Monday afternoon quarterback: The Tennessee Game

It’s honestly kind of stupid to get so upset about a sporting event, but the Tennessee game has left me completely crushed. For yet another year, I have to go to bed each night knowing that my favorite team has been completely dominated for my entire lifetime and that there might not be an end in sight. If there was ever a year to beat Tennessee, it would have to be this one. The Vols are staring a quarterback that was at his prom last spring, their roster has been depleted by player dismissals and transfers, and they are playing under a relatively unproven first year coach. If Kentucky can’t knock of the Volunteers in 2011, I’m not sure when they will do so, because it is beginning to look like Dooley was the right man for the job in Knoxville and he is going to build the program back the right way. On to the review of the game…

I typically start things out with a summary of Mike Hartline’s play during the previous game and go on to compliment his poise and leadership. Not this week. While Mike didn’t have an awful game by any means, he didn’t have the type of game he needed to for Kentucky to win. He finished the day 31-44 for 272 yards and a touchdown and a pick, but the stats don’t tell the whole story. The passes he threw were poorly placed and he missed a couple of wide open receivers at key points in the game. Timing is everything and the overthrown pass to LaRod King was the play that let me know Kentucky wouldn’t be winning this game. He needed to play a South Carolina/Auburn type game and he couldn’t do it. It’s safe to say he surpassed almost every expectation for his senior year, but coming up short in the end is what it is. This could have been the game that cemented his legacy with UK, but instead it will be just another close game that the wildcats didn’t win.

It’s weird to look at the box score for the game and see that Derrick Locke ran for 97 yards in this game. Not because Locke isn’t talented or because I don’t think he actually ran for that many plays, but because I really can’t remember him having that big of an impact in the contest. Let me be clear here though, I believe Locke did do his part in helping the offense move the ball, I just think a star senior running back should have had a bigger impact in this type of game than he did. He has been off for two weeks and should have had time to heal back to 100%, but he still didn’t have the type of game he was capable of. The fumble on the one yard line was not completely his fault (more on that later) but that’s the biggest play I can remember him being involved in during the game and that’s not what you want from the guy that should be the focal point of your offensive attack. I really hope Locke has a good bowl game to finish up his career at Kentucky.

Mr. Do-it-all Randall Cobb did just that in the Tennessee game and his desire to knock off the Vols was pretty obvious. He fought for every yard and gave up his body to some unnecessary blows to ensure he’d get the first down. His fumble in the second quarter could have been big, but he was bailed out by Winston Guy’s interception on the following play. I don’t know if Cobb will leave for the NFL after the bowl game, but I sure don’t want to see him go. He is a dynamic athlete, but another year playing the receiver position could do a lot for his draft status and staying for his senior year would probably cement him as one of the top (if not THE top) Wildcat football players of all time.

The rest of the receiving corps was about average for this game. Chris Matthews had a couple of big catches, but the interception Mike Hartline threw made him look very Terrell Owens-esque. I don’t know if Hartline threw the wrong route, or Matthews read the defense wrong and broke it off or what happened on the play, but it looked like Matthews pulled up and quit running. LaRod King wasn’t featured enough for my liking, but he was out there getting open. Tyler Robinson had the best game of his career both blocking and receiving and he is beginning to look like the future at tight end for Kentucky. Say what you want about the man’s speed, but he’s a tough player and he doesn’t go down easily. He’s also not scared to block anyone, which is always a plus. If he can work on his hands a little bit more and making the catch with a defender draped all over him, he’s going to be VERY good by the time his career is over.

The Offensive line actually didn’t play that bad against Tennessee. They allowed Hartline to be sacked twice, but he was given enough time to get the throw off for most of the day. Brad Durham did pretty much get owned on one sack, but outside of the Volunteers bringing a ton of heat, the line protected the quarterback. The running game was probably average and part of this is the offensive line not bulldozing the defense, and part of it is the backs just picking the wrong hole or failing to break into the open field before the Tennessee defense swarmed them. The line could have played better, but they were not one of the deciding factors in the loss this week.

The defensive line actually did a decent job of putting pressure on Bray all day. A couple of the guys really cut loose and went after him when UT decided to abandon the running game and he faced a relentless pass-rush for much of the first half. Similar to my constant complaints last year though, they only put the pressure on and couldn’t finish the job. No defensive lineman recorded a sack in the game and Bray threw some spot-on passes in spite of the pressure. They did do a good job of closing up running lanes though and held the volunteers to 76 total rushing yards for the game and only a 2.9 yards-per-rush average. Not too bad for a defense that has been gashed by even mediocre running backs this year.

The linebackers actually had a very good game, which might surprise some people to read. Danny Trevathan was flying all over the field like we’ve come to expect him to do, and Ronnie Sneed and Ridge Wilson showed up to play this game. Sneed was a beast rushing the quarterback and got in a couple of big time shots on Bray in addition to a solo sack and an assisted sack. Wilson didn’t play as much because of the amount of time Tennessee spent in three and four receiver sets, but he was effective enough in his time in the game. I would really like to see Wilson work on his coverage skills this offseason and develop enough to be able to lock down opposing tight ends. With his size and speed, he could take away almost every tight end in the SEC with a little more work.

The defensive backs are the whipping boys of the week, and I’m not leaving anyone out. Mychal Bailey and Winston Guy both grabbed an interception, but they also gave up entirely too many long passes. Guy in particular was burnt deep a couple of times and this is becoming irritating to re-live each week. Both contributed to stopping the run and bringing down receivers that had already caught the ball as usual. Bailey in particular rebounded from being absolutely trucked by Luke Stocker to deliver a hellacious blow on the sideline. The Corners were victimized by a freshman quarterback all game and this was by far their worst performance of the season. Anthony Mosley honestly looked like he didn’t care about the game at times and just allowed his man to make big catch after big catch. I know he’s still in the process of converting from wide receiver, but he absolutely has to play better than he did or he shouldn’t be on the field. Randall Burden struggled to cover his man as well and the unit as a whole allowed Jones and Moore to dic
tate the outcome of the game. Martavius Neloms absence in the first half can’t be understated. I hope the fight he got in against Vanderbilt made him feel better, because it handicapped Kentucky into a hole they couldn’t get out of.

Now onto the individual plays that decided this game.

The first and most obvious play was the fumble at the Tennessee goal line. It was pretty obvious to me that both Derrick Locke and Mike Hartline share the blame for this equally. Hartline took a bad angle to Locke and didn’t make sure he had the ball when he let go. Locke was running straight forward at full speed (which is fine) but in his haste to get into the end zone, didn’t make sure he had the ball. This play completely swung the momentum of the game to Tennessee’s favor and took what looked like it might be a blow-out victory away from Kentucky. I can honestly say I’ve never seen a team go from looking as good as UK looked on the first two drives to as bad as they looked for the remainder of the half after just one play. This fumble completely deflated the entire team.

Ryan Tydlacka has been one of the most consistent players on the roster and has been one of the best punters in the country this year. He punts with great hang time and regularly drops his kicks inside of the opposition’s 20-yard line. That being said, his 18 yard shank in the second quarter took most of the remaining momentum out of Kentucky’s sails and set the Volunteers up with a short field that ultimately led to a Tennessee touchdown. He’s a fantastic punter that just picked a really bad time to make an awful kick.

Craig McIntosh has done a fantastic job of taking over what was a mess in the kicking game and giving the Wildcats a consistent option at kicker. He’s made some important field goals this season and was 8 for his last 8 attempts. That being said, he picked a really bad time to miss a field goal that he has the talent to make. Making this specific would have led to Kentucky only being down by four at the half and would have given the Cats some much needed momentum for the second half of the game.

The final drive of the first half really was a total disaster. The Wildcats were looking like they had a little life left and managed to take the ball 72 yards down the field and get into scoring position. The miss by McIntosh was big, but in all honesty the screen play to Locke and the overthrow of LaRod King were the biggest misses on this drive. Know the staff likes to use the screen with Locke’s speed considered, but I hate the idea of putting the offense in a position to potentially lose any momentum on a drive this important and Tennessee was all over the call. There is precious little time left and the offense was clicking. I would always go down the field in this scenario, but that wasn’t the call. The loss of five yards put Kentucky in a 2nd and 15 scenario that forced the Wildcats into bad field position. Then after Locke caught a pass to recover the lost yards, Hartline and King had a miscommunication or Hartline just plain missed on what would have been a tying touchdown pass. Getting seven points there and going into the half tied could have completely swung the momentum of this game to Kentucky. Lost opportunities might be the story of this season.

I still support Joker, but I absolutely hate the call to punt the ball on Tennessee’s 37 yard line. The Cats have picked up countless fourth down conversions on the will of Randall Cobb and you don’t think he would have gotten this one against the team that he grew up loving that overlooked him? The field was too short to hope Tydlacka could drop the ball into the field of play and Kentucky basically ended up with a 17 yard punt after the touchback. I would personally rather see the team go for it and fall short than to just roll over like a whipped dog, but that’s just me. At some point, you have to pull out all the stops to win and that that did not happen.

At least the Wildcats are bowl eligible though. The bowl games are extremely important for recruiting and for an extra month of practice, but this will likely end up being the most bland bowl trip yet. The Wildcats will probably be selected to a minor bowl, but not even that is a guarantee. There is still a chance that the SEC fills their allotment of bowls with the 10 bowl eligible teams and no other bowl extends an invitation to the Cats. Kentucky will be the first out because of their 10th place finish in the SEC this year and could be praying for an invitation from a bowl that didn’t have enough qualifiers from their affiliated conferences. It’s almost certainly going to be the Compass Bowl in Birmingham if Auburn gets into the BCS title game, but things get a little foggy if they don’t. It’s still likely that the Cats get invited to a bowl, but not a lock.

And on that subject, how about the question of whether the Wildcats even deserve a bowl invitation. At first glance you say of course, because going 6-6 in the toughest conference in football is a feat in itself. But upon closer inspection, what did the Wildcats actually accomplish this year? They only beat one team above .500 this season and lost to a 4-8 team and two 6-6 teams. The combined record of the six teams the Cats defeated is 23-48. So basically, they have one win worth anything against the easiest schedule they’ve had in recent memory. I hope they are selected to a bowl because of how important it is to the future of the program, but I can’t honestly say they deserve one.

I know this is a particularly negative breakdown of the game, but in my defense, I have taken the high road and looked for the positive in everything involving Kentucky football for a long time. Sometimes it just needs to be said like it is, and that’s not always going to be pleasant. It saddens me beyond what most could believe that Kentucky has managed to throw another Tennessee game away. I along with several other members of this site are the rare “football first” Kentucky fans and the years of agony take a bigger toll with every loss. I will continue to support the football program and the players unabashedly because of my faith in the program, but this really hurts.

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