“We’ve been working hard. You’ve heard me talk about it,” Stoops said. “Proud of this team and the work that we’ve done to get to this point, and it’s time to go tee it up. And I’m glad game week is here. and we have to go play some good football and, if we want change the narrative, then we have to go play well. And our performance we’ll dictate what’s said about us. And, you know, it’s time to tee it up and go play.”
Toledo is definitely not a team to be taken lightly. The Rockets are picked to win the Mid-American Conference and are receiving votes in the national polls. Stoops knows that Toledo will pose a challenge to the Cats.
“It’s a team, you know, in the MAC that’s predicted to finish first in the MAC, I believe they’re receiving already 13 or 14 AP top 25 votes,” Stoops said. “So, they are team that you have to beat. They are not going to beat themselves. They’re very sound, and they’re very well coached, and we’re excited about that opportunity for our team.”
Stoops sees no chance that his team will not be excited for Saturday’s game, nor will they overlook Toledo.
“Our guys should have no problem getting excited for this game. It’s game one,” Stoops said. “And it’s a very good opponent, as I mentioned to you, all you have to do is look at the record and again, if our players want a change the narrative, then we have an opportunity to do that. Here’s a team that a lot of people are saying has the chance to be in the playoff, of the non-Power Four representatives. So, we have an opportunity to go know, kind of showcase what we’ve been working on and I think, you know, you know, my answer to that each and every week, it’s really about us and how we play, and it’s about our performance.”
Stoops announced on Monday that Zach Calzada will be the starting quarterback. He said that was no slight to Cutter Boley, who will serve as the backup.
“The big thing is, is it what Zach wasn’t doing, I think it was Cutter really playing well in particular down the stretch of camp,” Stoops said. “I’d say the last 10 days,he just seemed so much more comfortable, so much more confident and played at a higher level. And I think they were both playing good, and that we need that. It’s very difficult schedule we have a front of us and we need all hands on deck, and so I’m quite confident both of those guys.”
After months of talking about it, game week is finally here. If Kentucky is to change the narrative, it starts with a solid performance in week one.