Game Thread

[Joneslab]

Another case in point is A'Shawn Robinson. I don't know how many of you all saw the ending of the Bama-UT game. UT was driving for what would have been the go-ahead, and most likely winning, score when the UT QB fumbled the ball. The ball was very close to the ground when Robinson runs in and grabs it, before it hits the ground, and almost ran it in for a touchdown. This would have been a difficult play even for a much smaller player to make, in my opinion. Granted Robinson is 40-50 lbs. lighter than Elam, but I doubt if Matt would have gotten close to the ball much less picked it out of the air on the dead run.

I think t's just the difference between a 5-star player and the number two player in the state of Texas coming out of high school and a guy like Elam, who's playing his first sustained snaps and is still working on his body.

This is the same thing we get into with UK basketball. How do those guys make some of those plays? I tell you how: they're 5-star phenoms. When they roll into the Auburns and Ole Misses of the world and run up against their talent, most of the time UK's players just assert their genetic dominance.

This is what Stoops and company are up against. In many ways they've shrunk the talent gap, but as we saw last night there's still a ways to go.

[Joneslab]

Misssippi State was also hellaciously seasoned.

Tom and company on the radio said 21 of their 22 starters were juniors or seniors. That's a tough task for UK, who runs so many first- and second-year players out there.

I don't think those are excuses as much as just the cold reality of where we are and where we're trying to go.

[teamchemistry15]

One way to contain a mobile QB is a spy. With Flannigan and Forrest, why not use a spy on him to prevent the big runs he had? Elliot has been decent this year but last night he called a terrible game. Probably the worst of his career. Our D was confused and that is on him, not the players. I think we still get to seven wins and with a win next week it could be eight. The only for sure loss I see is Georgia. I think people put too much weight on one bad game, in a crazy environment, against a very experienced and talented team. We will rebound. Stoops won't allow anything else.

[Katmendo]

I think t's just the difference between a 5-star player and the number two player in the state of Texas coming out of high school and a guy like Elam, who's playing his first sustained snaps and is still working on his body.

This is the same thing we get into with UK basketball. How do those guys make some of those plays? I tell you how: they're 5-star phenoms. When they roll into the Auburns and Ole Misses of the world and run up against their talent, most of the time UK's players just assert their genetic dominance.

This is what Stoops and company are up against. In many ways they've shrunk the talent gap, but as we saw last night there's still a ways to go.

Don't think that's true with Elam. IMO, the thing about big time recruits is that, though their youth and inexperience marks itself in their production, you still get glimpses of the talent and skills. That doesn't mean getting pancaked and then making a sack. If that were true, that player would be an instant #1 pick.

For the DT, it's the spin move that AAAAAalllmost gets to the QB. It's busting a run play, on a rather average second down play. Its maybe disrupting a play that still works for the offense. It's not a production line, it's the tools.

You simply cannot make that assertion with Elam. His feet are concrete, he has no mobility, he uses no technique, he has no raw power. The guy is the third defensive tackle on a team that, to be honest, isn't blooming with D Line all SEC players.

Short of a Nazr Mohommed-esque rededication, Elam will never be more than a limited, and mostly ineffective, role player on this team. In fact, I think we've already recruited guys who will play ahead of him.
I fear he will transfer after this season, and move onto to a lower level of play where he will be merely a contributor.

I hope I'm wrong, but that's what i see.

[SCBlu]

I'd like to see him lose 50 lbs before next season and see if that helps his speed & agility. As he is, I agree 100%.

[UK39]

Elam isn't a SEC caliber player with his lack of athletic ability at this point. He definitely got gassed because he's not in good enough shape to handle that type of game where the offense is doing what they want. At worst, they'll win one of two between UL and Vandy and finish with 6-7 wins.

I need to see more aggressive play from the defense their exotic blitz packages have fallen off. It's a vanilla defense with not enough to stop SEC offenses on their own.

[ukwebfan]

As unprepared a team as I've seen in any era. How do they rebound from that fiasco?

[George]

As unprepared a team as I've seen in any era. How do they rebound from that fiasco?

I think if you put up scores from past UK games on a big board and threw a dart, odds are good that it'd land on an example of unpreparedness that far exceeds even what we saw last night.

Never forget how inept Kentucky football has been over the last twenty or thirty years.

[KevinHall]

First off Mississippi State was the best team UK has played to this point. Maybe the best team they will play all season. I doubt UK was going to beat this team on the road no matter how they played. But they played terribly and had no shot at all in this game. They looked totally unprepared. I have no idea what this coaching staff did the ten days before this game but it wasn't preparing this team for this game.
Also wonder what in the world Alabama saw in Elam? Maybe they wanted him for practice fodder? IIRC, UK was in a hot battle in the recruiting wars for Elam. Elam's body type just says he will never have the speed and quickness you need on the D-1 level. In fact the entire DL and OL was just whipped all night long. If UK doesn't upgrade in those positions in a hurry they will never compete with the big boys of the SEC.
UK can compete now with the mediocre teams of the SEC but I don't know if they ever will the top teams. Coaching,IMO, just isn't that good. So far they have recruited well but you wonder how long that will last when recruits see the coaching mistakes that are made every week with this staff. This staff will be like most other "good" coaches UK has had over the last 60 years and will probably top out at 6 or 7 wins season.

[Matt Dillon]

Great post, Kevin. I agree with everything you said.

[Katmendo]

We are definitely far ahead of three years ago, but we aren't likely to win 7 games.

Frankly, I think it likely we win 6, and seriously possible only 5.

Folks, I said this a month ago, but I will remind you. Vandy is no automatic win. We will be on a three (oops, four) game skid, by that game, including two road losses tonight, and at Georgia. Our toughest part of the schedule, no question.

Now, maybe we can get back on track versus UT, but UT is more talented. I never liked us to win the game, and still don't.

Factor injuries and fatigue, plus going on the road to Vandy?.... Ehh... I think entirely possible we lose that game.

(cough, cough)