Monday Afternoon Quarterback: Kyle's last words on Ole Miss

This weeks’ review is going to be a short one because I really don’t have that much to say after the loss to Mississippi.

Mike Hartline had a pretty good game overall. The interception was a costly one, but he piled up 300 passing yards and made some nice throws. He gets a lot of the blame when Kentucky doesn’t do well, and I know a lot of people think I’m a Hartline apologist, but the guy is doing a better job than a lot of SEC quarterbacks and if the two youngsters can’t beat him out then I want him starting for my team.

The running game was not effective enough against a dinged up Ole Miss defense. Derrick Locke didn’t get the opportunities to really take off this week because the Wildcats got behind and had to throw to catch up, because he tool a big time hit on the sideline that I don’t think he really 100% recovered from, and because the offensive line didn’t open up holes or keep the Ole Miss defense out of the backfield. I hope he’s ready for Auburn,

Randall Cobb had a great game putting up 100+ yards receiving and making some big catches. He didn’t take over the game and will UK to a win, but he certainly did his part.

The other receivers had entirely too many drops and failed to make the separation they needed to get open, Chris Matthews contributed several catches, but he should be piling up 100+ yards on six catches with his size and speed.

The offensive line didn’t get the job done this week. I was a little worried that the defensive tackles for Ole Miss would overpower the interior line and they certainly did. Hartline was rushed on throws and the running backs had to make seams for themselves. I’ll be the first guy to give them all the credit when they come out and beat the life out of the opposing defense, but I can’t do it this week. The massive amount of yardage put up is more indicative of the skill-players making plays. They didn’t play awful by any means, but just okay isn’t good enough to win in the SEC.

The defensive line actually didn’t play half bad this week. They didn’t notch a sack, but they did keep Masoli running for his life on several plays throughout the afternoon. I am beginning to wonder what the deal is with DeQuin Evans though. He is not the star he was made out to be prior to the season and Taylor Wyndham has outplayed him so far this year.

The linebackers made some plays, specifically Danny Trevathan. I thought he had a good game and Ronnie Sneed played well too. Tackling was better in the open field throughout the afternoon. I did think that they were out of position too many times this week and allowed the Ole Miss running attack to go wild, but I’ll touch on that later.

The defensive backs had a much better week and I thought that they actually were the best position group. Martavius Neloms did a great job making open field tackles, and Winston guy saw some improvement as well. Outside of the two long passes to Harris, the Ole Miss receiving corps made almost no impact on the game.

This game came down to two things.

The Wildcat defense just simply cannot stop anyone in the redzone. I don’t know what the staff is going to do to stop this trend but something needs to be done. The linebackers are always out of position and I’m not going to blame them this week. After letting a freshman score six times last week, they allowed a second tier offense to look like and NFL unit carving up a confused defense to score one time after another. The players have got to be put in position to succeed and if they fail, the blame falls on them. That is not what’s happened over the last two games and it is beginning to frustrate me to no end. If you can’t stop the opposing offense by sitting back in a zone, blitz the hell out of them! Do something, anything other than what clearly doesn’t work. This falls on coaching. I’m still behind this staff, but some changes need to be made one way or the other until we “Get $%!{ right.”

The Wildcat offense CANNOT turn the ball over three times and expect to beat anyone left on the schedule except maybe Charleston Southern. All three Kentucky turnovers led to Ole Miss scores and decided this game. Take away the turnovers and I truly believe UK mauls Ole Miss and the backups are playing for the majority of the fourth quarter. The Rebels had no semblance of a passing attack and they would have been forced to throw if they were that far behind. You could visibly see the frustration on the offensive and defensive players through the game. The offensive guys were better and new the Rebel defense could not stop them. The defensive players knew that it was going to be tough to keep Ole Miss out of the endzone if they continually had a short field to work with. If Hatline doesn’t throw the pick, and Cobb and Matthews don’t put the ball on the ground, Kentucky is 4-1 with Auburn coming in next week.

After watching Auburn this week it’s clear that, while they’re a formidable foe, they can be beaten. I really hope the team comes out with something to prove against the Tigers.

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