The Good:
Donald Russell
He ran with the authority and toughness UK hasn’t seen since Artose Pinner was lining up in the backfield. He was going over, around, and through CSU defenders like they were tackling dummies and may very well have gone for 200+ yards if he hadn’t been injured while blocking on a kickoff return. You have to love seeing a power back in the offense after years of watching smaller guys man the position for the Wildcats.
Coshik Williams
When Russell went down, Williams stepped in and didn’t miss a beat. He’ll probably be no higher than third on the depth chart next year, but having a walk-on with the amount of talent he possesses is exciting in itself.
Randall Cobb
Another game and another 100+ yard performance. It’s even more impressive when you consider that he really didn’t play much in the fourth quarter and Kentucky didn’t use the Wildcat package much on offense. He averaged over 25 yards a catch in this game and has now scored in all of Kentucky’s contests this season,
The Offensive Line
After a couple of bad outings, the hogs up front decided to release some aggression on the Buccaneers and paved the way for 228 total rushing yards. They also provided Hartline with years to pass the ball and still didn’t give up a sack. I know the talent level isn’t on equal footing here, but this was an important step forward for these guys.
Danny Trevathan
There’s literally almost nothing he can’t do. He now has a cool 110 tackles on the year and is etching his name on the list of the best UK defensive players ever. He managed to notch a nice sack in the game as well.
Martavius Neloms
He might have been hobbled by an injury, but the second year corner had a great game before he left. Not only was CSU held to 129 yards passing in the game, but Neloms made a couple of really nice open field tackles in addition to a sack early in the game.
Winston Guy
You had to know he would finally figure out how to wrap up after being the poster boy for how not to tackle over the last two seasons. He finished the game with 10 total tackles and made some big hits for the defense,
Coverage Teams
After remaining one of the weakest links on the team for the first part of the season, the coverage teams did a great job of keeping CSU from making any type of impact. The punt team allowed -1 yard on 2 punts and the kickoff team only allowed an average of 15 yards per return.
The Crowd
I thought the crowd was good, when considering the circumstances. Think about it like this: Kentucky has not played the type of football they’re capable of and is not putting forth a real great product for the fans. The weather was awful and I could see my breath well into the game. It was a 12:30 start and the timing didn’t give anyone a chance to tailgate. The opponent was less than exciting. You bring out 61,000+ with these types of circumstances and I don’t know what more you can ask for. This game is probably a sellout though if the Cats are 8-1 (like they should’ve been) instead of 4-5. The players only have themselves to blame.
The Bad:
Winston Guy
So he’s on both lists? Yep. He gave up one of the biggest plays of the game by biting on a play-action pass and leaving the receiver wide open. Against a team like CSU, he has got to cover his man and leave the other 10 guys to do their job.
Mike Hartline
He actually wasn’t really bad by any means, but his ending up on this list has to do with what should have happened. Mike should have carved up this defense like a Thanksgiving turkey, but he ended up with a 15-24 performance. It’s tough to fathom how a guy can throw a nearly perfect game against Auburn, but barely eek out 50% against Charleston Southern. The interceptions in the endzone need to stop asap too. Maybe Mike is a victim of his own success, but he set the bar himself. I don’t think he is even too happy about the game he played.
Morgan Newton
I know he had a pretty good run, but 1-4 against Charleston Southern isn’t good. The misses were REALLY bad and he didn’t look like he was even in the same conversation with Mike Hartline despite Mike not playing his best. When you’re playing against a team that is less talented than your own JV, you have to do better. He needs to get his head on straight soon though, because I doubt Ryan Mossakowski will give him a long rope to work with.
Rushing Defense
Come on now. This is Charleston Southern! I understand that they have no semblance of a passing game, but giving up 140 yards on the ground to a FCS school is not good. No one is confusing this year’s defense with the ’85 bears, but it’s really not acceptable to let a lower level team to put up this type of yardage on you.
The Defensive Line
This group should have had 5 sacks against CSU. Their offensive line was well below the talent they’ve faced this year and I’m not sure reserve walk-on Tyler Sergeant wouldn’t start for the Bucs at QB. The UK defensive line could have had a field day in this scenario, but instead finished with zero sacks and only one tackle for loss. Thank god the defensive backs could make a play in the opponents backfield (they finished with 6 total TFL).
Time on the field for the backups
This was supposed to be a game that the starters could sit through after the first half. It really didn’t work that way and the reserves didn’t get the time in this game that they should have. Now Kentucky really NEEDS to make a bowl so that the younger players can get the extra time they need to develop.
Focus
This should have been a blowout by at least 50 points. Hopefully, the Wildcats can use this game as motivation and take out their frustrations on Vanderbilt.
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