Will Stein isn’t lingering on Kentucky’s overtime stunner against LSU. The No. 15 Wildcats have already shifted their focus to Oklahoma, and that next challenge comes with plenty of weight attached.
Kentucky heads to Norman this Saturday for the first meeting between the schools as Southeastern Conference members and just the third matchup overall. Stein called Oklahoma “one of the elite teams in college football over the history of college football” and labeled the Sooners “a total blueblood program” after their big win over Texas.
“I know what that rivalry means. I was in it for three seasons, and for them to get that win gave them big momentum. They’ll be coming off a lot of momentum from that game and heading into the second half of the season.”
The timing doesn’t make the assignment any friendlier. Kentucky is riding a four-game winning streak, but Stein made it clear that streak will be under real pressure in Oklahoma.
“Going to Norman, Oklahoma, will be a massive test for our team,” Stein said. “It’s just commonplace in the SEC that it’s just the next game, and each game has a life of its own. It’ll be another big test for us.”
The Wildcats do have a strong start on their side. At 5-1 overall and 3-1 in the SEC, Kentucky is off to its best opening for a first-year coach since 1913, when the Wildcats began 5-1 under Alpha Brumage.
Even with that early success, Stein said the program is still fighting for broader recognition. He admitted the lack of respect “drives me a little bit right now.”
“I just really try to show up every single day and do my job, which is be the head football coach, and to create an environment of competition, of discipline, of accountability, toughness, and think when you have a have a good process, which I believe we do here as an organization, it sets you up to be successful,” he said. “I really don’t worry about what people think about me.
I never have. I never will.
That’s just kind of how I am as a person, and that’s really how my team plays. It’s just funny.
Everybody that we beat seems to be a really bad football team.”
Stein also pointed to the matchup on the other sideline. He knows Oklahoma offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle well, and he expects a fast-moving, aggressive attack.
“We faced each other when he was at Western Kentucky, so we have some background with him,” Stein said. “He’s a good buddy of mine and I think he’s a really good football coach. He’s smart and he’s aggressive.
“He had a lot of success at Washington State before he got to Oklahoma, and you know he’s continuing to work with this unit. This is a high-tempo air-raid-type offense, but with a really good quarterback run game.”
Kentucky’s recent win over LSU, Stein said, came because the Wildcats handled all three phases well.
In his view, that same formula will have to show up again if Kentucky wants to keep rolling.
“If you don’t, you get whooped, and so that’s really what it is,” he said. “If you don’t come to play, you’ll get embarrassed in this league, and so we have to play better than what we played last week.
“There were a lot of great moments, but there was opportunity as well for growth on our team in all three phases, and as a coaching staff, and that’s what we’re taking into this week. There’s no gimmies.
You’re playing Oklahoma. If you can’t get up for that game, then I don’t know if you even have a pulse.”
In Other News...
Kentucky Is Suddenly In The Hunt For 3 Program-Changing Recruits
Kentucky footballs recruiting push under Will Stein is starting to show up in a different part of the calendar, with the staff already making serious noise in the 2028 class. Multiple recruiting analysts have pointed to the Wildcats as a program to watch for wide receiver Jordan Anderson, defensive lineman Kellan Hall and cornerback Grayden Reid, three highly regarded prospects whose early profiles suggest the kind of talent that can reshape a class if it sticks.
What stands out for Kentucky is not just the names, but the scope of the effort behind them. Joe Price, Jay Bateman and Allen Brown have all been involved in the pursuit, giving the Wildcats a presence on both sides of the ball as they try to build relationships early with nationally ranked talent. It is still very early, of course, but Kentuckys active positioning with this group has turned what could have been routine long-range tracking into a genuine storyline worth watching. [Read more 🡒]
Mark Popes First Kentucky Team Just Got An Early SEC Reality Check
Mark Popes first Kentucky team is only at the exhibition stage, with the Wildcats opening against Little Rock, but the preseason picture from SEC Media Days in Birmingham offered an early reminder of how crowded the league race could be. Kentucky was picked to finish seventh in the conference, even as two players earned spots on the preseason All-SEC teams, a sign that the roster has respect but still has ground to make up in a league that rarely gives anyone much margin.
The womens side drew a sturdier forecast, landing fifth in the SEC preseason poll, and Clara Strack was the Wildcats headliner after being named to the preseason All-SEC First Team. Between the mens and womens projections, Kentucky has enough recognition to suggest talent is in place, but the broader message out of Birmingham was clear: both teams will have to prove they belong higher once the games start counting. [Read more 🡒]
Kentucky Just Added A Familiar Face Big Blue Nation Will Love
Kentucky officially rounded out its mens basketball staff with a pair of additions that should feel familiar and reassuring in Lexington. Alfred Aboya joins as an assistant coach after working at NBA Academy Africa and with the Cameroon National Mens Basketball Team, while John Pelphrey is back in the program as Director of Player Development, bringing with him a long coaching rsum along with the cachet of being a former Kentucky player.
For a program that always draws attention to who is walking through the door, this is the kind of move that blends experience with a little nostalgia. Aboya adds international and developmental background to the bench, and Pelphreys return gives Big Blue Nation another link to the past while the Wildcats continue building out a staff meant to support the current roster. [Read more 🡒]