Stoops talks Barion Brown, Chris Rodriguez, Spencer Rattler on SEC Teleconference

Mark Stoops has moved past the Ole Miss game, but some of the reporters on this week’s SEC Teleconference have not. Stoops fielded four questions about the Rebels during his ten-minute turn, but took it in stride, praising Quinshon Judkins, Lane Kiffin, and Ole Miss’ physicality. He also talked about Barion Brown and Chris Rodriguez’s impressive performances in Oxford and what he’s seen from Spencer Rattler at South Carolina so far this season. Given the special teams miscues, there was also a question about the kicking game.

Listen below or keep scrolling for a complete transcript.

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Opening Statement

Just looking forward to the opportunity to get back on the field. Another great challenge in hosting South Carolina, a team that’s very, very much improved. They’ve had a difficult SEC schedule to this point and really have put it together the past couple of weeks and are playing at their very high level. I’m sure it’s very good for them with a new quarterback, a transfer quarterback, to get some reps under his belt. The success they’ve had the past couple of weeks and the improvement that the team has made under Shane [Beamer], from year one to year two is evident.

And again, we’re looking forward to the challenge. We know it’s always a very good game with us and South Carolina. So, just worried about our team and cleaning up some of the simple mistakes we made a week ago. As I mentioned, I felt like we did a lot of really good things and left some points on the field obviously and we can’t do that against another SEC team.

On Ole Miss running back Quinshon Judkins…

Very explosive, very tough to get down, good balance, speed. He’s explosive. They have several really good backs and obviously, they can create some explosive plays with the tempo and things that they do.

On Judkins’ potential…

Without a doubt, his potential would be one of the big-time players in this league. He already is. You know, probably the sky’s the limit for him. It seems like he’s got a great attitude. He plays extremely hard and he’s a complete back at a young age, so that says a lot about him and the coaching that he’s getting there.

On whether it took longer to get over the Ole Miss loss because of the mistakes his team made…

No, no, I really didn’t feel that. I felt like our players you know, you always get in on Monday and Sundays are hard on the coaches. We obviously get back to work and the players have the day off so it feels like an eternity to get with our players and we get back together on Monday afternoon and watch the film and have a team meeting and move on to the next opponent. Win or lose, you have to put it behind us and I felt like the team did a good job. I mean, we’re physically in a spot where we’re banged up more than we are mentally. I mean, it is what it is. It’s tough grind. Whether you win or lose you have to be prepared to get ready for the next opponent and I felt like you know our team handled it good on Monday and Tuesday and we’ll get back at it today.

On if Ole Miss was more physical than he expected…

Yeah, it doesn’t surprise me at all. I mean, everything was evident on tape. And they play really hard. And I think Lane [Kiffin] has done a great job there and it says a lot about him and what you have to be to be a successful coach and adapt to the stress of your team. And offensively they’re still very explosive and can still create big plays. And defensively they’re playing extremely hard and bring a lot of different pressures and that kind of gets his defense going and they’re playing at a very, very high level and very sound across the board.

And I thought it was a great game. Again, we made mistakes, but we knew it was gonna be a tough environment going on the road. Second SEC opponent. We had to go on the road against a ranked team and had a great opportunity to win and it didn’t happen that way so you have to credit them and take a good look at yourself.

On Barion Brown and how explosive he is…

He’s very, very explosive, and getting better with every opportunity as he’s getting stronger, getting adapted to the speed of the SEC. He’s got that. Very, very talented. Yes, you see it every day. It’s nice to see the youngsters out there because they seem to be able to play forever, which you love because they’re right back on the field on Monday and Tuesday, and practicing fast, playing fast, and looking good. So him and Dane [Key], both as freshmen and we got to continue to get Tayvion [Robinson] involved because he’s a very good player for us as well.

On Chris Rodriguez‘s performance vs. Ole Miss…

He really played like we thought he would and like he’s capable of. Definitely, I’d say I just noticed it, I wouldn’t say you necessarily notice it on tape, but during the game, I could tell he just, with the anxiousness and being hyped up to play that game on the road and getting his feet up underneath him, I think it’s fair to say he’ll get better with a game under his belt and get some game reps and he’s obviously in great shape. He worked extremely hard during his time off, but there’s a difference between playing at game level and just training so he did a really good job for us.

On Will Levis‘ second fumble and whether or not he was in the act of passing…

Yeah, he was close, but he wasn’t — it was a correct call. Very, very close, and unfortunate. There are things we can do better and with that particular play, and I can’t blame Will. The play design was set for a little, maybe a fraction long for being in the red zone, but we tried to chip and help the young tackle. We probably could have laid on it a little longer, but it was a very close play but a correct call.

On Spencer Rattler adjusting to the new system at South Carolina and Kentucky’s kicking game issues.

With Spencer, you see a guy who’s getting more and more comfortable in a new environment and a new system that’s very talented. And they do a really nice job with him. They really push their passing attack vertical, trying to create some shot plays and obviously on first, second down, play action, maxing things up and give him an opportunity to push the ball down the field because he’s got a big arm. He can make all the throws and he’s also very hard to get down. He’s very smooth back there. So you got to be very disciplined in your rush lanes as well.

And with the kicking game, I mean, it’s routine. I mean, we work on it every day. We’ve been pretty sound through the years. And [Matt] Ruffolo has been a reliable kicker for us and, and he just kicked one a little low on the extra point. It was a little bit of penetration, but really on the kick. And then the next time we get a snap that’s, again, a little, a touch low, but I expect the holder to be able to get it and put it down. So yeah, we have some guys that we can analyze the tape and send it to and get some expertise in that area and constantly striving to get the little things done, but it’s routine. We talk about all the time, you need to make the routine look routine and we didn’t do that in that case. As far as the field goal, he hit a good kick, he just pulled it six inches left. It’s gonna happen here and there. Can’t happen in those environments though.