Tennessee football went to Lexington and ran away with a win over Kentucky on Saturday night. The Vols left victors by the score of 56-34 behind a strong effort from Joey Aguilar and company on offense. After the game, Wildcats head coach Mark Stoops met with the media in his press conference to give his thoughts.
He was asked about his defense not stepping up, if things aren’t as bleak as they seem, his quarterback and more.
Here’s what he said.
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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. Give them credit, they are extremely explosive. Very, very talented and not a strength of ours right now with our injuries and the 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 can run the ball, they can throw it. 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.
“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 as explosive as they are, we can not have those turnovers. But, I was very pleased with the way Cutter (Boley) played. And with the way he’s playing, it making the receivers better. Saw the freshmen emerge again today with DJ (Miller). That was good to see. Guys fought. We couldn’t keep up. Give them credit.”
On if the results aren’t indicative of it not being as bleak as it looks
“I understand, it’s a results business. And the results have not been there. For me, I can’t get caught up and worried about all that. I’m frustrated and hurt for our team, hurt for our fans. There’s a lot of people that invest a lot, including all of us. I understand that. The fans and everybody else has every right to be frustrated, mad, whatever it is. For myself, I hurt for the team. We’ve invested a lot. 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. We didn’t play good enough and they had a lot to do with that.”
On if there’s things he sees that can get better of if it’s the ‘point of no return’
“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 in a while. Yeah, that makes me very optimistic. Defensively, again, I can’t make any excuses. I don’t want a million darts at me. I understand it’s not acceptable. It’s a tough matchup for us right now. Let’s leave it at that.”
On what he can expect from this team every week
“That’s exactly what I just told the team. Last week we show up offensively and defensively and special teams has 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. We weren’t up to the challenge. 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.”
On freshman WR DJ Miller
“It was really good to see DJ. 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 it’s good to see that.”
On how close RB Seth McGowan was to playing
“He tried like heck. He’s just so tough and wants it so bad. He went out there and took some hits and was trying to. He just didn’t feel comfortable with securing the ball.”
On injury status of TE Willie Rodriguez and WR Hardley Gilmore IV
“I don’t know. Both of them reagrivated injuries they had.”
On saying the secondary was the strength in the preseason and now it being a weakness
“I said it had a chance to be a strength of the team. 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. All the kids out there are against some elite guys and not at full strength and he has to go. I appreciate him. 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.”
On why he went for two late in the game
“That’s what the book said. I thought it was stupid, too, quite honestly. That’s what the analytics book said. I want to have time to reevaluate afterward. I said that’s a stupid book. That’s what it said.”
On his feeling watching the play with multiple fumbles
“Disbelief.”
On QB Cutter Boley’s ceiling
“Who knows what his ceiling is, right? He’s only a redshirt freshman with his third start for us. Pretty impressive against some very good defenses. Very happy with that. 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. Number of plays goes up again, 73. Getting touches, getting first downs, moving the ball, getting some explosives tonight was great to see.”
On how deflating the end of half struggles were
“That was very frustrating. Very discouraging. We’re trying to protect guys at times. As you can see when you didn’t they run right by us sometimes. With that protection, opens up some other things and it hurt us on that play and through the middle. So, that’s certainly one, the whole sequence we can play better. They made plays.”
On Steven Soles Jr. (Knoxville native) not playing
“I would think next week, yes, it’s related to his health.”
