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UK’s win over Mississippi State in 2016 may have saved Stoops’ job

There have been plenty of big games in the Mark Stoops era, but the biggest may be Kentucky’s win over Mississippi State in 2016. Yesterday on The Paul Finebaum Show, ESPN college football reporter Marty Smith said Stoops told him he knew he had to beat Mississippi State or he’d be fired.

The quotes, via 247 Sports’s Derek Terry:

“What about what Mark Stoops said about winning? There was a crossroads in 2014 (it was actually 2016), he told us, he knew — what game was it? (Mississippi State) either I’m winning or I’m fired.