Lexington, Ky. (LEX 18) — The No. 14 ranked Kentucky football team is back in game week mode after its bye week.
Head Coach Mark Stoops addressed the media on Monday at Kroger Field.
“Excited about getting back to work here this week and getting into a game week,” said Stoops. “I thought we had a very good bye week. Used it to heal up a bit, get some rest, get a jump on Vandy, continue to build on some of the things were doing well, work on some areas that need improvement. Excited about this opportunity here this week against Vandy.”
At 3-3, Vanderbilt is much better than its record may indicate. They’ve played tough this season against No. 4 Notre Dame (22-17) and No. 11 Florida (37-27, led 21-3 at one point).
“They really had a great opportunity to beat Notre Dame and then they had a great opportunity against Florida, two very, very good football teams,” said Stoops. “You see what they are capable of, and so Vandy is a good team and they are hungry, they play hard. We’re going to have to play very good football. You know that’s my message every week, it’s about us and what we do, and how we prepare, and how we respect the game and our preparation no matter who we’re playing.”
The Wildcats are also hoping to have an opposite outcome than last year’s return from the bye week. Kentucky was routed 45-7 at the hands of Mississippi State. They’ll do everything they can to avoid that type of outcome again.
“I look at last year’s game immediately after the bye week,” said Stoops. “I did look at that. Look at the sports science behind that, what we did. So, yes I am making some changes. Some things were brought to my attention on how we played and what we did rep-wise and things like that.”
Kentucky hosts Vanderbilt on Saturday at 7:30 pm at Kroger Field.
