Everyone’s focusing on Mark Stoops’ decision to punt the ball on 4th and 8 with three minutes to go vs. Georgia, but an even more pivotal moment in Saturday night’s game was referees overturning Zion Childress‘ pick-six that would have put Kentucky up 10-0 midway through the second quarter. Upon review, officials determined the ball touched the ground before popping up into Childress’ arms, but to those of us watching at home, there hardly seemed to be indisputable evidence.

At today’s press conference, Mark Stoops said he “absolutely” sent the overturned pick-six to the SEC for review. After 12 years in the league, he knew better than to elaborate but quipped that he was tempted.

“Do you want to pay — I get very frustrated but 50 grand is 50 grand,” Stoops joked of the $50,000 fine coaches receive when they complain about officiating. “No, if I get pissed enough, I could afford it.”

After a healthy dose of laughter from everyone in the room, Stoops said that during his time as head coach, he’s also learned that even though calls like the ones on Saturday night can be maddening, complaining about them and even submitting them to the office for review rarely results in anything. Also, he’s expecting to see the clip of his jokes about it make the rounds on the internet (it will).

“No, it doesn’t do any good. Because anyway, honestly, we’re having fun, and in this, when people see the whole content of our conversations and when I say things tongue in cheek and having fun, that’s one thing. But then everybody grabs it out of it and just takes that little blurb, right? And they say I’m whining and crying about calls and everything. So, you know, it is what it is.

“I mean, really, after 12 years, I did realize that. You know what I mean? I will, can completely lose my mind if I just hang on to every little thing. It’s just like the ball bouncing around seven times. We can’t get an interception we have that leads to a field goal. You know what I mean? It’s just, you know, we’ve just got to make the plays. There are no excuses. Officials are going to make mistakes as well. And we have to overcome those things. So, it is what it is.”

So, don’t get your hopes up for an apology from the SEC regarding the pick-six being overturned. Unless the SEC issues an official statement, Stoops can’t even share their response.

“I have not received that back yet, and when I do, again, I’m just not allowed to share that with you. One time, I had to learn that the hard way, early on. But anyway, I mean, even if you know — I’m just, I’m not even allowed to give you the explanation they give me.”

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