Watch Mark Stoops preview the Texas trip in Monday's press conference

Mark Stoops took questions about the status of Kentucky Football and its upcoming trip to Austin, Texas, to play the third-ranked Longhorns later this week. Stoops’ weekly press conference included the lookahead to Texas and several other football-related topics, like more on the challenges in roster-building and fundraising for NIL. Stoops also looked back at last Saturday’s win over Murray State and how the non-conference win helped prepare UK for the final two weeks of the season.

“As I told you last Monday, I felt like our team is in a better place,” Stoops said in his opening remarks. “You know, trying to get some guys healthy, coming off the bye, playing a non-SEC school, getting a victory. Now, you know, we’re trying to go 2-0 in that last third of the season, trying to finish strong. We need to play our best football of the year.”

Stoops named Vandagriff the starting QB

The biggest news from Monday’s conversation with Stoops was his naming of a starting quarterback. Brock Vandagriff will continue to lead the Wildcats at Darrell K Royal Memorial Stadium, Stoops confirmed in his Monday comments. “Brock will be under center, and Brock has given us a chance to, you know, win on the road and beat a playoff team,” he said.

For all of Stoops’ Monday comments, hit play on the replay of the conversation from KSR’s YouTube channel.

Mark Stoops on Monday, November 18 (Texas Week)

Subscribe to the KSR YouTube Channel for press conferences, interviews, original shows, fan features, and exclusive content.

Full transcript of Stoops’ press conference

The written transcript will be added soon.