(Put this pic up for you James)
It’s starting to seem like the season is on repeat for the Wildcats. It’s a different week, but the results are the same on Sunday. South Carolina welcomed Kentucky into Columbia and proceeded to make an example of them on their way to a 54-3 blowout. But I’ll say this; you know how coaches will always say “we don’t want to take anything away from the opponent, they played great” and other PR friendly things like that? I can’t give South Carolina the credit. This is just a monumentally inept Kentucky team and they played their worst game of the season against a team that (just being honest) really isn’t that impressive. This complete and utter melt-down of the 2011 Kentucky football team is probably going to make a couple of teams look better than they actually are.
So What Happened?
Once again, the team came out with fire, only to have it extinguished by the most pathetic excuse for an offense that this team has seen in two decades. South Carolina hald Kentucky to 6 total first downs in the entire game and 96 total offensive yards. The Kentucky defense was abused by a South Carolina offense that piles up 32 first downs and 639 total yards of offense. You have to give the entire Kentucky team credit though. This was a team effort. No facet of the entire Kentucky roster looked like it deserved to be on the same field as USC yesterday.
Room for improvement…
– The offense is the laughing stock of much of the NCAA. It’s time for some serious changes to be made. The entire unit cannot move the ball against anyone and the most concerning thing is that the unit appears to get WORSE each game. I’m not sure what the staff plans for the bye week, but I think that a major overhaul is in order.
– The offensive line actually didn’t have a bad game. They kept much of the pressure away from the quarterbacks and opened the holes they could in the running game. When the quarterback and receivers cannot connect for completions though, the defense stacked the box and made running the ball nearly impossible for the Cats. Hard to fault the O-Line for that.
– The receivers continue to disappoint. This game saw only two completions to receivers in the entire contest. Players are not getting open, not catching the ball, and not playing with any fire out wide.
– The running backs show glimpses of greatness, but they’re not there yet. Too many missed assignments, too many missed holes and cutback lanes.
– The play of Morgan Newton over the past two weeks has been enough for me. I think it’s time to start looking toward the future and getting Max Smith some reps. We can move Newton to tight end or something. I can live with a quarterback being inaccurate and only completing 46% of his passes. I can live with a quarterback throwing picks. I can live with a quarterback that isn’t a team leader. I CANNOT live with a quarterback that sulks around the sidelines like a lost puppy and makes no attempt to motivate his teammates. I have never in my life seen a QB that looks less interested in the game than Newton does, and I think that’s a serious problem. Fittingly, all of this really comes to light after I write a long story defending him two weeks ago.
– The defense this week…. WOW. This was one of the most putrid performances I’ve ever witnessed. South Carolina passed for 351 yards and ran for 288! That’s half the yardage of Kentucky’s entire offensive output over the first six games of the season.
– The defensive backfield is woefully bad. I had some concerns heading into this game, but this upperclassman laden unit has proven that they cannot cover any caliber player. At this point, I’m not sure why exactly Steve Brown is being kept around. Not only did the defense struggle under his watch, but he is now coaching the absolute weakest position group on the defense.
– Do we seriously not have a better kick returner than Winston Guy and/or Mychal Bailey? A linebacker and a safety? I think that really says a lot about all of the receivers and running backs on this roster.
Bright Spots
– The game is over.
– Kentucky does not play this weekend, and thus cannot embarrass fans with another demoralizing blowout loss.
– The absolute toughest part of the schedule is over and the Cats will play significantly less talented teams from this point forward. Less talented than USC that is.
– Ridge Wilson had a heck of a game and was able to wrangle two sacks and 6 total tackles on the night. Trevathan and Guy both performed very well and they accounted for a combined 27 total tackles.
– Mike Douglas has had some bright moments for two weeks in a row now and may end up being a real surprise for this team early in his career.
– Tydlacka had another great outing. One plus to UK sporting an anemic offense, is that Tydlacka is playing his way into consideration for some post-season hardware.
Game MVP
– Ridge Wilson
Keep following www.http://wildcatbluenation.com for the best in Kentucky basketball and football news, rumors, and opinions. By Kentucky fans for Kentucky fans