Mark Stoops on his decision not to start Kash Daniel

Senior linebacker Kash Daniel did not start vs. Mississippi State, nor did he represent the squad as team captain, a decision Mark Stoops told reporters he came to after watching the second angle of the incident vs. Florida, which showed Kash grabbing and twisting Gators quarterback Kyle Trask’s ankle as he got up from a dog pile.

“With Kash’s situation, after that second viewing came out and looking at that again — because obviously that was a little different viewing. We all felt, I just talked to Kash — and myself and Kash, we have a great respect for this game and we’re going to honor the game and do things as good as we possibly can. That was 100% my call to not have him be a captain and not have him play to start the game.

“I know you’re going to open yourself up to more or less or anything else but the way we’re going to try to do things right. We’re not perfect. We try to respect the game. Our players are going to respect the game and respect people and compete. It’s an emotional game, so I’d like to just leave it at that.”

On Wednesday night, Kash vehemently denied committing a dirty play, claiming that he was instead trying to free his hand from the pile. On Thursday after practice, Stoops told reporters Kash would play vs. Mississippi State, but admitted tonight that at the time, he was still considering a punishment.

“I said he’d be out there. I was still mulling through everything at that point and thinking and talking to Kash and working my way through it.”