UK football head coach Mark Stoops and select players hit the podium Saturday afternoon to discuss the results of that morning’s scrimmage.

After the team’s first scrimmage last week, Stoops said his defense “had a lot of work to do.” Saturday seemed to mark a sign of progress.

“This was a better scrimmage for all units. Defensively, we were much more sound and made the offense work for their yards,” Stoops said. “I want to see more fundamental football across the board.”

According to linebacker Jamin Davis, the difference was that players on defense realized that they “weren’t meeting up to their standards.”

“We had to step up competition wise. I feel like I just needed to step up to do what I need to do on and off the field,” Davis said.

Davis’ fellow linebacker DeAndre Square echoed him. Square talked about the defense’s mindset and agreed that he and his fellow defenders needed to do more.

“Last week we just weren’t prepared but today we were. We came out with a better mindset today. The whole defense tried doing our job,” Square said.

Defenders weren’t the only ones praising the defense. Guard Logan Stenberg admitted that the defense outplayed the offense, saying that they “wanted it more.”

“I’d say defense won today. Defense out strained us today and we have a lot to clean up on offense,” Stenberg said.

Nonetheless, the offense still received praises from Stoops. Stoops says that quarterback Terry Wilson looks “very comfortable and more confident.” He also says he likes what he’s seen from young receivers like Josh Ali and Ahmad Waggoner.

Wilson agreed, saying that he has felt more comfortable and “come a long way.” He evaluated his performance by saying he “did good” after not turning the ball over or getting sacked.

“I feel like I’ve been doing a good job of scrambling under pressure and getting the ball to my [running] backs,” Wilson said. “The chemistry has been spot on with me and my receivers. We know what we’re supposed to do and getting reps with each other has been big.”

Stoops noted that backup quarterback Nic Scazlo went down with a right knee injury during scrimmage. He said the team is still evaluating the extent of the injury.

The Cats will play one final scrimmage next Saturday, August 31st before getting ready to face Toledo in the season opener on the 31^st.