Mark Stoops talks about trying to slow down Jaxson Dart

Mark Stoops and Kentucky travel to Oxford, MS to take on the #6 ranked Ole Miss Rebels.

The head coach of the Wildcats talked about what he expects from Mississippi on Saturday.

On the challenges of defending their offense
Stoops: Well, I think the first thing with their tempo, obviously that creates a lot of stress, then you put the tempo in there with what they do. With how balanced they are, they’re commitment to running the football, and then the RPO’s (Run-pass-option) off of it. Jaxson Dart running this offense now, being so comfortable with it. They put a lot of pressure on you in the run game, you have to have numbers and then the RPO’s are there. Of course they’re play action, deception plays, they’re just well designed, they just stress you. You know the first thing is the urgency to get lined up and then get down and executing our defense. I think that’s a big deal because you have to do it, they put pressure on you every, every play. We have to have consistency in that. We’ve had these before where you play in these games and you play a lot of snaps, but I think that’s part of what they do. They want to explosive and put that constant pressure, and that’s where we just got to be dialed in and locked in at all times because the moment you’re not they’re going to hit you with a big play.

On Jaxson Dart’s play and him flying under the radar in the SEC
Stoops: Well, I don’t know why because of the eye-popping numbers that he has, and what he’s done, and will continue to do throughout the year. He’s another guy I think, and I’m sure, Tommy Cheek joked about how we get the opportunity to play so many top-10 teams, so like they get the opportunity to play a lot of guys that should be standing there, at the Heisman. We will get several of those guys this year, and he’s one of them. I just think he’s just special, and he’s operating at an extremely high level. Very, very comfortable, great knowledge, and you can tell the coaching that he’s getting from Lane and Charlie Weis Jr., and just the system; he’s very comfortable, and they put a lot of pressure on him.

On experience playing in Oxford again
Stoops: I’ll tell you every year that every year, every game, it’s totally different, but of course familiarity is important. And we’ve been there, and some of our guys have been down there. They were freshman, and some of the guys that were down there playing a couple of years ago. But this is a new year, new challenge, but you know I hope we can play better in certain areas. I know Ole Miss is better in a lot of ways as well, to credit Lane. I mean, they’ve always been good, but I think they have really built a really special team.

Watch the full press conference below: