Kentucky Sports Radio
[Moderated by Matt Jones, Drew Franklin and Tyler Thompson]
[Moderated by Matt Jones, Drew Franklin and Tyler Thompson]
After Saturday’s surprise against the #6 team in the country, I think it’s time that we actually quit our fretting and attempt to look objectively on how the football season has gone thus far. 1-4 doesn’t look good for Joker, and winning more than 4 games seems nearly impossible. On the macro level we sound terrible, but if you break down things on a micro level it really isn’t too bad.
- UK was beating #6 South Carolina at half with a true freshman getting his first real action. Kentucky has not rushed the ball well all year, but put up 120 rushing yards against the nation’s 8th ranked run defense. The Cats were the first team to score a rushing TD against South Carolina all year. At UK you have to believe in moral victories, and this is one of them. If you told me at the beginning of the year that we’d be leading by 10 at half against the #6 team in the country with Whitlow at QB, I’d be happy.
- Max Smith was at one point the SEC’s leading passer. I don’t care who is coaching, but when you’re most important and arguably best player isn’t in the lineup, it’s hard to win. It’s even harder when you’re playing South Carolina and Florida. Winning in the Swamp could have been in the realm of possibilities had Smith been able to play. Now Joker’s tenure all depends on two true freshman QBs.
- The Cats have the 4th youngest team in Division I. That’s something to consider.
- We lost to WKU. Yes we did not deserve to win that game at all, but they did have a game-tying TD in the final minute. Max Smith did throw 3 interceptions in the first quarter and a half. The game was also ended by a trick play on a two-point conversion in overtime. If that trick play didn’t work, would we be this mad at Joker?
- Rick Minter’s defense looked like something in the toilet at the beginning of the year and the coaches harped on needing time for young players to get comfortable on the field. It looks like that they were right for a change, holding Florida to only 3 points in the 1st quarter and keeping South Carolina to only 7 points in a half. Two of the best rushing teams in the SEC were slowed down by the Cats, after WKU and Kent State ran the ball where ever they wanted to. Minter’s defense is starting to work, and improvement is happening slowly but surely.
- The most embarrassing part of the season so far through September for me has been attendance at home games. I can handle losing, but I can’t handle seeing the stands this empty at Commonwealth. The team has shown us that their is a light at the end of the tunnel, but when nobody is there to watch them it makes things seem much worse than what they are.
This is what makes me most upset about this situation: When somebody tries to support Joker, an easy rebuttal is, “WE LOST TO WKU, YOU CAN’T LOSE TO WKU!” If that loss wasn’t there, it becomes much more difficult to argue against Joker. If only Antonio Andrews’ throwback failed.
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October 1st, 2012 at 8:34 pm
We have won 1 game, we will be lucky to win 2. We are back to where we were before Brooks. Joker needs to go.
October 1st, 2012 at 8:38 pm
Did you forget the UL but kicking, the shutout at Florida and several blowouts last year? Joker needs to be Fired ASAP!!!
October 1st, 2012 at 8:41 pm
yeah & that whole 30 point loss to vandy. & 50 point L to USC. & two 38 point Ls to UF & almost losing to WKU last year.
other than that he’s been pretty good.
October 1st, 2012 at 8:42 pm
Nice to pick out the highlights but the thing that is most important to remember is the coaching errors. Joker squandered 36 seconds at the end of the half that could put us up 24-7=coaching error. We were out scored by 31 points in the second half. South Carolina made adjustments we didn’t = coaching error. All this in one game. Don’t even get me started on Louisville Florida or WKU.
October 1st, 2012 at 8:43 pm
who cares, are the twins coming to UK?
October 1st, 2012 at 8:44 pm
Just because we played alright in the first half of that game doesn’t mean Joker should still be coach!! We have still Horton blown out by every team but WKU. Yes we got blown out by South Carolina as well you have to play two halves to win a game.
October 1st, 2012 at 8:44 pm
Got*
October 1st, 2012 at 8:45 pm
Nick, get a clue!! Your post is why we continue to accept losing football and bad decisions from Barnfart!! The game against USCjr wasn’t “close”…we lost by 3 TDs. Us hanging in 1st was only product of them playing poorly, not expecting mobile QB. WKU I’d only tip of the proverbial iceberg for Choker! This post blows..
October 1st, 2012 at 8:46 pm
Max Smith could not beat Western at home but you’re telling me that beating Florida in the Swamp could have been in the realm of possibilities with him? You’ve got to be kidding.
October 1st, 2012 at 8:50 pm
If we win the WKU game he’s not on the hot seat. Because we still have a slim chance to win 6 games and go to a Bowl. Now there is zero chance.
October 1st, 2012 at 8:50 pm
People won’t support a bad product and that’s what we have.
October 1st, 2012 at 8:54 pm
Anyone who states, “At UK you have to believe in moral victories” has stamped themselves as part of the problem.
Not everyone is happy with mediocrity as a goal, apparently you are. To each their own…
October 1st, 2012 at 8:56 pm
We are 1 and 4 and a complete joke to everyone else. This writer is an idiot if he really believes we’re not that bad.
October 1st, 2012 at 8:57 pm
Regardless if you like Joker or not, he is our coach. After this year, who knows, but in the present, he’s what we have. You don’t have to like it, but you need to back this team if you really are a fan. I want to win just as much as the next fan, but we have to play the hand we are dealt.
Joker is my coach and I support him.
Go Big Blue!
October 1st, 2012 at 8:58 pm
We have a ton of young 2 & 3 star players. The rest of the SEC has young 4 & 5 star players AND 4 & 5 star upperclassmen. We try to develop to no avail. The rest of the SEC reloads. The coaching errors speak volumes. Joker’s interviews are all canned responses and unmotivational. The radio call in show screens calls to protect the coach. You think attendance is bad now? Bring Joker back another year and see what happens.
October 1st, 2012 at 9:03 pm
Getting soft and forgetting about Louisville losses, getting routed by SEC last year…WOW!…short memory… Brooks won with a dummies-down schedule that The caretaker gave him plus Kragethorpe…Joker is losing with MB’s weak OOC schedule and to new U of L coach…Really?
October 1st, 2012 at 9:03 pm
I think if they had beaten WKU it would be very easy to say Joker hasn’t done enough. Louisville almost lost their next 3 games to far less superior opponents. As for the South Carolina game, if the game ended at half time then yeah it’d been great but they got this crazy lil’ thing where they play two more quarters. UK made zero adjustments and got their tail handed to them. If that gives a coach enough credit to keep his job then I hope you are never in charge of running any team. Fans aren’t going to continue to support year after year of failure. Deal with it.
October 1st, 2012 at 9:06 pm
Losing to WKU sealed Joker’s fate in my opinion. The Cats needed to beat WKU in order to have a reasonable chance at a winning season and bowl game. As a result of the WKU defeat, hope for a bowl has been lost at a very early juncture of the season. Fans don’t have anything to keep us interested for the remainder of the season. This results in lower attendance and lost revenue, and UK can’t overlook lost revenue. Also, many fans understandably consider a loss to WKU unacceptable under any circumstances.
October 1st, 2012 at 9:07 pm
If fans keep going to the games, Joker is back. Mitch only cares about attendance, not the W-L record. WKU means nothing except that Joker can’t coach.
October 1st, 2012 at 9:09 pm
A win against WKU would still not cure the issue that is facing the AD…. We could be 2-3 and the fans would still not be in the stadium… If we were more competitive with Louisville, would we have more butts in the seats? Not sure…. But as it stands 2-3 or 1-4, it doesn’t matter if we can only get 50,000 fans at the games.
October 1st, 2012 at 9:09 pm
This site has jumped the shark.
October 1st, 2012 at 9:10 pm
It keeps getting worse on this site. OK Nick, Lets use this example. Its the number 6 team in the nation and you’re playing a team that is always at the bottom of the conference or not far from it. Would you get fired up and play at your peak level.The answer is No !! The second half show you how much gap they’re is between Elite SEC teams and the cellar dwellers. (UK) !!And Max Smith is not the answer either.Somebody needs to show him where the Endzone is. Hey Max !! It has this huge object at the end on the field and it looks like a giant tuning fork.
October 1st, 2012 at 9:17 pm
this is about the biggest dumbass post i’ve ever read on here
October 1st, 2012 at 9:18 pm
Hypothetical questions about past events are pointless. Who cares how hot his seat would/would’ve been without the WKU loss? It happened, it can’t un-happen. It is what it is, and UK needs a new coach.
Joker needs to start reading Coach Cal’s Bounce Back book, because it’s about to become very relevant to him.
October 1st, 2012 at 9:21 pm
I’m backkkkkk!
October 1st, 2012 at 9:23 pm
Here we go again, more IGNORANT football posts on this site. This is getting to be ridiculous…on Saturday night’s call in show, Matt sounded like a little kid who got mad and took his toy and went home as people pointed out his lack of football knowledge. Now this crap. Have you guys not watched this football team play? And last year? And the year before? It is getting ridiculous, really ridiculous. A football person could tell you for hours what is wrong with Joker and his coaching ability…but you guys always want to work with hypotheticals and ethics, not football. Freaking give it up, it is over.
October 1st, 2012 at 9:28 pm
if he even wins 5 games and then is retained i will not renew my 4 tickets and many in my section feel the same.
October 1st, 2012 at 9:30 pm
Is our program in such a state that we as fans must be reduced to taking moral victories for leading at halftime? The game is 4 quarters long, and at the end of the day who leads at halftime means nothing. That is the type of thinking that keeps kentucky at the bottom of a cut throat conference. No other teams in the SEC are worried about moral victories, they are worried about wins and losses. I wish that things had been more successful for Joker, but using youth and an injured QB as reasons why we should keep him 1 more year are lunacy. Im not ready to forget how bad last year was, and how ugly this year began because of 1 half of decent play.
October 1st, 2012 at 9:34 pm
This problem is a lot deeper than losing to WKU. It goes back to Joker’s first game as head coach. Knowledgable football fans have seen the ineptitude since and have also been saying it was not going to get better. Stop being so stupid Nick, watch a lot of football, and you will begin to understand. Joker has taken a developing program and blown it apart. There will be a new coach. I don’t know why that is so hard to understand. Grow up and put some big boy football pants on because your knowledge is still in the diaper stage.
October 1st, 2012 at 9:35 pm
What??? We barely lost the 1st qtr to Florida, and won a half against USC. That’s your evidence that Joker’s our guy?? So who bought in to KSR, Mitch or Joker?
And quit using youth as an excuse. Joker’s not new to this program. If we’re young, it’s his fault. He’s in over his head and its evident each time we take the field.
October 1st, 2012 at 9:42 pm
I owned season tickets last season. I will never again attend a UK game and bring my son as long as Joker is coaching.
October 1st, 2012 at 9:44 pm
Really? We are 1-4. We’ve got a guy on here writing about how we beat USC lite for a half, and held Florida to 3 points in a quarter. Never mind the fact that Florida wins the game 38-0. Never mind the fact that UK lost the second half to USC lite 31-0. You see, down here in reality, there are two halves in football. Or better yet, 4 quarters. Smh.
October 1st, 2012 at 9:57 pm
There’ s something seriously wrong with a football program that does not have a vast majority of red-shirt seniors, seniors and juniors on the first unit. How many freshman and sophomores do Alabama, Oregon and LSU depend on to carry the load. Very few year in and year out. This is not like basketball where you can do like Cal has done with 5 – 6 young players. Too much need for a larger quantity of upperclassmen with experience and added strength with age in football. So the question is, what has Joker done to put himself in this position of having to play younger players. Simply put, he has run off good players that he himself recruited. No excuse for a head coach doing what he has done to the Kentucky football program.
October 1st, 2012 at 10:03 pm
Really we could have beaten Fla? We lost 38 to 0! 38 to 0! You have sold out big time. I wish more than anyone that Uk could be good but we are not even close to good. We beat Kent State and that is it and you are excited because SC slept through the first half and then went on to spank our butts after spotting us ten? Geeeez…..
October 1st, 2012 at 10:04 pm
I remember a Florida basketball player who bragged about how the Gators “won” the second half. We wound up beating them by 20 instead of thirty if IIRC. He was loudly, and rightfully made an object of blistering scorn by our fan base.
Bur in football, it’s moral victories that count!
Let’s not be that deluded Gator player.
Operation: Save Jokers Ass Has Arise!
Okay a little clumsy. I’ll work on it. But KSR will owe me royalties!
October 1st, 2012 at 10:06 pm
You know it’s bad when the students are no shows for SEC games.
October 1st, 2012 at 10:06 pm
Who bought out KSR? Matt Jones you are the next Catspause. Hate to see it happen, but I guess every man has his price.
October 1st, 2012 at 10:06 pm
Matt Jones is simply the best.
October 1st, 2012 at 10:12 pm
Nick, you have been drinking too much of the blue kool-aid. You have no clue. The FB program is a mess, plain and simple and we need changes, now.
October 1st, 2012 at 10:14 pm
Matt jones has forgotten where he started and now supports things he clearly knows is not true. This is his site and he allows this kind of post. Clearly UK football has suffered under Joker. Why does he expect his reading public to think things are okay? This is ridiculous.
October 1st, 2012 at 10:21 pm
For the love of all things holy, KSR can’t be serious with posts like this. Sunshine Pumpers.
October 1st, 2012 at 10:32 pm
Joker had too many bars he had to get over before the season started that he never had any hope of & was incapable of getting over. The season was over before it even started, it was just a matter of playing the games to make it official. The loss in revenue from season ticket sales along with the loss of the majority of the fan base made it almost impossible for Joker to be able to keep his job.
The fans along with Towles & UK future just got totally screwed getting his red shirt burned, and this will come back to haunt us.
October 1st, 2012 at 10:35 pm
Roush, you are a moron. Stop talking to Rashawn.
October 1st, 2012 at 10:53 pm
Wow, guy had an opinion. The record is not good and the Western loss stings badly. But how great were things REALLY under Coach Brooks? Look at the real picture from 06-10: The 2007 team was special (Mostly due to alot of overachieving players), but outside of Randall Cobb heroics from 08-10 we were really not good. what if the MTSU player isn’t tripped up at the 1 yard line in 08? Or if Arkansas doesn’t blow the two TD lead to UK that same year. And during that time Louisville was recovering from life after Bobby Petrino, Tennessee, Vandy(besides 08 Vandy who made that bowl) were at their lowest (UT hit bottom last year). Georgia and Auburn lost to UK in an incredibly weak 09 season for those programs.
The one thing I can give Brooks credit for is the way he got some of those kids to Overachieve. Joker and his staff have left alot of these kids down in that respect. But while we wish we were back to the Brooks era, realize that the Brooks era was a hell of a lot of luck. This program moves in cycles, and so long as we make sure to capitalize on the upswings,then we can mask the reality of UK football for just a little while longer.
October 1st, 2012 at 11:30 pm
BUT he did lose to WKU!!!
October 1st, 2012 at 11:38 pm
I love how some people try to rationalize Joker’s failures.
October 1st, 2012 at 11:56 pm
Rick Minters defense is undoubtedly one if the worst in college football.Talk about someone looking at UK football with blue tinted glasses,one has to wonder if the author of this piece had ever watched UK football this year ,or is confusing this pathetically coached team with one of the frat teams in the intramural football league.
October 2nd, 2012 at 1:21 am
Too your point #33 I remember Brooks during his last year on his radio show telling a caller just what you said. The caller asked about what it would take for UK to take anther step. His answer was he finally had the program where he could start to redshirt some good freshman. He said he just wanted a hand full of the best to play and redshirt the rest.
Why would you want to redshirt at UK now. After joker named newton the starter over Moss without even opening it for compition. His reasoning was Newton had played and Moss hadn’t because he was injured and red shirted. I still believe that was the biggest fail jokers made and the one that he frankly hasn’t won enough games to justify. No can tell me Moss after 4years isn’t a better option to what we have now. Newton and two freshman no matter how talented.
October 2nd, 2012 at 4:13 am
“I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do.” Leonardo da Vinci
This pretty much says it all, IMO.
Fire Eli, the Board of Trustees and tell Mitch to go find us a real coach.
October 2nd, 2012 at 6:10 am
No one wants to pay 50 bones to see a team lose like that. Lower the prices to bring more people in.
October 2nd, 2012 at 8:22 am
Be forward thinkers…
October 2nd, 2012 at 8:58 am
The WKU loss is irrelevant. Joker deserved to be fired last year.
October 2nd, 2012 at 8:59 am
Anybody got any tickets for Saturdays game they want to give away? Need 3. Go Blue
October 2nd, 2012 at 9:13 am
Why burn Towle’s redshirt on this horrible season? If Whitlow goes down just play anybody at quarterback. It makes no sense to squander the future of the program on a season that can’t have a positive ending.
October 2nd, 2012 at 9:46 am
Nick, I want some of the meds you are taking. It must be nice to be so disconnected from reality and be able to ignore the majority of the negative issues/problems with Joker.
October 2nd, 2012 at 10:03 am
Two great quotes… Really???
“If you told me at the beginning of the year that we’d be leading by 10 at half against the #6 team in the country with Whitlow at QB, I’d be happy.”
“Winning in the Swamp could have been in the realm of possibilities had Smith been able to play.”
October 2nd, 2012 at 11:18 am
If taken hostage, Roush seems like a strong candidate to develop Stockholm Syndrome
October 2nd, 2012 at 11:54 am
Can anyone explain why M Newton is not being used like R Cobb? I know they are not the same players and Newton is not as quick but…Newton seems like a great athlete. Why not use him similarly just in more power than speed situations? And for flea-flickers and reverses (when was the last time we/anyone saw a good ol’ Michigan w/ Anthony Carter like reverse or double reverse? Sorry, jumped off track there for a second. MNewton has a good arm. Why not pitch to him and let him gun a few downfield to extend the D. Thanks in advance for your insight.
October 2nd, 2012 at 11:54 am
This post is a joke. I guess we misunderstood Joker and it was Operation Win…..the first Qtr or so. That defense that is making improvements couldn’t stop anyone in the second half of the FL or SC games. They did what they wanted and easily.
Nick, you need to remember that these top teams when FL coming off two huge road wins and SC playing GA the next week don’t always have their full focus on a joke like UK. Then UK comes out and tries real hard and FL and SC have to concentrate and blow them out.
If always losing and having the other team cover the spread rather easily is your idea of success, then you are a huge part of the problem with the fanbase.
Moral victories are for losers.
October 2nd, 2012 at 11:58 am
@58 – Morgan Newton is a lumbering awkward runner without vision. He is being used more like a TE and that is appropriate. You have to have vision and quickness to run the true wildcat. Newton will tell you himself he is not a wildcat position player.
October 2nd, 2012 at 1:58 pm
UK football is a broken record. A good competitive few years followed by a coaching change and several bad years, then a few good years again. Round and round we go. All the while college tuition and ticket prices go up. This is Kentucky Football for those of us that have been following it for three or more decades. It is what it is, and all its ever going to be, chill. Hey it brings in more $ than basketball. Just sayin
October 2nd, 2012 at 2:20 pm
This writer is exactly what is wrong with this program. Get of Jokers nuts and bring us in a high profile coach
October 2nd, 2012 at 6:42 pm
If they EVER let you write for this site again something went horribly wrong. Words can not describe how mentally challenged this article is. If we didn’t lose to WKU? we did. We led by 10 at halftime against USC? Lost 38-17. Max Smith was Leading Passer in SEC? For a game. A win at Florida would be in the realm of possibility if Max played? Not a snowballs chance.
You deserve to be banned for life for this article. Is there no moderation of this? Are the monkeys running the zoo here?