After the lose to Mississippi State, UK’s season is still far from over

There’s no way to spin anything good out of Kentucky’s performance in a 31-24 loss to Mississippi State.  It was the season’s biggest game and the Cats did not answer the call.  But the good news for them is that it happened with four games remaining.

The first thing these players need to do is quit thinking about the big picture and season goals.  They need to focus on the now and making sure they get themselves ready to play each game as it comes up.  It’s quite possible the Wildcats got caught up in all the talk about winning five in a row and getting that bigger and better bowl game and forgot to pay close enough attention to the business at hand.

Fans, however, can think big picture.  And everybody who jumped on the bandwagon after the Auburn game is now saying the Cats will be lucky to finish 6-6.

They could be right but it’s not too late for this team to get where it wants.

Kentucky will beat Eastern Kentucky and if they can win at Vandy and achieve bowl eligibility, a lot of pressure will be alleviated for games against two teams the Cats will have a chance to beat.

After Kentucky lost to Alabama, I was convinced every game but ULM and EKU would be decided in the fourth quarter.  So far, that has happened in the first three games and I still believe that’s where the other three will be decided.  Beating Vandy and either Georgia or Tennessee would give the Cats seven wins.

This year’s SEC is somewhat like the Big Ten of the 70’s–the big two at the top (Ohio State, Michigan) and one team at the bottom (Northwestern) and everybody else relatively even.  LSU is a little better than the rest of the pack but I don’t think there’s a whole lot of difference between the rest on their best days.

The opportunity was there for this season to be a lot more.  But as Bill Parcells is fond of saying, “you are what your record says.”  Without its veteran starting quarterback and with injuries to several key players, Kentucky is going to win a game or two it shouldn’t and lose a game or two it shouldn’t.  That’s reality and so is the fact that this season is far from over.

For more of Tom’s Big Blue coverage, go to: http://tomleachky.com/

-Tom Leach

Is a bigger Bowl game likely for the CATS?

For the Kentucky football team to achieve its goal of playing in a bigger bowl this season, getting eight wins is the most likely place to set the bar.  And getting to that number looks a lot harder if the Cats don’t beat Mississippi State this Saturday night.

On paper, most of the stats favor the Bulldogs, for one–turnovers.  MSU has given the ball away 21 times to Kentucky’s 12.  Winning the turnover battle is job one for the Cats this week.

Big Blue fans should not lose any sleep over a so-so performance against Louisiana-Monroe.  The mission was seize control of the game early and minimize the pounding on Randall Cobb and Derrick Locke and it was accomplished.

Some level of a letdown was inevitable after four huge SEC games but Kentucky was focused enough early to grab a 21-0 lead.  Yes, they put it on cruise control at that point but it turned out to have no impact on the outcome.

In walking to the postgame interview session, Cobb had a bounce in his step that was not visible the previous two weeks when he had to shoulder a large burden on offense.  Now he’s fresh and that’s important because he is the key to Kentucky’s offense for now.  And Locke getting through the night without taking much of a beating means he can be at his best for the MSU game.

The concerns include the injury to Micah Johnson and the possibility that Trevard Lindley’s return will be postponed by another week.

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John Wall’s eligibility remains topic number one in the Big Blue nation these days, but sorry, I don’t have any illumination for you.

The latest of many things I’ve read comes from Fox Sports columnist Jeff Goodman, who says his sources are saying it will all be cleared up before Kentucky’s November 13 opener against Morehead.  Hopefully, he’s right.

For more of Tom’s Big Blue coverage, go to: http://tomleachky.com/

-Tom Leach

Brooks changes the negative mindset of UK Football by beating Auburn

You’ve lost three games in a row.  Your starting quarterback injured.  Your All-America cornerback sidelined.  Opponent has a record of 5-1.  Your team hasn’t won there since 1961.  It’s cold, damp and 80,000-plus are cheering against you.  And then at the end of your first drive, a field goal is blocked and taken back for a touchdown.

How many teams would have thrown in the towel under that set of circumstances?

For the Kentucky Wildcats to score two 4th quarter touchdowns and pull out a 21-14 win at Auburn, while holding one of the country’s top-rated offenses almost 200 yards and 17 points below its averages, tells you a lot about how Rich Brooks has changed the negative mindset around the UK football program.

The Big Blue bandwagon is full again, with fans dreaming of finishing the season with a seven-game winning streak.  While it’s certainly true that the schedule that looked so brutal back in August now seems to be breaking in  Kentucky’s favor, the worst thing that this team could do right now is get to feeling too good about itself.  If they manage to avoid that trap, the chances of achieving their goal of playing in a bigger and better bowl game is certainly within their reach.

But there is danger ahead.  Louisiana-Monroe, as well as the next opponent (Mississippi State) are capable of putting up lots of points.  And the Kentucky offense is still very much a work in progress. 

Randall Cobb and Derrick Locke are as tough as any football players anywhere, but they are also small and they’re having to carry a huge load right now.  The Cats must find a way to increase their production in the passing game or teams will just stack the box and dare them to run it. 

I’m confident Chris Matthews will emerge as a big playmaker for Kentucky but the variable is time.  His team needs it to happen sooner rather than later.

For more of Tom’s Big Blue coverage, go to: http://tomleachky.com/

-Tom Leach

Weighing the options now that Hartline is out…

“A state of uncertainty, perplexing situation, a dilemma.”

That’s the definition of “quandary” and Rich Brooks is definitely facing a quarterback quandary in the wake of an injury to starter Mike Hartline.

It’s ironic that losing Hartline looms so large when so many fans were calling for a change at the QB position.  With Hartline playing his best game as a Wildcat in the first half at South Carolina, and with Kentucky’s new found success at running the football, the Kentucky offense had come alive.  The 17 points UK scored in the first half matched the average South Carolina’s defense had been giving up per game. 

Now, which direction does Rich Brooks go?

Moving Cobb to quarterback full-time is the option favored by those who say that plan puts the ball in the hands of your best player most often.  While that’s true, it also requires a total change of philosophy from the course the staff had set for the offense.  Plus, the Cobb-to-QB move didn’t produce any dramatic improvement season.  There are two things I don’t like about this approach.  One is that it minimizes the role of John Conner, one of the team’s best players, when UK commits to what amounts to a full-time Wildcat formation.  Secondly, if you had seen Cobb after this game, you would have seen how beaten up he looked.  Tim Tebow is 6-foot-4, 230 pounds and it’s much easier for a player of that size to take the pounding a QB in that role takes against SEC defenses.

Another option for Brooks is using backup Will Fidler as the starting QB and making greater use of the Wildcat formation with Cobb.  My guess is this is the plan that will gain the favor of the coaches, but Fidler has to step it up from the performance he gave in relief last Saturday.  This is the chance Fidler didn’t know if he would ever get–now he gets a chance to make the job his own.

The third option is to go with true freshman Morgan Newton and Brooks has said Newton will get a lot more reps in practice this week, to show what he can do.  Newton wants to play so now is the time for him to show his coaches that he’s ready.

Unless Newton claims the job in this week’s practices, the best course of action is to give Fidler his shot and if he can’t move the team, then let Newton take a shot at it.

The good news is that Kentucky is facing an Auburn defense that has surrendered 400-plus yards in three of its last four games.  But one can’t help thinking how good it would feel for Kentucky fans to be going into that matchup with the offense we saw in the first half last Saturday.

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To follow up on last week’s item about ex-Cat QB Curtis Pulley, here are his numbers from Florida A&M’s 48-16 loss to 11th-ranked Miami:

10-25 passing with one interception for 144 yards

81 rushing yards on 17 carries and one touchdown

For more of Tom’s Big Blue coverage, go to: http://tomleachky.com/

-Tom Leach

The Wildcats still control their own destiny

The optimism of August seems so long ago for the Kentucky football team, after back-to-back losses.  So let’s step back and take a look at the big picture.

Here’s my sense of where a majority of the Big Blue nation is:  they’re revising expectations downward because they are down on quarterback Mike Hartline and this revision started when the Cats struggled to beat Louisville rather than blowing the Cardinals out.

Kentucky is 2-2, which is exactly where we all thought the Cats would be at this point.  The Wildcats still control their own destiny when it comes to playing in a better bowl game and Saturday’s game at South Carolina presents a great opportunity to take the first big step down that path.  End the losing streak to the Gamecocks (and the longer streak against coach Steve Spurrier) by beating a ranked team on the road and all of sudden, there will be a lot less negativity among the UK fan base.

Pulling off this feat will require better play than the Cats have been getting from Hartline–and others–but let’s start with the quarterback.  I think the best chance to win seven or more games is with Hartline, because of his experience.  While you can make an argument that freshman Morgan Newton should have gotten at least a tape of game action at this point, the idea of starting a true freshman at the QB spot is rarely the right move for a program that doesn’t have superior talent around him.  And putting Randall Cobb back at QB full-time weakens the wide receiver corps greatly and also effectively takes one of your best blockers (Jon Conner) out of the gameplan because Cobb would be almost exclusively in the shotgun formation.

Masked in the fan complaints about the quarterback is the possibility of a greatly improved rushing attack.  If the Cats can move the ball on the ground against Alabama, they should be able to do it against anybody.  And that’s a new dimension that could make Hartline’s life easier.  When Chris Matthews emerges as a big play guy (which I think will happen soon), then it becomes easier to get the ball to Cobb and Derrick Locke.

I don’t think Hartline is going to transform into the Andre Woodson of 2006.  But I do think you can see improvement as this supporting cast evolves. 

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Former Wildcat quarterback Curtis Pulley gets a chance to show what he can do on a big stage this weekend, when Florida A&M visits 11th-ranked Miami.

In a recent issue of ESPN’s magazine, Pulley was mentioned as under-the-radar NFL draft prospect for what he’s done in a season-and-a-half at FAMU.

 

For more of Tom’s Big Blue coverage, go to: http://tomleachky.com/

-Tom Leach

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Wildcats must avoid the “Trap Game” against Louisville this Saturday

09/14/2009 by Take 5 with Tom Leach | Edit

“Trap game” is a phrase used in sports to describe that situation in which a team faces an opponent that it’s expected to beat but that opponent is also good enough to produce an upset.  And Saturday’s tilt with Louisville is a big trap that the Kentucky Wildcats must avoid.

The Cards are coming off two disappointing years and looked less than imposing in their opener against Indiana State.  Kentucky, meanwhile, was impressive in beating Miami and hence, the Cats are a double-digit favorite against their biggest rival, with most of their fans focusing on the upcoming matchups with Florida and Alabama instead of the Cards.

That can be a recipe for screwing up a promising season.  UK may well be as good as it looked against Miami but there’s also a chance Louisville is better than it looked against Indiana State, too.  As we saw with Tennessee’s swing from week one to week two, it takes a little time to know for sure what you have.

This is the time when the Wildcats find out who are the Wesley Woodyards, Keenan Burtons, and Jacob Tammes of this team.  The guys who set the tone on the practice field and in the locker room, to make sure younger players stay focused on today’s work and let that take care of tomorrow’s dreams.

By the way, did you catch Woodyard in action against the Bengals yesterday?  He picked off a pass and had two tackles in kick coverage–quite a start to celebrate being named one of the Broncos’ captains earlier last week.

To follow my daily coverage of the Cats, go to:  http://tomleachky.com/

-Tom Leach

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High level of preseason optimism justified by the Cats

09/08/2009 by Take 5 with Tom Leach | Edit

A 42-0 rout of an outmanned Miami team doesn’t tell us everything we need to know about how good this Kentucky football team can be.  But there were definitely some very positive signs.

Yes, Mike Hartline is an improved quarterback.

Yes, there are playmakers and wide receiver that were not there last year.

If the defense is as good as or better than last season–as I think it is–then those two facts above are very strong reasons to think Rich Brooks’ high level of preseason optimism was justified.

When it comes to listing concerns, one has to start with the kickoffs.  The coverage was outstanding against Miami but the return men the Cats are going to face in the weeks ahead–starting with Louisville’s Trent Guy–are in a whole other league. 

There’s no reason to think the legs of Lones Seiber or Ryan Tydlacka are suddenly going to get stronger, so kickoffs are going to be a “hold your breath” moment all season long.  On his radio show last night, Brooks suggested that if the hang time on kickoffs doesn’t improve, UK will have to look at more creative ways to achieve its goals with this unit.

Other than kickoffs, the defensive ends didn’t get a lot done, but you can cut them some slack for being first-time starters.  And the offensive line didn’t get enough of a test to know just how good it can be.

But all in all, it was a very encouraging first step for this Kentucky team.

To follow my daily coverage of the Cats, go to:  http://tomleachky.com/

-Tom Leach

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“Rich Tradition” book, Karen Brooks talks about change

09/01/2009 by Take 5 with Tom Leach | Edit

            In the “Rich Tradition” book, Karen Brooks talks about the change she witnesses in her husband in the weeks before the first game of a season.  She said Rich’s eyes get smaller as he gets more tense.

            I saw her at Saturday’s scrimmage and she commented that his eyes are shrinking again.  And at today’s game week conference, Brooks seemed to be just a bit on edge, i.e. ready to play.  Big Blue fans should hope this becomes a case of a team taking on the personality of its coach.

            Good news on the injury front in that linebacker Micah Johnson will practice this week and running back Alfonso Smith says his foot feels fine.  Fullback John Conner is still a question mark with a gimpy ankle but that’s it for the moment.

            Brooks again sang the praises of quarterback Mike Hartline and the wide receiving corps–two areas that caught a lot of criticism from the fans last fall.

            I thought wideout Randall Cobb made an interesting comment when asked about Hartline’s arm strength.  He said Hartline only appears to have a stronger arm now because he’s more confident in the receivers to whom he’s throwing and the routes they’re running.

            By the way, tickets are still available for the game Saturday in Cincinnati.  It’s Miami’s home game but it figures to be a pro-UK crowd.

            To follow my daily coverage of the Cats, go to:  tomleachky.com.

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Wildcats Battle for Backup Quarterback Position

08/24/2009 by Take 5 with Tom Leach | Edit

Quarterback is always the marquee position on any football team and Big Blue fans came into this month thinking they would see one of two highly-touted freshman signal-callers challenge Mike Hartline for the starting job. That’s not happening. Hartline is firmly entrenched as the number one guy after Saturday’s second scrimmage when he again got a glowing review from coach Rich Brooks. The UK head man confirmed, however, that there is an interesting battle at QB–to be the backup. Veteran Will Fidler is more of a contender than many fans expected and he’s playing the best football of his career at UK. This week will tell the tale on whether Fidler is the backup for now or if he is overtaken by either Morgan Newton or Ryan Mossakowski. My money remains on Fidler.

The bad news out of training camp is that Randall Cobb is still nursing those back spasms. Also, there have been flashes of brilliance from the running back corps but no apparent sustained excellence yet. And I’m still a little wary of the kicking game overall.

On the plus side, Brooks’ praise of juco transfers DeQuin Evans at defensive end and Chris Matthews at wideout is good to hear. The defense bounced back strong in the second scrimmage, suggesting that the offense’s ability to move the ball better this year than this time last summer is a real improvement on that side of the ball.

To follow my daily coverage of the Cats, go to: http://tomleachky.com/

-Tom Leach

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Honors for Trevard Lindley…”Pretty Good” first scrimmage for the Wildcats

08/17/2009 by Take 5 with Tom Leach | Edit

One week of training camp is complete for the UK football team and “pretty good” was the phrase Rich Brooks used to describe Saturday’s first scrimmage of the month.

Last season, I watched that first scrimmage and saw the offense struggle to make just one first down in the first eight series.  To hear Brooks say the offense moved the ball well and that the difference is “night and day” from last year was quite encouraging.

Maybe it was an off day for the defense.  Maybe the defense isn’t as good as we think.  That’s the problem with intrasquad scrimmages is that you are never really sure what you’ve seen.  I’m sticking with the opinion that this defense will be as good or better than last year and if that’s accurate, then the improved production for the offense is noteworthy.

It seems clear from everything Brooks is saying that Mike Hartline is firmly entrenched as the starting quarterback.  He has the big edge in experience and showed a very positive tendency last season to minimize turnovers.  Now, Hartline must elevate his game from caretaker to playmaker.  Accuracy is the key for him–accuracy on deep balls and swing passes to help the offense bring the big play back into the mix for the Wildcats.

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The honors keep coming for Trevard Lindley.  CollegeFootballNews.com ranks him the 13th  best defensive player in the country.  Three SEC players are ahead of him:  Ole Miss DE Greg Hardy (#8), Florida LB Brandon Spikes (#3) and Tennessee safety Eric Berry (#2). 

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Congratulations to everyone associated with the inaugural Delza Maggard Gridiron Classic at Paris High School.  I can’t think of anyone most deserving of being honored by this community.

One of the best things about growing up in Paris, KY was the YMCA.  Some of my best memories are from Gra-Y sports and friends I made then have lasted ever since.                

To follow my daily coverage of the Cats, go to:  http://tomleachky.com/

-Tom Leach

Can the Wildcats build on their loss to Florida?

Senior co-captain Corey Peters hit the mark in one of his postgame interviews Saturday night.  He said this team can go one of two ways–the performance against Florida can ruin their season or they can grow from it.  I didn’t expect Kentucky to beat Florida but I didn’t expect the Wildcats to be so completely intimidated.  And that makes this next game, against third-ranked Alabama, into an earlier than expected defining moment for this team’s season.  

The Florida game reminded me of the 2006 loss at LSU.  While last year’s thumping at UF was overwhelming, I didn’t see a team so completely intimidated from the start since that night in Baton Rouge.  There was a sliver of encouragement for the Cats in that they did seem to gather themselves and play with more composure in the final three quarters against the Gators, which didn’t happen that night at LSU.  Back in ’06, the Cats faced a similar fork in the road situation.  That team transformed itself in the wake of its lowest point and that’s the challenge that faces the 2009 UK squad. 

The list of what needs fixing when you watch the tape of Saturday’s game would be a long one.  But here are two places to start–tackle better and make sure Randall Cobb touches the ball more than five times in 63 plays.   The schedule is brutal in the coming weeks but a great challenge presents a great opportunity.  Kentucky needs to attack Alabama like it belongs on the same field with a great team and that would be something to build on.  These are players that have learned how to win and that should be motivated to avoid a return to the Kentucky of the past.

For more of Tom’s Big Blue coverage, go to: http://tomleachky.com/

-Tom Leach