By Larry Vaught
Before UK pulled off its highest ranked road win by beating No. 6 Ole Miss 20-17 last week, SEC Nation co-host Paul Finebaum offered a brutally honest assessment of UK’s season.
“Kentucky, to me, is a one-hit wonder. They put it together against Georgia, and they were brilliant. Everybody has made that point, but I also saw them against South Carolina and they flat-out sucked. They can’t be like that,” Finebaum said.
A few hours later Finnebaum and the nation knew Kentucky might be for real after all because it went back to playing the brand of football Stoops knows best and coaches best. He called it “dirty, tough, hard yards” with Kentucky always being the aggressor.
“This is our style. Dirty, hard nosed, tough, gritty,” Stoops said after the win. “I love these players. We had a game (South Carolina) earlier not to be proud of. I thought they didn’t respond but they did. We played hard as hell but we just played stupid.
“Since then our team has learned. We made critical plays today when it mattered and that is the difference in winning and losing against good teams.”
Stoops understands the fast, high-paced offense like Ole Miss uses is popular with fans. He’s tried to adjust and be a more offensive-minded coach but that’s not his DNA.
“Everybody wants to be pretty. That wasn’t pretty but the result was,” Stoops said after the Ole Miss win. “It is tough and dirty and hard and gritty. It is defense playing effectively and the offense making plays. We talk about being fearless. I wanted to go after it. I wanted to be relentless.
“We have been concentrating on playing with an attitude and edge but also talking about executing better.”
