"Very observant" caller critical of UK offense

After Kentucky's offense managed a season-low 217 yards and three points in a blowout loss to LSU on Saturday night, coach Mark Stoops had an interesting exchange on his weekly radio show Monday night.

One caller told him the Cats' passing game "goes too much east and west and not enough north and south," adding that "you need a power run game" with all those talented tailbacks on the roster. In the caller's estimation, UK relies "too much on trickery" and not enough on smash-mouth football.

That's not an unusual fan take on a poor performance. The interesting part came in Stoops' response.

"That's very observant and very true at times, and I can't argue with you," the coach said. "I think that's a fair criticism, and I don't disagree in certain ways. When it works, we're all happy. When it doesn't, I think that certainly is something that we can do, you know, take a few more shots down the field. And when it's not working and you're getting tackled for zero-yard gain or a 2-yard loss on a pass play that goes east and west, I'm just as aggravated as you are. Let me put it that way."

Stoops, whose offensive coordinator Neal Brown runs an "Air Raid" system that is heavy on short passes and light on power running, added: "I think we have great coaches that have done a good job all year. I didn't work last week, so we constantly gotta self-evaluate and make sure we're putting the kids in a position to win."

To listen to the exchange, click the below link and start around the 18:45 mark.

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