Kentucky Sports Radio
[Moderated by Matt Jones]
[Moderated by Matt Jones]
SEC EASTERN DIVISION FOOTBALL STANDINGS
Florida 7-1, 9-1
Kentucky 4-3, 6-4
Tennessee 3-3, 7-3
Georgia 4-4, 7-4
S. Carolina 3-5, 5-5
Vanderbilt 1-6, 4-7
Yes, dear reader, you read it correctly. It is the middle of November, and Rich Brooks’ Kentucky Wildcats sit second in the SEC East. Putting aside for the moment the obvious implication that the apocalypse may well be upon us, I couldn’t be any happier with the surprising fortunes of our beloved football Cats. Of course, I am sure that the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce is also pleased that Florida has clinched the division, as one could only imagine the swathe of destruction that would descend upon Atlanta if Kentucky actually made it to the SEC Championship game. Actually, it would probably have much the same outcome as the last march of a blue clad army from the north to the city. (Shout out to my fellow history majors. Holla.) Anyway, a couple of thoughts on the heels of a glorious Kentucky – Vandy game which saw Kentucky almost outscore the high temperature, and the teams accumulate one total yard per fan in attendance.
Rafael Little, the man
Rafael Little made his triumphant return to the field against the ‘Dores. Little had missed the last several weeks with a knee injury. With that, and with the depth Kentucky had developed during his absence with Smith and Dixon, it seemed obvious that Kentucky would work Little slowly and conservatively back into the game plan. Naturally, this being the football season that logic forgot, he ran the ball twenty times and caught it another eight. Of course, when he caps the hundred yard mark in both rushing and receiving, it is a little tough to limit his touches. In thinking about Kentucky’s bowl prospects, I kind of hope, for Little’s sake, that the Cats do not end up in the Music City Bowl. I am not sure Rafael will be welcomed warmly in Nashville due to how he has treated Vandy over the last two years. In the last two meetings, Little has run, caught and returned for 621 yards and four touchdowns. If my math skills are correct, that means that Rafael has toted the football for just over a third of a mile against Vandy the last two seasons. I think this also works out to approximately three megajoules, though I was never that good at the metric system. Anyway, the bottom line is, Rafael Little is a poor man’s Reggie Bush, and we are lucky to have the chance to see him play. This brings me to my next point.
Is there an Arby’s roast beef sale going on?
There were impressive numbers everywhere Saturday. Woodson threw for 450 yards and 4 touchdowns. (Named Offensive player of the week in the Conference.) Burton had nearly 200 yards receiving and 2 touchdowns. We have already discussed Little’s heroics above. With all that said, there was one equally distressing number. 52,235. That was the total head count in Commonwealth on Saturday. With that paltry showing, Kentucky is now averaging 57, 974 per home game this season. Assuming this number stays about where it is, Kentucky will have its worst home attendance average since 1997. The real question is why attendance is lagging to this degree. For the first time since 1999, Kentucky has a competitive team that is going to go to a bowl game. You want offense? Look no further. Kentucky is fourth in the Conference in total offense, averaging 26.5 points per game. You want to see the ball in the air? Come on down. Kentucky is second in the Conference in passing offense at 264.7 yards per game. You want to see stars? We got ‘em. Andre Woodson leads the Conference in passing yards per game. Keenan Burton leads the conference in all purpose yards per game, and has, along with Rafael Little, helped put the Cats at first in the Conference in punt returns and second in kickoff returns. Burton also leads one of the best receiving duos in the SEC, as he and Dickie Lyons, Jr. have combined for 18 touchdowns. Still, every Saturday, the corners of the stadium are vacant.
No rant from me, or any other guy out there with access to some form of media, is going to persuade people to show up at a game if they don’t want to. However, I will rant on nonetheless. These guys deserve more. The UK players, through no fault of their own, have had the misfortune of exhausting their eligibility during a dark time for the program, even by UK standards. The Cats have been hammered by scholarship reductions and the cloud of probation. They have been decimated by freak injury after freak injury. They have been led by a man who has been considered a punch line to almost everyone outside the walls of their locker room. With all of this, they persevered. Taking beating after beating in the toughest conference in America, they never quit, and they have never shamed their University or their state. Now, after doggedly trudging through this deep water, at the point of their reward, it seems that a portion of their fans have quit on them. Matt McCutchan, a senior who can barely walk throughout the season, but who patches it together to get on the field every Saturday, deserves more. Lamar Mills, who has battled back from a devastating knee injury to be an anchor at defensive tackle, deserves more. Rich Brooks, the straight shooting, no nonsense head coach, will never admit that it bothers him, but deserves more as well. More credit, more support, more fans. The Kentucky faithful have long bragged about the loyalty of its fan base. How Commonwealth could draw fans no matter what. It is time to prove it. The Cats have gotten better. The fans need to show that they have noticed.
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November 13th, 2006 at 12:36 pm
Well said, Duncan. Let’s take it to the streets.
November 13th, 2006 at 12:45 pm
Brother i have been saying it forever. Rich Brooks can produce a winner if given a chance. A chance means getting his players into the system and in the upper class
(Jr and Sr)His first recruiting year {HIS first} was Wesley Woodyard class. I know he recruited the year before that but that was guys that Guy Morris had been
recruiting and Rich Brooks honored that class by not pulling their Scholarships. Given a chance he will fix the defense, Mike Archer is a good Defense Coordinator of a
3/4 scheme not a 4/3 guy. hey i love this site and info from the site keep up the good work.
November 13th, 2006 at 12:47 pm
I agree about the fans, we can no longer say that we support our football Cats no matter what.
November 13th, 2006 at 12:48 pm
What happened to Alphonso Smith in this game? I know that Little was huge and he is the best player on our team, but my gosh, Smith had played awesome the 2 games before this one. I think he deserves a few carries against LA-Monroe.
November 13th, 2006 at 12:55 pm
Excellent Duncan … excellent!!!!
November 13th, 2006 at 12:59 pm
Rant on Duncan, rant on!
November 13th, 2006 at 1:02 pm
Fonzie Smith was dinged up and Little was playing too well to pull him out.
Duncan, great read.
November 13th, 2006 at 1:03 pm
Just think what we could have done with a tad fewer injuries (especially to Rafael before USC game…
Hmmm.
November 13th, 2006 at 1:04 pm
I am saying all the bull biscuit crap talk about Brooks should end.
If it doesnt we know who has the agenda/.
November 13th, 2006 at 1:04 pm
oh and Duncan.
Nice writeup./
*applause*
November 13th, 2006 at 1:05 pm
You are right on my man!!!!!
Note from multidaily reader,,,, we need a new poll on the right side of the website,,, that one is a little outdated..
Go Big Blue!!!
November 13th, 2006 at 1:29 pm
I can’t stand how empty the stands are! The worst is when we have extra tickets for the game and can’t find someone to go. It’s pathetic. Kentucky has a pretty good team, beat georgia, and STILL couldn’t fill the stands? The fans straightup suck this year. Rich Brooks is a good coach and does things the right way. Joker Phillips offensive gets better each week. Archer is the weak link. His defense has talent, but still sucks. A lot of it has to do with the secondary (cornerbacks) and the inability to get a pass rush. I don’t know if its coaching or injuries. Like someone above mentioned, I agree that Archer is better as a 3-4 guy and not a 4-3 guy. I have nothing against him, but think he should be replaced. Its the thing that can get the defense fired up for next year and be a lot more competitive. But I will give credit for one thing… the defense has always been pretty good with the “bend but don’t break” thing. It definitely has been there the last two weeks making plays in the redzone.
November 13th, 2006 at 1:32 pm
I ranted about it after the Georgia game I drove 6 hours to see. And thank God I did. What a victory.
November 13th, 2006 at 1:41 pm
#4, Little was on fire and Smith needed to rest his shoulder. He came in late to test the shoulder and everything checked out OK. I expect to see a heavy dose of #29 against ULM and rest Little’s knee some. Dixon’s hammy bothered him again some.
November 13th, 2006 at 1:50 pm
great, great, great write-up Dunc. Can’t be overstated enough.
November 13th, 2006 at 2:17 pm
This is without a doubt one of the best stories written about UK football in quite some time. Great job.
November 13th, 2006 at 2:58 pm
I was expecting a much better turnout this weekend after the excitement of the UGA game, but maybe we can blame it on the weather. Great win for the Cats. I do have a few questions though. First, why is Micah Johnson only on the field for kickoff and kickoff return? He’s much too good of an athlete not to be on the field. Also, I said it last week and I’ll say it again, Warford isn’t good enough to be on the field. Finally, I’m worried Archer isn’t going to be fired. Vandy’s offense was predictable to me even through my bourbon haze. Get the ball to Earl Bennet was their gameplan from the start and they didn’t waver and we didn’t stop it. If I produced as poorly at my job as Archer does as his, I would expect to be fired. Looking forward to seeing the new look ULM Indians/Warhawks.
November 13th, 2006 at 3:16 pm
Warford is a good player. But I don’t know whats up with him. He played at my High School and was a great player. But he played offense a lot more than defense. He looks like he’s lost some speed to me. And his tackling has been weak in one on one situations. But at the same time, I’ve seen him come from across the field to make some hustle plays. He’s a true freshman and doesn’t have a ton of experience at cornerback…but I don’t think Kentucky has much better options. But next year this experience will really pay off and he will be a very good cornerback in my estimation.
November 13th, 2006 at 3:34 pm
Warford and Lindley were the best corners on the field Saturday. When Warford gave up catches he was right there. He did miss
a couple of tackles, but so did everybody else on defense, including McClinton and Woodyard. Booker is awful, why not
mention him? EJ Adams looked good too.
Micah Johnson isn’t getting time because Braxton Kelley is playing well. You could put him at DE or DT, but he hasn’t been
practicing there, so he doesn’t know the assignments.
November 13th, 2006 at 4:49 pm
Ok, stop the drama about the stands. This is the first watchable season in a long while. I’m a diehard UK football guy, but you’ve got to understand that the average fan wants to see a competitive team. So this year, we’re very competitive and we’re surpassing expectations(beat LM and we’ll be at my top end projection for this year). Next year you’ll see the benefits in the stands, as long as we stay at this level or beyond. 52,000 is still a lot of fans on a cold, wet afternoon in November with a team that has seen a lot of struggles.
Little is simply the man. He completely opens up the offense for guys like Burton. And it was great to see Woodson have a great day after all the hard work he’s put in.
The defense gave up a ton of yards, looked like they had no idea how to tackle and just about tried to give the game away BUT they made plays. Those two interceptions were huge. And it was nice to see them be able to have a part in the victory for a second straight week. Good job guys.
But please, Archer has never been a good coordinator. What he has been is a guy with great connections that always seems to land the next job. Scheme-wise our defense is horrendous. There are zero creative blitz schemes to cover up the fact that we get no pass rush from our front four. We basically rush four and play zone. That’s so incredibly easy to pick apart you see guys putting up career numbers every week. I watch mid level D1 teams that bring crazy pressure from all over to cover up a weakness in the secondary and I think to myself, why can’t we do something like that.
This team is a defensive coordinator away from being a 2nd tier SEC program. That’s it, a guy that can scheme to cover up weakness and teach the kids the fundamentals of tackling. It’s a shame our guys on defense don’t have that kind of leader.
November 13th, 2006 at 6:20 pm
TomS, very well said. Let’s hope Saturday is not only the seniors last game at the Wealth but also the beginning of the Mike Archer farewell tour.
As for Warford, I hope he does turn into a solid corner, but I have doubts about size.
Also, I know Micah hasn’t been practicing at DE and doesn’t know the schemes, but the schemes don’t work and has Woodyard has showed us, athleticism does. Micah needs to be on the field if not only for the same reasons Warford is.
November 13th, 2006 at 10:56 pm
I’m pretty confident in the coaches ability to grade talent in practice and I’m sure if Micah Johnson was playing well enough to be on the field, he would be on the field. And about Warford.. Who gets put into the game if he doesnt?? We are very young at corner and the only way to get better is to be stuck out into the game. I think considering his experience he is doing a great job covering and making plays.
And about the fans…. I’m not sure how many people here watch football on Thursday nights, but I believe we have some of the WORST fans in the nation.. Yeah, we might show up in numbers, but most of our fans dont have the slightest clue how to fire a team up during the game or make it tough on opposing teams. We barely can get off our feet when our D has a team 3rd and long and most of the we make the most noise when our WILDCATS are on OFFENSE… I believe UK should post “fan etiquette” on the jumbo tron before each game and also pass it out as you enter the gate to all the late arrivers.. And on the extreme side I believe they should do away with bleachers and make everyone stand all game. Why shouldnt Commonwealth be a larger version of the Eruption Zone?? I just believe this school has a long way to go to achieve the crowd support from its fans. And this cant be blamed on the fact that our team hasnt been good.. Who watched the RUTGERS game?? Were there fans not amazing? And I won’t even start with basketball where the average age in attendance has to be somewhere around 70??
Anyways i’m very proud of this team and I have been behind Brooks since Day 1. A real fan could realize the task he was trying to tackle and know that it was going to take awhile to dig out of a huge hole. But now we’re finally seeing the results of the hard work both BROOKS and BARNHART have put in. Now lets finish this season out and win a bowl game!
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