Kentucky Wildcats Football: The First Feel Good Monday Armchair QB Report

Called it! Totally called that one. Of course, I’ve been calling every game this year but now that it has paid off I can use the image above in celebration of the first UK conference victory. The feeling is good, isn’t it? We’re not feeling the wood of the bottom of the barrel against our blue checkered keisters and we have some momentum going into a very crucial part of the season; a part that could decide the incredibly transient view of which “direction” the program is heading in. But something else became apparent this weekend: We have a quarterback. No longer will we watch with disgust as a pocket collapses like a a demolished building on top of a QB frozen with indecision. In a side by side comparison, Newton’s only games that he was statistically comparable were against Central Michigan (9-18 for 114 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT 110.4 QB rating) and Louisville (24-17, 255 yds, 2 TD’s, 134.2 QB rating) and those two opponents, honestly, would get crushed by the two teams that Smith has put up QB ratings of 123.1 and 137.1. Interesting numbers considering the competition, and Smith is just a freshman.
I also find it interesting that Rebel head coach Houston Nutt was fired basically on the plane ride back, although he will be coaching out the remainder of the season. Sure, the loss was his 12th in a row against SEC opponents, but two questions come out of such a swift and strong decision after the game. 1) Is Kentucky football really so bad that the embarassment of losing to us warrants that consequence? and 2) Isn’t this the guy that took them to back to back Cotton Bowls merely two seasons ago? I know I have ripped on UK fans at length about their cries to fire Joker after two years and one rough season, but I’m not so simple as to think that this is an isolated phenomenon. I am also acutely aware that I was ripping on Nutt for not being the offensive mastermind that he is believed to be, but if you’ll look at his wiki page, you’ll notice he turned around several programs, including Murray State (‘sup Qua?). Did I think that losing to us would be a bit of a black eye, considering they probably won’t win another game this year? Yes. Did I think that was worth getting an eviction notice? No way. We go back to the argument of fans wanting too much too quickly; Kentucky might be in the weeds in terms of this year but I point out the bowl streak as evidence that they are not as bad as the record would indicate. We just didn’t have a quarterback. Which brings me to my next point…
Max Smith is my quarterback, at least until the season ends. Having a carousel at that position is far more damaging than any other spot on the field, and if you’re still on board with the Newton train, you might as well have a seat and take a breather. Smith’s stat line alone should end the argument, but the stat line doesn’t show the way the stats were collected. All season, I have been complaining about Newton’s “spray and pray” approach to passing, in which he throws the ball in the general direction of the receiver and forces them to make a play. What I saw Saturday were passes that hit people in the numbers (with a few exceptions on overthrows) and allowed them to start moving in the right direction. When I looked at previous completions, I saw receivers who were stretching and angling to even make the catch, and then struggling to start movement upfield. I’ve said it before on this blog, and I won’t claim to be a genius, but Newton simply wasn’t getting the job done; and if you can’t figure it out after three years and more than 15 starts, maybe it just won’t happen ever. Sorry, but that’s the way it is. As a junior in a program that you’ve practically been handed the keys to, sitting frozen in the pocket and throwing the ball all over the field except to where it’s supposed to be shows everyone what they need to do to win against us: rattle the quarterback. Saturday, Smith showed his ability not to get rattled and delivered balls where they needed to be, not to the area. Hitting receivers in stride means they can make plays, which means defenses will start backing up a bit, which means running backs can find lanes much more easily. Sorry Morgan, you just got Wally Pipp‘ed.

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