“There’s a lot of elements of that game that I was very pleased with,” Stoops said on Monday at this weekly news conference. “Things we talked about in the offseason. We talked about toughness and improvement. The lines of scrimmage definitely felt that on Saturday.”
Stoops also liked how his team ran the ball and how the Cats stopped Toledo from doing so.
“Ran the ball for 225 yards and limited them to 60,” Stoops said. “So that was important.”
Stoops also liked how his team avoided too many self-inflicted mistakes.
“Penalties, really improved there,” he said. “Didn’t get off to a good start. The one and only offensive penalty we had was on the first play of the game, but (we) reigned it in after that.”
Having said those things, Stoops knows that there are plenty of aspects of the game where the Cats can get better.
“Ball security is an issue,” Stoops said. “(That’s something) we’ve got to improve on.”
Stoops would also like to see his team create more big plays.
“I felt like the explosive plays, we tried to push the ball down the field,” Stoops said. “I think we took five shots and didn’t convert any of those. That’s something we know we have to improve on. We know we need to create some explosive plays.”
While the UK defense was solid for most of the game on Saturday, Stoops wants to see that unit play a complete game.
“I think we played very well for the majority of the game,” Stoops said. “I would like to finish a little better. In particular, the last drive, the last touchdown.”
Stoops believes that his team will make the necessary improvements this week.
“(We) played tough, very physical, played hard,” he said. “There are many things to improve, and we know that, and we’ll get back to work right now.”
Stoops knows that his team will need to be better this week, facing nationally-ranked Ole Miss at Kroger Field.
“Another great opportunity this week to play a very challenging Ole Miss team,” Stoops said. “Lane Kiffin and their staff do a great job each and every year. They’re electric on both sides of the ball, and we’ll have our hands full. We’re looking forward to that challenge.”
Stoops hopes his team can build on the positives and improve on the mistakes before the Rebels come to Lexington on Saturday.