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Kentucky football head coach Mark Stoops met with the media on Monday and discussed the Cats’ upcoming appearance in the Transperfect Music City Bowl. In that game, the Cats will face Iowa, Stoops’ alma mater.
It will be the second year in a row that the Cats and Hokies will meet in the postseason. At the end of last season, Kentucky topped Iowa 20-17 in the Vrbo Citrus Bowl in Orlando. In that game, Kentucky scored in the final two minutes to pull out the victory.
There has been some discussion about the two teams meeting in consecutive bowl games but that fact doesn’t seem to bother UK’s head coach.
“Very honored to play in the TransPerfect Music City Bowl. I know it was a great experience, regardless of the outcome in 2017,” Stoops said. “Some people may or may not like it that we’re playing an Iowa team. But I know this. , it’s going to be a heck of a football game once again. They’re going to fight you tooth and nail. (Iowa head coach) Kirk Ferentz is solid as the longest-tenured coach in college football. Very quality program and has been for years.
Stoops acknowledged that it will be difficult for Big Blue Nation to have the Cats play the Hokies in Nashville on the exact day and time UK’s basketball team faces Louisville at Rupp Arena.
“I know it puts our fans in a pickle and I’m very sorry for that,” Stoops said. “There’s not much we can do about that. For us and for our team, it’s an honor to play in this game.”
However, the UK head coach knows that BBN has a big enough reach to perform strongly at both venues.
“I expect Rupp to be packed for the Louisville game and I expect us to sell out our allotment of tickets and have a quality group of people there,” Stoops said. “Kentucky fans are able to spread it around and support both programs, like (fans) always do.”
Stops covered a number of other topics during Monday’s availability.
Bowl game dates:
“The good thing about this for us is that the timing is ideal. With morale, it is difficult to play the game earlier than that. It’s hard to ask them to get up on Christmas morning and go to practice.
On recruitment:
“The timing of (the bowl game) should go well. That will give us time to recruit. We have been on a recruitment drive. We are hitting the recruiting trail hard for the next two weeks.”
On making an offensive conjunctive change:
“There are many reasons, many factors, as you can imagine. Sometimes, things don’t work and sometimes you need to make changes for various reasons. Obviously, I felt that change was needed or I wouldn’t have done it.”
On the new offensive coordinator’s prospects:
“I’m very excited about where this could lead. I’ve been talking to a lot of people. I had a great conversation with a potential candidate yesterday, I’m going to meet with another one this week. I’ve talked to a lot of other people. done. I think there are a lot of good options out there. We’ll see where it goes. I’m optimistic, I’m excited.”
On the deadline to name a new offensive coordinator:
“There is no panic. You need to have some urgency about yourself, but no panic. You have to get the right person.”
On his recent surgery:
“I had to stop for a day – I had rotator cuff surgery – which sucked. It kept me down for about 24 hours, which was tough. I quickly returned. “
On who will call the plays in the bowl game:
“I don’t want to comment on that yet. We will work through it. It will be a group effort. You’ve got Woody, Scott Woodward, you’ve got Vince (Marrow), who will be a big part of his leadership. More than likely, active for the game will be Josh Estes-Waugh, an analyst who has been with me for a long time. Mark Perry is a man with great experience.
On which players will be available to play in bowls:
“I don’t know exactly everybody that’s going to play in a bowl. It’s different (this year). It’s just different, it’s harder, it’s longer.”
On whether the quarterback will play in the Lewis Bowl:
“I don’t know. Will and I talked, he and I discussed it. And he was going to think about it, he needed some time. I didn’t want him to make a decision at that point because I’m sure He had some things to work through, physically, emotionally, the biggest thing being physically. He wanted to see how his body responded, with the treatment and to see where he was injured. With us. See you, I’ll have a real fantasy here soon, and he’ll let me know.
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