Mark Stoops Talks Vanderbilt One Last Time

After a good week of practice, Mark Stoops spoke to the media one last time before Vandy. Here is what he had to say... Kentucky has to keep an eye out for big plays Vanderbilt head coach Derek Mason hinted this week that his team will try for big plays against Kentucky. "I think we're all looking for big plays," Stoops said. Stoops said he goes into every game knowing opponents are looking to take shots down the field, especially teams who can run the ball well. After giving up a touchdown to Vanderbilt last year, the defense is going to have to be on their toes for trick plays especially. "Last year we got beat on the trick play, so obviously we have to have good eyes and good communication," Stoops said. Vanderbilt's running back deserves more respect The SEC is full of NFL running backs. One that doesn't get the credit he deserves, Ralph Webb. "He rates as good as a lot of these backs we face in the SEC," Stoop said. "He's a quality back. You know, he gets tough yards. He's got really good vision. He's strong, so he's perfect for what they're doing. So I'm not sure why he doesn't get the recognize," Vanderbilt's spread offense makes it hard to prepare for Vanderbilt runs a lot of two-tight-end sets; offense that Stanford ran when Derek Mason was the defensive coordinator. This type of offense, which is very new, makes it hard for the defense to prepare for. "They did run even more of that last week than they had been doing, in particular with the fullback and two tight ends," Stoops said. "But they're more than capable of spreading it out and going with some 11 personnel. They did that more last against us, but they still want to run it and be physical, so they can be very multiple in their personnel groupings." On the Vanderbilt loss last year On Monday Stoops said the Vandy loss last season still bugged him. When asked whether the team has used the game as motivation, Stoops said the team doesn't talk about it much. "I referenced it because somebody asked me a question about it," Stoops said. "I’d be lying if I said it didn’t bother me, but all losses do. We’re not going to beat a dead horse. We’re worried about this year. Certainly, if you want to use it for motivation, go ahead." Marcus Walker was injured Stoops told the media that the redshirt freshman safety has been injured. Walker is back to full health this week and will provide some depth in the secondary. Walker has