Coach commented the locker room was much more subdued after this win. These kids expected to win, but knew they left a lot on the table and much to improve on.
Sounds promising
Sounds promising
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Love the focus/attitude this season. HUGE game next weekend. Gotta clean up penalties and the offense in order to win this game.Isaiah 5:20 -
Like i have stated the past couple of weeks. I love the FIGHT of this team. So far we do not see a bunch of arguing on the field when something goes wrong (Debo catch and score). We just see guys go back to work. This is a fun group. Will be interesting first half next week to watch the defense without Kash Will be on ESPN at 7pm.Proverbs 25:24Comment
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Nice to see:
The offensive line was dominant in the first half.
The defensive line was terrific throughout.
Great pressure on South Carolina's QB at many key moments.
Good hands by the DBs in making 3 interceptions.
Max Duffy has been terrific this year, in any situation.
A.J. Rose is a really promising running back who performs well when it is his turn.
Wilson threw an interception but it was his only turnover of the game and ended up putting Kentucky in a better spot than it would've been on a punt, most likely.
Dorian Baker is still a terrific downfield blocker.
C.J. Conrad does everything a TE should do, and does all of it very well. He had a couple of unfortunate penalties but he is excellent blocking and passing.
David Bouvier had another nice clutch big catch. He's also very dependable fielding punts.
Epps and Ali contribute, despite some bigger names ahead of them.
Wilson's speed and elusiveness is nice and he seems to have good field vision when he decides to run.
No fumbles.
+3 turnover margin in Kentucky's favor.
Kentucky gave up a big play when Baity made a bad decision on a throw to Deebo Samuel. But it was the only big play Kentucky gave up, despite facing Samuel, a big playmaker.
Kentucky remains a hard hitting, physical team.
Chris Oats had a nice game at a time when his team needed him.
Hoskins, Taylor, Bohanna, Dubose and Looney are doing some good work in the trench. Calvin Taylor might've been the least heralded recruit in recent years, and he has turned in some big plays in key situations. I think the staff saw a very high potential ceiling with him.
South Carolina and Deebo Samuel in particular can be dangerous in the return game. Kentucky mostly shut that down, not just with touchbacks, but with some really sharp special teams play, quickly getting downfield and immediately nailing returners deep after catches.
Recruits had plenty to like on visits Saturday.
Though this was Kentucky's fifth straight win in this series, it also was Kentucky's widest margin of victory over South Carolina since 1999.
Concerns:
11 penalties for 115 yards is really bad. No way to sugarcoat that. Kentucky gave South Carolina about as many gift penalty yards as it managed against them throwing the ball.
Getting a little carried away and letting that lead to bad decisions. The penalties were one example. Mike Edwards knew better than to try to run that interception out of the end zone instead of downing it. Baity knew he should've defended that receiver instead of jumping too early to try to grab the ball with one hand, misplaying it and giving up a big play TD that let South Carolina back into the game.
South Carolina figured out a way to lock Kentucky's backfield out of positive yardage in the second half, and Kentucky didn't effectively counter it. The staff better get that film and figure something out because you can guarantee the staffs at A&M, Missouri, Vanderbilt, Georgia and Louisville are going to take note and try the same thing.
South Carolina also saw something that they exploited repeatedly for 7-10 yard pass completions late in the game. It was just like when Kentucky blew a 4th quarter lead against LSU in 2001: the opponent saw something there, hit it over and over for pass completions in the same place (right behind where linebackers line up), and drove downfield with that repeatedly while Kentucky didn't come up with anything to stop it. The staff needs to get that figured out, because opponents will run with it otherwise.
Kentucky started the second half with a 50 yard drive that ended with a missed FG. After that opening drive, the offense was ineffective. Here are all of Kentucky's plays after that:
+4 Snell
-15 personal foul (Asafo-Adjei)
+2 Snell
+11 Wilson to Bowden
punt
+1 Wilson to Conrad
+3 Snell
0 incomplete Wilson to Baker
-5 illegal formation
punt
+6 Snell
-1 Snell
-3 Snell
(+15 unsportsmanlike conduct on South Carolina)
-2 Snell
-5 false start (Conrad)
+2 Wilson
-10 holding (negating +12 Wilson run)
-15 holding
interception
+2 Wilson
-1 Snell
+2 Snell
punt
knee
knee
Kentucky's last possessions (all second half possessions except the first one):
2 yards, 2:25, punt
-1 yard, 1:20, punt
-13 yards, 3:39, interception
3 yards, 1:41, punt
-1 yard, 0:47 (taking a knee to end the game)
Snell had 7 yards rushing on 9 carries in the second half. 4 of his last 5 carries were for negative yardage. I don't know if that was playcalling or the OL. Unfortunately, those late losses took Snell down to 99 yards rushing, depriving him of a streak of 100 yard games.
Way too may third and longs were given up, especially on late drives.
Kentucky doesn't seem to have a reliable FG kicker, at least not on a drive that ends outside the red zone. The missed FG would've given Kentucky a nice margin.
The passing game does not seem to be a strength. Then again, Kentucky hasn't had to rely on it.
Bowden seems to be Wilson's favorite target, but we haven't consistently set up plays that allow Bowden to turn those throws into gains, much less frequent big gains.
Tavin Richardson, reliable last year, hasn't been used much this year.
Kentucky had some breaks go their way, such as South Carolina WRs dropping a lot of passes that hit them in the hands and would have been big gains.
Injuries. Mason Wolfe drew some penalties filling in, IIRC. Several guys took some hits and I think it's unclear who may be affected by that going forward. Bohanna had to be helped off the field again. Naasir Watkins left the same way. Some of our DBs took some dings, including Baity.Comment
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"Kentucky gave up a big play when Baity made a bad decision on a throw to Deebo Samuel. But it was the only big play Kentucky gave up, despite facing Samuel, a big playmaker."
Pretty sure that was Johnson and not Baity. I will re-watch to make certain.Comment
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I think you're right.
If instead of leaping too early to swat it he had taken another step or two in stride he might've had an interception and prevented a TD.
It's nice to emerge from a game like that with only that one criticism for a misstep in the secondary costing points. That's usually not the case for any team. Bentley threw for 269 against Georgia and 261 against Vanderbilt. He threw for 148 against Kentucky. South Carolina also had 100+ yard receivers in both of those other SEC games, but not last night.Comment
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Great breakdown Old School. I think SC WR's have been plagued by the "dropsy virus" in the past. I was hoping it would become virulent when they played us. Thankfully it just jumped out a couple/three times. Wilson was 13 of 20 passing, 65% completion percentage for 132 yds and a QBR of 110.4. Bentley was 13 of 28, 46% completion percentage with a QBR of 81.2. I think Terry will continue to improve but he out played Bentley as best I can determine. Is he a better passer than Bentley? Let's see how he progresses over the rest of the season. I keep wanting to see what he can do when they decide to put in some plays that let him roll out to his right and throw the ball. I think that is coming, but I'm not sure when. Hope we can coach up our field goal kicker.Comment
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If Edwards had stayed in the end zone it would have been a safety. He caught the int at the one.Comment
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