Kentucky Wildcats improve to 20-0 by playing physical

Mandatory Credit: Mark Zerof-USA TODAY Sports

Despite the negativity surrounding Kentucky Wildcats football over the last week, they still have a chance to close this 2015 class strong. It could all start with a Tavin Richardson commitment today. Plus several other targets will be in Lexington.

"South Carolina wide receiver Tavin Richardson is scheduled to reveal his college choice at 4 p.m. UK and Central Florida are the two finalists, and the Cats are favorites to land the three-star prospect. Richardson — a 6-foot-3 player — would join Jabari Greenwood as the second wide receiver in UK’s recruiting class of 2015. Nebraska, Pittsburgh and Louisville are among the other schools that offered scholarships throughout his recruitment. Two more wide receivers are expected to be among the prospects on UK’s campus for official visits this weekend. Kayaune Ross — a 6-6 junior-college recruit — was originally supposed to visit Lexington last weekend and delayed that trip by one week. Former Miami commitment Therrell Gosier — another 6-6 receiver — said earlier this week that he would also be visiting UK this weekend."

Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Dyer-USA TODAY Sports

No doubt that the commitment of Damien Harris to Alabama hurt the Kentucky Wildcats and in a way, it seemed to open the floodgates of Kentucky commits to other, bigger programs.  Whether that is a reality or not, it can be percieved by the recruits that Kentucky is still “not there yet” and that the bigger programs may be safe bets.    Rival’s Mike Farrell talked to the Herald Leader recently.

"“What do those three programs have in common? Two of them have won national championships in recent years, and Michigan State has been a Big Ten title contender — won the Big Ten two years ago,” Farrell told the Herald-Leader. Coaches at those schools can recruit on results, while Mark Stoops and his staff are left to “sell a vision,” as Farrell put it. That’s something they did well in the beginning, but a vision will take you only so far in recruiting. “Then the football reality hits,” Farrell said. “And some of the bigger schools start picking off your guys late in the game when they strike out on others. And that’s survival of the fittest in recruiting.” Kentucky has made progress over the past two years, Farrell acknowledged, but not nearly enough to win last-minute recruiting battles with the likes of Ohio State. “When you get late in the game like this, and the kids feel the attraction of the superpowers, it’s really hard to hold them off after you’ve had another season where you didn’t go to a bowl and things didn’t pan out at the end,” Farrell said. “They lost six straight games, and it’s easy to lose a lot of momentum when you finish that way.” The Cats also lost five-star running back Damien Harris, the local kid who seemed destined for Lexington before eventually committing to Alabama this month. The inclusion of Harris alone would move UK’s class into the mid-30s in the Rivals rankings, but it also could have prevented the recent wave of decommitments. “I think momentum can really be hurt by a national commitment like that,” Farrell said. “People say, ‘Well, it’s one kid.’ Yeah, it’s one kid who everybody knew, everybody was looking at, and everybody sort of wanted to see a message from him. And the message was, ‘I’m going to Alabama.’"