UK-UF Game Thread

[George]

Goodness gracious. We had two monumental mistakes and a hold that cost us the game. We were clearly the better team. We should beat EMU and Mizzou which gives us five. We have a better chance of beating Ole Miss and Vandy than we did Florida. Tennessee isn't great. Louisville, like last year, is very questionable and fall apart when a team gets pressure. No doubt we lose to Georgia and little chance for a win against Miss St. We have a good defense, especially when healthy. We actually have quality depth. We have a heck of a QB. When we start seeing those dumb mistakes happen in multiple games it's time to worry. We haven't had stuff like that happen before last night. Give the staff a chance to fix it before you give up on the season. We had a top 25 team beat last night and some craziness happened that gave it away. It isn't like we got beat by 30.

I raised questions about our ability to surpass six wins before last night's game. Just stating that I don't feel much different today. Ole Miss is still the one game I feel good about in the back half of the season. If we were getting Vandy at home, I'd agree that our chances are better than they were last night. But at Vandy? Regardless of what Bama did to them, that's still a well-coached team with comparable talent to ours, and we have to go to their house. I'm not even willing to venture a guess about the Louisville game; the rivalry will be too emotionally charged, they'll want revenge, and they still have Lamar Jackson.

Had we beaten Florida, I might feel differently about the UT game. But last night we continued to fall short of that next step - the one that clears our massive, looming history against some of these SEC teams. Since we couldn't do it against Florida, I'm not going to convince myself that we'll do it against UT, no matter how bad they may be. It's Tennessee, and we lose to Tennessee. It's just what we do.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is Kentucky football. There's simply more at work here than talent, ability, and smart coaching. We're the target of cosmic forces that don't want to see us make the jump to that next level of excellence. The sooner we accept that, the sooner we can alleviate our stress on Saturdays and enjoy the big surprises when they happen.

[George]

We had two monumental mistakes and a hold that cost us the game. We were clearly the better team.

This, too, is a persistent, widespread narrative that's bothered me more and more throughout the day. Can we say we were the better team if we couldn't avoid multiple "monumental" mistakes? Avoiding those is a mark of a good team.

[Blue Heaven]

This, too, is a persistent, widespread narrative that's bothered me more and more throughout the day. Can we say we were the better team if we couldn't avoid multiple "monumental" mistakes? Avoiding those is a mark of a good team.

I get what you are saying, but those players have nothing to do with this loss. Head scratching calls and missed opportunities by the coaching staff. A "play to not lose" 2nd half gameplan to a lack of seeing the field and missing timeouts on 2, TWO, wide open 4TH DOWN TDS!! Unacceptable. I am really torn. This many seasons into Stoops tenure and we still are seeing mismanagement. Gran deserves a BIG FAT ZERO in his 2nd half play calls. How do we not keep Conrad involved? How do we keep running up the gut with Benny when King has been GREAT the past 2 games? His speed and shiftiness deserves more PT, IMO. Snaps? Get this fixed ASAP. It has been a problem 3 straight games now. If Stallings can't correct this, then put someone in there who can. Just frustrated now, but we are right where I thought we would be after 4 games. Still, we shoulda won.

[KevinHall]

This is just way UK football rolls. I knew when they had to settle for a field goal that made the score 27-13 they would find a way to lose it. They had a chance put their foot on the Gators throat and let them off the hook. UK will never be better than 6 or 7 win team at best most seasons. Just too much to overcome with the tradition rich teams of the SEC.

[lilproUK98]

This is just way UK football rolls. I knew when they had to settle for a field goal that made the score 27-13 they would find a way to lose it. They had a chance put their foot on the Gators throat and let them off the hook. UK will never be better than 6 or 7 win team at best most seasons. Just too much to overcome with the tradition rich teams of the SEC.

I had a vision flash in the back of my head and horrible lump in my belly well up that we would lose 28-27.....

We got up 27-14.....but I just knew we were gonna pay for not getting a TD instead of one of those field goals....

When we couldn't capitalize on great field position on back to back possessions that old feeling all UK football fans know too well started to rear its ugly head....the last 10 minutes were just a slow painful death capitalized on our last drive by a roller coaster of emotions in a lightning fast pace.....capped off with one if the most deflating punches in the gut I've felt in my 30+ yrs if UK fandom.

[Blue Heaven]

I had a vision flash in the back of my head and horrible lump in my belly well up that we would lose 28-27.....

We got up 27-14.....but I just knew we were gonna pay for not getting a TD instead of one of those field goals....

When we couldn't capitalize on great field position on back to back possessions that old feeling all UK football fans know too well started to rear its ugly head....the last 10 minutes were just a slow painful death capitalized on our last drive by a roller coaster of emotions in a lightning fast pace.....capped off with one if the most deflating punches in the gut I've felt in my 30+ yrs if UK fandom.

Good description. I knew it was happening as well. Just not ready for prime time.

[Lighthouse]

After getting football out of my mind for awhile this morning, and reflecting some this afternoon, here are my thoughts. We are a very good football team that has good talent and depth at almost every position. Florida also has talented players and they had better players than us in a few positions where we are thin and gave out in the 4th. I thought our defense played really hard and our DB's and LB'ers were exceptional most of the time, but our DL gave it all they had but were gassed in the 4th Q. For most games, our OL will perform very well, but against the speed of UF, they had some issues, and gave up sacks at very inopportune times. Maybe one of those times the ball was going to our TE or a slant going for a huge gain. Also, we realize that being under pressure causes bad snaps and holding calls. We are almost there and ready to compete with the upper portion of the SEC, but until we get the depth in our Lines, things like last night will happen. And we will get there.

And, I'm certainly not forgetting about the coaching mistakes, the uncalled intentional grounding foul, and all the other stuff that contributed to our loss. But, I believe in CS and his staff, and after the DC gets over the chewing out he got last night, they will continue to coach our kids into winners. And I don't remember anybody pointing out the missed block in the back by us on a return, or the pass interference call they didn't call on us. Probably the easiest call made last night was the holding call on Snell's run at the end. Bottom line, we lost and it was a team loss. Let's move on. GO CATS!!!

[fastkat]

I can't understand why coach Stoops doesn't give Drake a shot. I mean what could it hurt?

My guess would be he hasn't figured out how to read the defense and call the correct blocking scheme.

[40bill]

That could well be, but if so allow Stallings to slide over and make the calls and Drake see if he can snap a football. Give him a chance at least.

[Matt Dillon]

That could well be, but if so allow Stallings to slide over and make the calls and Drake see if he can snap a football. Give him a chance at least.

Right, Bill. Although the Center normally makes the calls, I see no reason why another position couldn't do it.

[George]

That could well be, but if so allow Stallings to slide over and make the calls and Drake see if he can snap a football. Give him a chance at least.

Sounds like it could get very confusing for everyone. An additional wrinkle is the last thing the O-line needs while they try to iron out the rest of their issues.

[Spiritof96]

That could well be, but if so allow Stallings to slide over and make the calls and Drake see if he can snap a football. Give him a chance at least.

He gets his chance every day in practice. If he were better (all things considered) he would play. I think one day he will be a star for us, but not yet.