After leading Kentucky to a 20-17 upset win at No. 6 Ole Miss on Saturday, officials from the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Foundation and Peach Bowl, Inc. today announced that head coach Mark Stoops has been selected as The Dodd Trophy Coach of the Week Presented by PNC Bank.
The win in Oxford marked UK’s highest-ranked road win at a Southeastern Conference campus stadium in school history and the highest Associated Press-ranked win in the Stoops era.
This is Stoops’ second national honor for the win over the Rebels as he also was named the Paul “Bear” Bryant Awards Coach of the Week.
The Dodd Trophy Coach of the Week award honors a football coach who led his team to a significant victory during the previous week, while also embodying the award’s three pillars of scholarship, leadership and integrity. Stoops is no stranger to the honor, having won twice last season following victories over Florida and Louisville.
On Saturday, Kentucky’s defense held Ole Miss to 17 points, 353 yards of total offense, 261 passing yards and 92 rushing yards. The Rebels entered the game leading the nation in scoring (55 points per game), total offense (670.8 yards per game) and passing offense (422.8 yards per game), while ranking 12th in rushing offense (248 yards per game).
The Wildcats’ offense totaled 20 points, 336 yards total offense, 93 rushing yards and 243 passing yards against an Ole Miss team that entered the game first in the nation in scoring defense (5.5 points per game) and rushing defense (34.5 yards per game) while rating 12th in the nation in total defense (239 yards per game).
Stoops’ ball-control game plan did an excellent job of keeping the potent Ole Miss offense off the field. The Wildcats totaled 22 first downs, including three-of-three on fourth-down plays, leading to 75 plays and 39:43 time of possession. Ole Miss ended with 56 plays and just 20:17 time of possession.
Stoops also trusted his coaching instincts to make a key play call late in the game. Trailing 17-13 with four minutes remaining, on a 4th-and-7 play from his own 20-yard line, Stoops declined to punt. Quarterback Brock Vandagriff found Barion Brown on a 63-yard bomb to set up the game-winning touchdown.
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