Mark Stoops Describes the 2016 Season as "Nut-Cuttin' Time"

Mark Stoops has carried around a little more swagger than usual at SEC Media Days this year after a successful 2016 campaign ended with an appearance in a New Year's bowl.  He's proud of what his team accomplished under pressure. "A lot of people can see the transition happening....but in year four, it's nut-cutting time. People are tired of it. There's no more excuses, nothing to talk about.  It comes down to the product on the field." Stoops provided a little more perspective for Paul Finebaum: "When I was hired they said, 'It's a five-year rebuild.'  Well guess what, in year four they don't want to hear a darn thing about it." Now Kentucky is considered a surprise pick to win the SEC East.  The team is taking it one game at a time, one day at a time, but Stephen Johnson knows what they're capable of. "We don't see ourselves as a 'surprise.'  We know we can be the best that we can be if we put our minds to it," the UK quarterback said.  "If we do that, we can be among the best in the SEC." The hero that dethroned the Heisman-trophy winner on the road in the biggest upset of the 2016 college football season, Johnson doesn't dwell on the past.  He's looking ahead and letting the fans (and Drew Franklin) enjoy the upset eight months later. "Everybody else can, but I know our football team has to look ahead to the upcoming football season."