Kentucky Wildcats Football:Sunday Afternoon QB

Ladies and gentlemen, your Kentucky Wildcats are 5-1 and one win away from bowl eligibility.

Let that sink in for a moment. Kentucky wasn’t expected to win five games all year here they are with five at the halfway mark of the season. It’s certainly surprised most outside of the program, including most of the Kentucky media. Most expected this kind of progress next year but here are the Cats ahead of schedule. Although for the first quarter yesterday, that old creeping Kentucky football feeling came back. Except this time the Wildcats rattled off 45 unanswered points to basically match everyone’s original projections. At the end of the day the final score was almost exactly what was expected.

The offense got off to a slow start that can be partially blamed on facing a defense that you don’t see often that was well-coached and hyped up. The offensive line played poorly for the first time this season and after the game it was revealed that they were confused by what ULM was doing up front. After they settled down, you saw the Cats start to move the football. Patrick Towles played a solid game per his usual. He made some mistakes and made some big plays, but continues to steadily improve. Like many fans, I was surprised at how lightly Jojo Kemp was used after becoming a star against South Carolina. But Kemp had two fumbles and threw an interception out of the Wildcat and Boom Williams was hot. It looks like Kentucky may have a true running back by committee going on this year. At receiver it was nice to see Javess Blue healthy and making plays like he is able to. His one-handed touchdown grab was the Top play on Sportscenter. Towles spread the ball around but I am surprised and a little disappointed by how little they are getting the ball into Ryan Timmons hands.

Defensively the Cats started out looking vulnerable again but they got their confidence back after Forrest’s pick-six. Watching the Cats struggle against an inferior opponent in all phases of the game eary makes you think they had to be looking ahead to LSU and expected to cruise past the Warhawks. Which they eventually did. But the play by Forrest really woke the team up. He has been such a pleasant surprise this year and has really keyed UK’s defensive turnaround. After that you saw Kentucky’s talent take over and ULM really couldn’t do anything to stop it. The truth is that this defense isn’t dominant, this isn’t your typical “SEC defense” that is extremely physical and overpowers opponents. This is a defense built on speed and technique and they will turn you over. After a season with on three interceptions, Kentucky has eleven at the midpoint. Some years you get this kind of opportunistic defense and they live and die by it. In a brutal home stretch to finish the season, there will be some games where Kentucky’s defense has to bend but not break and wait for that fumble of interception to come along.

Some people may see the 14-3 hole to ULM as a sign that Kentucky still hasn’t improved. It’s understandable, but the end of the game is all that matters. Good teams have let downs during a season. But instead of falling behind and staying that way or squeaking out a seven point win , the Wildcats blew the doors off the Warhawks. That’s what good teams do. When things go bad, they stay the course and make plays to put themselves in position to win. Perhaps my favorite thing about this season, this team, this staff, is that they never doubt that they are going to win a game. There is none of the “same old Kentucky” because these guys don’t know anything about that. All they know is that this is a new Kentucky and they came here to win.