Mark Stoops knows his team did not play smart or tough against Georgia. (UK Athletics Photo)
There really was nothing Kentucky coach Mark Stoops could say. His team lost 51-13 to Georgia. The Bulldogs amassed 608 total yards while Kentucky had just 183 yards and ran only 50 plays to 73 for Georgia. Kentucky punted eight times, Georgia once.
“You have got to give them (Georgia) a lot of credit. I am not very proud of that effort,” Stoops said on the UK Radio Network. “We didn’t play very good or very smart. We were not tough.
“We didn’t handle the atmosphere very well. However, that team (Georgia) put it together and played very good.”
Georgia may have felt disrespected nationally coming into the game considering it had won national titles in 2021 and 2022. Yet the storylines were Georgia had only scored 17 points total in the first quarter of five games, had failed to cover the point spread in any game and just was not as good as it had been.
Against Kentucky, Georgia looked unstoppable, especially with the not-so-smart penalties UK had that helped the Bulldogs.
“We were clearly having a hard time slowing them down,” Stoops said. “But you do have opportunities to stay on pace (score). Then we had penalties kill two drives and missed a wide-open receiver on another drive. You can’t do that. You get out of your true game plan.”
Kentucky has not beat Georgia since 2009 and Stoops has yet to beat the Bulldogs. Of course, not many teams have beaten Georgia recently. But the last two years’ losses to Georgia have disrupted UK’s momentum and Stoops doesn’t want that to happen again with Missouri coming up next.
“We are going to handle adversity better than we did a year ago. I will not tolerate any dissension. Put it on me,” Stoops told Tom Leach. “We have a huge game coming up (against Missouri). We can’t let them turn one into two (losses). We have to respond better and I think we will.
“Put this on me. I clearly did not have us ready. We were not ready for this moment. They have to suck it up. They are beat up but they have got to play. Missouri always plays us tough. They could easily be unbeaten.”
Georgia stayed unbeaten because its offense was way better than UK’s defense.
“They attacked us. We knew they would not just grind it out. They hit us with some things we have got to find solutions to,” Stoops said. “It is getting concerning. I have great confidence and trust in (defensive coordinator) Brad (White) and the staff and players.
“We didn’t get it done tonight but we will get it fixed. We did a bad job of coaching. We played with bad eyes and didn’t tackle very good.”
16 Responses
I’m convinced UGA felt a bit threatened with all the accolades the UK defense has received of late. So……….. this is what you get for poking the bear ! 85 well coached 5* players who are frothing from their bulldog jaws with 100K + fans who’ve been drinking since noon.
Actually resembled our beat down of UF. On the road in the SEC is no place for the feint of heart ( body or soul ) !
Kentucky has come a long way but they are clearly not on par with Georgia. UK looked very undisciplined. You are on the road and playing the no 1 team in the country and you have no excuse personal fouls.
Leary is average at best from what I see. The misses continue on absolutely wide open receivers for whatever reason. I surely don’t see UK beating Missouri.
And 1 more thing.. You might wanna not lose sight of where Bowers is on every play.
Wow, where to start? Leary is not what we had hoped for and is not showing any signs of getting better. Our run game will be facing 8 man boxes from now on and our defense looked like paper wildcats trying to tackle anyone, much less cover them. How could this "what the hell" kind of game snuck up on Stoops? He did say last week’s practice was lackluster, but yesterday was an asswhooping for the ages. Now, we will see what kind of coach we have with 6 remaining games to win one to get bowl eligible.
I said last summer I’d take 7 wins and a bowl victory ALL DAY LONG. The rank and file said I was crazy. Still would take the above !!
UK ran into a buzz saw that had something to prove. It bothered me early in the week when Stoops was complaining about the practice attitude. I think some players on the team were drinking the Kool-aid of how good they were; thus no need to put in more effort because I am already great.
I have learned over the years to read the hype in preseason, but leave it there until the games begin. UK has shown very little for me to buy into the hype. One game where their run game was unstoppable is not much to get excited about or have hopes of beating the best team in the country.
If UK had beaten Georgia, I would not have been surprised. I would have just thought they finally put it all together. If Georgia won, I wasn’t going to be surprised. I think Georgia is the better team.
I am however, extremely disappointed in what I have seen from Leary so far. To me, that is the biggest disappointment on this team. I know UK has a lot of drops, but I also know these kids can catch the ball. I saw it last year from Levis, but then again, every QB throws the ball differently. Some are harder to catch than others. We could also just be seeing the difference from Leary playing in the ACC and the SEC, but we also saw Leary have a lot of problems with 3 teams that he should have picked apart. This would have been a great game for the backup QB to have taken some reps and played against a great team.
The bottom line, take what you read with a grain of salt. Wait until your eyes show you the truth. . . and believe your own eyes. Don’t get overly hyped or overly down over a bunch of kids playing a game.
UK is mediocre at best and always will be. You beat the cupcakes, then get beat down anytime you play ANYONE of worth! You’re a basketball school and always will be (although that hasn’t gone very well for you recently either) GO CAYUTS!
The way I look at this is that UK has legitimately gotten the attention of UGA and probably Alabama. That is respect. No longer do these powers of the SEC just yawn and raise eyebrows at the chatter about "how good UK has become"
UGA’s primary mission yesterday was to send a huge message to UK football that UK football still falls short of the elite, and if UK really wants to play on that stage with UGA, UK has much more to do.
I think we all received the UGA message loud and clear, and I believe the message itself shows respect from UGA.
Next year, based on the actual poor response that this UK team gave to UGA’s challenge in the first quarter, it will be very interesting to see if UGA reverts to its casual view of UK football, or continues with this new level of respect.
Similarly, UK now finds itself at a major point of decision, a classic fork in its road. UK football can decide that it is really a serious SEC football team or cower back into hiding. We will find out a big part of that answer next Saturday. Missouri is a very good team, coming off a similar disappointing loss to LSU yesterday.
Next Saturday, it should be a war, and we will see if Missouri and UK both bow their necks, or if one or both of them revert into the hiding places.
Leary is a good college QB but he is not great. I doubt that has he ever played on a stage like at Georgia yesterday? He and all of his teammates failed on so many levels that I find it difficult to single Leary out.
Yes, Leary missed open targets, something he has been doing all season long, not just yesterday.
But, receivers also dropped passes, something they have been doing all season long, not just yesterday.
But, the team was also plagued by several inexplicable penalties that stopped UK possessions and extended UGA possessions, something they have been doing all season long, not just yesterday.
This lack of discipline has been a problem all year long, but the team was winning. The #1 team in the land exploited it on so many levels that it was difficult to watch as a UK fan.
Who is responsible for the lack of discipline. I start with the coaches who did not clean that up following game 1. However, the players are hugely responsible for the lack of discipline in their play, just as the players have to be ready to play when every game starts.
I disagree with you professor.. You have to make the casual passes to be considered good or solid. As of right now he’s not. If you have trouble hitting a receiver and a defender isn’t even in the TV screen you are not good.. If it was a fluke I get it..this is a pattern. That being said I am rooting for him and the big blue..
I agree, ML. The stats for the year show his below mediocre. Can he improve? Of course, and I hope he does. I don’t think he is too far from being very good, but needs to make corrections.
I agree, ML. Leary’s stats for the year show he is below mediocre. Can he improve? Of course, and I hope he does. I don’t think he is too far from being very good, but needs to make corrections.
The Cats have a game like this one every season. Hopefully this is one and done but after the meltdown last year after the TN game, I’m skeptical.
You have to believe that you are going to win before you actually will win. Sure we can beat Vandy, except for last year, South Carolina, except for last year, and maybe Missouri, Florida, Arkansas, and Mississippi State more often than not. Auburn and Ole Miss, I’m not so sure. But when it comes to Georgia, Alabama, LSU, and Tennessee…we are not there yet. Wait until Oklahoma and Texas get in the mix. Possibly bringing on Clemson, Florida State, North Carolina, and Virginia will only make matters worse for us. When these 6 teams become part of the SEC, we will be a middle of the pack team at best, not only in football but basketball too.
All I can say is I love my Wildcats but Georgia kills just about every team they play but I will still cheer on our boys. Go Big Blue 💙💙.
Perhaps this devastating loss will get their heads focused on the next opponent instead of how great they are. Kentucky football lost a lot of respect they might have had after that performance against Georgia Saturday night. That was hard to watch. If UK is that bad, they are in deep trouble just looking at the schedule ahead. They must earn respect back. First step, old school coaching that demands results. Second, get their backup QB ready, third, go out there and dominate against Missouri come this Saturday night.