Stoops says team will be ready, but do fans buy it?
"What's next?"
That had to be the question on the minds of many fans as Commonwealth Stadium emptied before the Cats' season opener ended.
It’s a question Mark Stoops tried to answer at his Monday press conference—a press conference that probably won’t satisfy the many fans so disappointed on Saturday night. These increasingly discontented members of the Kentucky fan base were told all off-season that this team would be different and has outgrown the losing mentality that has plagued the Kentucky football program for years.
On Saturday leading up to the game, tailgating fans at Commonwealth Stadium were optimistic, and when Kentucky got out to a 35-10 lead in the first half, that optimism turned into excitement.
Unfortunately, that excitement took a hit at the end of the first half, and snowballed out of control from that point on. Southern Miss scored 34 unanswered points and drove another nail through the hearts of Kentucky fans who have become all too familiar with devastating defeats over the years.
So, where does Kentucky go from here? The Cats travel to Gainesville, Florida to take on a Gators program they haven’t beaten in 29 seasons. This will certainly be quite the task after suffering perhaps the toughest loss in program in history since the storied “Bluegrass Miracle.”
Florida is coming off of a season opening 24-7 win over UMASS, in a game that was played mostly in pouring rain and muggy conditions. New quarterback Luke Del Rio, the son of an NFL coach, passed for 256 yards and 2 touchdowns.
The Gators amassed a meager 107 yards running the ball against UMASS, but after watching film, one can almost be certain that head coach Jim McElwain will challenge his offensive line to abuse the Kentucky front seven just like Southern Miss did in the second half on Saturday.
Depth will likely be an issue for Kentucky moving forward. Linebacker Courtney Love played every defensive snap on Saturday, while Matt Elam played over 70 snaps at nose guard.
In a college football environment that sees teams constantly rotating in and out along the front seven, Kentucky is left thin in year four of the Mark Stoops era. Depth is what cost them the game on Saturday, and what may cost them as the season continues.
At his presser on Monday, Mark Stoops alluded to the fact that the Cats were a few plays away from winning on Saturday. “I can think of five plays – that we make any one of those and we win the game.”
Those are the kind of statements fans expect to hear from a coach in the first or second year of a rebuild – not year four.
Stoops is confident his team will be ready on Saturday, though.
“I don’t think it’ll be difficult at all to get them back on point and focused on Florida. That won’t be difficult,” Stoops said Monday.
For his sake, and the sake of the 2016 Kentucky football season, one can only hope that he’s right. The excuses are over. Joker Phillips is long gone. The facilities are among the best in college football. Kentucky and its fans have done everything imaginable to put the program in a position to succeed.
So, where does Kentucky go from here? At this point, the answer is unclear. Perhaps the question is becoming, "Can Mark Stoops really get this done?"