10 things we learned during this week’s Mark Stoops Show

While Mark Stoops typically speaks to the media twice a week – once on Monday afternoon for a weekly press conference and another post-practice session on Thursday evening – the Kentucky head coach usually uses weekly call-in radio show on Monday evenings to kick back and relax a bit.

During the hour-long show with Tom Leach, Stoops usually opens up about his team’s performance from the previous week, previews Kentucky’s next opponent, and answers questions via phone and social media from the Big Blue Nation.

This evening, Stoops went in-depth about Kentucky’s recent victory over Missouri, discussed Lynn Bowden’s star performance at quarterback, and why it’s a weird feeling to have two bye weeks in a single season, among other topics.

Here are the ten things we learned during the Mark Stoops Show this evening:

The double bye is strange for Stoops

For the first time since Mark Stoops can remember through his entire playing and coaching career, his football team has two byes in a single season.

And while it’s a strange feeling for him, the pros certainly outweigh the cons.

“[It’s been a really long time], I can’t even remember,” he said. “I don’t think there has been a season since I’ve been coaching, maybe even playing, that I’ve had two bye weeks. Makes the season longer, but it helps get players heal up mentally and physically. Helps the staff get a head start on Tennessee.”

As an added bonus, the coaching staff is also able to hit the recruiting trail and work on their upcoming classes.

“It’s been a really good year [in recruiting], kids are really excited [to come to Kentucky]. We’ve got a really solid class,” he said. “On Friday, I’ll take my boy with me and we’ll go [hit the road], see some games.”

Lynn Bowden is a superstar

After a 204-yard, two-touchdown rushing performance against Missouri, it’s no surprise that Stoops couldn’t stop raving about his star receiver-turned-quarterback Lynn Bowden.

“He’s been really amazing, really has,” he said. “I mentioned it postgame, but really have to credit Coach (Eddie) Gran and our offensive staff. They developed a gameplan for his playing style and to give him space. It’s not being talked about enough how smart he is, people don’t appreciate what he’s doing enough. I mean seriously, he’s darn near 100% on reads. He’s all over it, very very intelligent. At one point on Saturday we called a play [and had to call a timeout], and he came over to the sideline and said, “We can’t run that play. [Our formation] is not going to work [with their defensive scheme].”

With Bowden getting more comfortable at quarterback and learning more, Stoops said this week off will help him even more for learning the playbook and developing better chemistry with his teammates and the coaching staff.

“That’s another good example of where this bye can help,” he said. “We were chopping it up a little bit [recently], talking about everything. And let me tell you, with what little hair left I have on my hair, he loves to stress me out. Tuesday, he gets stressed out and overwhelmed [with gameplan work], we have a few spats, but he said, “That’s good for us coach.”

When asked if playing Bowden at quarterback will hurt his NFL Draft stock, Stoops said it would only help.

“Won’t hurt him a bit, it’ll probably help him,” he said. “Plenty of film on him. Shows his versatility, shows his knowledge. His athleticism, he can do everything. It’ll only help him.”

The Kentucky head coach even added that scouts are likely drooling over Bowden’s versatility and how well he has handled this change.

In fact, Stoops said he could put him at several other different positions and he would still find massive success.

“He could probably play running back, cornerback, and safety,” he said. “We worked him in there before the season. But at punt return, kick return, receiver, it’s just too many reps. He’s the kind of player that can play all day. He could certainly play DB if he wanted to.”

What about Sawyer Smith?

With all the talk about Bowden and the success he has managed at the quarterback position, where does Sawyer Smith fit into the equation?

According to Stoops, the staff was going back and forth on both options last weekend, and will continue to weigh them both moving forward.

But with how well Bowden has been playing, they’re comfortable going with the hot hand.

“It was [helpful to have them both to work with during gameplanning],” he said. “You go back to last week, last Sunday. Coach Gran and Coach Hinshaw, we had a long discussion about which direction to go about Sawyer or Lynn. … Had it been dryer, [Bowden] would have thrown more. The kid can throw it plenty good enough. He threw good balls, one was a PI to Ahmad on a critical play on third down, another one or two that were well defended, but they were good balls.”

Injury updates

Speaking of Bowden, he went down with a twisted ankle against Missouri, but returned to the field just a few plays later.

Is he okay?

“He was not real happy about that,” he said. “He was yelling, saying our trainers didn’t tape it tight enough during pregame, he’s just such a competitor. He’s just fine though. He was frustrated for about 30 seconds and got right back in the game, no issue.”

As for wide receiver Ahmad Wagner, while he wouldn’t specify what was wrong exactly, he did say he’d be back to action next week.

“Ahmad is good, he has a little issue with something,” he said. “He’ll be out all this week, but hopefully he’ll be back middle of next week. He’s got a lot of upside and he’s only getting better and better.”

Calvin Taylor deserves praise

In a three-tackle, two-sack performance that led to SEC Defensive Lineman of the Week honors, Stoops wanted to give credit to defensive tackle Calvin Taylor Jr.

“[His play has been] really remarkable, I think he was defensive player of the week. Really proud of him,” Stoops said. “Great example of a guy who came in, redshirted, put in work for three years without playing too much, but he’s having a breakout year as a senior. He’s really worked himself into a player.”

Taylor now has five sacks on the season, good for third in the SEC.

Stoops and Coach Cal exchange advice

After Kentucky’s impressive victory over Missouri, Kentucky head coach John Calipari reached out to Stoops to congratulate him on his team’s performance.

During their conversation, Stoops said he gave Calipari some words of encouragement about his team, something he says he does fairly regularly.

“I talk to Coach Cal a lot, try to give him encouragement during tough times, which isn’t often,” he said. “He tried to do that with Georgetown the other night and I told him, “Oh I don’t want to hear it.” What’d they win by? 30? But coaches like to stick together, motivate each other during tough times.”

Will Chance Poore start at kicker moving forward?

After two missed extra point attempts from kicker Matt Ruffolo on Saturday, Stoops gave Chance Poore another shot at the position.

His first attempt – a 43-yarder – sailed right through the uprights, as did his two extra point attempts.

“We’ll see. Was really proud of him to come in and hit that field goal,” he said. “Came in and drilled the extra points after that. That happened to chance a year ago, he was the starter for four games last year, got a little shaky, we took him out. Matt missed a few extra points, obviously wasn’t going back to him, Chance came in and made the most of his opportunities.”

Max Duffy is a rockstar at punter

While Lynn Bowden was the offensive star and Calvin Taylor Jr. dominated on defense, Max Duffy again stole the show on special teams.

With a punt average of 52.4 yards, a long of 70 yards, and a successful fake punt on fourth down that moved the chains, Duffy earned Special Teams Player of the Week honors.

“My first thought was, “He better make it.” We saw it open. It was clean, we all saw it,” Stoops said. “It was a great call by me (laughs). If it worked, it was me. If not, it’s Coach Hood (laughs). No, Coach Hood does a phenomenal job. The snap went a little right, slipped a bit. He’s been itching to do it, it was there, and he took it.”

How will they replace Duffy at punter when he heads off to the NFL?

“We’ve been talking about it, he’s recruiting some of his friends to [replace him]. We want another Aussie,” he said. “He’s a really interesting guy. I don’t know if I’ve ever talked about a punter this much, but he’s earned it. He’s incredible. [Missouri head coach] Barry Odom talked to me before the game and said, “Max is amazing.” He actually rolled left last week in practice and kicked it left footed. I’m ready to see it in the game. But again, if it doesn’t work, it’s on Coach Hood (laughs).”

Stoops appreciates the fan support

After fans spent Saturday evening watching the Wildcats in a monsoon, Stoops went out of his way to thank them for their support.

“We greatly appreciate it. It was a good crowd, and it was a great atmosphere, actually,” he said. “Them coming out and having a good time put some pressure on us to perform well for them. I’m glad we were able to do that.”

The defense is playing out of their mind

After holding their opponents to under 24 points for an eighth consecutive time on Saturday, Stoops was asked about his defense and the ridiculous success they are finding week after week.

“[Chris Oats and DeAndre Square] probably their best game this past week, they played really good. Played physical,” he said. “The whole group is playing much better. You’ve got to play well at the outside linebacker position, and Boogie [Watson] and Josh [Paschal] are doing that. We can move Josh Paschal inside, he has that versatility. Quinton [Bohanna] is playing well up front, Calvin [Taylor]. The secondary is getting their feet underneath them.”

And it wasn’t just the veterans making plays. The young guys made an impact, as well.

“[Freshmen] K.D. [McDaniel], Jared [Casey], JJ [Weaver], we planned on playing all three this week,” he said. “They all played, made plays. We’re excited for the future. It was very nice, I wasn’t anticipating having a lead like that. JJ made that impressive tackle on, what, the second series of the game? We’re excited about all of them.”

The advanced analytics and numbers are backing up the eye test results, as well.

“I’m really excited because we’ve been diving into some numbers and analytic things, and they’re really encouraging,” Stoops said. “You look at the roster, next year’s senior class and next year’s junior class, and [the numbers look good there]. So it bodes well for the future. A bunch of good freshmen, as well. The new class we’ve got coming in now. It’s very exciting.”

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