So much for the afterglow — final notes and thoughts on UK's 21-14 win over Auburn

Fickle thing this public opinion is. UK goes from being scourged by a section of it’s fan base and a few other UK “fansites” to all of a sudden being an “it” team and having a very real chance to break that 8 win barrier. Just a few weeks ago, after the Florida game, one of the biggest UK blogs ran an opinion piece proclaiming that UK football could not compete in the SEC and would never be a “Top 15” program. To further emphasize their displeasure, they initiated a poll looking for a new UK QB.

It’s a good thing the UK players don’t actually believe what they read. Or maybe they just consider the source. But just a few weeks later, UK has won perhaps it’s biggest game since the 2007 upset of #1 LSU. And while they are not a top 15 program right now, UK has shown over the last couple of years that they are a program that is teetering on the outside of the Top 25 programs. That much is evident with the last two weeks performances: a very hard fought 2 point loss at #17 South Carolina and a road win over previously ranked Auburn.

Was that Rich Brooks or Bill Belichick in that hood on the UK sidelines? I have been critical of Brooks on a couple of occasions this season, but I have to say that he and his staff did a perfect job of preparing UK for this game. UK had zero penalties for the game and did not have a lot of problem with the highly rated Auburn offense. Hell, I had trouble following the ball at times, but hats off to Brooks. Joker Phillips had a very controllable game plan and the fact that UK won with their 2nd, 3rd, and 4th QB’s on the road spoke volumes. Freshman Morgan Newton was handled very well and was not in over his head. In this game, it seemed that UK was always one or two moves ahead of Gene Chizik.

Paul Warford played the best game of his UK career and helped to lead a much maligned UK secondary. Warford had 6 tackles and broke up 4 passes while playing in pain to lead the Cats. Winston Guy had 5 tackles and broke up 2 passes and showed that he is a fierce hitter. Randall Burden had 4 tackles and deflected 2 passes. Calvin Harrison added an interception. I certainly can not remember when a UK secndary broke up 8 passes. Hopefully Trevard Lindley can make his return soon but yesterday’s performance makes me feel pretty good about this unit for the rest of the season. Louisiana Monroe, Mississippi State, Eastern Kentucky and Vandy are a huge difference from the offenses these guys have had the last four weeks.

Micah Johnson showed how football is a game of inches … literally. On Auburn’s final drive, Ben Tate barreled through on a 2nd and 2 play for an apparent first down, but Micah stuck out his big paw and dragged him down. That left Auburn with a manageable third and one rather than a 1st and 10. Two 5 yard penalties later, that became a 3rd and 11 rather than possibly 1st and 20. Rather than having a four plays to pick up the first down, but 3rd and 11 presents a very different set of playcalling and put Auburn into more of a panic mode. Overall, the LB corps had an incredible game. Both Micah and Danny Trevathan had 14 tackles and Sam Maxwell had 10 as well.

Derrick Locke and Randall Cobb are the heart of this team and you would be hard pressed to find a team with a pair of dynamic playmakers. Derrick Locke gained 126 yards on the ground and in doing so, moved from #25 to #22 on UK’s all time rushing list. Locke needs just 14 yards to move into #21. This was Locke’s first career 100 yard rushing game and UK’s first 100 yard rusher since Rafael Little’s 152 in the 2007 Liberty Bowl. Randall Cobb added his 1st 100 yard rushing game with 109 yards. UK had it’s first pair of 100 yard rushers since September 18, 2004 when Shane Boyd and Tony Dixon accomplished the feat versus Indiana. Best thing about these two is that they will both return to UK next year. You would have to think that if UK can crack the 8-9 win barrier next season, you have to consider Randall Cobb a serious Heisman candidate for 2012.

Morgan Newton is the future for UK at QB. He did a nice job on the drive where he scored his first NCAA touchdown and showed an arm that UK has not seen in a while. He barely missed connecting with Chris Matthews on a beautiful bomb and his long pass is a thing of beauty. He was however, put into a very tough first start situation and for his part had no serious mental breakdowns or turnovers. In the third, it was apparent that he was struggling and not looking for his other receivers, so the call for Fidler was a good one. I do hope that Brooks gives Newton the start as Louisiana Monroe will be a team he can post some number against and gain some confidence. That said, I’d love to see Fidler get in a few possessions as well. You won’t find a nicer guy that Fidler and it was good to see him get a bit of glory as well. Ultimately, I think we will see the same three QB monster and I would love to see Cobb make a few passes out of the Wildcat to keep the defenses honest the rest of the season. You would think he and Kyrus Lanxter still have some chemistry from their HS career together.

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