Why does Mark Stoops love complimentary football so much?

Chris Rodriguez and a power running game are a big part of coach Mark Stoops' complimentary football. (Vicky Graff Photo)

After Kentucky’s 34-17 win against Vanderbilt on Saturday night one of Mark Stoops’ comments really caught my ear. I kind of filed it away in the back of my mind but then I heard him say something similar at his Monday press conference and it once again caught my interest.

His comments weren’t anything controversial or really out there like one might get from Mike Leach at Mississippi State but it said a lot to me about where this football program currently is and maybe where it’s going in the future.

After the game Saturday night Stoops was discussing how he felt his Wildcats played against the Commodores. Stoops said, “We played more complimentary football in the first half than we have in some time. We did what we had to do to win. You know this was big for us coming on the road and getting another SEC East win.”

That comment kind of piqued my interest. One, he used the term “complementary football” and two, he said, “We did what we had to do to win.”  I filed those comments away for future reference but then in his press conference on Monday Stoops again referred to playing complementary football. He then proceeded to explain what happens when one side of the ball, let’s say the offense, gets out of sync during the game. He specifically mentioned the first drive of the second half for the Wildcats. That drive lasted seven plays, gained six net yards, and took four minutes off the clock but unfortunately, it stalled when an offensive linemen (it’s still not clear who because the referees called it on Luke Fortner per Stoops but he then said there was no way Fortner was holding based on the film) was called for holding. On the next play, Wan’Dale Robinson was called for a very weak offensive pass interference penalty. Those calls, back to back, killed the drive.

After UK punted the ball, Vanderbilt with backup quarterback Mike Wright now in the game, proceeded to drive the ball 72 yards on 12 plays to score a touchdown and cut the Kentucky lead to 31-11 and swing momentum back toward the home-standing Commodores. That’s when Stoops’ comment about complementary football becomes so relevant.

During his comments on Monday Stoops implied that the coaching staff collectively decided to lean heavily on the run game and control the clock to allow the defense an opportunity to get together and regroup. (One would assume that means the defense was caught off guard by the quarterback change from Ken Seals, a pocket passer, to a running quarterback like Mike Wright that could also throw the ball).

Stoops went on to say that the offense then proceeded to run the ball 11 times during the 14-play drive. Only twice did Levis throw the ball. The drive lasted 7:27 and resulted in Kentucky tacking on a Mark Ruffolo field goal to put the Wildcats ahead 34-11 and gain a little momentum back. The points from the drive were significant but not as significant as giving the defense an opportunity to get with their coaches and work out some adjustments to Vandy’s offense after they changed quarterbacks.

Mark Stoops said as much at his Monday press conference. He implied that on his football teams one hand washes the other and each side of the ball, offense, and defense, are intertwined with the overall game strategy. It’s just the way he approaches the game. Stoops said Saturday after the game, “In the second half we got a little out of kilter defensively. I wish we could have made some better stops defensively in the second half. I thought that handcuffed our offense.”

There it is again, complimentary football. The defense not making stops handcuffs the offense.

I’m not sure you will see that type thinking from a Mike Leach or Josh Heupel coached team. I’m not sure you’ll even see that type thinking from a Nick Saban coached team anymore, although Saban would come closer to that than most of the other coaches in the SEC.

Now, I mentioned that the comments piqued my interest because of the implications for where this football program is now and where it may go in the future. In other words, complimentary football does not mean that Kentucky will throw the ball 40 to 50 times in a game, no matter how good the quarterback/wide receiver groups are. It also doesn’t mean that the offense will only be expected to score 10 points in a game. That type of offense puts a tremendous burden on the defense to play flawless football.

So Kentucky football fans shouldn’t ever expect Mark Stoops to encourage his offensive coordinator to score like Tennessee’s offense did against Kentucky when the Vols scored 45 points in 47 plays with only 14 minutes of offensive possession. Although the Volunteers won that game 45-42 very rarely (almost never) will a team that forces their defense to play 99 plays, as Heupel did against Kentucky, win the game. It’s not complementary football. As Stoops loves to say, “It doesn’t respect the game.”

So going forward it appears that even as Kentucky works to add explosive wide receivers through recruiting efforts and additional quarterbacks that can more effectively operate a passing game, I expect the Kentucky offense to still lean very heavily in the running game, especially in situations where the Wildcats build a lead or the defense is struggling against an opponent’s high powered offense.

It seems that based on Mark Stoops’s penchant for complimentary football Kentucky will always be a team that likes to take the air out of the ball once they get a lead. Some people call that being conservative or stalling or just killing the clock to get the game over with and preserve the win. Mark Stoops would disagree. He would tell you that’s complimentary football — and in this case, fans should listen. After all, the purpose of playing the games is to win and Mark Stoops said, “We did what we had to do to win.”

And to his credit, he knows how to win. This year’s 5-3 record in the SEC and second place finish in the SEC East attests to that.  So does the fact that Mark Stoops is now the second winningest coach in UK Football history behind only Bear Bryant. That puts him in some elite company — all because he knows how to grind out a victory while playing “complimentary football.”