Jim Mashek

KENTUCKY LOOKING TO BOUNCE BACK FROM 7-6 SEASON, EMBARRASSING LOSS IN NASHVILLE BOWL GAME

NASHVILLE — Mark Stoops made the rounds quickly as Day Three came to a close at SEC Media Days. He definitely had some pep in his step.

Perhaps that’s because the University of Kentucky football coach is ready to get his squad back on the field after losing three of its last four games to close the 2022 season.

Especially the Music City Bowl.

Which was played at the home of the NFL’s Tennessee Titans, just a few blocks from the Grand Hyatt in Downtown Nashville, which is playing host to SEC Media Days for the first time.

Star quarterback Will Levis opted out of last year’s Music City Bowl, a trend in college football for high-profile players who aren’t participating in the College Football Playoff. Backup quarterback Destin Wade was pressed into duty, after spending a redshirt season with the Wildcats, and the Iowa Hawkeyes limited UK’s offense to a mere 185 yards total offense while mauling Stoops’ squad 21-0.

Star running back Chris Rodriguez also opted out of the bowl game for the Wildcats, after rushing for a team-high 2,282 yards and 16 touchdowns over the course of his final two seasons in Lexington.

It was a long day at the office for Stoops, who has moved past the late, great Paul “Bear” Bryant to become Kentucky’s all-time winningest coach with 66 victories in 10 seasons with the Wildcats. Plus, UK had 10-3 seasons in both 2018 and 2021, and the ‘Cats had won four straight bowl games — in as many seasons — before they laid a dinosaur-sized egg before an announced crowd of 42,312 at Nissan Stadium on a chilly day before New Year’s Eve.

“Destin (Wade) was put in a tough situation today,” Stoops said that day after the less-than-inspired performance. “So, there will be a lot of armchair quarterbacks that sit back and want to critique the guy … But I tell you right now, let them go back and play against that (Iowa) defense and see how easy that is.

“It’s a tough row to hoe.”

Wade will be in a backup role this season, while the Wildcats turn to veteran quarterback Destin Leary, who comes to UK from North Carolina State via the NCAA Transfer Portal.

Levis, interestingly enough, was selected in the NFL Draft in the second round by the Tennessee Titans. He’s expected to back up veteran quarterback Ryan Taneyhill this season.

Stoops is pleased the way the Wildcats have been able to utilize the portal, but he’s looking for his team to get back to playing physical, hard-nosed football, something that seemed to be lacking over the course of the 2022 season.

Stoops was introduced by SEC commissioner Greg Sankey before spelling out his priorities for his 11th season at Kentucky. The league will eliminated the division concept next year, after the arrival of traditional powers Texas and Oklahoma, which will push the SEC’s membership to 16 teams.

The Power Five has pretty much come the Power Two in college football, with the SEC and Big Ten stepping to the fore and the ACC, Big 12 and especially the Pac-12 fading into the background.

At least until somebody can knock off the likes of Nick Saban’s Alabama squad, or two-time defending national champion Georgia, or the resurgent LSU Tigers.

Shoot, Kentucky lost to VANDERBILT last year, at home. The Wildcats are looking for an edge, and the way Stoops sees it, it starts up front.

It usually does.

“I think we’ve got to get back to who we are, at Kentucky,” Stoops said. “We have to be more physical. We have to protect the quarterback. Devin Leary, getting him out of the Transfer Portal at N.C. State … he’s a proven player. We’re very excited about what he can do with our offense.”

Stoops was accompanied by three UK seniors who hail from the state of Kentucky — “it really wasn’t by design,” he said — but his message about playing physical football seems to be getting through to his players.

“Coach Stoops is a players’ coach, to a ‘T.’ He’s always trying to make players’ lives easier, as far as academics, travel, that sort of thing,” UK offensive lineman Eli Brooks said. “Guys buy in, they want to play hard for him. We took it personally, when we didn’t give Will (Levis) the protection he needed last year.”

Brooks, a personable 6-foot-4, 310-pound lineman from Nicholasville, was joined by UK teammates J.J. Weaver, a rangy, 6-foot-5, 244-pound linebacker from Louisville’s Moore High School, and defensive tackle Octavious Oxendine, a 6-foot-1, 276-pound run stuffer from North Hardin High School in Radcliff, Kentucky.

Mark Stoops has had success recruiting nearby states such as Ohio and Indiana over the years, but he believes the key to consistency on that front is landing the Commonwealth’s top-flight prospects. Stoops said high school football in Kentucky is producing more three- and four-star recruits than in previous years, adding that it’s a perpetual process for his coaching staff.

“I’ve always stressed the importance of Kentucky recruiting,” Stoops said. “We have to handle our own back yard. The evolution, of high school football, has grown in Kentucky. There may not be as many (high-profile) recruits in the state, compared to an Ohio or a Georgia, but there are good players here.”

Mark Stoops was asked about the pending addition of Texas and Oklahoma to the SEC for the 2024 season, and his older brother, Bob Stoops, surpassed OU legend Barry Switzer to become the Sooners’ all-time winningest coach in 2013. Bob Stoops announced his retirement just two months before the 2017 season, in part because of health concerns.

In 18 seasons at Oklahoma, “Big Game Bob” compiled an impressive 191-48 record with the Sooners, including an unbeaten season for a national championship in 2000, his second year in Norman.

“When I first heard about Oklahoma and Texas,” Mark Stoops said, “my immediate reaction was, ‘Wow.’ It’s always been a great conference, and it’s gonna get better. We’re excited about that opportunity.

“It will just make it that much more of a challenge, with two great programs and a history of success.”

If nothing else, Mark Stoops has given the Wildcats a sense of stability, including seven consecutive seasons with bowl game appearances. And a plan for getting UK back on track.

Playing physical.

“I think it’s pretty obvious,” he said. “We’ve got to get back to who we are.”