Stoops on Connor Bazelak, defense, and Eddie Gran's mask

Connor Bazelak had quite the debut as Missouri’s starting quarterback vs. LSU, completing 29 of 34 passes for 406 yards and four touchdowns in the 45-41 takedown of the reigning national champions. Kentucky was actually the first team to offer Bazelak, a former three-star prospect in the 2019 class, so Mark Stoops has a pretty good idea of what to expect from the Dayton, Ohio native.

“You certainly could see him going in and giving them a spark in running their offense and being very efficient,” Stoops said of Bazelak on today’s SEC Teleconference. “He had a very, very good game in his first start and I’m sure he’s excited about that and I’m sure Eli [Drinkwitz] is as well. It gives them an opportunity to do what they want to do and I think there’s no denying that coach is very creative offensively and Connor looked very impressive. He’s a great young man and I’m sure he’ll have a great career there.”

Here are Bazelak’s highlights from the LSU game:

Other notes from today’s teleconference…

Stoops pleased with progress on defense

Considering how well Kentucky’s defense has played in the last two games, it’s hard to believe they gave up 42 points to Ole Miss, 35 in regulation. When asked, Stoops said he’s happy with how his defense has regrouped.

“We weren’t used to giving up that many explosive plays, number one. It was new to us. It’s been a long time since we’ve given up really that amount of points. Thirty-five in regulation is, we’re not used to that. I know we’re going to play some super explosive offensives coming up here down the stretch in this schedule that we have but really it was a frustrating game for Brad [White] and myself and our defense and I think Brad has done a wonderful job of getting some things corrected, getting guys in position, playing with a better sense of urgency, getting our eyes where they need to be, and learning. Give Ole Miss credit, I think they had a hell of a lot to do with that and it’s hard to simulate in practice but our guys have settled down and they are playing with better discipline and their vision is better and overall, we’re in much better position. I think that’s a credit to Brad, to coaching, and certainly our players from learning from their mistakes and building on the good things they’re doing.”

Get Eddie some windshield wipers!

On Monday, Stoops revealed that Eddie Gran called the wrong play on the second snap of the Tennessee game because his glasses fogged up as a result of wearing his mask. Today, Stoops joked that the staff needs to outfit his offensive coordinator’s specs with a set of windshield wipers to make sure that doesn’t happen again.

“I might have to do something, make him put some windshield wipers on his glasses or something. No, he’ll get it figured out. I think it was early in the game, he was a little amped up. We’ll get it fixed. It’s no excuse but it certainly was a factor on a play or two. We gotta get that fixed.”

A simple $9 bottle of defogger will do the trick as well, or just a Kleenex: