Kentucky coach Mark Stoops chalked up Saturday’s 35-13 loss at South Carolina as a learning experience for his team.
“You've heard me say a lot, but it's true with every opportunity you have to learn,” he said Monday. “You know from that, whether it's success or failure (and) anywhere in between, you just have to get better.”
The Wildcats (2-3) have endured more failures than successes recently, especially in Southeastern Conference play. The loss was Kentucky’s ninth straight conference setback dating back to last season’s upset win over Ole Miss in Oxford.
Quarterback Cutter Boley made his second start of the year and his first on the road in the loss to the Gamecocks and threw a pair of interceptions and had a fumble. Two of those back-to-back miscues resulted in two straight scores by the South Carolina defense. Boley was also sacked six times for a loss of 39 yards.
“We have to play better around (Cutter) to give them that time,” Stoops said. “The first turnover with the protection, there are things we could do better there. Cutter will get better. The nice thing about him is that he's very resilient, and he has a strong belief in himself, and the players believe in him as well.”
Stoops added that his team’s inability to force turnovers, while giving up back-to-back defensive scores, made it harder for the Wildcats to recover from a double-digit deficit.
“I think we all know that we can’t overcome turnovers — we just can’t do it,” Stoops said. “There aren’t many people who can, especially in our league. The way we’re built right now, we just can’t overcome turnovers like that.
“We always talk about the takeaways, and you look at us going into that game, we had a decent amount of interceptions, fumbles, balls on the ground that we weren’t able to get. That’s a balance sometimes. We’ve been doing a decent job on that. Didn’t get any on Saturday, so credit them.”
Following the loss at South Carolina, Boley wasn’t discouraged moving forward. To help avoid sacks, Boley took responsibility and added that he needs to “get the ball out of my hand” while under pressure from the opposing defenses.
We just have to hit on a few plays, and if we do that, we’re going to be all right,” he said. “I know each one of the guys in the locker room has unwavering confidence in this team.”
Going into Saturday’s contest at No. 12 Georgia, Boley remained atop the depth chart at quarterback, ahead of Zach Calzada, who has missed the past two games while nursing a shoulder injury.
Despite the recent struggles in the SEC, Stoops remains confident in his squad.
“I really like this football team and the way they work and their attitude,” Stoops said. “I don’t expect any of that to change. We just need to be better, and we need to execute in critical moments and just become a better football team.”
Gametracker: Kentucky at Georgia, noon, Saturday. TV/Radio: ABC, UK Radio Network - 94.7 The Mix and WiLLiE 102. Coverage: www.kentuckytoday.com
Kentucky coach Mark Stoops speaks at a press conference Monday at Kroger Field. (Screenshot)
