Mark Stoops' key to a win over Toledo? Four quarters of consistency

What is keeping Mark Stoops up at night in the days leading up to Kentucky football’s season opener vs. Toledo? Are there any uncertainties for the Wildcats that must be addressed before kickoff or things he hopes sort themselves out during game reps against live competition?

“You want me to give you a specific outline? Come on now,” Stoops joked. “You know I’m not going to go there.”

No secrets for the Rockets to learn and take advantage of with five days until foot meets leather. There is something, however, that every team deals with around this time after months of build-up dating back to the roster construction process in the winter and when the pads start popping in the spring — then even more so when fall camp begins.

You know everything there is to know about each other, but how does that translate against actual opponents? Did iron actually sharpen iron or are we all flimsy aluminum cans? Stoops has seen his teams dominate in these moments, but he’s also seen some real pushback lead to emotions getting out of hand. Can you handle success? Can you respond to adversity? Those are all things that come with the territory of Saturday football.

“I think it’s fair to say, in game one — we’ve probably sat here in some form or fashion and talked about this. Everybody is excited for game one and we’re tired of playing against each other. But game one, you know what? I try to head off — and it’s through the experience we talked about — games we’ve had in here where we exploded in the first half and didn’t finish,” Stoops said Monday. “Guys let their emotions get out of control, things of that nature. Those are all things that I will touch on with them.

“It’s about handling the environment, handling this situation, making sure we’re thoroughly prepared throughout this week, but also being consistent throughout the game. There’s going to be adversity in every game. How are we going to respond to that? Just trying to be as consistent as we can be for four quarters.”

As the longest-tenured coach in the SEC, Stoops has been in this position a time or two — 12, to be exact. He started 2-2 in season openers, but now sits at 9-3. Four of those wins are by 30-plus, three overall results came down to one score and the Cats have covered in five of the last six. It’s been a little bit of everything, and now, they’re taking on the projected winner of the MAC who received preseason AP Top 25 votes.

The difference between the pretty wins and ugly losses in this game over the years? Situational football.

“I have (seen many) and I think — coaches say this all the time, and I certainly feel like this — you cannot make the same mistake twice,” Stoops said. “Things that have happened in openers before, I really try to head off and make sure we’re prepared. I feel like the staff, we’ve been very thorough going through camp, but you have to go play. As I tell the team often, a lot of games come down to situational football. There’s no way we could replicate every situation that’s going to come up with us.

“Throughout the season, we try to continue to build on their football IQ, watch other people make some mistakes and things that we’ve been through, and try to head it off before it happens. We have to play the game and be prepared for each and every situation that comes up.”

Fortunately for Kentucky, that’s been a strong suit and maybe the biggest sign of improvement leaving camp from where they started. He’s confident his team’s consistency will pay off in the form of clean football against Toledo.

That’s the hope, anyway.

“I’d say just consistency. Throughout camp, toward the end, I just felt like we were playing cleaner football,” he said Monday. “I feel like we are a physical football team again. I hope we can go and prove that, but we will see. I think we’ve worked hard and we’re improving in certain areas, but I’d say consistency is the big thing.”