by Kyle
With Saturday’s game come and gone, it’s time for my weekly recap of the game. This one pitted Kentucky against their second in-state opponent in a row, although this time it was a WKU team in the midst of a 21 game losing streak. There were a couple of bright spots for Kentucky, but there were also a few hiccups as well.
Once again, Hartline had a great game. His final line was 16 for 20, throwing for 213 yards, 3 touchdowns, and zero interceptions. An 80% completion rate is really hard to argue with. One thing that stood out to me was Hartline’s command of the huddle and offense. He looks like a confident guy out there and his confidence clearly spreads to the other offensive players.
Morgan Newton looked pretty good in his time in, but he didn’t play a whole lot. He went 2 for 2 for 48 yards, and rushed twice. Once he gained nine yards, the other he lost six. I’m not going to look into his stats too much.
Derrick Locke continues to impress. He managed to contribute 149 all-purpose yards this week between kick returns, receiving and rushing. If he can stay healthy, he’s on track to have the best season of his career.
Losing Locke next year might not be the blow we all thought it would end up being. Sophomore Donald Russell, freshman Jonathan George and freshman Raymond Sanders are exciting young backs that each got a chance to show what they can do last night. Sanders had the best game statistically, running for 37 yards and two touchdowns, but Russell and George both shined as well. I particularly liked how hard George ran. He looks like the kind of guy that will be able to get the tough yards between the tackles when his number is called.
I swear Randall Cobb never ceases to amaze me. He was clearly the best player on the field on Saturday and showed of his ability to run (26 yards), throw (1 pass for 15 yards, TD), catch (5 catches for 98 yards, TD), and be a factor in special teams (68 total return yards, TD). Honestly, if he continues on this pace I can’t see how he’s not in New York for the Heisman presentation. He might not win it, and being from a non-traditional football school hurts his chances, but I don’t think you can pick five better all-around players in the country right now.
I love the offensive balance this team is utilizing. This week the Cats piled up 206 rushing yards and 276 passing yards. It’s a little more skewed than last week, but still relatively even.
The wide receivers continue to contribute what they can, but Hartline spreading the ball around this week kept anyone (besides Cobb) from completely going nuts. Matthews, King, and now Roark have to be a pretty intimidating set of receivers for the shorter cornerbacks on our opponents’ rosters.
Speaking of Roark, how about the junior from Acworth, GA? Two games in a row he steps up and makes the big catches for first downs that Kentucky needs to move the chains. He’s caught six balls this year (five of which went for first downs) for 108 total receiving yards. In case you were wondering, that’s a ridiculous 18 yards per catch over the first two games. It’s one thing to come from nowhere and have an okay game, but Roark has BURST on the scene and been a major contributor over the past two contests.
I want to harp about Kentucky not utilizing the tight end enough, but I just can’t. You have to remember that the two tight ends atop the depth chart are both freshmen, and that they did chip in 3 catches for 40 yards this week. I think Kentucky having Matthews, King, and Roark is giving Hartline the big targets he needs out wide, whereas other teams would target the tight ends. I have a feeling Aumiller and Robinson will be featured a little more as they get more comfortable.
The offensive line really didn’t impress me during this game. Scratch that, the STARTING offensive line didn’t impress me. I don’t know if they were overlooking Western or what? They looked almost uninterested and the intensity that was there against Louisville wore off after the first offensive series. I really thought that this would be a game these guys decided to take over and dominate. Locke did have running room, but some of the blocks weren’t sustained through the whistle and I think Locke left about 50 yards on the field. The pass protection was good, but there was a little more pressure than a team of this caliber should be getting. The young guys looked pretty good when they got in though and I liked the intensity they brought. Trevino Woods specifically was impressive when I re-watched the game.
Dear God Kevin Mitchell is a huge human being. He’s an exciting option at guard or tackle in the future.
The defensive line did not get the kind of pressure on Jakes that I was hoping for. The sack by Ukwu was very nice, but the unit as a whole is being rendered ineffective by mediocre teams. I’m not going to harp too much this week because of the limited playing time each guy got, but the entire D-Line unit needs to make some improvements before next week’s game against Akron.
Where in the hell is DeQuin Evans? I see him on the field, but he has not been the dominating force advertised. Kentucky really needs him to step up and lead the defensive line.
Another game, another chance for Danny Trevathan to dominate his opponents prey. He is everywhere and his sideline-to-sideline speed is apparent on every play. His sack was nice, but I gotta think that his closing speed will open the door for DC Brown to send him on blitzes more often.
The entire defense has got to stop the run. Linebackers, defensive line, defensive backs, everyone. Kentucky plays in the SEC and there are a couple of teams in the league that can run the ball. And some of those teams are better and slightly more talented than Western Kentucky. Getting whatever the problem is fixed right now should be top priority.
Nice interception, starting defensive tackle Luke McDermott. Never thought I’d type that out.
The defensive backfield did a good job of holding he Western receivers to minimal gains. I would have liked to see a couple more interceptions against a bad QB, but Jakes did only attempt 15 passes all game. I can definitely get used to seeing opposing teams held to less than 100 yards passing though.
Anthony Mosley is really stepping up this season and surprising people.
I keep waiting and waiting for Winston guy to take over a game and be a dominating force. I don’t know when or if it will ever happen, but I can’t remember a guy with so much hype that has really failed to be a difference maker. I really hope the light comes on soon, because the defense needs it to.
The special teams coverage teams are awful. AWFUL AWFUL AWFUL.
Nice job by Tylacka punting. I really like him as a punter, but it’s time for a change with him kicking. Kentucky fans deserve better after sitting through years of Lones Seiber.
The overall execution was better this week. The entire team only had two penalties for six yards. Once again, no turnovers. Gotta love that.
I’ll take 8 for 12 on third downs too.
Jerrell Priester, Nermin Delic, and Jewell Ratliff can be added to the players that will NOT be redshirting as they all played in Saturday’s game. It’s beginning to look like Alex Smith and Elliott Porter will not be playing this year.
Overall, the Cats pulled out a win and that’s all that really matters in the end. Next week brings a struggling Akron team that was beaten 29-3 by a terrible Syracuse, and just lost to FCS Gardner Webb
this weekend. This should be a final tuneup for the Wildcats before traveling to Florida to take on the Gators.
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