Justin Rowland Ranks UK's 2016 football opponents

[Steelers2012]

Cats Illustrated publisher Justin Rowland has ranked UK's 2016 football games by difficulty. He ranks Louisville as UK's 3rd toughest game, behind Bama and Tennessee, and ahead of (in order) Florida, Georgia, Miss. St., Missouri, South Carolina, Vandy, Southern Miss., New Mexico State, and Austin Peay. Below are his thoughts on the Louisville game:

3. Kentucky at Louisville, Nov. 26, Louisville, Ky.
It looked like Kentucky was sure to break their losing streak against Bobby Petrino last year, but the Cards came roaring back, powered by young quarterback Lamar Jackson.

Jackson returns and Kentucky has to prove they can slow him down. It won't be easy.

Louisville has continued to churn out NFL players but it seems like they find replacements. They'll be one of the better teams that Kentucky faces this year and this one's on the road.

It is a rivalry game and that adds an element of unpredictability, but an early Vegas betting line (way too early, by the way) had the Cards as a 17-point favorite in Papa John's Cardinal Stadium.

 

[wilkie01]

Louisville will win by 24+ points, write it down!

 

[fredburgcard]

An honest appraisal from a UK writer. Most of the posters on their board put the Cards down around Missouri and USCjr in degree of difficulty.

My only concern is if the Cards are coming off a big win at Houston they might overlook the kittens. If it is a noon start, which it probably will be, UofL might sleep walk through the first quarter. I don't want to have to come from three TDs down again.

More likely by Thanksgiving weekend UK will be a demoralized crew with a lame duck coach playing out the string.

 

[CATFANFOLIFE87]

I would've switched Florida and UL and that seems to be the prevailing opinion on the premium board. Not that Florida is substantially better but the Governor's cup has proven that there is no advantage to playing at home. The Swamp is one of the toughest places to play in the country. I don't think Florida has lost a game at home in September since before Meyer was coach

 

[Steelers2012]

I would've switched Florida and UL and that seems to be the prevailing opinion on the premium board. Not that Florida is substantially better but the Governor's cup has proven that there is no advantage to playing at home. The Swamp is one of the toughest places to play in the country. I don't think Florida has lost a game at home in September since before Meyer was coach

FTR, Louisville holds a 9-4 advantage in CWS, and a 5-4 advantage in PJCS in the Governor's Cup Series.

 

[teamcanada]

I would've switched Florida and UL and that seems to be the prevailing opinion on the premium board. Not that Florida is substantially better but the Governor's cup has proven that there is no advantage to playing at home. The Swamp is one of the toughest places to play in the country. I don't think Florida has lost a game at home in September since before Meyer was coach

Since you haven't beaten Florida since Reagan was President I don't think it matters much where you play them.

 

[Mike'sMarbles]

More likely by Thanksgiving weekend UK will be a demoralized crew with a lame duck coach playing out the string.

I think you're spot on.

I can't get past the QB situation at UK. All that time and effort put into developing Harry Potter and he bolts. It's back to square one.

Stoops has no one but himself to blame for being in this situation. Barker should have played a few series every game last year. Instead, he got thrown in at the end of the year and was pretty ineffectual from what I saw.

Not that I expect Barker to ever be a world beater, but putting him in next year is like starting a freshman QB and that doesn't work too well in the SEC. And, UK really has nowhere else to turn when Barker falters.

 

[Jay Reimenschneider]

I would've switched Florida and UL and that seems to be the prevailing opinion on the premium board. Not that Florida is substantially better but the Governor's cup has proven that there is no advantage to playing at home. The Swamp is one of the toughest places to play in the country. I don't think Florida has lost a game at home in September since before Meyer was coach

Excuse us for not putting a lot of stock
in what is said on your board....."premium" or not.

 

[Senore2006]

The QB situation is also where my mind hits the giant mudhole of UK fan expectations. Has any head coach ever recruited fewer QB's? To me, it illustrates the absolute incompetence of their young fat coach. Granted, Petrino - and UofL in general - is in a freaky sweathog category of shameless QB recruiting. But it is like in baseball where you can change a shortstop to any position on the field, basically, owing to athleticism required at the position, defensively. Not only is a QB the most important position on a team at any level, but it is also composed of fantastic athletes unless your sole interest is in having upright white non-running throwers as your ideal template.

The utter stupidity of his recruiting is frankly mind-blowing, no matter how many of Jauk's decimal points they might accrue. It's why he won't be there much longer unless he hits paydirt on some transfer. He never gave himself a chance.

 

[gocds]

The QB situation is also where my mind hits the giant mudhole of UK fan expectations. Has any head coach ever recruited fewer QB's? To me, it illustrates the absolute incompetence of their young fat coach. Granted, Petrino - and UofL in general - is in a freaky sweathog category of shameless QB recruiting. But it is like in baseball where you can change a shortstop to any position on the field, basically, owing to athleticism required at the position, defensively. Not only is a QB the most important position on a team at any level, but it is also composed of fantastic athletes unless your sole interest is in having upright white non-running throwers as your ideal template.

The utter stupidity of his recruiting is frankly mind-blowing, no matter how many of Jauk's decimal points they might accrue. It's why he won't be there much longer unless he hits paydirt on some transfer. He never gave himself a chance.

I happen to believe that truly talented qbs do not want to go into a system that doesn't really value their talents. The cayuts have put all of their hopes into kids from smaller schools in the state. That isn't saying that those kids cannot be talented enough to play at uahkay but I believe it's apparent that their coaching staff has a problem evaluating true qb talent. Their lack of talent at this most valued position is so obvious however their minions cannot see this "forest for all of the trees".

GO CARDS - BEAT EVERYBODY!!! God Bless America!!!

 

[teamcanada]

They can cry all the want about how bad Towles was but, Stoops was at practice every day. There is a reason why he never played Barker at all until the team imploded on Stoops last year.

 

[Senore2006]

This year is going to be a prolonged existence inside Comedy Central, lol.

 

[mwatson61]

The funny thing, they can't afford to fire Porky for a couple more seasons thanks to Brainfart and his wisdom.

 

[The Public Enemy]

Their ceiling is 5 wins...

 

[HedleyLamarr]

Southern Mississippi is their most critical game. Shannon Dawson takes over a very talented offense, and he is going against a team he knows extremely well. If UK loses that game, heads will explode in the UK fan base. After that, USC is next most critical. If Muschamp toughens up their defense, and mostly runs the ball, he'll do what Spurrier failed to do the past two years. Lose those two, start 1-5, finish 3-9. That's their floor.

 

[CATFANFOLIFE87]

I believe it's apparent that their coaching staff has a problem evaluating true qb talent

You may have heard of a guy named Mac Jones. He's a QB that committed to UK as a two star when he was a sophomore and is now on the path of achieving Rivals top 100 status and a possible 5th star after winning MVP of the Orlando and Atlanta RCS stops and going on to win MVP of the Rivals Quarterback Challenge matching the top QBs nationally from the 2017 and 2018 classes.

Gunnar Hoak and Stephen Johnson aren't chopped liver either. Hoak was an ESPN 4 star and Johnson was a point short of 4 star status on ESPN as well.

 

[The Public Enemy]

You may have heard of a guy named Mac Jones. He's a QB that committed to UK as a two star when he was a sophomore and is now on the path of achieving Rivals top 100 status and a possible 5th star after winning MVP of the Orlando and Atlanta RCS stops and going on to win MVP of the Rivals Quarterback Challenge matching the top QBs nationally from the 2017 and 2018 classes.

Gunnar Hoak and Stephen Johnson aren't chopped liver either. Hoak was an ESPN 4 star and Johnson was a point short of 4 star status on ESPN as well.

That nice but remember "Star" rating mean little in regard to QB...Jeff Driskell was a "5*" QB...Carson Wentz wasn't even recruited..who better....

 

[teamcanada]

Their ceiling is 5 wins...

I think they could get 6. The 3 out out of Conference foes. Vandy, USC & Missouri

 

[The Public Enemy]

I think they could get 6. The 3 out out of Conference foes. Vandy, USC & Missouri

On "Football Talent" maybe...Sideline Coach...Nope...

 

[Jay Reimenschneider]

If they "get 6" they'll be even more insufferable than they already are. They set a very low bar for success over there.

 

[Jay Reimenschneider]

You may have heard of a guy named Mac Jones. He's a QB that committed to UK as a two star when he was a sophomore and is now on the path of achieving Rivals top 100 status and a possible 5th star after winning MVP of the Orlando and Atlanta RCS stops and going on to win MVP of the Rivals Quarterback Challenge matching the top QBs nationally from the 2017 and 2018 classes.

Gunnar Hoak and Stephen Johnson aren't chopped liver either. Hoak was an ESPN 4 star and Johnson was a point short of 4 star status on ESPN as well.

LOLOLOL!!! You guys never disappoint!

 

[The Public Enemy]

If they "get 6" they'll be even more insufferable than they already are. They set a very low bar for success over there.

They are not getting 6 wins....just remember the Vandy In Game Coaching...enough said...

 

[SchmidtyNole]

I would've switched Florida and UL and that seems to be the prevailing opinion on the premium board. Not that Florida is substantially better but the Governor's cup has proven that there is no advantage to playing at home. The Swamp is one of the toughest places to play in the country. I don't think Florida has lost a game at home in September since before Meyer was coach

Well, we play Florida and Louisville too and I can tell you the consensus among our fans is that Louisville will be a tougher game than Florida will be. Not that Florida can't beat us in a Rivalry game, but Florida has problems Offensively that they haven't fixed in years. They scored 2 points against us last year. Louisville is more balanced in terms of having a good offense with Lamar Jackson and being solid defensively.

 

[The Public Enemy]

Well, we play Florida and Louisville too and I can tell you the consensus among our fans is that Louisville will be a tougher game than Florida will be. Not that Florida can't beat us in a Rivalry game, but Florida has problems Offensively that they haven't fixed in years. They scored 2 points against us last year. Louisville is more balanced in terms of having a good offense with Lamar Jackson and being solid defensively.

You will never get them to admit that..fact is going into 2016 I feel we are a legit Top 15 team...main issue is playing in the same division as two of the Top 5 teams going into 2016

 

[teamcanada]

You may have heard of a guy named Mac Jones. He's a QB that committed to UK as a two star when he was a sophomore and is now on the path of achieving Rivals top 100 status and a possible 5th star after winning MVP of the Orlando and Atlanta RCS stops and going on to win MVP of the Rivals Quarterback Challenge matching the top QBs nationally from the 2017 and 2018 classes.

Gunnar Hoak and Stephen Johnson aren't chopped liver either. Hoak was an ESPN 4 star and Johnson was a point short of 4 star status on ESPN as well.

Towles and Barker were 4 stars too? How did that work out for you? Point being this isn't basketball where these guys can just run out and play. In football they have to be coached up.

 

[The Public Enemy]

Towles and Barker were 4 stars too? How did that work out for you? Point being this isn't basketball where these guys can just run out and play. In football they have to be coached up.

Barker was borderline Top 100...coming out of HS had a higher rating then Jackson...which QB would you rather have....

 

[Senore2006]

You may have heard of a guy named Mac Jones. He's a QB that committed to UK as a two star when he was a sophomore and is now on the path of achieving Rivals top 100 status and a possible 5th star after winning MVP of the Orlando and Atlanta RCS stops and going on to win MVP of the Rivals Quarterback Challenge matching the top QBs nationally from the 2017 and 2018 classes.

Gunnar Hoak and Stephen Johnson aren't chopped liver either. Hoak was an ESPN 4 star and Johnson was a point short of 4 star status on ESPN as well.

To be honest, the only way we have heard of Jones is from you guys. Sounds like you've really been "coaching him up", however.

Isn't he being recruited by Bama, A&M and others and has said how interested he was in their offers? Do you really think UK lands this kid? So who do you figure he will throw too? Is their anyone there who can catch a pass? Hoak I believe could be a player, But once again, who will he throw to that can catch? Plus, isn;t he one of those dreadful transfers? How low will you all stoops for players, man?

The fact is, outside of maybe Westry, no one has ever heard of any Kentucky players, lol. Anywhere.

 

[Mike'sMarbles]

CFFL87 using these guys' star ratings as proof that they're not "chopped liver" is telling. How much experience do either of these guys have going up against SEC defenses?

What I see is a near-rookie QB in Barker with some very questionable unknowns backing him up.

It's back to square one for UK. Not what you'd want to see as a UK fan going into year 4 of the Stoops Regime.

 

[rockycard]

You may have heard of a guy named Mac Jones. He's a QB that committed to UK as a two star when he was a sophomore and is now on the path of achieving Rivals top 100 status and a possible 5th star after winning MVP of the Orlando and Atlanta RCS stops and going on to win MVP of the Rivals Quarterback Challenge matching the top QBs nationally from the 2017 and 2018 classes.

Gunnar Hoak and Stephen Johnson aren't chopped liver either. Hoak was an ESPN 4 star and Johnson was a point short of 4 star status on ESPN as well.

4* Patrick Towles says hi....

Who are Gunnar Hoak and Stephen Johnson? You guys either pick the most overrated players (going by your star fascination), or your coaches are just pitiful coaching them.... I think it's quite a bit of both

 

[American Male]

Their ceiling is 5 wins...

MORE like 3 wins!!!

 

[Rnoggin]

I think you're spot on.

I can't get past the QB situation at UK. All that time and effort put into developing Harry Potter and he bolts. It's back to square one.

Stoops has no one but himself to blame for being in this situation. Barker should have played a few series every game last year. Instead, he got thrown in at the end of the year and was pretty ineffectual from what I saw.

Not that I expect Barker to ever be a world beater, but putting him in next year is like starting a freshman QB and that doesn't work too well in the SEC. And, UK really has nowhere else to turn when Barker falters.

Pretty ineffectual? He was 1for11 for minus 1 yard in the second half in his last game. Did you watch their Spring game? Their jr college qb ran all over the first team defense and his not even close to our qb who crushed them. I could see them winning only 3 games. They are counting on Barker and the 400 lb 8 star dlineman. Hey Hey Hey. Stoops is a defensive coach and they didn't game plan for Jackson. Their lines are going to be average at best with no depth. The only thing that has them excited is their third new set of offensive coaches. It's a lot easier to poach coaches from non power 5 conferences or our fired rejects. Midnight Madness cant get to Lexington soon enough.

 

[Ipartiedwithhopgood]

They will need to make a lot of big plays in the turnover game and special teams to be competitive. In other words they need luck.

 

[Dave Lackford]

They can cry all the want about how bad Towles was but, Stoops was at practice every day. There is a reason why he never played Barker at all until the team imploded on Stoops last year.

Towles was only a third of the problem. Their wide outs suck. Maybe the worst unit I've ever seen. Boom can't catch either. Their OL played poorly as well. So overall that offense was garbage. If Towles puts together a good enough season at BC this year and winds up getting drafted, that will tell you a lot about his time at UK.

 

[zipp]

I recall watching Southern Miss teams when we were playing them on a regular basis. What always struck me was how athletic they were/are. They had unheralded talent that was available to them because of where they were located in the deep South.

For the hell of it, I looked at the make-up of their last four recruiting classes. Assuming I tallied everything correctly, they signed 97 kids the last four years (2013-2016) according to Rivals. All but NINE of their signees were from the following states: Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas, and California.

I'll guarantee anyone they're getting some talent in those states. LPT won't beat them because they have significantly better players.

LPT Football: As long as they're not as talented as Eastern Kentucky...

 

[Cue Card]

It's back to square one for UK. Not what you'd want to see as a UK fan going into year 4 of the Stoops Regime

Not a kittykat fan, so I'm OK with that. I wasn't wishing for it, but I expected it. I mean after all, we are talking about UofK football here. The more things change, the more they stay the same when speaking of their doormat football program.

 

[ClockCalamity]

Towles was only a third of the problem.

Yep

Their wide outs suck. Maybe the worst unit I've ever seen. Boom can't catch either.

Yep & Yep

Their OL played poorly as well. So overall that offense was garbage.

Yep

Towles puts together a good enough season at BC this year and winds up getting drafted, that will tell you a lot about his time at UK.

Not a chance in hell. Towles wasn't all of the problem, but he's not even a decent Div I QB, much less an NFL QB.

 

[ClockCalamity]

To be honest, the only way we have heard of Jones is from you guys. Sounds like you've really been "coaching him up", however.

Isn't he being recruited by Bama, A&M and others and has said how interested he was in their offers? Do you really think UK lands this kid? So who do you figure he will throw too? Is their anyone there who can catch a pass? Hoak I believe could be a player, But once again, who will he throw to that can catch? Plus, isn;t he one of those dreadful transfers? How low will you all stoops for players, man?

The fact is, outside of maybe Westry, no one has ever heard of any Kentucky players, lol. Anywhere.

Yep. That's a fact. We're UofL 10 years ago... Guess there is hope for everyone.

 

[Ipartiedwithhopgood]

We're UofL 10 years ago... Guess there is hope for everyone.

The UofL of 10 years ago had roughly 10 years of success prior to it. That foundation went off the rails, but the prior success was not a distant memory.

UofL snapshot of struggles in the modern era were a couple years of time during two short coaching regimes.

The UK plight has been constant for decades involving every coach, with no interruptions of success at any time really, making UK not really like UofL 10 yrs ago.

UK's hope will begin when the next new hire walks through the door. Maybe he'll be the one.

 

[teamcanada]

Yep. That's a fact. We're UofL 10 years ago... Guess there is hope for everyone.

The Louisville of 10 years ago were playing in the Orange Bowl. UK can't even get to 6 wins to make a crappy bowl , which is the minimum a school from a P5 conference should be able to do.

 

[Dave Lackford]

Yep

Yep & Yep

Yep

Not a chance in hell. Towles wasn't all of the problem, but he's not even a decent Div I QB, much less an NFL QB.

I don't know man, he has NFL size, a big arm, and decent mobility. If his receivers catch a few of his deep passes last year he wins games against Fl and Auburn and his stats are a lot better. I think he can play well enough to slide into the 7th round.