Stoops takes blame for UK’s late collapse
Kentucky coach Mark Stoops spent a large chunk of his Monday press conference taking responsibility for two defensive blown coverages that resulted in wideopen Florida touchdowns during the Gators’ 28-27 victory on Saturday night.
The first step was admitting the problem. Then, Stoops offered a solution.
“I’ll have two people watching the edges, the perimeter of the field, and if we’re not in position, somebody better he hitting me over the head and I need to call a timeout,” Stoops said. “I try to manage the game as best I can.”
On both occasions, a Florida receiver was left without a Kentucky defensive back covering him. The first came on a 45-yard pass from Feleipe Franks to Tyrie Cleveland with just more than 3 minutes left in the first half. The second blown assignment came on Florida’s game winning score. Kentucky tried to switch personnel and the two corners got confused about who was supposed to come out.
“That’s on me,” Stoops said. “I can’t believe it happened, but it did and I take responsibility for that. So, that cannot happen. We have plenty of people that can watch and look for things.”
Stoops, who climbed the coaching ranks as a defensive backs coach, said plays like that had never happened to him before coming to Kentucky. But when Stoops was asked if it was a full-staff issue, he said he’s “ultimately responsible for all of that.”
“That’s the deal with the head coach that every offense, defense and special teams play is ultimately under your control and anything that you do to take away from winning hurts you a great deal,” Stoops said.
No turnovers for Crimson Tide: As if Alabama didn’t have enough of an advantage over most opponents, the Crimson Tide isn’t giving them any help.
The top-ranked Tide enters Saturday night’s game with Mississippi riding a 30-quarter streak without committing a turnover. It’s all part of coach Nick Saban’s “process,” supplying another mathematical edge for a team that typically already has more talent and depth.
“It’s just a mindset,” Alabama tailback Damien Harris said. “If you don’t turn the ball over, you automatically give yourself a better chance to win. And we look at the reports every week. Teams with plus-turnover margin usually have more success. So it’s just something we really focus on — offensively protecting the ball and defensively getting the ball out and getting turnovers. We like to play off each other.”
Quarterback Jalen Hurts and Alabama (4-0) haven’t turned the ball over since he threw two interceptions in the second quarter against Auburn last season.
The streak has reached 550 plays, including Hurts’ stretch of 150 consecutive passes without an interception that ranks as the Tide’s fifth-longest.
Purdue reacts to Harbaugh’s stadium criticism: Purdue issued a statement on Monday, saying “There is no place for gamesmanship when it comes to player care and safety” after Jim Harbaugh voiced his displeasure with the Boilermakers’ facilities at Ross-Ade Stadium following Michigan’s 28-10 win on Saturday.
“The after-the-fact concerns expressed by Michigan are somewhat surprising,” team spokesman Tom Schott wrote in a statement, “because a member of its football staff conducted a walk-thru of our facilities with our athletics department staff at Ross-Ade Stadium on July 18.”
Harbaugh had issues with the lack of air conditioning, small locker rooms and lack of X-ray capabilities.