Well I missed my first home game this season and had to watch the game in Los Angeles at a local sports bar. First, let me say today was my 30th birthday and all I wanted was a UK win. Unfortunately, that didn't happen.The Cats could have won this game, but they gave up too many big plays on defense. Personally, I think Joker Phillips and Randy Sanders are going to take some heat for the play calling in the second half. Why was Randall Cobb not at QB when the Cats were threatening to score late? In my opinion, Cobb is the best player on the field and needs to have the ball in his hands for the Cats to win in that situation.
Morgan Newton showed flashes of what is to come, but in the end he is a freshman having to learn on the fly. I thought Chris Matthews and LaRod King made some big plays in the fourth quarter and Derrick Locke played well. Alfonso Smith fumbled which hurt the Cats and Newton's interception inside the ten all but sealed the Cats fate.
The Cats need to beat teams like South Carolina and Mississippi State to move up in the SEC. Both games were winnable this season, but the Cats seem to find ways to lose instead of win. Now the Cats need to win next week against Eastern Kentucky and have to win against either Vanderbilt, Georgia or Tennessee. The Cats play Vanderbilt in Nashville on Senior day (scary), the Dawgs in Athens and Tennessee at home. The Mississippi State loss could be very costly if the Cats can't manage to win two more games.
Messenger said:
ReplyDeleteJoker and Sanders should not take heat for play calling. Their play calling had UK up 17-10 at halftime. It could have been 17-7 or better if not for the fumbled lateral pass by Newton to Cobb at the MSU 36 yard line in the first quarter. I'm sure that was not a designed lateral. It was simply a mistake by a true freshman QB.
Those who second-guess the amount of usage of the "wildcat formation" in the second half need to take a good look at the game film and see how MSU was rolling up their CBs on the edge to stop Cobb. Joker was right to stay out of it. Cobb rushed for 17 yards on eight carries.
UK's problem in this game was a complete lack of defensive adjustments against an opponent that rushed for 348 yards. Playing a nickel defense all night was a bad idea. Where was the big passing threat? Tyson Lee entered this ball game with three TD passes and nine interceptions on the season. In contrast, Anthony Dixon was the SEC's third-leading runner. Was Steve Brown not afraid of Dixon because UK controlled him last season in Starkville? Even if that was the case, why didn't Brown make an in-game adjustment to control the box last night?
MSU outgained UK 493-308 yards. These are compelling numbers. Morgan Newton's mistakes only complicated a game scenario that was already bad for UK.
If Coach Brown had come with a solid defensive game plan, UK's offense might not have had to play from behind in the second half. I have always been a big supporter of this coaching staff, but I believe it will be difficult for Coach Brown to live down last night's game.