Notes and Quotes from the Stoops Monday Presser

By: LONNY DEMAREE

The things we and other coaches talk about we kind of keep to ourselves Mark Stoops said. These guys are big in this league. I'm feeling more and more confident in Drew Barker week to week. It's was refreshing to hear a coach say I felt like his team went into the Georgia not feeling that they could win.

Stoops said in a abstract way that his offensive line got whipped. And he regretted going for it on 4th and two because one of his linemen got totally beaten on the play. The coach is looking to regain that fire the team exhibited early in the season.

He acknowledged the difficulty of playing a lot better at this point in the season because it is what it is. He said not much has changed than what he said after the Georgia game. “One thing you say to your team is that playing with that great energy, passion, and desire,” Stoops said. “That is the frustrating thing that we as coaches, the team, and the fans feel.” The coach said the effort was there in certain areas but not in all areas.

He said they will handle it slightly different with the quarterback reps this week in practice. He said he has addressed it with Towles and he understands that. “He accepts that and he's just got to go out and and perform and produce this week in practice.”

He said that his players at certain time have to step up and be mentally tough and perform.

Is there any way that Stoops will start Drew Barker on Saturday in Nashville against the ball-hawking defense of the Commodores. Vandy sports the nineteenth rated defense in the country and the 12th ranked scoring defense in America. Conversely, Vandy has the 105th rated offense in the country.

The question Saturday will be can the questionable defense rise to the occasion. This game is always one of the hard hitting game on the UK schedule every year. Why? Every year before the season starts both fan bases peruse the schedule for wins and when they get to the game against the other and they put it in the win column. So consequently when they meet on the field each team plays with confidence, ferocity, and passion. The team do the same as their fan base and little do we know but the same goes for the respective coaches of each school.

For Head Coach Derrick Mason this is a game that he needs to keep the defensive prowess going for his loyal fans. And for Head Coach Mark Stoops Vandy is a winnable game he desperately needs to preserve and chance to get to a bowl and in the process show that the program is progressing on an upward scale.

Vandy has controlled time of possession by a wide margin – 32:43 to 27:17 but the Commodores have had trouble getting the ball in the end zone score at a 14.8 per game clip. Again, can the Cats defense keep the Commodores out of the end zone? The Cats scoring defense is thirteenth in the SEC.

Vandy's offense doesn't do anything especially well but the Cats cannot spring a leak in the dyke because they have a couple of guys in running back Ralph Webb and quarterback Johnny McCray that have the ability to hit for a big play. And their inspired defense can win for then sans the SEC Eastern Divisio champion Florida Gators. Many smart mind say that every team runs basically the same defensive schemes but the good coaches make in game adjustments to what the opposing team is doing to them.

So it's bowl or bust for the Wildcats at the Vanderbilt stadium.