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Kentucky missed a chance to end the season with two straight wins over ranked teams when it gave up 28 points in the fourth quarter and lost 38-35 to Clemson in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl Friday in Jacksonville.
The Wildcats had four turnovers in the fourth quarter and gave up a 68-yard touchdown drive that ended with only 17 seconds to play.
Here is some of what Kentucky coach Mark Stoops had to say after the game:
Q. Do you have an opening statement?
MARK STOOPS: A very difficult loss. Terrific football game. There were so many moments in that game where I’m so proud of our football team and the way we responded, the way we fought back. We faced a lot of adversity and overcame it. Mistakes and turnovers, penalties, there was a lot of things that you’re not very proud of.
The bottom line is I greatly appreciate our team’s approach, the way they worked, the way they did things throughout the weeks leading up to this, the way they were down here, and the way they fought and played a very tough game.
Coaching-wise, I think there’s a lot of things that we can do a lot better, and we need to get to that. You know, we have to have a strong offseason. You can’t have so many negative yardage plays, runs that are not giving them a chance to get going, taking sacks, putting the ball on the ground, penalties. A lot of things that are on us as a staff.
I love this team. I wish for their sake we could have ended it with a great win, and it was a very difficult loss, but, again, this team is a team that I love and appreciate the way they’ve handled things. We’ll move on from there.
Q. What do you tell them after going through so many emotions in the fourth quarter
MARK STOOPS: Just that. I told them after we went down, I said, Guys, we’re still going to win this game. With some guys that had some plays that affected it, I said, Hang in there. Sure enough, those things came true. We had an opportunity to bounce back and score and put us in a position to win the game. Again, very proud of that part of it.
Q. Mark, your defense only gave up 13 points on four possessions that started inside your own 40 there, but then the last drive they drove down the field. Was that fatigue? Was it going too conservative? How do you think that last drive went?
MARK STOOPS: Well, we will always second-guess ourselves on calls on certain things. We get the pressure, we get the intentional grounding. The next play really hurt us. It gave them an opportunity to get it to fourth and manageable there. Obviously that’s a play that will haunt us for a while.
We were down our two top corners at that point. You know, you try to do some things and play some coverages that can protect them. We had a nickel that was inexperienced that could have cut underneath it and just — whatever.
We could play better. We could call defense better. We will second-guess ourselves on that one.
Q. Mark, Devin’s turnovers there in the fourth quarter, was that a case of doing too much? What did you see on those plays, I guess?
MARK STOOPS: Well, the last one is what it is. Another tip, the strip sacks fumble was inexcusable. You have to tuck the ball at that point. He had people all around him.
You try and create and make something happen, but we have to protect the ball on the fumble. You can’t do that. Give them all the momentum at that point in time. I think a little bit of everything.
Q. I know that obviously you’re thinking about this game right now, but you’re also losing guys like Ray Davis and Devin Leary and some of the seniors who have been here a while. What have they meant to this program, and going out like this is probably pretty tough for them as well.
MARK STOOPS: It’s very heartbreaking for me to see them go out this way, but I just told them that in the locker room that for all the guys that are playing for Kentucky for the last time that we love them and appreciate them and everything that they’ve done for our program. They have laid it on the line for us.
I told you day one, and I have stayed consistent through this, that I really like this team. I like coaching them. I wish we could have had a different outcome here. We had an opportunity to finish really strong and try to get two Ws against two ranked teams and find a way to put ourselves in a position, and it’s a game of inches and yards and a play here, a play there. So it’s a tough one.
6 Responses
“Coaching-wise, I think there’s a lot of things that we can do a lot better, and we need to get to that.”
How many times have we heard that?
We were down our top two corners and a nickel back? You decided to try and cover instead of trying to get pressure? STOOPID move…. Should’ve sent the house to minimize your weakness? DUH… I can’t believe that decision. If they got beat you’d say, well since we were down our top two corners and our nickel we decided to rush the QB. Everyone would have understood. But playing prevent? Terrible decision…
Who in Kentucky hates Losing? Maybe besides liking this years team He likes Losing. Why would he not since he gets the big money paycheck that’s the main reason he’s still the coach.
the last 2 seasons have been very disappointing given the improvement this program had experienced prior to 2022.
2024 must be a year that restores the growth and momentum for the program or it will be high time for UK to look at other options at the coaching position. I have been a huge Stoops supporter since his arrival, but once the program claims new ground, that becomes the new standard, and this program has regressed two seasons in a row.
5 star players are going to go to football schools. Stoops has had success in recruiting mainly 3 and 4 star players. For $9 million a year, you would think that we could find a coach who has a track record in recruiting 5 star talent or developing 4 star talent into 5 star players.
Stoops is the man with the loudest voice wearing a headset on the field, but he appears to have no answers in games like this more often than not. Ranting and raving is necessary at times in hard fought football games, but what is needed more, from him, is calm effective coaching when the game on the line. Kentucky should not have lost that ball game to Clemson, no way. I give credit to Coach Swinney and the Tigers. They found a way to win. Clemson has been there before and they know how to win. Better coaching won that game in Jacksonville. Stoops lost ground here that he needs to be make up in 2024.
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