Football

Everything Mark Stoops Said After the Ole Miss Loss

Published

5 years ago

October 3, 2020

Tristan Pharis

After tonight’s brutal loss to the Ole Miss Rebels, head coach Mark Stoops met with the media to discuss the loss.

Here’s everything he said:

MARK STOOPS: Very difficult way to lose a football game. It’s been a crazy year, and this season is going to be different. It’s going to be difficult playing a ten-game SEC schedule, and games are going to be close.
We have to make those plays in critical moments to win us football games. I was proud of the way — the
game was a struggle. We knew it was going to be. We went through some patches where we overcame
some adversity, got the game into overtime, and then to lose it that way is difficult.
As I mentioned, it’s just we have to find ways to execute better in critical moments. We did that for a
large portion of the night. Any time you rush the ball for 400 yards, you usually feel pretty good that
you’re going to have a good opportunity to win. This offense was extremely explosive, extremely fast.
They get you off kilter. This week and next week’s going to be like that where it’s a different style of
offense.
You have to get stops in critical moments. We did not play very good defense tonight. That’s on us. We
have to get them in position and play better. Offensively, I thought we did some good things at times,
certainly controlled the game and ran the ball very well.
Terry (Wilson) was efficient, 14 of 18. But we just — we’ve got to make plays in critical moments and play better as a team to get these victories.
Q. Mark, where do you go with the kicking situation from here? Obviously, PATs have been an issue
the last two years. Just kind of where things are at with that.
MARK STOOPS: Yeah, we’ll continue to work both guys. We’ll continue to work Matt (Ruffalo). We’ll
work Chance (Poore). If we feel like Chance gives us a better opportunity, then we’ll go with him.
Q. Mark, could you talk about what impact it has when A.J. (Rose) makes a mental mistake and then a
physical mistake so early like that in the game, you go ahead and go back to him. What does that kind
of say? Does that send a bad message when you’ve got a guy like that that does that?
MARK STOOPS: Yeah, it definitely doesn’t help. We’ve been a very unselfish football team through the
years, and that’s a mistake that you can’t have. A.J. means well. He’s a great young man. I’m not going to give up on him for one mistake. We will certainly point out and show him, and he understands that, that it’s not acceptable. That’s not how we do things. That’s not how we’re going to do it.
Fortunately, we got the ball back in great field position and went back and scored, but it definitely has
an impact. It’s definitely not the right message. It’s not OK, but I’m also not going to give up on him for
one mistake.

Q. Mark, especially the second half, was there anything in particular that Ole Miss was doing that was
giving you the most trouble?
MARK STOOPS: They were doing what they wanted to do, to be honest with you. They really had us off
balance. They spread you out. They go extremely fast. We’ve got to play better. We got it to a two
touchdown lead, and then from there, we really played poor on defense, and they scored so quick that
momentum can shift.
You’re going to go through stretches in these games this season, again, with the margin for error is
small. You have to do things right, and you definitely knew that going into the game that a team like that
could put the foot on the gas and go extremely fast. Again, it will be very similar this next week.
Q. Hey, Coach, obviously last week Terry had the high number of pass attempts. Coming into tonight,
it seems like he had really great rushing. Was that something you guys wanted to bring into the game
plan coming in, or was that something that just started working at the end of the game and just
wanted to keep with it?
MARK STOOPS: Yeah, I think just like you said at the second part of the question. It was working. We had to stay ahead of the chains. Certainly, every possession, as you know, in a game like this, possessing the ball, getting yards and scoring points, they’re all important. With the way we were rushing the ball and creating explosive plays in the run game, it gave us the best opportunity, and it certainly added to that when we played such poor defense.
It kind of puts pressure on myself and on the offense to where every possession was so important.
Possessing the clock, but also scoring points is important. There comes a time when you get off balance like we were, you have to play as a team. I thought our offense responded several times tonight.
Obviously, there’s things they could do better, but there were times they responded really well, where
they had long drives and gave the defense an opportunity to kind of get over there and do some
adjustments and try to get their feet up underneath them and play better.
We just didn’t play very good in the second half. We’re holding them to 14 in the first half. We felt like
we were just ago at this point.
Q. Mark, you’ve already said to us that the team that wins the rushing yards is in pretty good shape,
and almost all the SEC games over the years. You’ve done that two weeks in a row in a pretty
dominant fashion. Do you feel like this is kind of an anomaly, or is something changing in the
dynamics?
MARK STOOPS: Both. I think both. Certainly, with this style of offense and next week — next week it
won’t matter as well. Time of possession won’t matter in the — obviously, you want to possess the ball,
but you need to score points, and we need to be explosive.
When we were stopped tonight, if you really look at it, it’s hard for me to be exact here right now. A lot
of things are running through my head. But there are times we shot ourselves in the foot, whether it be
a penalty or one or two drives way backed up. We came up a half yard short early in the first half. There’s more plays and yards out there. It’s
important, but it’s not the end all, be all. We know that. When you’re playing Ole Miss who can go as
fast as they can and they’re so explosive. But they’re very balanced. They’re a team that they rushed for
139 tonight. That will be low for them. They’ll rush for — they’re generally going to be a team that rushes
for around 200 and throw for around 300. That’s what they’ve been averaging.
If you look at their coordinator, where he was at UCF, and what they want to do, they put pressure on
you in that run game, but they also can throw it and get explosive plays outside.
I think that was still a good recipe for us. You rush for 400 yards, it’s going to give us an opportunity to
win the game. However, we have to play better defense than that, or you’re not going to win. So we had
our opportunities and got to make some stops.
Q. The television cameras at the end of the game showed you chipping back at officials. Was that just
an accumulation of officials or something that happened in that instance?
MARK STOOPS: I just wanted to talk to one of them about a specific play, but no.
Q. Kelvin’s (Joseph) a guy that you guys have obviously had high hopes for, and you still do. It seems
like in these first couple seasons he’s done a fair amount of chattering and has had some struggles
when it comes to the actual plays, especially in the end zone. What have you said to him about that? I
know you want corners to be confident and that swagger is part of what makes them good, but just
the balance that you’re looking for with him.
MARK STOOPS: You were cutting in and out, but I think I got the gist of your question. He, like a lot of
our players, we need to play better and more consistent. I thought he did good things a week ago.
Tonight just watching it out there, they were so extremely fast. I know there were some plays that stand
out in my mind right now that he needs to do a better job of.
I agree with you as far as that goes, really across our whole team. We don’t have time to get into it with
chattering. These opponents, especially with teams that go so fast, you’ve got to focus in on your job
and taking care of your business, and I’ve got to do a better job of coaching our team on that.
Q. Mark, obviously, 0-2 is not the start you wanted. How do you feel about the leadership on this
team? Do you feel like you’ve got good leaders that can pick guys up and get them ready for next
week?
MARK STOOPS: I do, John. I said just that in the locker room. I expect our leaders to step up. We knew it was going to be a challenge. Our players knew it was going to be a challenge. It’s going to be a
challenging year. I’m going to lean on them, and we have to get back at it and get to work on Monday.
We play at home next week again. It will be good to be back home, and it will be another challenge, as it will each and every week. But that’s also what makes it exciting. Every week is a big game, and you
really, truly got to look at it — and I also told the team this. If it went the other way, and we’re in there
celebrating and dancing and having a good time and everything, you’ve still got to go right back to work
on Monday. It’s going to be a long, challenging year, and you’d better have your feet up underneath you and be focused and come to work each and every week. We’ll get our team back and get them ready to play again next week.

Football

Q & A With Kentucky Football Commit Ben Duncum

Published

7 hours ago

June 30, 2025

Kai McClelland

UK Athletics

Ben Duncum, a three-star defensive lineman from the class of 2026, committed to the Kentucky Wildcats on June 25, adding more firepower to a busy month of recruiting for Mark Stoops and company.

Duncum, standing at 6-foot-6, recently sat down with Kentucky Insider to talk about what motivated him to join Kentucky, his personal aspirations, and more!

Q: I believe you were really warm on Oklahoma State and Wisconsin. Were they your final three along with Kentucky?

Yeah, it was pretty much Oklahoma State and Wisconsin, but Kentucky was kind of number one the whole way through. Whenever they first recruited me, they kind of threw me off on like, what they were telling me and stuff. I decided earlier, but I didn’t really decide earlier. I just kind of had to make sure the OV (official visit) went well and that everything checked out before I actually committed.

Q: Being from Texas, is there a specific thing that really drew you towards Kentucky and to go so far from home?

Kentucky is kind of like where I live, it’s like Austin. We went to some cool stuff on the visit and met this tailor at a horse farm and met this billionaire. They got to be with this $50 million horse or whatever. It was really cool, kind of doing all that. My mom’s a big horse person. But no, leaving Texas wasn’t ever an issue for me. I just wanted to stay somewhere in the south, and Kentucky was the best opportunity for me.

Q: Following the elite defensive prowess we’ve seen from Kentucky in the past couple of years, Deone Walker and Maxwell Hairston just got drafted in the NFL this year – what separates you to be one of those guys in the 2026 class that leads another defense at Kentucky?

Oh yeah. I mean, I think my game is different than a lot of other guys. I don’t know if there’s a lot of guys that are kind of tall and lanky that can move pretty decent now, even though my film I didn’t, wasn’t moving too good. In spring, I kind of changed my body. I think, you know, I’m not worried about any of the transfers or any of the other kids. I’m kind of worried about my own stuff. I mean, I’m going to go in there and I think I’m going to start. The fact that I’m going to go in and start as a true freshman is my goal and mindset.

Q: In today’s age, with the transfer portal, how do you think you’ll maintain your high hopes? With high school recruiting and obviously the portal too, there’s probably thousands of people contacted by Kentucky across all sports. How relieved are you to go into your senior season knowing you already have an elite school choosing you?

Guys that come in from the transfer portal, you know, there’s a reason they’re in there. There’s something wrong with them. So, I mean, if they’re going to the transfer portal, there’s a point. You can’t really, I mean, you can’t really trust kids. There’s always something like, if they’re in the portal, there’s something wrong with them..but yeah, I definitely, I’ve been kind of worried the past month or two about that decision. This is a big relief, kind of committing before and kind of being more calm about it all. I think it’s good I can really focus on my training now and getting ready for senior year, getting bigger, faster, stronger, and then get ready, you know, to go up to Kentucky and go in there and take a spot. That’s my goal.

Q: The consensus around Kentucky is that, if they have another bad season, that a coaching change could take place. How does that make you feel as a player, knowing that someone that lead in recruiting you may not be the coach when you arrive?

I mean, I think there’s a lot of rumors with that stuff, but that staff has been there, at least Stoops has been there for a while. I don’t know if he he could have a bad year or whatever, but I don’t think he should go, to be honest, he’s had too many good years ago for him to get punished for a few bad years. I think the staff is, is great. I don’t know, I have seen stuff. I don’t know who that (Vince) Marrow guy is, but he left, he had no value to that staff. He was just a recruiter guy, and they lost one commit who wasn’t even good. I think a lot of this stuff, I think it’s rumors and people like, you know, shouldn’t really worry about all that. I think the staff will stay.

Q: Did you know you were committed to Kentucky when you visited, or was it directly after?

I’ve kind of known, but, like, didn’t know that I was going to commit to Kentucky until they came to my spring practice. Coach Stoops first came in and I, whenever I was getting recruited by them I didn’t think I was very big recruit. A lot of my offers, I didn’t have any offers until February, and I got them all at once. Most of them aren’t actual, like, most of them are group of five. Whenever they offered me, I thought I wasn’t very high on their board or whatever, and, like, I was kind of like a mid recruit that they’ll pull if they don’t get a commit.

He called the DC. I talked to the DC after, but coach Stoops called the DC and said ‘he’s the kid that we want’ and they moved me to number one in their defensive board. I kind of knew I was going to come here because they’re the staff that believed in me the most, and it’s SEC ball.

Football

Kentucky Football Associate Head Coach Vince Marrow Leaving for Louisville

Published

3 weeks ago

June 9, 2025

Lane Mills

Kentucky football assistant coach Vince Marrow asks the fans to block out the noise.

IMAGN

In breaking news long foreshadowed and often feared, Vince Marrow, Kentucky’s recruiting coordinator and associate head coach, has left the program for a similar role with the in-state rival Louisville Cardinals.

The announcement came as a shock to many Kentucky fans who, despite rumors of such a
move swirling in years past, expected the coach’s longevity in Lexington to play a role in his
staying. Back in December, he even told fans himself that he would be in Lexington for this season.

Clearly, this was not the case.

Marrow is expected to finalize a three-year deal as the Cardinals’ new general manager, handling roster management, recruiting, and transfer portal operations for the team down the road.

Since his hiring in 2012 as the tight ends coach, among other roles, Marrow had become a
Kentucky football mainstay. To many, he was one of the few constants for a program that has
suffered serious change throughout the years.

His departure comes on the heels of the Wildcats’ worst season on this side of 2020, finishing at 4-8 and, of course, missing any possible chance at playing in the postseason.

Despite this loss, the program will attempt to look forward with a relatively finished roster and a clear goal on the horizon: somehow, someway, don’t be worse than last year.

The Cats and Cardinals will meet in Louisville on Nov. 29 later this year, for the final game of the season, as is tradition. Now more than ever, the stakes are red-hot with the program’s former fan-favorite wearing red on the other sideline.

Football

Q & A With Kentucky Football Commit Davis McCray

Published

3 weeks ago

June 8, 2025

Kai McClelland

UK Athletics

Davis McCray, a San Antonio, Texas native committed to the Wildcats on June 3, marking the second commitment from the 2026 class for Mark Stoops and company.

McCray tallied 639 yards and 10 touchdowns on just 32 receptions last season will also contributing on the defensive side of the ball and maintaining an impressive track and field career.

The 6-foot-2 receiver sat down with Kentucky Insider to tell us about why he chose Kentucky and who he compares his versatile play style to.

Q: With 16 different offers, why did you choose Kentucky?

What stood out to me is definitely being in the biggest conference in the nation, for sure. Also coach Bush (Hamdan) and coach L’Damian Washington, and then also coach (Mark) Stoops. He’s been there 13 years, which I feel like that shows a lot. They’re really great guys. They’re really down to earth people, and I really feel like I could see myself developing with them in the future.

Q: Does your national ranking matter to you at all? Are you in that stage where you want to get it at high as possible or do you just go out there and play?

I mean yeah, a little bit. I mean, me personally, I feel like I’m better than some of the highest ranked players in the nation. So, I feel like if I just keep on going out there, balling, proving myself, it will come naturally, you know what I mean?

Q: What motivated you to make such an early decision on Kentucky?

I feel like I definitely have to lock in the spot somewhere, and I feel like I can definitely develop at the highest level at Kentucky, and I can see myself there for however long I play in college.

Q: Say someone else came down the line after this year and offered you a spot. Would you even think about decommitting and going somewhere else?

No sir, I really probably wouldn’t. It depends, like, how late into the process it would be, but if it’s like during the season, no I wouldn’t. I would say I’m locked into Kentucky.

Q: What do you bring to Kentucky, on and off the field? Who would you compare your game to?

I’d probably compare myself to like a Ja’Marr Chase type of guy. I’m pretty quick, I have the size, I have the frame, and I’m like, a physical receiver. Even if we’re running the ball, I’m still going to give it my all to go block the defender just so we can get an extra maybe couple yards. Off the field, I feel like I’m a great kid. I’m good with my books, pretty smart student. I plan on graduating early and coming down there early. I don’t really like to party or anything like that. I’m more of just like a stay at home video game type of guy.

Q: What’s an interesting fact that you would tell Big Blue Nation about you to kind of show them who you are?

I would say I’m a pretty humble kid, and I’m very disciplined. Most people, like, make a big catch and they want to go celebrate or something. I’m more of a guy, to like, make a big play and line up on the line and get ready for the next one and try to make another big play or even a bigger play.

Q: The transfer portal is so prominent in the world of college football now. How do you think that culture affects players like you that want to stay at one school for their whole career?

There’s coaches always trying to bring guys in from the other schools and from the portal. It’s almost like you’re always trying to fight for your spot. I feel like it also keeps you motivated to keep working for that spot, and doesn’t keep you complacent.