and everything that he's doing, it's putting pressure on you. I like where we're at. We're getting better. We're improving. I know we improved in the pass game today right? That's fair to say.

Q. From a defensive standpoint, what does it do when you stretch the field like your offense did today. How tough does that make it on a defense?

MARK STOOPS: Well, it definitely makes it difficult and creating the shots and hitting them. For the most part when we had our shots, if we had the protection we hit them. And they did a nice job, they covered a few overs and some things some sails where we had called, and we've got to get a little better protection and hit the check down because there's still some yards and things to get cleaned up.

But it's always good to see the ball down the field as good and as physical as we've been, we've got to capitalize on getting the ball down the field and you certainly see the arm strength that's for sure.

Q. With the pass rush, was there any secret behind it but how did you see -- how did that happen? How did you all create that?

MARK STOOPS: I thought he did a good job of mixing it up. We got him in some predictable pass situations, that always helps. So when you get ahead and you get predictable pass, now you've got an opportunity to get some straight rushes home. Play coverage and get home. And that's an area of improvement as well that we need to improve. Brad, our defense coach have worked hard and challenged the guys to be better one-on-one rushers and win some one-on-one rushes and obviously we did that tonight.

Q. With Liam on the sidelines how was the communication issues, any problems?

MARK STOOPS: No. No. Nothing -- not perfect but it was very good. Like you would expect. I think -- I was walking down calling a timeout when our center heard something and snapped the ball on the one play that we -- I don't know exactly what happened there, whether we had the wrong personnel or whether there was a communication issue there, where I was walking down to call the timeout. Luke snapped it, he heard something. And that we've got to get cleaned up.

But overall was pleased, very pleased with the operation and the confidence in him. The way he calls plays and getting the personnel groupings in there.

A little bit more efficient, whoever asked me the question earlier. I think that's good to see. Maybe a little bit of a surprise that it was that clean for game one.

Q. (Question about defensive linemen).

MARK STOOPS: Yeah, I think Ox and Josaih and Justin Rogers and all those guys, Kahlil Saunders, those guys have really worked hard and we feel like are going to be very good players. It's good to get them reps and we'll need them all year. They've been working hard. They really have good attitudes and I like those guys.

Q. SEC Network said you were going to eat a banana if Will threw for 400. He didn't but the team did. So...

MARK STOOPS: Well, it doesn't seem like then I have to eat the banana, right? That's why I got him out of there (laughter).

Q. How valuable, Chris obviously over 100 yards rushing today, how valuable will he be going forward?

MARK STOOPS: You know that that has to be a staple. One doesn't work without the other. You have to have the balance and the physicality. Chris you saw some amazing individual efforts by him today and you saw the line blocking very well at times and there's things we've got to get cleaned up in that area too. But you've got to have the physical presence.

It was good to work on the pass game today. And blend it with the run game because again in this offense you've got to have the balance you're looking for.

Q. (No microphone).

MARK STOOPS: I didn't even worry about it. I didn't notice anything. I didn't -- I didn't flinch. Honestly, I thought at the time live that it was on Josh, but then you look at the replay and that's when I noticed it definitely had some heat on it and it was a little behind. In that situation it's just some game reps. He needs to be a little more patient. That was a clean pitcher. We don't need to rush that and drill that so hard. That was a good play. That should have been a really good play, you know, 10, 12 yard gain or so and turned into an interception.

Q. I assume future opponents will try to make you all throw to more than just Josh and Wan'Dale but how strong is this offense at doing things to get your best play-makers the ball?

MARK STOOPS: Well, that way it's very efficient, it's very efficient and there's times when everybody has to step up. You saw it was great to see Isaiah Epps make a great individual effort today. Who else that was late in the game that I thought had a nice catch?

Q. Dingle?

MARK STOOPS: Yeah, Dingle that was a really nice catch by him and Beau hanging in the pocket and taking one on the chin and delivering a nice pass. You always need -- it's a team effort.

Q. Was that the vision to spread it around to a few guys?

MARK STOOPS: Yeah. I definitely felt like I wanted to work on that today. As we got ahead, instead of going into the mode of four-minute offense like we used to, I just -- truthfully, just really wanted to get better. So just spreading them out and working on some of that was just good reps for us today.

Q. Red zone efficiency was a bugaboo last year. You were five for five today. How do you feel about that?

MARK STOOPS: Well, always in critical situations like that, you know, red zone and third down and all that, I really got to go back and watch the film. But overall, again, I'm pleased. I thought we did a lot of good things. Got to get it cleaned up. When we stumbled, a lot of that was on us. As we move forward, it will be much more challenging.

Q. Wan'Dale can put six on the board from any spot on the field. How much pressure does that put on the opposing defense?

MARK STOOPS: It puts a lot of pressure. You can thank me for that one because we were about seven plays in, and I said, Get Wan'Dale a touch. And it was a touchdown. So I'm one for one.

Q. What do you attribute some of the...

MARK STOOPS: Pardon me?

Q. They got through. What do you attribute...

MARK STOOPS: Yeah. Well, like all things in this game, we've got to go back and look at it and see where it came from. And even on some run games, there was some penetration there that cut off some runs, some big plays. Got to go look at it. I don't know exactly who gave up the pressures. I know late in the game one of our backups who did, but I don't need to throw him under the bus right now.