Monday Afternoon Quarterback: Kyle's last take on the South Carolina game

Let me tell ya, re-watching the game two or three times and writing up these reviews is a lot more fun after a big win than it is after a crushing loss. I though the team came out flat and rebounded nicely in the second half to show some real grit in knocking off South Carolina. The offense was fantastic and the defense played as well as it has this season.

Offensively, the Gamecocks were smothering the run so Kentucky went with what was working: the pass. The Gamecocks had no answer for Chris Matthews and the staff used him unlike he’s been used before. I thought the offensive game plan was exactly what it needed to be to win a game like this and kudos to Randy Sanders and crew for making the right adjustments and pulling off a big win.

Defensively, the Wildcats came out aggressive for the first time this year and played aggressively through the end of the game. This approach did allow the SC offense to notch a couple of big plays, but it also forced several game-changing mistakes and miscues. As hard as I’ve been on Steve Brown this year, he really put together a nice plan of action against South Carolina and his players executed it well.

I really don’t even know what to say about Mike Hartline. He might be one of the best “hated” players in UK history. He’s been the lightning rod for angry fans throughout his career and he shrugs it all off to follow up a career game against a top 10 team with another career game against a top 10 team. He finished the game with a mind boggling 32-42 performance for 349 yards and 4 touchdowns with no picks or fumbles. I really don’t know what more you could ask for from a guy against an SEC defense.

Randall Cobb’s stat line was relatively modest by his standards. What it never shows is the type of guts he plays with and how important his fourth down conversion and two-point conversion were to the Kentucky win. He just finds ways to make plays when the team needs them the most and I’ve got nothing but praise to sing after his play against South Carolina.

I guess I could say that Donald Russell didn’t have a great game, but I won’t. Sure he only averaged a menial 2.3 yards per carry on the night, but it wasn’t because he can’t play. He was constantly hit behind the line of scrimmage and fought through the contact to pick up positive yards. When it was apparent that UK couldn’t block SC’s defensive line, he contributed heavily in the passing game, contributing 70 yards. He showed he can hurt the defense in multiple ways and you have to like that.

LaRod King only caught four balls, but he made them count with two of them going for touchdowns. He and Cobb could form another powerful 1-2 punch next year.

If there was ever a guy that could overshadow Hartline’s performance and the legend that is Randall Cobb, that man was Chris Matthews on Saturday night. He caught a ridiculous 12 passes for an absurd 177 yards and a score. I and a lot of other fans have noticed that Matthews hadn’t really been targeted much so far this season, and he picked a great time to show why he’s just as formidable of a threat as anyone else on the offense. South Carolina just couldn’t stop the 6’5 220 pound beast and he had his way with the smaller defensive backs all night. There are questions marks in the defensive backfield of every team left on the schedule and you can almost hear a resounding sigh from all of the defensive coordinators that now know they will have to figure out how to stop Cobb, Locke AND Matthews at once.

The offensive line had their ups and downs this weekend. On one hand, the South Carolina defensive line and linebackers sliced through them like hot butter whenever Kentucky tried to run the ball. Russell was constantly fighting through contact behind the line of scrimmage and struggling just to keep from losing yards. The SC defense had 13 total tackles for loss (including 3 sacks) against the Wildcats and that’s 13 too many. But then again, the line also afforded Hartline time to make several tough throws and they were able to pick up the tough yards when they mattered the most. There were still too many negative plays in the game, but it’s hard not to be impressed with the unit after they paved the way to 401 offensive yards and allowed the offense to hold onto the ball for 28 minutes and 18 seconds of the final three quarters, or about 65% of the time in those periods.

The defensive line also had their ups and downs. On the negative side of things, they did allow some gaping holes for Maddox and Lattimore to run through and they were only able to get to the quarterback once. Poor Taylor Wyndham really didn’t have a chance covering against the speedy runners for SC. On the positive side though, they were extremely aggressive as a group and they were harassing Garcia all night. I truly believe that 90% of interceptions can be attributed to pressure on the QB and if you subscribe to the same thought, you can give both of Kentucky’s interceptions to the defensive line.

The linebackers did a nice job of containing the Gamecocks in the second half and the pressure they brought on blitzes was key in forcing South Carolina into mistakes. Danny Trevathan was great once again and tallied 8 total tackles on the night. It looks like the lack of help he’s gotten thus far is going to be a recurring problem though. Of the nine Kentucky players credited with more than one total tackle, six were defensive backs, none were defensive linemen, and one was the long snapper. Ronnie Sneed did manage to contribute 3 stops, but linebackers need to be your top tacklers and Trevathan is the only one consistently showing up for the defense.

I’m a little torn when it comes to the defensive backs. They did give up 382 yards to Stephen Garcia, which is not exactly a recipe for success. Granted that Alshon Jeffery is one of the top 5 receivers in the league and has been borderline unstoppable this season, but giving up that type of yardage is a recipe for disaster. Then there’s the tackling issue. After having a couple of games where the tackling by defensive backs had improved, there was a borderline meltdown in the first half on Saturday. This has got to improve. But then again, these guys managed to make some of the biggest plays of the night including the Winston Guy interception, the Anthony Mosley fumble recovery, and the Cartier Rice deflection that led to the Anthony Mosley interception. I know it wasn’t pretty, but football is one of the only sports that allows one player to atone for an entire game of mistakes with one big play and these guys made the most of their opportunities.

Craig McIntosh couldn’t have known that his field goal in the second quarter would end up being the difference between winning and losing this game, but it was. He’s doing really well under pressure and it’s exciting to know that Kentucky has found an answer at Kicker.

I know that there are few people that appreciate punting stats, but Tydlacka managed to average 41.5 yards per punt, dropped 3 kicks inside the 20 yardline, and kept any of them from going into the endzone is impressive. Then you factor in that the Gamecocks were only able to muster 8 punt return yards and one kick was placed so well that the coverage arrived with the ball and the ensuing fumble was recovered by the coverage and this was a hell of a performance from Tydlacka.

The Wildcats were lucky that the Gamecocks piled up as many penalties as they did to offset the nu
mber they committed themselves. Seven penalties are too many and this is something Kentucky needs to get under control.

Once again, the announcers were awful. ESPN 2 must really be tightening their belts because I can’t think of who they could get that would be worse than Bob Davie.

Overall, this was a great win at a time that Kentucky absolutely needed one. The Wildcats showed they can play with a top ten team and have arguably knocked off the best team left on the schedule. This week will be no cakewalk though, as Georgia will surely be amped to come into Commonwealth and exact revenge on the Cats after losing in Sanford Stadium last year. If Kentucky beats Georgia and gets a little help, there is a realistic chance that UK could win the SEC east. Let that sink in for a minute.

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