Mark Stoops on the Kentucky running backs

From Larry Vaught --

Question: How do you feel about the running backs going into the season?

Stoops: “I feel very good. Maturity is the big thing. The nice thing is those guys have at least a year experience under them and JoJo (Kemp) has two. Last year a bunch of our playmakers were quite young. I don’t talk about that much and not in my nature. It sounds like you are making excuses or buying time. It’s not. It’s just a fact. Look at guys that I had an impact offensively, Boom Williams and Mikel Horton are exceptional players. They are a year older and I expect them to be more mature and physically handle more and be better players. Just be more consistent.

“You all don’t see everything. It takes a lot of work during the week and an awful lot of mental toughness to do the things necessary to help team and not hurt your team. I am not going to sell out any of my guys, but some need to grow up just like you would expect with your own kids.”

Question: Does Kemp have to learn to be a better practice player?

Stoops: “He is growing up. The things I love about JoJo is the energy he brings to the field. We were doing drills and just smashed each other in the face like old school and create some toughness and he was so viscous and relentless. I joked that I thought he was going to pull a knife out of his sock. You have got to have that toughness and energy and I do love that about him. I think he is healthy once again. When he is not at full strength, he is not as talented as the other guys.”

Question: Will Williams be better just because he’ll likely do a better job running to the right spots/holes this year, something he didn’t always do last year?

Stoops: “That is exactly right. That is the growth we expect out of them all as we move forward.”