Mark Stoops addresses Kentucky’s state of mind for Toledo with Ole Miss
The 2025 Kentucky Football season is most likely among the most essential in the career of head coach Mark Stoops, who is heading into his 12th season at the helm in Lexington. The SEC’s longest-tenured coach is coming off a disappointing 4-8 project and fan assistance has been wavering, unsure about the future of the Youngstown local.
After a turbulent offseason in which the program generated a variety of new players while losing a few of the program’s prior cornerstones in wide receivers Dane Secret and Barion Brown, Kentucky’s uber essential 2025 project opens on Aug. 30 versus Toledo. The Rockets are fresh off an 8-5 season with a 6OT win over Pittsburgh in the 2024 GameAbove Sports Bowl.
Stoops went over not over-looking the week one clash with Toledo for a week two home clash with Ole Miss, which is likely to be ranked in the top-15 when the two teams meet.
“We’ve got a huge game in week one,” Stoops said. “I’m not simply stating that and it’s not coach speak. I believe you all might acknowledge that [Toledo] is a group that’s been picked to win the MAC and is a very, extremely fully grown football team and well coached. So that’s going to be a huge game and that’ll get us prepared. We need to be gotten ready for week one.”
ESPN has Kentucky on upset alert in game vs. Toledo
Kentucky hasn’t lost a home game to a non-conference team since 2016 (Southern Miss), however Toledo is likely the very best non-con team the Wildcats have actually faced ever since. Under head coach Jason Candle, the Firecrackers are 73-40 (because 2016) with 2 MAC titles and 3 bowl game victories.
ESPN tabbed this game as one of its 12 tricky excellent games matching Power 4 groups versus Group of 5 groups this season, putting the ‘Felines on upset alert. The two programs last satisfied in 2019, where Kentucky held off Toledo 38-24 in its season opener. It was the one game that season that beginning quarterback Terry Wilson began and finish, as he broke his collarbone in a week 2 game versus Eastern Michigan.
As formerly discussed, Kentucky will then host Ole Miss the following week in a rematch from last season’s sensational Wildcat success in Oxford. The ‘Cats have not begun the regular season 2-0 with a minimum of one SEC success given that it did it in back-to-back seasons in 2021 and 2022.