Everything Mark Stoops Said After Kentucky's 49-21 loss to No. 8 Alabama

Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops was candid with his thoughts after the Wildcats' disappointing loss at home.

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops gave his thoughts to the media after suffering a 49-21 blow at home to Nick Saban's No. 8 Alabama.

Opening Statement:

"Obviously that's a very good football team. We didn't show up very well today. Didn't get off to a very good start. Didn't get much better after that start. Give them credit. I think this football team is getting better and better, getting stronger and stronger as year goes on. I think they'll make a strong push here late. Very, very impressive win by them. I wish we would have executed better. What was disappointing was third downs. Both sides, they converted and extremely high percentage of third downs. We didn't get very good pressure. We tried blitzing. We tried zero. We tried coverage we tried a little bit of everything, and to the credit, they made plays. They, you know, protected when they needed to. I think Milroe rose, he does a phenomenal job of buying time in the pocket and hurting you as such a threat to run it. Early he bought the time and hit the receivers downfield. We didn't convert very well on third down and move the ball consistently enough. So again, I think it's pretty cut and dry. Took care of business and I think we need to play a little better. And it's a tough matchup. It's a tough matchup for anybody."

First couple of series, what did you see from their kids? I mean, it seemed like the jumped out of the gate before you could.

"You saw their quarterback as a dynamic threat to run the ball who bought time. Found some explosive plays downfield."

Were you pleased with your team's mindset going into today? 

"I mean, yeah, I think when things go wrong, I mean you'd like to see them dig in and make some plays. And I think, you know, they go down, I think we settled in, the fumble, you know puts us in a spot that makes it very difficult. You know, in hindsight, we could have kept it a little closer earlier probably would've kicked a field goal. Like to see it 21-10, or 14-10 at some point instead of pressing and going for it, down three scores, we went for it and got nothing. That kinda hurts you as well."

With those open receivers for Alabama, is that the threat of Milroe to run or is that problems on your end?

"Well, both. We didn't do a very good job. In one of them, we were in man. You can't drop your man to go get [Jalen] Milroe. You can't you can't do that. We have to have some secondary support, some guys overlapping even if it's 'he's gonna get some yards,' you have to give those up - but you can't drop a man and and that was one of them. The other one, was a zone coverage but again, you got to take it from your half in split coverage and the half-field guy. And he extends it so long to one side of the field, you gotta carry it all the way over. So it's unusual. It's hard. But we're going to do better."

The last top-ten teams you've played, it's been about a negative 28 scoring margin. There's been some loud criticisms out there. How do you respond to your team's inability to get up for big games like this?

"You know, I think of team I think the ability of the team to get up is one thing, I think the ability to compete with some of the top 10 teams is another. Some of these teams are one and two, you know, that's a little different than some of your average teams, but there's nothing average about that team."

Alabama's given up 37 sacks this year, but y'all didn't get any today. Was that a schematic thing? Was that an execution thing? 

"I thought it was very poor at times, you know, some movement, but we got some very good yardage plays and then they came back and converted and converted some third downs and some third and longs, so it's really disappointing. And yeah, we did a very poor job of getting pressure, whether it was straight rushing or the pressures any of it. We did a poor job today."

Conversely, Mark, how rough was the offensive line play for you guys today?

"You know, it's gonna be tough sledding and against a team like that. I think you have to be good in all areas. That can't just be the offensive line, or the running backs. You gotta get open. Make good decisions, we gotta get rid of the ball, and we can't have as many deflected, it would put you behind the chains. You get predictable or behind the chains against that group and it's not gonna look good."

Building on that, how much can you say about Devin [Leary]'s toughness? He took some shots today. 

"Doesn't surprise me, he's tough and he's resilient, and again, that's some tough sledding out there playing against those guys, especially when you get behind like that. 

Excluding the scores, how did you feel about the team's fight?

"I mean, the fight is there. I don't I don't ever question that, I mean execution, plan, that's a different story. I don't question our teams fight, their desire to win, you gotta, you gotta compete at a different level. You have to execute and be more precise when you're playing teams like that."

How would you compare this effort to that of the Georgia game?

"I can't even think. I've been worried about this game. I can't go back to that. Again, I was pretty honest, I think we need to be better. We need to be better. They did a great job. That's a very good football team. I expect them to make a deep run."

You want to be a balanced team, when you get behind like that so early, how much of that, not throws it out the window, but you really have to change?

"Yeah, it's really tough sledding. In some games like that, at times when you get behind like that, you want to keep it close and give yourself a chance. To get behind like that it definitely hurts."

I know this losing has been tough, but 8-4 is a lot better than 7-5 or 6-6, how do you regain your team's composure here down the stretch of the season?

"Our team, if they come back and focus, and work like we've been doing, then we'll have a great opportunity. We have to show the resolve. We have to show the toughness and, you know, it'll come back. It's not easy. You know the schedule is not easy. The SEC is not easy, but as I tell the team, no one's gonna feel sorry for you. You gotta bow up, get back to work, they gotta get some rest, and you got to have a great Monday practice. The players will be off tomorrow, the coaches will be back at work. And it'll be a new week. It'll be a one week season for us. We gotta get back to work."

You talked about how you liked your team's fight, be execution and preparedness has to be better, a lot of times practice just isn't enough, you gotta watch film, you gotta study, do you feel like your kids are doing that?

"I do. I do. I think then there comes the disciplined execution. Those dudes, they have something to do with it. It's not like our guys aren't trying either. Those guys are pretty good."

You mentioned the drive where you went for it on 4th and 2, but down 28-7, you had the ball in Alabama territory three straight times, not being able to get anything there?

"It kills you, you know. It does. In hindsight I wish I had kicked it and got down there at least 28-10. Got it down there later, and thought we punched it in, I don't know."

No. 8 Alabama Secures SEC West Title, defeats Kentucky 49-21