It doesn't look like much bulletin-board material will be exchanged leading up to the season opener between Kentucky and Toledo on Saturday at Kroger Field.
It doesn’t look like much bulletin-board material will be exchanged leading up to the season opener between Kentucky and Toledo on Saturday at Kroger Field.
After the Wildcats’ Mark Stoops showered the respected MAC program with praise during his weekly press luncheon on Monday, the Rockets’ Jason Candle returned the favor.
“Incredible opponent Week 1,” Candle said. “Week 1’s are hard enough, (but) going on the road in the SEC is another set of challenges… Great measuring stick to see where we’re at and a real quality opponent in Kentucky.
“Coach Stoops and his staff have been together for a long time and done it at a high level for a long time. Wins after wins after wins. A lot of success there, so a stiff challenge for our team, one that we’re looking forward to.”
It’s a matchup between two of the longest-tenured head coaches in the country. Stoops, entering his 13th season on the sidelines in Lexington, is the current dean of SEC head coaches. Candle is going into his 10th season at Toledo.
“I don’t know him personally very well,” Stoops said, “but I have a lot of respect for what he’s done and his staff… The vast majority of his staff go all the way back to Mount Union, and they’re a bunch of winners. They’ve won a lot of games, they’ve won championships, (and) he’s been there a long time. They have a lot of continuity on their staff. They’re obviously doing a very good job.”
Toledo has not had a losing season since 2009. It marks the third-longest streak in the FBS behind only Boise State (27) and Alabama (17).
Stoops and Candle met in the 2019 season opener at Kroger Field, a game the Cats won 38-24 after falling behind 7-0 and being tied 14-14 at the half.
This time, Candle brings a stronger Toledo squad to Lexington, having won 19 of its last 27 games, including a pair of wins over Power Four teams last season at Mississippi State (41-17) and in the GameAbove Sports Bowl against Pitt (48-46, 6 OT).
No strangers to major-conference opponents, Toledo also played at Illinois in 2023, at Ohio State in 2022, and at Notre Dame in 2021. The Rockets flirted with upsets against the Illini (30-28) and the Fighting Irish (32-29).
Candle credits his program’s consistent competitiveness against major-conference foes to the players focusing on the details and keeping an even keel emotionally.
“We’re not real high or real low often, so that helps us in adverse situations when we go on the road in these type of environments,” he added.
The challenge presented by Kentucky is clear, according to Candle, and one the Rockets will have to match.
“Physicality. Toughness. That has always been at the forefront of any team that Coach Stoops has ever been involved in or coached,” he said. “I think that resonates and comes off the tape. They’re going to be big up front and long in the secondary. They’re what an SEC team looks like. Great length. Great size. They’re going to make you earn everything you get.”
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Category: General Sports
