Stoops at UK

[go hogues]

Is a dead man walking. Probably sealed his fate tonight.

[jbcarol]

John Clay ‏@johnclayiv 5s5 seconds ago

Shannon Dawson, fired after 1 year as UK's coordinator, guides So Miss offense to 554 yards

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/JonHale_CJ/status/768790136175915008

Matt Jones ‏@KySportsRadio 22m22 minutes ago

Two straight UK games where Cats have had a 3 possession lead and then given up a 31-0 run


[Also UofL in the last game of the 2015 season.]

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/Katie_George05/status/772305332336852993

[jbcarol]

Not Jerry Tipton ‏@NotJerryTipton 23h23 hours ago

Stoops asks fans "not to bail on us."  OK WHATEVER YOU SAY MARK IT'S ONLY BEEN 4 YEARS NOBODY CAN BE EXPECTED TO BE ANY GOOD IN 4 YEARS...

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/johnclayiv/status/772770252316901376

Mark Stoops was hired for his ballyhooed defense. Where is it?

Of all the dispiriting things that happened in Kentucky's oh-no-not-again collapse Saturday night at Commonwealth Stadium, here is the most jaw-dropping: Southern Miss' offense snapped the football for 96 plays.

That's the most plays run by a Kentucky opponent since Arkansas came with within one snap of 100 back in 2003. And here's the thing about that Razorbacks record: Arkansas' 99 plays came over the span of an epic seven-overtime game. Southern Miss' 96 plays came in 60 minutes of regulation, the last 30 of which the Golden Eagles thoroughly dominated.

(By the way, Kentucky ran 50 plays.)

So let's go back to the start. Four years ago, UK AD Mitch Barnhart hired Mark Stoops as Kentucky's head coach based on Stoops' performance as defensive coordinator at Florida State. That's the Stoops MO. He's a defensive guy, a long-time defensive coordinator, a coach who builds great defenses. And yet Stoops has not been able to build one at Kentucky.

[DeltaBoy]

Boom.

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/Michael_Carvell/status/772864943079231488

"When things go wrong, we have guys that start rat trapping, doing some things that are inexcusable," Stoops said. "And that's gotta stop. That's a losing mentality that we will not tolerate. And that's gotta change because there are so many people doing so many good things and we cannot do that. Players have to make plays when things are going wrong."

Apparently "rat trapping" is a phrase Stoops learned at Florida State under coach Jimbo Fisher. "Go back to bad habits," is how Stoops defined it. "When pressure's on the line you go back to bad habits.

"We have to point out the issues," Stoops said. "Again, we're beyond dealing with fragile mentalities. They'll be called out and showed in front of everybody the plays that we had the opportunity to make so everybody keeps the confidence and knows that everything was in place to win the game. And then eventually the players will start making them and then we'll get over the hump.

"That's the last thing left to do in this program is finding that winning attitude, that winning culture and ways to win games instead of losing them."

[Dwight_K_Shrute]

KY's last 2 hires have been guys with no HC experience and they have failed miserably.  When an HC is a former DC and it's his defense that's letting them down that badly it's a problem. 

USM was a very good team last year but they had a new HC and staff.  That HC was an FCS guy.

There were 4 coaches hired at the end of 2012 season, BB, Gus, Stoops and Butch.  BB and Gus have had success in the West the much tougher division over that 4 year period.  Butch took advantage of other teams being down and has TN in conversation whether it's real or just a product of down East doesn't matter.  Stoops could be taking just as much advantage of a down East to at least get KY to bowl games.  All he has to do is beat SC, Vandy, and Mizzou then go 3-1 in non conference.  USM was not the one to lose because he sure as hell isn't beating Louisville.

Now every school is different and rebuilding takes time but if he's consistently blowing big leads, finishing the seasons with losing streaks and failing to get to 6-6 in the East then there is a problem.

He talks about changing losing mentality/culture.  Good God it's his 4th season.  It's his 4th season, mostly his players.  They are taking cues from you coach.  If there is still a losing mentality it's because you aren't setting the example you aren't leading, and most of all you aren't winning.

He will make Saban a great defensive analyst next season or could be a position coach for us if Paul Rhoads moves on.

[ErieHog]

And to think, Kentucky was in so much better a position than we were, when they hired him.

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/KyleTucker_AJC/status/772309039438893057

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Shannon Dawson could've literally kicked Mark Stoops in the crotch Saturday night and been kinder to Kentucky's football coach. What Dawson did instead, lighting up his former boss who badly needed it to go the other way, left Stoops in far worse shape.

With the Wildcats' fan base in prove-it mode, UK opened Stoops' fourth season with a 44-35 loss at home against Southern Miss. The final score doesn't come close to conveying the misery within: a blown 25-point lead punctuated by Dawson – fired as the Cats' offensive coordinator after last season – dancing beneath a Gatorade shower on the visiting sideline at Commonwealth Stadium.

"I don't know if I've ever in my career, ever wanted to apologize for a game, but that's a tough pill to swallow right there, and I do," Stoops said. "Our fans deserved better."

About those fans: They're gone now, and he knows it.

[jbcarol]

Kentucky Football ‏@UKFootball 23h23 hours ago

Stoops: 'Win over Florida would mean a lot for this program. I think our players will respond and play well.'


Kentucky v. Florida is the current longest futility streak in the FBS

[holeinthewall]

Well UiF is not scoring 44 points on anyone this year.  UK scores 35 they win

[jbcarol]

John Clay ‏@johnclayiv 5m5 minutes ago

Total breakdowns in UK secondary -- supposed strength -- continue.

Florida 31, Kentucky 0 with 10:12 left in 3rd quarter.

[jbcarol]

Kyle Tucker ‏@KyleTucker_AJC 3m3 minutes ago

When the CBS crew is just sighing and basically patting your team in its poor little head, you've really wet the bed.

[Dr. Starcs]

Dead man walking

[Vantage 8 dude]

It appears to me that UK has just given up the ghost against Florida. I think they came in only slightly believing they could hang in with the graters and when the crap starting piling up in the first quarter they just pretty much threw it in. They don't seem to have the stomach for getting punched in the mouth, gut and anywhere else and doing something about it.

[jbcarol]

Matt Jones ‏@KySportsRadio 37m37 minutes ago

What's pitiful about this is that after four years, Kentucky has somehow gotten worse...but now with talent on the roster...Unacceptable

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/KySportsRadio/status/774742321598521344

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/KyleTucker_AJC/status/774754132154519552

The second game of Kentucky football's fourth season under Stoops laid bare in the harsh light of a humid Florida afternoon this unpleasant truth: The Wildcats look no better off today than when Stoops was hired in December of 2012.

Not after taking a 45-7 kick in the teeth from the Gators – making it a nice, round 30 consecutive losses in the series – as an encore to blowing a 25-point lead against Southern Miss in Week 1. Not after a previously impotent Florida offense, which produced 10 points through three quarters against Massachusetts last week, did whatever it wanted against Kentucky's hapless, hopeless defense.

Not when Stoops got this job on his reputation as a guy who could transform that side of the ball but has delivered neither that nor a competent offense. Seconds into Saturday's fourth quarter, the Gators led 45-0 and had outgained the Wildcats 491 yards to 79.

From the final minute of the first half last week, when Kentucky (incredibly, as it turns out) led the Golden Eagles 35-10, until 4:27 to go Saturday, the Cats were outscored a staggering 79-0. Where is the progress in that?

Quarterback Drew Barker, one of the many blue-chip recruits on whom Stoops built so much hope of brighter days ahead, has turned it over six times in the last six quarters. Three of those were ghastly interceptions against the Gators.

To be fair, he was often running for his life. Kentucky's offensive line disappeared faster than the crowd at Florida, which wasted little time averting its eyes from the assault and headed for the exits in the third quarter.  That offensive line played more defense than the Wildcats' actual defense, though, when it accidentally punched out a fumble on the second snap of backup quarterback Stephen Johnson's UK career.

He and Barker combined to complete three passes.

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/Michael_Carvell/status/774785416469905408

"Sometimes when we're down, a lot of people on our team just tend to quit and think it's over, and I don't think it's over until it's actually over," Jones said. "I think as a whole team we all need to work on fighting back and not giving up and realizing the game's not over until it's actually over."

UK has a much bigger problem than X's and O's if Jones' knock on the effort is accurate, but coach Mark Stoops didn't see the same problem.

"Not great, but it's not acceptable," Stoops said of his team's effort. "We get a turnover, when the guys go out there we've got to get some stops. I didn't notice anybody rolling over, but the guys — we certainly didn't have a lot of energy, that's for sure."

But Jones didn't back off his point.

"I think we need to put in more input, watch more film and have a little more swag to us and not give up," Jones said. "Because a lot of times when the offenses score a lot of points and they're up by a lot of points and our offense isn't doing very well, people on the defense, and the offense, too, just tend to feel sorry for themselves. So as long as we realize we got this and keep fighting back like we're supposed to — it's football — then I think we'll be good."

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/johnclayiv/status/774784536307703808

GAINESVILLE, Fla.

Mark Stoops can't find the brakes.

Simple as that.

Let's be honest, here. Kentucky's 45-7 swamping at The Swamp on Saturday wasn't some sort of a one-day calamity. It was the continuation of a downhill slide for the program that started midway through last season and that, for whatever reason, the Kentucky coach hasn't been able to get stopped.

He fired his offensive coordinator and brought in a new one along with a new quarterbacks coach. He made a change at quarterback. He hired a special teams coordinator. He tweaked his defensive schemes. He changed the team's off-season routine. And yet Saturday the Cats dropped to 0-2 on this year and, dating to last year, lost their eighth game in their last nine outings. The one win: Charlotte.

The fan base will cry and moan and demand heads be rolled — be they the head of the 12-26 head coach or the AD who gave him a $12 million buyout, or both — but none of that's going to happen, of course. The season is just two games old. There are 10 left to play. It's a long season.

After Saturday's carnage was complete, Stoops was asked if, after a terrible start to the season, with non-conference New Mexico State waiting next week, do you just wash the slate clean, say we're starting over with a chance to show we're better than this?

"To a point," he said. I've never been one to just wash a game. We all have to be held accountable for what we do. I know that. It starts with me. We've got to look at all the things we're asking them to do, what they've done and what they can do better. But to a point, yes. We can only control next week. Let's just try to go get one victory and go from there."

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/Michael_Carvell/status/775168902934433792

2. Kentucky: The situation in Lexington is starting to quickly look untenable. Kentucky's 45-7 loss at Florida was the kind of effort reminiscent of a team at the end of a bad season that has packed it in on a coaching staff, not a group fighting to redeem itself after an embarrassing Week 1 loss to Southern Miss. There was nothing positive about Kentucky's trip to Gainesville — nothing — and there are no easy answers for Mark Stoops from here.

As a result of the contract extension Kentucky gave him in 2014, Stoops is owed $12 million if he's fired after this year. Even for an SEC program, that's a massive chunk of change. Keeping him around, on the other hand, will only inflame a fan base that has increasingly given up hope that he's the guy to turn things around.

Stoops has done nothing on the field to merit any job security or belief from Kentucky fans, but the best answer for now may be to grin and bear it.

[jbcarol]

Kyle Tucker ‏@KyleTucker_AJC 14h14 hours ago

Kyle Tucker Retweeted Joe Mussatto

Interesting. Derek Mason, another DC turned head coach, took back that role at Vandy last year. Stoops doing that?

[jbcarol]

Matt Jones
‏@KySportsRadio

There is no fanbase in sports that has been more loyal and Been given less in return than UK Football fans

[Paul]

Stoops recruited pretty well.  Maybe it's time to accept calls from their potential transfers

[Vantage 8 dude]

https://twitter.com/Michael_Carvell/status/775168902934433792

Perhaps one could argue that OSU's fans are understandably feeling about as bad today as anyone could. However, at least they had a legitimate chance to win the game, and quite frankly did given the circumstances.  On the other hand, Kentucky looked as if they'd already decided to get back on the plane back home before the first series had been played Saturday. Most of the player's demeanor seemed to say they'd been told they were already down 28-0 before they even took the field.

In the end that really wasn't a game last Saturday in Gainesville. It was more like a mass crucifixion.

[Inhogswetrust]

Matt Jones
‏@KySportsRadio

There is no fanbase in sports that has been more loyal and Been given less in return than UK Football fans

I guess they forgot about Cubs baseball fans and this might be their year.

[jbcarol]

Matt Jones ‏@KySportsRadio 12h12 hours ago

Mark Stoops is one of only 2 coaches in SEC who got a buyout w/o owing anything if he left. The other: Nick Saban: http://kentuckysportsradio.com/football-2/comparing-mark-stoops-buyout-to-the-rest-of-the-sec/ ...

If the University of Kentucky wants to fire Mark Stoops after this season, they will have to pay him $12 million dollars. This morning, Mark Story reported that that figure is actually closer to $18 million when you factor in his assistants' salaries.

I don't know about you guys, but that sounds like an astronomical number to me. In fact, the more you examine Stoops' contract extension from October 29, 2014, the less it makes sense. I spent the day researching the contracts of other SEC football coaches and discovered that not only would Mark Stoops get the sixth biggest check of any coach in the SEC if he were to be fired without cause after this season, he's one of only TWO coaches in the league who wouldn't owe the school a dime if he left for another program. The only other football coach in the SEC without a buyout clause listed in their contract (that I could find, at least)? Nick Saban. On the basketball side, John Calipari as well. Considering what they've accomplished, that makes sense; in Stoops' case, not so much.

When Stoops signed the contract extension back in October 2014, we were all probably too wrapped up in the haze of beating South Carolina and Steve Spurrier to care about the lack of a buyout clause, but looking back, that was an incredibly bizarre (some would say dumb) move. At the time, Mitch Barnhart said he didn't believe in buyout clauses because he wanted to inspire loyalty from his employees, when in reality, he made the program extremely vulnerable should Stoops want to bolt to another school. Obviously, this issue is obsolete given Kentucky's current situation, but the oddity is worth noting.

On the flip side, if Kentucky sends Stoops packing after this season, they would owe him a mighty big paycheck, all for a record that's currently no better than Bill Curry's or Joker Phillips'. For perspective, UK would have to pay Stoops more to go away than LSU would Les Miles or Auburn Gus Malzahn, two coaches on the hot seat at traditional power programs. As I asked myself several times today, what in the world?

[Dwight_K_Shrute]

He's horrible and the AD should be fired for giving him that kind of buyout without even having a winning season.  Team has quit on him.  It's time to end the Mark Stoops era but they are seriously handcuffed by that buyout.  He will win 5 games at the most again this year and that's with the benefit of USCe, Mizzou, and Vandy on the schedule, and those 3 aren't a given. 

[jbcarol]

Gary Danielson said last weekend that Kentucky basketball's dominance creates a hurdle UK football must overcome. This echoed a theme former UK football coach Fran Curci has espoused. Is the reverse true elsewhere in the SEC?

In 1981 the new beat writer was introduced to Kentucky's football coach at the time, Fran Curci who skipped the niceties and got straight to the point by asking, "Are you a football writer or a basketball writer?" It became immediately clear that the diplomatic "I like both sports" was the wrong response.

A rocky relationship ensued.

That exchange came to mind during UK's loss at Florida last weekend. Perhaps to enliven a telecast of a non-competitive game, CBS analyst Gary Danielson pondered Kentucky's historic futility in football. He suggested that UK basketball made building a competitive football program more difficult.

"I basically said Kentucky is known as a basketball school, and it's hard to change the culture of that ... ," Danielson said in a telephone conversation last week. "That's the deal with Mark Stoops. He knew it when he took the job. It's a basketball school first, and he has to succeed within that culture."

Rival recruiters use basketball against UK football, Danielson said.

"At Kentucky, you're not the big man on campus," he said of the hypothetical five-star football prospect. "It doesn't mean you don't get them. But it's a battle. ..."

Danielson was not speaking from personal experience.

"I've just heard a lot of coaches used that against Kentucky," he said, "and I've heard Kentucky coaches say it is a hurdle."

Of course, Curci has said it.

When UK fired him after the 1981 season, Curci issued a statement that included his complaint of a "double standard" at UK. Basketball got preferential treatment, he said.

Curci said much the same thing in a 2013 interview posted by AL.com. "Basketball is so dominant there to a ridiculous point," he said.

In his time at UK, Curci said a rival recruiter such as then-Tennessee Coach Johnny Majors would tell a prospect visiting Kentucky to compare the "lodge" for UK basketball with the dorm where UK football players lived.

Still, basketball should not be a scapegoat for Kentucky's football futility...

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/KyleTucker_AJC/status/777502630461468673

Wildcats had a pitiful home crowd, announced at 49,669 but much closer to 30,000. They had the wounds of a Southern Miss collapse and Florida butt-whuppin' still fresh. And with the flickering light of SEC Network's alternate channel upon them, they struggled to put away New Mexico State despite 692 yards of offense.

Yes, Kentucky finally outpunched the Aggies for a 62-42 victory, its first of the season. Still, coach Mark Stoops still managed to lose something: all remaining confidence from a shriveling fan base that he is the man for the job. Days after the former Florida State (coincidentally) defensive coordinator vowed to take a more active role on that side of the ball, his Wildcats gave up 500 yards.

[go hogues]

He's horrible and the AD should be fired for giving him that kind of buyout without even having a winning season.  Team has quit on him.  It's time to end the Mark Stoops era but they are seriously handcuffed by that buyout.  He will win 5 games at the most again this year and that's with the benefit of USCe, Mizzou, and Vandy on the schedule, and those 3 aren't a given. 

It was a head scratcher hire from the beginning. Hired on surname alone.

[jbcarol]

Joe Mussatto ‏@joe_mussatto 12m12 minutes ago

Stoops: "Make no mistake. We all know that's not acceptable defense. Not under my watch."


https://twitter.com/JonHale_CJ/status/777263780917116928

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/johnclayiv/status/777523422721081344

Cats are allowing 528 yards per game, putting them ahead of only Texas Tech (531.3), Arkansas State (532.0), Bowling Green (532.7), Hawaii (535.5), Texas State (548.5) and Rice (567.0).

[jbcarol]

Michael Carvell ‏@Michael_Carvell 3h3 hours ago

South Carolina safety Chris Moody on playing at Kentucky: 'It's a weird place to play. It's quiet'

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/Michael_Carvell/status/779488669673615360

[jbcarol]

UK is about to enter the Danger Zone:

https://twitter.com/ACassady_KSR/status/779881372966150144

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/Michael_Carvell/status/780118231281459200[/s

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/Michael_Carvell/status/792478303861010432

The second game of Kentucky football's fourth season under Stoops laid bare in the harsh light of a humid Florida afternoon this unpleasant truth: The Wildcats look no better off today than when Stoops was hired in December of 2012.

To be fair, it seemed a pretty sturdy limb on which to wander out at the time. Who could have seen this coming? The Wildcats blew a 25-point lead and lost at home to Southern Miss in Week 1. They got blasted, 45-7, at Florida in Week 2. They struggled to put away New Mexico State in Week 3.

But then, after Saturday's 35-21 win at Missouri, Kentucky's fifth victory in the last six games, Stoops was suddenly just a Georgia win over Florida later in the day (it didn't happen) from taking over first place in the SEC East after Week 9. Incredible.

As it stands, the Wildcats (5-3, 4-2 SEC) are still in second place and very much in the mix with the imminently beatable Bulldogs (4-4, 2-4) coming to Commonwealth Stadium next week. Thanks to a remaining date with winless Austin Peay, even if Kentucky doesn't win another conference game or upset fifth-ranked rival Louisville, it all but clinched the program's first bowl berth since 2010 on Saturday.

If he was ever on one — and a $12 million buyout suggests not — Stoops is definitely off the hot seat now. More than that, though, he deserves a great deal of praise for Kentucky's remarkable turnaround.

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/KyleTucker_AJC/status/794218690849996800

So about that Mark Stoops buyout ...

"I-told-you-so's are a really dangerous thing," Kentucky athletic director Mitch Barnhart told SEC Country during an exclusive interview Wednesday. "I don't think that's what this is about."

Still, it must be nice, after watching the Wildcats win 5 of 6 football games to come within a single victory of the program's first bowl berth since 2010 – with winless FCS Austin Peay still on the schedule – to see a coaching hire (and contract) validated at long last. Surely there is relief after all the criticism.

"I don't listen to the noise much," Barnhart said, before admitting: "I wouldn't say you're void of it. You always hear stuff ... and people are pretty good about reminding you."

It seemed odd even then, on Halloween 2014, with Kentucky having lost two in a row and on the eve of a trip to defending SEC East champion Missouri. Barnhart called an unexpected news conference that afternoon to announce a contract extension for Stoops worth a total of $21.45 million through the 2019 season.

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/NotJerryTipton/status/794557814949679104

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/Michael_Carvell/status/795131135806308353

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Kentucky played in front of its biggest home crowd of the season with first place in the SEC East on the line, and yet, coach Mark Stoops and several players said the team lacked an "edge."

"I really didn't feel like we had an edge about us today," Stoops said after the loss. "I just didn't like, just a certain look in our eye. I think our players wanted it to happen, I don't know, I just got to do a better job of getting them to play with that mentality, with that edge and that urgency that it takes."

Quarterback Stephen Johnson completed just 10 passed for 103 yards, but his finest moments were erased by the turnovers that have terrorized but not cost Kentucky up until [sic] Saturday night.

[jbcarol]

 Kyle Tucker ‏@KyleTucker_AJC 7m7 minutes ago

Kyle Tucker Retweeted Harry Minium

Southern Miss got handled by Old Dominion. The only totally inexplicable loss of the year for Kentucky. But SO inexplicable.

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/SECCountryUK/status/797565989449768960

Mark Stoops spoke to the media after the Wildcats' 49-36 loss to Tennessee on Saturday.

"We didn't play good enough to win. You have to give credit to Tennessee. They made plays, they were physical, they put us in a lot of space with their run game. Their dual-threat quarterback put a lot of pressure on us. They put a lot to the perimeter and made big plays — explosive runs. It's hard to win when you do that. I thought our offense did the same. We had a lot of quality runs, obviously, when you rush for that many yards. The difference was in the red zone. They capped it off with touchdowns, we capped it off with some field goals. Again, in a close game when the defense is reeling and every point counts, and got it down there and had a turnover down deep, that puts us down as well. The bottom line is they played better than us. We did not play clean enough to win. We know that going into this game you're going to be put under some pressure on the perimeter, and they finished off some big runs. I thought that was the difference. Give them credit. I think they're a big, physical team and (QB Joshua) Dobbs is a real talent. He's been around for a long time and really made some quality runs. Part of it, and again, I want to give them credit first. In particular, their team and their coaching staff, but also I think it gets down to some of it with us. The aggravating pieces is we have to do the things we're capable of doing. It gets back to the things I touched on early in the year and some of that showed, reared its ugly head today as well with guys not executing their responsibilities at times. That's where we have to grow and get better in all sides from when it's offense, defense, special teams. When we have a play that's there, we have to make them. They're good enough. That's a heck of a football team, and they're coached really well and put a lot of stress on you. You know that going into it, but the plays that are there, we're not making them. It's difficult to win a game like that and that's where we have to grow and take it to the next step."

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/SECCountryUK/status/799282326652014600


Go East young man

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/ESPN_SEC/status/801082149050818562

Stoops needed this one.

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/Michael_Carvell/status/802674599259291648

[jbcarol]

John Clay ‏@johnclayiv 34s35 seconds ago

Kentucky football's upset win over Louisville took a lot more than 60 minutes

Kentucky's 41-38 upset win over Louisville on Saturday was a victory four years in the making

That's what it felt like, the culmination of a four-year effort that began the day Mark Stoops became the UK football coach; four years of work and sweat and ups and downs to reach the point where as a 27-point underdog on the home field of its archrival, Kentucky could pull off the biggest victory in the Stoops era.

In a shootout at Papa John's, Austin MacGinnis' 47-yard field goal with 12 seconds remaining snapped UK's five-game losing streak to Louisville, taking the Governor Matt Bevin's Cup trophy home for the first time since 2010.

For Stoops, the road has been full of deep holes and sharp curves. No denying that. There was that 2-10 record his first season. A six-game losing streak ruined a 5-1 start in year two. Last season's 5-7 repeat included a second-half slide that had fans wondering where the program was headed.

An 0-2 start this season turned uncertainty to doubt. Stoops' name became a regular on various "hot seat" lists. The most talked-about number among the Big Blue Nation was the $12 million buyout in the head coach's contract.

Then Stoops pulled the program out of reverse and moved it forward again. Kentucky won four SEC games for the first time since 2006. Last week, it beat Austin Peay for that long sought-after sixth win. Saturday, the Cats said that allowed them to play more freely against Louisville and its star quarterback Lamar Jackson and company. A better description for their play would have been "determined."

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/Michael_Carvell/status/802897245142192128