The Kentucky Wildcats Suffer More Loss than just the Governor’s Cup

Sep 7, 2013; Louisville, KY, USA; Louisville Cardinals quarterback Teddy Bridgewater (5) looks to pass against the Eastern Kentucky Colonels during the second half of play at Papa John

For all the animosity that fans have toward Teddy Bridgewater and the Louisville program, there’s no doubt that he is a legit QB and has the outside shot of being a Heisman finalist.  Heisman finalist or not, he still has a lot to learn and the Kentucky Wildcats showed him just how much.

LEXINGTON — Teddy Bridgewater has been mentioned as a potential Heisman Trophy candidate and one of the top quarterbacks in the nation. Despite his status as among the top pocket performers in college football, he’s still learninga lot about himself and his team.

"The Louisville signal caller chalked up another learning experience following Louisville’s 27-13 victory over Kentucky to regain a three-year hold on the Governor’s Cup Saturday at Commonwealth Stadium. “We learned that you have to respect your opponent,” he said. “Coming into the game, we thought that we didn’t get any respect. You pretty much learn something from every (game) and we’re not as good as we think we are. We learned to stay humble and respect the opponent.”"

"Bridgewater completed 16-of -28 passes for 250 yards and one touchdown against the Wildcats, but most of his yardage came in the second half after throwing for 91 yards and one score during the first two quarters. Kentucky’s pressure left Bridgewater scrambling at times in the pocket."

For all the nerds in the Big Blue Nation, John Clay cataloged 20 notes from the game that are very interesting.

"1. Louisville gained 492 yards, the most it has gained against UK since Bobby Petrino’s 2006 team gained 631 yards in a 59-28 Cardinals win. 2. Louisville rushed for 242 yards, most against UK since South Carolina rushed for 288 in 2011. 3. UK has lost the last 10 games in which it has allowed 200 or more yards on the ground. Vanderbilt rushed for 202 yards in 2010 but somehow failed to beat the Cats. 4. From a completion percentage standpoint, U of L quarterback Teddy Bridgewater was nowhere near his performance of a year ago when he completed 19 of 21 passes in U of L’s win. Today, Bridgewater was 16 of 28 for 250 yards and one touchdown. 5. After gaining 675 yards last week — third-most in school history — Kentucky managed just 376 yards today. 6. That was three more yards than UK gained last year in that 32-14 loss at Louisville. 7. As you may have heard, Kentucky went 0 for 13 on third down. Three of those were third-and-one situations. Jalen Whitlow fumbled on the first. Jonathan George was stopped for no gain on the second. A holding call against UK killed the third. 8. Four of those 13 third downs were third-and-10 or longer. 9. One more third down stat: UK completed one of eight passes on third downfor seven yards with one interception. 10. By the way, Louisville faced third-and-one four times on the afternoon. The Cards converted three of the four. 11. Coming off his best statistical passing game of his career — 221.48 rating vs. Miami — Maxwell Smith completed just nine of 20 passes for 109 yards without a touchdown today. That figured to a pass efficiency rating of 90.78. Smith came into the game ninth in the nation in pass efficiency. 12. Despite the Air Raid offense, Kentucky ran the football 46 percent of the time,more than it ran it the last two games against Louisville — 27 percent last year and 43 percent in 2011. 13. Through three games, UK has run the football 102 times and passed it 100 times. 14. Kentucky freshman running back Jojo Kemp rushed for 80 yards on five carries, an average of 16 yards per carry. On the Liveblog, someone compared him to Mark Higgs. 15. Kentucky has seven runs of 20-or-more yards on the season. Kemp has two of those — 21 vs. Miami and 47 vs. Louisville. Fellow true freshman Ryan Timmons has two — 33 vs. Western Kentucky and 21 vs. Miami. 16. Joe Mansour may have missed that extra point against Western, but he’s aperfect six-for-six on field goals. He was two-of-two today, including a season-long 37 yards. 17. In three games, UK has lost four fumbles. 18. I predicted that Michael Dyer would have a big game for the Cards. The former Auburn running back gained 62 yards on 11 carries. Probably doesn’t qualify as big. 19. Newcomers accounted for 14 of Kentucky’s 17 receptions. 20. In the second half, Louisville had a nine-play, 83-yard drive; a 10-play, 94-yard drive, a 6-play, 83-yard drive and an eight-play, 61-yard drive."

And for a little bonus, take a look at yet another former Bat Cat pitcher who is making his bones in the MLB; Seattle Mariners James Paxton.

"James Paxton poked fun at his lack of polish at the plate, and on the bases. Still, the Seattle rookie left-hander did plenty with his arm to keep the St. Louis Cardinals in a serious rut. “He was really good again,” Manager Eric Wedge said after the former University of Kentucky standout gave up two hits in six shutout innings in a 4-1 victory Saturday night that ended the Mariners’ five-game losing streak and dropped the Cardinals into a first-place tie in the NL Central. “In their backyard, big crowd, middle of September — it was nice to see him step up like that.” The 24-year-old Paxton gave up only a pair of singles and two walks against a team that’s struggled against lefties, with a .236 average as opposed to .277 against right-handers. Paxton had a lot more to say about walking on four pitches and scoring in the fifth, noting it was his first at-bat in probably 11 years. Telling that to umpire Brian O’Nora at second base “gave him a little chuckle,” Paxton said. “It was pretty cool,” Paxton said with a laugh. “I hadn’t done that in a long time, it was pretty exhilarating. Apparently my round of third (base) wasn’t the greatest, but it worked.”"