Careful what I wish for

[Spiritof96]

Let's talk about Kentucky's banged up QB for a minute. He can't win a game with his arm and if he is hobbled, he is not effective with his legs. Where does that leave the team? They live or die with their hobbled QB. Why don't they have a QB to put in their in his place? So, Barker has deer in the headlights look when he is in the game, put the third string guy in. They knew he is banged up and getting more banged up as the season wears on, and yet they can't play a 2nd QB. He has to be carried out on a stretcher , before they put another QB in.

Stephen Johnson is a winner. But, he is not a winner when he is banged up. Talking about how tough he is and throwing him to the wolves when he physically can't perform does not win games.

Seriously? Our offense with a banged up qb put up 34 points and would have been 38 if not for an ignored pass interference call. You seriously want to put in another untested qb in with that situation? It may have worked there in the third but had it not, fans would really be calling for Stoop’s or Gran’s head.

You ride you winner until the wheels fall off.

[boomdaddy]

I don't know what is going on with the defense. Kentucky hired a defensive star as its head coach. That side of the ball was supposed to be covered with hiring of Stoops. Supposedly he took over the defense mid season and righted the ship to get them to a bowl game, last year. He made a change at DC for this season and we, the fans, think that he has got it figured out. But, I am scratching my head on this one. Are all of their best players fighting through injuries or are they just playing poorly?

Despite getting to 6 wins early in the season, the warning signs have been there from the beginning, watching them struggle with the teams that they were supposed to beat easily. It seems their best game was South Carolina. That was awhile ago.

[Matt Dillon]

Let's talk about Kentucky's banged up QB for a minute. He can't win a game with his arm and if he is hobbled, he is not effective with his legs. Where does that leave the team? They live or die with their hobbled QB. Why don't they have a QB to put in their in his place? So, Barker has deer in the headlights look when he is in the game, put the third string guy in. They knew he is banged up and getting more banged up as the season wears on, and yet they can't play a 2nd QB. He has to be carried out on a stretcher , before they put another QB in.

Stephen Johnson is a winner. But, he is not a winner when he is banged up. Talking about how tough he is and throwing him to the wolves when he physically can't perform does not win games.

Exactly.

[catfaninin]

Please provide a specific example of poor play calling last night or poor clock management. I’m so sick of this bs.

Was the dropped pass on third down poor play calling?

Was running the ball right at them when we killed them most of the night doing exactly that poor play calling?

The two weird roll outs were so messed up I don’t know what they were supposed to be. Was that bad play calling?

I fully agree. The complaints about play calling are totally ridiculous. This teams strength is running the football. Everything they do revolves around that. Johnson is great at what he does. But to imagine he is going to drop back 40 times a game, throw the ball all over the field and win games is delusional. When they give up on the running game and start "playing to win" is when the blowouts start. At this point it's obvious the defense is not good, and is not likely to improve drastically. The best way to counter that is keep them on the sidelines and limit the oppositions possessions. That's done by running the ball over and over.

[Matt Dillon]

My chief complaint, with the play calling, is that they don't seem to have a problem with throwing the ball in the first half. If we have a 10-14 point lead, in the second half, no matter how much time is left the game plan seems to be go to the grind it out game. If we have a 14-17 point lead with two or three minutes to go, in the game, by all means grind it out. As we've seen from the Fl. and Ole Miss games anything less than a 10 point lead with two or three minutes left, in the game, isn't a safe lead.

[Joneslab]

I just don't think our players are that good.

Yes, we have a couple of stars. We've got a couple of winners. And then we've got a few who, frankly, should be back-ups and are asked to play a lot of snaps.

So I actually do think Stoops can improve on this. We need more electricity out there. Basically what he's doing now is mucking the game up, milking clock when he can, and trying to play careful football to mask some of these talent discrepancies.

The only question is whether or not Kentucky can reach upward into the upper echelons of recruiting and bring in some of these stellar playmakers. We don't have enough. On paper this team looks like it's about a 6- or 7-win team. That he might get eight is indicative of the weakness of the teams we've played and the fact that some of these guys play above their talent level.

[Lighthouse]

So many good points in the several above posts, and I agree with most. A hobbled QB is probably OK when handing the ball off, but certainly didn't get the job done when throwing the ball or rolling out. Our defense continues to play hard but still has many issues to overcome when an opponent gains momentum. We all wonder why our DB's never look for the ball when covering. Puzzling too is why the coaches don't utilize the TE's more or the sure handed receivers to put a game away in the second half. Even with all this stuff, I still love my Football Wildcats!

[surveyor]

Despite the hiccups on offense in the second half, 34 points ought to win a football game. Snell played out of his mind, particularly on the last drive. Defense deserves some criticism. And, yes, I also realize it's a team effort.

[catfaninin]

My chief complaint, with the play calling, is that they don't seem to have a problem with throwing the ball in the first half. If we have a 10-14 point lead, in the second half, no matter how much time is left the game plan seems to be go to the grind it out game. If we have a 14-17 point lead with two or three minutes to go, in the game, by all means grind it out. As we've seen from the Fl. and Ole Miss games anything less than a 10 point lead with two or three minutes left, in the game, isn't a safe lead.

I do think this is a legitimate point. I would say they are more willing to take chances to build a lead. Once that lead is built then they try to protect it. And it's not like Snell wasn't able to run the ball. He had like 170 yards so obviously for the most part it worked. Imagine the uproar if once the 10 point lead was established rather than handing the ball to the guy who had dominated the game they had come out and thrown a pick 6.

Cal uses the exact same game plan in basketball. The difference is that he most always has the better team so he can get by with it.

[surveyor]

My chief complaint, with the play calling, is that they don't seem to have a problem with throwing the ball in the first half. If we have a 10-14 point lead, in the second half, no matter how much time is left the game plan seems to be go to the grind it out game. If we have a 14-17 point lead with two or three minutes to go, in the game, by all means grind it out. As we've seen from the Fl. and Ole Miss games anything less than a 10 point lead with two or three minutes left, in the game, isn't a safe lead.

I think it's done out of necessity. If you've got a good lead, do what you can to keep the defense off the field to keep them as fresh as possible. That's how fragile this team is, IMO. Need to continue to try to add depth.

[Joneslab]

I agree with Matt Dillon. I think they go to the grind too early at times.

As soon as they get a lead of over one touchdown they basically stop throwing it. We've seen it a bunch of times this year.

I think he's too careful with the D and the O. Seems to have the mentality that we can limit mistakes, get a small lead, and then just run out the clock on the other team.

You're going to lose a few if you don't manage the clock perfectly, because you're going to give the other team the ball late with a chance to beat you. Playing with fire.

[Spiritof96]

I agree with Matt Dillon. I think they go to the grind too early at times.

As soon as they get a lead of over one touchdown they basically stop throwing it. We've seen it a bunch of times this year.

I think he's too careful with the D and the O. Seems to have the mentality that we can limit mistakes, get a small lead, and then just run out the clock on the other team.

You're going to lose a few if you don't manage the clock perfectly, because you're going to give the other team the ball late with a chance to beat you. Playing with fire.

On the subject of killing the clock. Had this complaint been leveled after the USC game or the UF game I would agree, but not during that 3rd quarter on Sat. EVERYONE who has watched Ole Miss this season said something like "if KY doesn't run the ball up the middle every time on Sat their coached should be fired". We passed the ball fine in the first half set up by effective running. We passed at least 3 times in those 4, 3-&outs. Two looked like garbage and one was beautiful... and dropped.

Further, when the game was on the line and we needed to score what did we do? Run the ball right at them same in the UT game! Was that conservative "playing not to loose"? Obviously not, it is calling what we are best at against those teams to drive down the field and score.

[surveyor]

This is the first loss where we controlled the time of possession.

In win over So. Miss we ran more than passed in both halves.
In the Florida loss we had more run plays in first half and split in second half.
Blow out loss to Miss St we ran more in second half than passed.
Win against UT we ran twice as much as passed in both halves.
Loss to Ole Miss we ran more than passed in both halves.

Wins against EKU and USC, we ran significantly more than passed in second half.

Other wins, the difference wasn't as pronounced.

[Blue Heaven]

On the subject of killing the clock. Had this complaint been leveled after the USC game or the UF game I would agree, but not during that 3rd quarter on Sat. EVERYONE who has watched Ole Miss this season said something like "if KY doesn't run the ball up the middle every time on Sat their coached should be fired". We passed the ball fine in the first half set up by effective running. We passed at least 3 times in those 4, 3-&outs. Two looked like garbage and one was beautiful... and dropped.

Further, when the game was on the line and we needed to score what did we do? Run the ball right at them same in the UT game! Was that conservative "playing not to loose"? Obviously not, it is calling what we are best at against those teams to drive down the field and score.

But the problem is that our calls are being read rather easily. The D knows what's coming because we do the same thing in every situation. That's what chaps me. Mix it up Gran.

[surveyor]

But the problem is that our calls are being read rather easily. The D knows what's coming because we do the same thing in every situation. That's what chaps me. Mix it up Gran.

Looking at the play by play for all the games, that's not necessarily the case. I think it's a good part of perception that's not borne out as readily.