Mark Stoops says Wildcats must ‘turn the page quickly’ ahead of matchup with Georgia Bulldogs

By Keith Taylor
Kentucky Today

Kentucky coach Mark Stoops knows his team has little time to regroup going into Saturday’s showdown against top-ranked Georgia.

Two days removed from his team’s 31-6 disappointing setback to South Carolina, Stoops was still fuming over UK’s performance.

“Much of what I said after the game holds true — with one exception,” Stoops said. “After watching the film, I do think our guys played really hard. We just didn’t play very smart. We didn’t execute very good, we didn’t play very disciplined, we didn’t play winning football at all. Mentally, we have to do a better job.”

The mental miscues, Stoops said, resulted in six explosive plays that went for 152 yards and added “three of them were complete technique issues.” He also said offensively, the Wildcats “got out of rhythm.”

“We didn’t play very good and you can’t have penalty after penalty after penalty,” he said. “That part of it, the execution and the undisciplined play was embarrassing. The penalties and things of that nature, just can’t do it.”

Kentucky quarterback Brock Vandagriff said the Wildcats “kind of shot ourselves in the foot a few times” against the Gamecocks but is looking ahead to Saturday’s contest against his former team. Vandagriff served as a backup signal-caller at Georgia for three years before transferring to Kentucky.

“Everything is pretty correctable,” he said. “I’m going to have to watch the film and get back to it. USC has a great team, but at the end of the day, we beat ourselves on offense. … Georgia’s got a good squad. We’ve got a good squad as well, but the main thing on my mind right now is putting this game to bed. Make sure we get in, get our corrections, and go through those at full speed (this week). We’ll attack Georgia when it’s time.”

The Kentucky coach said the Wildcats “better turn the page quickly” to have a chance against the Bulldogs.

“We have to own that the performance against (South Carolina) first and that’s what we’re all going to do. We’re going to own it. We all have to take charge of our responsibility, and our job, and do it with pride. Then we have to hone in on what we’re going to do and, clearly, do it better and make sure we’re putting our players in a position to be successful.”

The contest will be the conference opener for Georgia, which opened with two straight victories, including a 48-3 rout of Tennessee Tech last Saturday in Athens. The Bulldogs outscored their first two opponents, 82-6.

Couch to be honored

Former Kentucky quarterback Tim Couch will be recognized Saturday during the first quarter break for the National Football Foundation Hall of Fame On-Campus Salute, presented by Fidelity Investments. Couch will be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame on Dec. 10 in Las Vegas.

“Congratulations to Tim Couch and going into the Hall of Fame,” Stoops said. “Well-deserved (and) we’re very excited for him.”

Couch is the sixth former Kentucky player to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. He joins Bob Gain (1947-50), Babe Parilli (1949-51), Steve Meilinger (1951-53), Lou Michaels (1955-57), and Art Still (1974-77). Hall of Fame coaches include Paul “Bear” Bryant and Jerry Claiborne.

Gametracker : Georgia at Kentucky, 7:30 p.m., Saturday. TV/Radio: ABC, UK Radio Network.

The post Mark Stoops says Wildcats must ‘turn the page quickly’ ahead of matchup with Georgia Bulldogs appeared first on NKyTribune .