Stoops: No time for big changes
Kentucky may have struggled last week in losing 24-7 at Tennessee, but don’t expect wholesale changes to the offense this week after a 65262-yard performance against the Volunteers.
“That wouldn’t be a very good idea,” coach Mark Stoops as the Wildcats (7-2, 6-2 Southeastern Conference) began preparing for Saturday’s home finale against Middle Tennessee State. “We got two opportunities to get the most victories we’ve had in a regular season since 1977. I don’t think that’d be very wise.
“We did a lot of good things to win seven games, and we plan on trying to get to eight and nine. I appreciate all the good things that they did to put us in that position. That would be called panic mode.”
The loss to Tennessee denied the Wildcats an opportunity to match the 1950 team for the school record in wins (11), but no Kentucky team has come close to getting to the 10 wins the Wildcats compiled in 11 games in 1977. Twice since then the Wildcats have reached the eight-win level (2006 and 2007), but usually they have hovered around the 5- or 6-win spot in fighting for bowl eligibility.
The Wildcats finished the last two years with 7-6 overall marks and 4-4 SEC records.
They already have reached seven wins and could reach 10 victories by closing out with wins over Middle Tennessee and at Louisville, plus a bowl win.
Though Louisville is a rivalry game, the Blue Raiders may be more of an obstacle this week than the struggling Cardinals. The Raiders (7-3, 6-1 Conference USA) have won four in a row since a 24-21 loss at Florida International and handled Old Dominion, a team that beat Virginia Tech earlier in the year, by a 51-17 margin in late October.
“There’s no team that we can say that’s a breather,” Stoops said. “You see it again, you see it in college football, and you see it all the time. You saw Tennessee score seven points on Charlotte the week before and come out and play lights out against us.
“These are college kids, there’s going to be ups and downs. You’ve have to be good enough to win when you don’t play your best.”
This will be the third time that Middle Tennessee State has run up against an SEC East Division team. The Raiders lost to Vanderbilt 35-7 and Georgia 49-7 in early September.
But quarterback Brent Stockstill, son of coach Rick Stockstill, has led the Raiders to 128 points over the last three games, passing for 857 yards during that stretch.
“You have to have a lot of respect for him,” Stoops said. “You could tell he’s a coach’s kid. He plays so hard and makes such critical plays.
“He’s one of those guys, he’s a real gamer. You can put pressure on him, you can get him out of the pocket, and he finds guys open. He puts it in good spots, he throws a catchable ball. You got to have a lot of respect for the way he plays.”
