Kentucky Wildcats Football: Sunday Afternoon QB
Well, last night was not enjoyable. We all watched the same game (to varying degrees) and saw a team overmatched. Overmatched by talent, experience, coaching (see special teams) and overmatched by one of the top three atmospheres in college football. It was certainly a big letdown after such an exciting first half of the season. But not completely unexpected. I’ve said all along that Kentucky was a year away from being truly competitive, and I think that course has not been derailed. But this was certainly a bump in the road.
Every team has a bad game per season, the really good ones find a way to overcome it. Kentucky’s not there yet. From the opening kickoff, you could tell that UK did not have their good stuff last night and they never recovered. A young team made too many mistakes early in a game against a very good opponent on the road. It was a recipe for exactly what you saw on your screen last night.
The offense was out of sync, which has been their modus operandi for a few weeks now. At times they looked predictable, which is the case with this offense when it’s not working. It’s a scheme predicated on misdirection and getting the ball in space. When the defense is as big and fast as LSU’s , there isn’t much space and misdirection is neutralized by speed. The Wildcat formation didn’t work because the Cats offensive line couldn’t move the Tigers up front and give Jojo Kemp a crease.
Defensively, Kentucky was simply overmatched and their lack of depth was once again exposed. They actually did a decent job against the Tigers strong running game early on, but as the offense sputtered the dark grey spots on the defenders jerseys got bigger and bigger. They wore down and there simply isn’t enough depth to substitute right now. The defense also has to avoid penalties like the one on ZaDarius Smith on LSUs first drive. At the same time, Kentucky needs more aggressive and physical play from the linebackers. Josh Forrest has been a pleasant surprise this season but he isn’t an ideal middle linebacker against a physical running team.
Special teams were a disaster. Craig Naivar’s unit picked a bad night to look bad facing Kentucky former ST coach Bradley Dale Peveto. You certainly can’t beat a superior opponent while spotting them great field position all night. Kentucky needs to get this cleaned up before facing Mississippi State next week.
There was plenty of bad on display last night but they good news is that Kentucky still has five games to win one and become bowl eligible for the season. One game does not define a team or a season. This kind of game may be just the thing these young Wildcats needed to get focused again after seemingly buying into their own hype a bit the past few weeks. When UK is focused and playing their best game, they can beat any of the teams left on their schedule. This is where I ask you to show up for the game this week, but you already know if you will or not. See everyone at the stadium.