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Nice Bow to put on the Season

CardHack

Four-Star Poster
May 29, 2001
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1. The two sacks allowed against Pitt are the only sacks allowed back to the Miami game. Clean slates against BC, Clemson, Stanford and in Lexington Saturday. Outstanding work from Richard Owens in juggling the offensive line and working around a beat up group. And for Renato Brown to step up in addition to Monroe Mills who at times looks like he can't run. Michael Gonzalez was the constant all year at Left Guard and I hope he gets some postseason All-ACC recognition for it.

2. A lot is being made about how you manage NIL with Isaac Brown and Duke Watson but I'd add this...they have to keep Chris Barclay intact. They had to fend off Tennessee in the offseason and he will have no less suitors this year. And if there is any question you should carry at least Four RBs into camp you see why you have to have had that at minimum this year. It sorted itself out perfectly.

3. If there was a stat for maintaining composure and staying out of the types of extracurricular sideline activity that UK has engaged in under Stoops...we'd have dominated in that category. It was funny seeing Bell pulling Isaac Brown towards the huddle and out of the middle of their defense trying to goon him on the UK sideline.

The body language from UK was parts frustration and resignation; rewatching big chunks of the game I can tell you without any hesitation that Walker just went through the motions like he was in an All Star game and was trying to get to the finish line healthy.

4. We'll certainly see optouts for the Bowl, but I'm betting a lot of seniors you see defensively play in the front seven. Guys like Ramon, Griffith, Guerrard, Konga and Tramel Logan. Secondary we'll probably be light. I can't imagine Gillotte, Quincy Riley or Corey Thornton play and you'd think the same of Shough and Ja'Corey Brooks offensively.

5. Lastly, you can tell it's College Football Silly Season when a "Marrow to Louisville" rumor hits the Internet leaked out from a UK source. Marrow--and Stoops--play the Calipari game of wrestling more money out of Barnhart every postseason than they're worth. I don't buy it for a handful or reasons as it applies to us, not the least of which it's clear there is a commitment to recruit out of the Portal far more than the high school ranks; while I'd love to have a resource to pull the types of DTs they have out of Detroit the last seven or eight years, it doesn't fit our current Program MO at all. Beyond that, I've never been impressed with UK's TE production despite having some fairly regarded TEs out of HS.
 
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The best thing about having this as the last regular season game is that Kentucky can do nothing but stew in their ass kicked misery for a whole year. Not even a bowl game to try and make themselves feel better. Too sweet.
The only real complaint I have about Saturday is that they should have scored 50. Isaac beat Weaver badly on the wheel route that Shough missed and drifted out of bounds at the 9 on the drive Bell was called for going out of the back of the endzone.
 
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The only real complaint I have about Saturday is that they should have scored 50. Isaac beat Weaver badly on the wheel route that Shough missed and drifted out of bounds at the 9 on the drive Bell was called for going out of the back of the endzone.
From what I've seen from kentucky fans is most of them realize the final 41 - 14 score wasn't even that close.
 
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The fallout at sUcK is just beginning recruits that have been committed are dropping their commitment and going elsewhere. Some of those commitments were pretty highly ranked. I guess with the uncertainty of Stoops returning and a losing season in year 11 throws a big cloud over their program. It couldn’t of happened to a better fan base.
 
A miss opportunity is my best way to describe.

Kentucky is a bad spot. This was their best roster talent wise according to everyone. NIL wasn’t their issue they got who they wanted.

Once the SEC expanded and eliminated divisions they were doomed. Their schedule isn’t manageable. Their schedule next year is full of teams on the rise. It is hard to imagine them threading that needle.
 
I hope everyone does me the favor of not turning this into a UK thread, but I'll put a bow on that by saying...the fact is they had Auburn coming into Lexington playing bad football back three years, Vanderbilt who while improved still finished sub.-500 and South Carolina when they came to Lexington had just come off a really ugly come from behind win at home against Old Dominion. Florida had their biggest win of the year over a P4 team and that's with the privilege of having Florida State on the schedule. If anyone could gripe about SEC scheduling it was Vanderbilt who got the two weakest teams on their schedule on the road but the rest was a ranked juggernaut.

You don't get to hide behind your Ole Miss, Tennessee, and Texas trips and be non-competitive at home against the rest of your schedule ironically against everybody else but Georgia? SEC expansion and going Division less doesn't have anything to do with that. UK has, does and always will end up sub.500 in the SEC because they don't beat the teams they should beat.
 
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