Missed Opportunity

Kentucky had a chance to bring their program up to the next level on Saturday in the Swamp. They failed; but clearly, all is not lost in the 2010 season. The Cats are still 3-1 and have a very favorable remaining schedule which appears to give them an opportunity to still be a major factor in the SEC East. It was a very big weekend all around the SEC. A couple of outcomes should give Kentucky fans reasons to still be optimistic.

Division contender South Carolina lost to Auburn, Georgia fell to 0-3 in the league, and it took double overtime for Tennessee to defeat UAB. Ole Miss, however, looked impressive in a relatively easy win over Fresno State. A win next week at Ole Miss is crucial to get things going in the right direction again for the Cats. It's a game that Kentucky may be favored to win, but Ole Miss seemingly is getting their act together based on Saturday's performance, and won't be an easy win on the road.

If the Cats can take care of business, it puts them in a position to still compete in the East. Remember, South Carolina has a conference loss and games remaining with Alabama and LSU. Florida still has games with South Carolina, Alabama, and Arkansas. The winner of this division could lose 3 conference games. Finishing first would be a long shot, but finishing 2nd remains a distinct possibility which would come along with it a trip to a warm weather New Years' bowl game.

There's plenty of negatives to take out of Saturday's loss to Florida, but they can pretty much be summed up by penalties and turnovers that we knew couldn't happen if the Cats wanted to stand a chance. Limiting mistakes was an area that the Cats had excelled at previously but the Gators were hungry and ready to prove their doubters wrong. It's also perplexing why Randall Cobb was not utilized in different formations like we expected him to be. Kentucky's star player did not touch the ball enough times for UK to stand a chance. With less talented overall players, UK needed to dig deep into the playbook and didn't. Florida, on the other hand, was not afraid to use Randall Cobb impersonator, Trey Burton, in the Wildcat offense as he scored 6 touchdowns (5 rushing and 1 receiving).

There were also some positives to take out of the game. Minus the two costly interceptions, Mike Hartline put up a respectable 242 yards in the air and a touchdown pass (he is still our best option at quarterback). Chris Mathews had 6 receptions for 114 yards and 2 touchdowns, while Randall Cobb caught 7 passes for 67 yards but only was given 2 rushing opportunities. Derrick Locke also gained 108 yards on the ground. The offense moved the ball well but turnovers and penalties cost them and opened up the game for the Gators. It should be noted that the game was within reach until later in the 3rd quarter. Had Hartline not been picked off for a touchdown on the other end which could have essentially been a 14 point swing, things could have been very interesting going into the 4th quarter.

I know competing for 2.5 quarters was not the result that UK fans were looking for, but if you remember, the Cats didn't even compete for 1 quarter in the last 2 meetings with Florida. It's easy to go from bad to good, but it's a long process to go from good to great in the SEC. It takes more than just a few stud recruits to win big in year 1 on the football field, it is a numbers game and it takes time. South Carolina was mediocre for a long time under Steve Spurrier and is just now on the brink of becoming elite and it will probably take time for Joker as well. With a top 20 class coming in next season, Kentucky is still on the right track. There's a lot more football to be played this year and a lot on the line to still play for. I think this season still has the potential to be a great one, but either way, Cats fans need to be patient. This program is on the right track and our time is coming.

The only thing UK fans don't need to be patient about is beating Tennessee. That needs to happen this year and it SHOULD happen!

I still have faith in this season's team. But if you've already lost it, Midnight Madness tickets go on sale Saturday! Tents will be allowed to be set up as early as Wednesday.

The Next Step

We're less than 48 hours away until the Cats take the field in Gainesville in search for their first win over Florida in 23 years. Over the course of the last three or four seasons, Rich Brooks and Joker Phillips have both talked about taking that "next step" up the ladder of the SEC. This is that opportunity! Florida is beatable this year and the Cats are on the upswing. A win Saturday could be the biggest regular season win in the history of Kentucky football.

Yes, I'm aware that the Cats beat the #1 team in the country and eventual National Champion, LSU, just a few years ago. This win would be bigger because of the ramifications it would have on the advancement of this program as a national power under Joker Phillips. It's also bigger because the Cats have positioned themselves as an "upper-echelon SEC team", according to Florida head coach Urban Meyer. This win could propel them to the top of the SEC East standings and a legitimate chance at making it to Atlanta for the SEC Championship Game.

In comparison to the 2007 win over LSU, what is different this time around? Why would this win be able to catapult the Cats up to the top of the final SEC standings unlike in 2007?

Here are the circumstances of the 2007 win over LSU:

• The Cats went into that game off of a Thursday night loss at South Carolina. They already had an SEC loss under their belt going into that win.


• The Cats played Tim Tebow's Florida team the very next week after that LSU win. The Cats came out of that tough stretch with a 2-2 record in the SEC


• They still had tough games to play against a Top 10 Georgia program and a Tennessee team that was still pretty good.


• Kentucky lost heartbreakers by single digits to UF, UGA, and UT. They also suffered a lot of injuries going into the Mississippi State game and were upset by the Bulldogs.


• If things went their way here and then, UK could have won the East that year, but the SEC was incredibly tough. The Cats could have won just about any other league in the country fairly easily in 2007.

And here is where UK currently stands going into this Florida game:

• The Cats are 3-0. A win over a "down" Florida team could make them 4-0.
• The Cats then play Ole Miss after Florida, who has lost to Jacksonville State and Vanderbilt. A win over Florida likely means the Cats could start at least 5-0.
• Following Ole Miss, the Cats will host an Auburn team that they defeated on the road a year ago. Auburn is improved, but this is certainly a winnable game. The Cats could be 6-0 at this point.
• Perhaps the toughest game the rest of the year would be against South Carolina the week after Auburn. The Gamecocks, Gators, and Cats seem to be the biggest contenders for the SEC East Crown. But this competition is a far cry away from what the Cats stood up against in 2007.
• After South Carolina, UK will be favored in every game the rest of the season in a down SEC East.
• UK also benefits from uneven inter-division scheduling this season. UK avoids playing the top three teams from the SEC West. They don't play #1 Alabama, #10 Arkansas, or #15 LSU.
• After playing UK, Florida has consecutive games against Alabama and LSU. South Carolina plays both Alabama and Arkansas.

Above all, the biggest difference this season could be the attitude and winning culture that Joker has created with "Operation: Win". They expect to win every game and they aren't afraid of anyone. With a win, there should be EXTREMELY high expectations for where this season will end. And even with a loss to the Gators on Saturday, the Cats could still be in a position to win the division. With UF and USC each with a couple of very tough games on their SEC West slate, I think it's fair to say the winner of this division could lose at least 2 conference games. The stars seem to be aligned to give the Cats a great opportunity. And with Joker already bringing in a top 20 recruiting class next year, a signature win like this could boost that class even higher for next year and years to come. That is why I think Saturday could be the biggest regular season win in the history of Kentucky football. It could be the one win that finally pushes the Cats over the hump.

Cats start slow, but Locke up another win.

(Photo Courtesy of Kentucky.com)

The clock was winding down to the end of the 1st quarter. UK had only a 3 point lead over Akron. It was 4th and 1, and an offsides penalty pushed back the Cats an extra 5 yards which set up a missed 51 yard field goal attempt by Craig McIntosh. Joker Phillps had seen enough. He called a timeout and gathered ALL 112 PLAYERS around a huddle and had a choice words for his Wildcats, scolding them for their lack of intensity and focus.

"We looked like we were sleepwalking during the warm-up," Phillips said. "I challenged them before the game to play with intensity, to play with excitement and to play with passion. I didn't see that out of us the first quarter. They will see next week that you can't relax. You play like that, like we did in this quarter next week, you'll be down two or three touchdowns."

Phillips was right on in his assessment. Even though the defensive starting unit only gave up 3 points the entire game, the UK secondary played poor. The corners and safeties got beat down the field too many times, there were too many penalties, and the offense was asleep until the 2nd quarter. If Akron had SEC-caliber receivers, ALL of those balls thrown down field would have been caught for touchdowns. The run defense, on the other hand, was fantastic after giving up a lot of yards on the ground the previous week against Western Kentucky. The Cats gave up only 67 yards on the ground to the Zipps. The kicking game also improved (but wasn't perfect) this week with McIntosh taking the FG and PAT duties and freshman Joe Mansour kicked off 9 times to the Zipps, with 5 of them going into the end zone for a touchback.

The offense woke up after Phillips' 1st quarter "pow-wow" and was led by another great performance by Mike Hartline and a career day by Derrick Locke. Locke had 166 yards on the ground with 2 touchdowns and reached the 2,000 yard career milestone. Hartline was 21-for-29 passing for 250 yards and 0 interceptions. Not only has Hartline not thrown an interception this season, but the entire UK offense has yet to turn the ball over. This is something that MUST continue going into SEC play. They must continue to take care of the football and they will also need to limit penalties next week if the Cats want to have a chance of winning in the Swamp.

Another thing the Cats may need is a lot more of Randall Cobb next week. Last night Cobb had a "quiet" 5 receptions for 43 yards and a touchdown. He only lined up in the Wildcat offense one time on a 4th and short conversion and he left the game after experiencing "heartburn problems" after receiving an IV at halftime. Phillips said Cobb could have returned if necessary. "By the time they had checked him out and cleared him we had just scored, and we just thought we'd keep him out the rest of the game," Phillips said.

As the Cats continued to roll towards a 47-10 rout of Akron, it became evident that this team has depth at all the key offensive positions unlike any UK team in recent history. Donald Russell and Raymond Sanders both ran the ball very well once again when the reserves came into the game. Even 4th string tailback CoShik Williams scored on a 16 yard touchdown run. Derrick Locke is unquestionably the Cats' primary running back, but look for some of the younger guys to get a few carries in a similar way that Locke did as a freshman in 2007 when he backed up Rafael Little. The Cats didn't really miss a beat at all going from the starters to the younger reserves, which is a testament to the solid foundation that was laid by Rich Brooks and the rest of the UK staff.

Speaking of 2007, the Cats came up short in a 48-40 shootout between Andre Woodson and Tim Tebow that season in Lexington. The Cats look to have the same kind of offensive firepower that they had in 2007 but Florida clearly does not in the post Tim Tebow-era. It will be a matchup of a great Kentucky offense and a great Florida defense. If UK can limit their penalties and continue to play turnover-free, the offense can score enough points to keep it close in Gainesville. In order to win the game, Kentucky's defense will have to step up and make new quarterback John Brantley beat them. They must stop the run and force the inexperienced Brantley to win this game. If the Cats can do that, I like their chances.

A look into the Weekend of Football...

Well, UK plays Akron. That should be exciting...

Akron only scored 3 points against Syracuse and lost to the infamous Gardner Webb in week 1. It should be a goal of the defense to get a shut out this week as they prepare for Florida the following week. After Ryan Tydlacka has missed 2 field goals and 1 extra point in 2 games for the Cats, Craig McIntosh will replace him this week. The supposed freshman phenom kicker, Joe Mansour, is not getting it done in practice and McIntosh will be given the kicking duties this week.

The Zips will give Randall Cobb the chance to boost up his Heisman numbers and score touchdowns in every way possible. Although Cobb is not getting the Heisman consideration he should at this point, Tom Leach describes how it could happen on his blog. When asked about the Heisman, Cobb said that he is only worried about winning an SEC Championship. If UK does that, than surely Cobb will be right there with everyone else in the Heisman talks.

The games of importance to look at in the SEC this week are No. 10 Florida vs. Tennessee and No. 14 Arkansas vs. Georgia.

The Volunteers are good enough to give Florida a battle, especially if the same sloppy Florida team shows up that has showed up the past 2 weeks against Miami of Ohio and South Florida. The Cats have to hope that it's as physical as can be this week between the Gators and Vols. Kentucky's starters hope to be rested on the sidelines in the 2nd half vs. Akron as Urban Meyer's Gators find themselves in what could be a physical matchup with Tennessee, just a week before they host the Cats in Gainesville.

In the Arkansas/Georgia matchup, the Bulldogs could very well fall to 0-2 in the SEC and maybe remove themselves from seriously contending in the SEC East, leaving Florida, South Carolina, and Kentucky as perhaps the three teams with the best chance of heading to Atlanta for the SEC Championship Game.

Cats fans should root for Tennessee and Arkansas, and things could look very bright for UK going into conference play. Be sure to check out Brown's picks for ALL of the big predictions in college football this week.

Cobb, Hartline continue to shine. Cats roll again

Many fans were hoping this offseason that one of UK's younger talented quarterbacks could beat out Senior Mike Hartline for the starting job. Hartline had to start the season off exceptionally well to quiet the doubters, and he's done just that. Against the Hilltoppers on Saturday, Hartline passed 213 yards and three touchdowns on 16-of-20 passing. In both of his games combined, Hartline is 33-of-46 on the season for 430 yards with three scores, a rushing touchdown and no interceptions. Hartline came into the season with mixed reviews, but there's no question that everyone had extremely high expectations for Junior WR/QB/PR Randall Cobb.



The Legend of Cobb continued last night when he threw a touchdown pass, caught a touchdown pass, and returned a punt for a touchdown all in one game for a combined 192 all-purpose yards. Against Louisville, Cobb had a rushing touchdown. In 2 games, he has 4 touchdowns (1 passing, 1 rushing, 1 receiving, and 1 special teams) on only 24 touches. He's scoring a touchdown every 6 times he touches the ball. To this point, if you think another player in the country should win the Heisman trophy, you're ignorant. He hasn't played against the best competition yet, but neither have most players at this point. As a Junior, Cobb is only 6 touchdowns away from tying Craig Yeast's all-time TD record at Kentucky.

For Cobb to get serious Heisman consideration, he'll have to have a lot of other guys making plays all around him to keep the defense honest. He'll also have to play on a team that wins 10+ games and competes for an SEC Eastern Division Title. So far in the young season, all of these things seem very possible of happening. In 2 games, Hartline has thrown for over 200 yards in both outings with 0 interceptions. Kentucky has also ran for over 200 yards in each game. Against Western, UK had 8 players catch a total of 19 passes and another 8 players rush for positive yardage, led by Derrick Locke's 105 yards on the ground.

Kentucky had a big lead for the 2nd week in a row going into halftime. The Cats scored 42 points in the first half. Reserves came into the game midway through the 3rd quarter and performed well on route to a 63 point offensive performance. Sophomore Morgan Newton was 2 for 2 passing for 48 yards and Redshirt Freshman QB Ryan Mossakowski made his college debut. Freshmen Raymond Sanders and Donald Russel also impressed on the ground in the 2nd half. There's no question that the Cats are stacked at nearly every position on offense and they have depth that has never been seen here at UK on the offensive side of the ball. Kentucky's 2007 team had plenty of offensive weapons, but they didn't have 2nd and 3rd string backups that were capable of filling in after an injury like this team does.

One of the few question marks for the Cats continues to be the kicking game. Kicker Ryan Tydlacka has missed a field goal in both games this season. The defense is also still a work in progress and must improve before the Cats face the Gators in Gainesville in 2 weeks. Kentucky has a very young and inexperienced defense that simply has given up too much in the first two games of the season. WKU running back Bobby Rainey ran for 187 yards against the Cats. Granted, Rainey also ran for 150 yards against Nebraska, but if there's areas the Cats need to improve: it's kicking and defense.

Despite these issues, the Cats have looked awfully good overall in the first two games of the Joker Phillips era. He has become the first UK head coach to start his career 2-0 since Bear Bryant. Other SEC East foes seem to have plenty to work on themselves and the East is up for anyone to grab. Florida trailed South Florida at halftime, Georgia only mustered 6 points against South Carolina, Vanderbilt lost to LSU, and Tennessee was blown out by Oregon last night. South Carolina and Kentucky might just be the two teams to beat at this point, but I'd never bet against Urban Meyer's Gators to get things going eventually. Kentucky will have one more tune-up this coming Saturday against Akron before the Cats' SEC slate begins at the Swamp.

Balanced Attack Leads Cats on Senior Day

Five players (Patterson, Wall, Miller, Dodson, and Bledsoe) scored in double figures for the Cats as they took an 18 point lead over the Florida Gators, witheld a 2nd half rally, and closed out a win on an emmotional Senior Day at Rupp Arena. For the second straight game, the Cats nailed down eight three pointers- an area that has plagued them throughout conference play. The improved three point shooting and bench play has given Big Blue Nation little to worry about heading into tournament play. With Vanderbilt's loss to South Carolina on Saturday, Kentucky had already stood alone as the outright SEC Champion and today's win gave the Cats an 18-0 perfect record at Rupp this season and solidified themselves as a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

(Photo courtesy of UKathletics.com)

Mark Krebs, Perry Stevenson, Ramon Harris, and Patrick Patterson were honored in Senior Day festivities. Patterson, a junior, is on track to graduate this spring in only three years and could come back for another year if he chooses an M.BA (Masters of Business Administration Degree)at UK over the NBA next season, as a sign pointed out today in Rupp (MBA>NBA...One more year, Pat!).

I would like to personally thank each of the seniors for all that they have done. They've gone through so much playing for three different coaches and they deserve every bit of success that they are enjoying this season. Patrick has been one of the most significant players to ever put on the Kentucky uniform, Perry and Ramon were starters a year ago and have now accepted and embraced their roles on a Championship contending team, and I especially admire Mark as a hard working Kentucky kid with an unbelievable passion and appreciation for being able to suit up for the Blue and White. Krebs has also worked extremely hard to survive as a walk on under three head coaches and eventually earning a scholarship under Calipari. It's also been a pleasure of mine to personally meet and talk with Perry Stevenson on several occasions in his freshman and sophomore seasons at UK.

Be sure to check out Larry Vaught's video of Senior Day, these fabulous articles written on Mark Krebs and Patrick Patterson, and media day interviews with each of the four seniors on their experiences at Kentucky on John Clay's blog.

Cats silence critics, clinch 44th SEC Title.

After an abysmal 2-22 from 3 point range Saturday at Tennessee, the Cats spent extra time in the gym this week working on outside shooting and apparently it paid off. The Cats hit 8 threes tonight, and silenced the doubters that they didn't have the shooters to make a deep run in the upcoming NCAA Tournament. Leading the way for the Cats behind the arc was John Wall (3-5) and Darnell Dodson (3-6). Wall also led the team it total scoring with 24 points while Patrick Patterson added another double double with 17 points and 10 rebounds.

Another weak spot of Saturday's performance was bench scoring. The Cats only had 5 points off the bench against the Vols, today they had 24. Dodson scored 11, Liggins was once again his usual scrappy self with 5 gritty points off the bench along with a steal. Orton added 4 points and a block, and even Perry Stevenson and Ramon Harris each added 2 points. Harris was awarded 11 minutes of play and contributed with 2 offensive rebounds and three assists as well as his 2 points- talk about a guy who knows his role and thrives with it. Tonight was, perhaps, the best overall TEAM win of the entire season. In a night that DeMarcus Cousins had only 6 points and 4 rebounds, everyone else stepped up and played brilliantly TOGETHER.


It was also a great team defensive effort. The Cats suffocating defense totaled up 8 steals and 14 blocks and created plenty of offense as they put on a clinic in points off turnovers with one of the most fast-paced highlight packed games of the season. Defense, transition offense, bench scoring, and three point shooting all were bright spots for the Cats tonight as they ended Georgia's 4 game conference home winning streak and clinched at least a share for the school's 44th SEC Championship.

On Sunday, Seniors' Mark Krebs, Perry Stevenson, and Ramon Harris will be honored on Senior Day against Florida. With a win, the Cats win the SEC Title outright. It will also likely be the last game for three of the most talented players to ever wear the blue and white, and it is rumored that Patrick Patterson (who is academically a senior and graduating this semester) will also be honored. Get your tissue's ready, it's going to be a sad but surely memorable afternoon in Rupp as 24,000 will sing "My Old Kentucky Home" one last time in this storybook season.

2010 SEC Basketball Preview: Eastern Division

SEC East Predictions

1. Kentucky (AP ranked 4th): Kentucky has the most talent since their 1996 team which is considered by many to be the best college basketball team ever assembled. They are by far the most improved team in the league, and in the country. Patrick Patterson was picked by the coaches as Preseason SEC Player of the Year, while John Wall has been picked by many as Preseason NATIONAL Player of the Year. Demarcus Cousins is also a likely lottery pick in next year's NBA draft, but might only be the third Wildcat picked. We could go on and on about this roster all the way down to the bottom, but there's 11 other teams to talk about. (#1 Seed, NCAA)

2. Tennessee (AP ranked 10th): Seniors Wayne Chism, Tyler Smith, Bobby Maze, and JP Prince make the Volunteers one of the most experienced team in the country and also return a super sophomore from the bluegrass state in Scotty Hopson. UT could find itself as a top 10 team and a #1 or 2 seed in March and they'll get thier chance at #1 ranked Kansas on January 10th, but the Volunteers couldn't even beat Kentucky LAST year in two tries. It will certainly be a much tougher task to do so this year, but at least Jodie Meeks is gone... (#2 Seed, NCAA)

3. South Carolina: PG Devan Downey passed up the NBA to return for another season in Columbia. Downey vs. Wall will be one of the best individual matchups in the entire country this season. They should find themselves in the top 15 when it's all said and done. (#4 Seed, NCAA)

4. Vanderbilt: The Commodores' return their star Center, A.J. Ogilvy, from last season and all the Internet rumors (from UNC and Vandy boards) say that they beat North Carolina on Sunday in a secret scrimmage by double digits. We'll see for sure how good Vandy is in early season regular season games vs. Cincinnati and Missouri. (#7 Seed, NCAA)

5. Florida: Billy Donovan's program has slipped since their back to back National Titles 2 years ago. Still, it shows how good the SEC (especially the East division) is with a team only a few years removed from a National Championship picked by many to finish 5th in the division. (#1 Seed, NIT)

6. Georgia: It's gonna be a rough year for first year head coach Mark Fox, although the Bulldogs will still be improved from last year. (SEC tourney, 1st round loss)



That my friends, is a breakdown of the best division in all of college basketball. Hope everybody enjoyed picking on the SEC while it was down. Tomorrow I'll break down the Western Division.