What Mark Stoops said after Kentucky's 56-34 loss to No. 17 Tennessee

LEXINGTON, Ky. — What Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops said during his postgame press conference after No. 17 Tennessee’s 56-34 win over the Wildcats Saturday night at Kroger Field:

Opening Statement

“Very difficult loss. Very tough loss. They really took it to us. We had not a lot of answers. Tough matchup for us right now. And give them credit, they are extremely explosive. Very, very talented. And not a strength of ours right now with the injury position we’re in, but no excuses. They are very good and they took it to us and we didn’t have answers. It’s tough. They put you in binds. They could run the ball, they could throw it, and the way they spread you out, they put you in one-on-one situations and you have to be able to cover them. And we simply did not cover them today. 

“And I was pleased with the offense. Obviously, we cannot turn the ball over and give them 14 points, to a team that already scores at a high rate and are explosive as they are, we cannot have the turnovers. But I was very, again, pleased with the way Cutter (Boley) played and with the way he’s making the receivers better. You saw the freshmen emerge again today with DJ (Miller). That was good to see. Guys fought. We couldn’t keep up and give them credit.” 

His message to Kentucky fans on why things might not be as bleak as they seem

“Well, I mean, I understand. It’s a results business, and the results have not been (good). For me, I can’t get caught up and worried about all that. I mean, I’m frustrated. I hurt for our team. I hurt for the fans. There’s a lot of people that invest a lot, including all of us. But I understand that. The fans and anybody else has every right to be frustrated, mad, whatever it is. But for myself, I hurt for the team. We’ve invested a lot. Again, I think we are getting better in certain areas, but it was a tough matchup for us tonight. And again, I give them a lot of credit. They’re very, very explosive offensively. And so we didn’t play good enough and they had a lot to do with that.”

If there are things he sees with this Kentucky team, aside from quarterback Cutter Boley, that show him this team can get better

“Yeah, for us, it’s been a long (time), back-to-back games, 25-26 first downs, whatever, close to 500 yards, five touchdowns. We haven’t seen that for a while. I mean, yeah, that makes me very optimistic. Defensively, I know, again, I can’t make any excuses. I don’t want a million darts at me. 

Like, I understand it’s not acceptable. But it’s a tough matchup for us right now. Let’s just leave it at that.”

What he can count on from week to week with this Kentucky team 

“Yeah, that’s exactly what I just told the team. Again, that last week we show up offensively and defensively, and special teams have some errors. And again, they have something to do with that. The players that we’re playing have something to do with that. Tonight, defensively it was tough. They have something to do with that. They’re very good and we weren’t up to the challenge. So I know our guys are fighting and playing hard. And we’re making improvement in an area that, it’s been a while, offensively where we’re making some serious improvement with a quarterback. And that’s encouraging.”

Kentucky freshman receiver DJ Miller playing well 

“Yeah, it was really good to see DJ (with) five targets, five catches, 120 yards and two touchdowns. That’s encouraging, because again, the quarterback-receiver explosive guy, it’s been a while. So that’s good to see that.”

Kentucky running back Seth McGowan not being able to play after being a game-time decision

“He tried like heck. He’s just so tough and wants it so bad. He went out there and took some hits and he was trying to, he just didn’t feel comfortable securing the ball and the strength in it.”

Kentucky’s secondary being billed as a strength during the preseason and now struggling 

“Yeah, I said it had a chance to be a strength of the team and we had to stay healthy. And we haven’t stayed healthy. And again, I can’t make excuses. I got a guy out there, Terhyon (Nichols) is playing through injury. And the kid is out there against some elite guys and not at full strength and he has to go. And I appreciate him. And it hasn’t been good enough. They can score and make a lot of people look that way and we weren’t up to the challenge.”

Why he went for two after Kentucky’s first touchdown in the second half

“Yeah, that’s what the analytic book said. I thought it was stupid too, quite honestly. But that’s what the analytics book said. And then when I had time to reevaluate it afterwards, I said, well, that’s a stupid book. So, that’s what it said.”

What he was thinking as he was watching the play with multiple Kentucky fumbles 

“Disbelief.”

The ceiling for Kentucky quarterback Cutter Boley

“I mean, who knows what his ceiling is, right? He’s only a redshirt freshman with, what was that, his third start, fourth start? So pretty impressive against some very good defenses. And so very, very happy with that. And as you can see, when he’s playing at that level, it makes everybody better. The tight ends are catching the ball. The receivers are making good, very nice catches and explosive plays. And just trying to see, I don’t have the exact stats, but the number of plays goes up again, 73. So getting touches, getting first downs, moving the ball, created some explosives tonight was great to see. 

Kentucky getting within seven late in the second quarter, then giving up a touchdown drive to end the half

“That was very frustrating, very discouraging. We’re trying to protect guys at times. As you can see, when you didn’t, they would run right by us sometimes. And so when that protection opens up some other things, it hurt us on that play through the middle. So that’s certainly one, that whole sequence, we could play better. They made plays.”