This is where Stoops gets some slack from me. We're talking SEC vs. Pac-whatever. Not saying Kentucky could currently march through that league, but I also think wins are easier to come by up there. Plus - and maybe this also bodes well for Stoops - Leach is in, what, his fifth season? Stoops' breakout, if there's gonna be one, might just take a little longer than we'd like.
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I used to be in favor of UK leaving the SEC, but the way we're playing this season, we wouldn't win many games in any of the Power 5 Conferences, in my opinion.Philippians 4:11-4:13Comment
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I've felt for a few years that Kentucky should have made the ACC jump before Louisville. Basketball would be off the chain and UK could develop into at least a mid to high mid player in football.Comment
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Im not gonna act like because I watched the game or Kentucky football that I know more than the coaches but I do have some concerns. If all positions are up for competition , is this the best we have? What happen to all those yahtzees? How is it I look at my TV each week and see virtually every school having a better QB than we do?Comment
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One thing that saddens me is that, as the season has progressed, teams like Fl., So. Car., Vandy and Louisville that started off so slow seem to be making big strides while we're regressing.Philippians 4:11-4:13Comment
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I think appearances are deceiving. I wish KY would play someone early on. We beat some real powder puffs, save USC, then pretty much got killed by the other SEC competition. I think its where we have always been. Though I do agree the effort does seem different.
In many ways not the same team that beat USC and played Florida close. I think part of the problem is that we are very predictable and once you scout us you beat us because we seem incapable of any type of change or adjustments.Comment
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I hope Dawson goes the same route as Brown. Im willing to give Stoops next year but if they don't progress, I'm done supporting him. This program is at the point where you replace the coordinators and hire a ST coach to save Stoops job.
It has to be pretty damming to have this 2 years in a row.Comment
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Shouldn't get rid of Stoops. Give him another year or 2. Then what? Bear Bryant isn't going to be knocking at the door
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Hire his OC?
Kidding... I don't understand Brown. I never thought the O looked very in sync when he was here. We certainly NEVER looked like Texas Tech. Dawson doesn't seem much different (better or worse). Is it possible that it is just that difficult to move the ball in the SEC? Mummy seemed to have no trouble. I don't know what to think.Originally posted by John Stuart MillRIP: Charlie Munger​Originally posted by Robert “Hoot†GibsonComment
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To beef up the schedule with a program that has struggled for the better part of the last...well, forever in its league would be the absolute worst thing Kentucky football could do.
We've been playing the same kind of schedule since the dawn of time. Brooks went out there and won 8 games with that same schedule. And even this team--and last year's team--was much (much, much) better early on than it has been late.
Schedule has absolutely nothing to do with this. This is a teamwide collapse.Last edited by Joneslab; 11-08-2015, 05:49 PM.Comment
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Will, maybe I didnt explain myself good enough. I don't mean to imply our schedule needs to be changed or beefed up, Im simply saying that maybe we get a false reading on this team every year because we don't really play anyone early. We don't need to beef up our schedule to get a true reading we could change the order of it and still have the powder puffs. Also, if this team has struggled from the beginning of time (its seems) what does it matter? Im actually fine with our schedule and how we play the nobodys but it just doesn't give us a true measure. I guess you can say we played UF fairly early. I agree schedule has nothing to do with it but how do we know its a team wide collapse. Could be what we have been all along. I do have to admit (again) doesnt appear to be the same team, at least effort wise. Then again, the defense cant stay on the field as long as they have. Nobodys can.Comment
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I think we got a decent reading on them early on, I just think they've sharply regressed. That much can be seen in the eye test.
I mean they played right with Florida. They were a drop away from winning that game. This team now would be vicious pummelled by Florida.
What they were early on was inconsistent, as EKU and the second half of Louisiana showed. Now they're much more consistent. Consistently bad.Comment
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A few thoughts on posts above:
1) ACC vs. SEC: not even close, and no doubt any SEC team, including Kentucky, would fare much better in the ACC.
Louisville lost to Auburn this year but is 4-1 in the ACC, losing only to Florida State. Auburn is 2-4 in the SEC and barely beat Kentucky, by 3 points.
North Carolina is 5-0 in the ACC, outscoring their ACC opponents 206-108 (average score 41-21). UNC lost to South Carolina. South Carolina is 1-6 in the SEC, beating only Vanderbilt, and losing at home to Kentucky.
Louisville walked over ACC opponents last year, including Notre Dame, except for losses to Florida State and at Clemson and Virginia(!). Louisville, with a late 4th quarter comeback, barely beat UK (2-6 SEC) and Georgia walked all over them in the bowl game.
Georgia Tech is 2-12 vs. Georgia since 2000.
etc. etc. etc.
2) Washington State and Mike Leach, and teams improving over the course of a season:
The Cougars' roster was one of the few in D-IA that was as depleted as what Joker left at UK. Leach beat their arch-rival, a bowl-bound Washington team, in his first year, and took the Cougars to a bowl game in his second year. They're going bowling again this year. Now in only his fourth season there, Leach has beaten eight of the other 11 Pac 12 teams already (three of them twice, including Utah), and should add Colorado to that tally this year. (He's 0-1 vs. UCLA and, like everyone else in that conference, hasn't been able to beat Stanford lately, though this year it was a close 30-28 game, lost due to a missed FG attempt.) He has done well there, especially given the horrible situation he came into, and IMO has again proven himself to be one of the best coaches in college football, and maybe the very best in doing more with less.
WSU opened the season with a surprising and embarrassing out of conference loss, but they've gone on a roll since. His teams consistently improve throughout the season, year after year. That's pretty important, and is something UK fans have been wishing for recently. They play hard for 60 minutes. They're well coached, confident, smart, tough, and a lot of fun to watch.
Mike Leach is an excellent coach. He has taken Texas Tech and Washington State teams up against schools with far better traditions and rosters (at least on paper and online recruiting rankings) and consistently outperformed his predecessors and expectations.
3) Kentucky's early season schedule:
The third game of the season was against this year's SEC East champions, and the fourth was against last year's SEC East champions. The second game of the season was an SEC contest on the road against a team that has been bowling seven seasons in a row, has three 11 win seasons in the past four, and was 13-1 against Kentucky going into last year's game. The opener was against a team on a streak of four straight 9 win seasons, finishing first or second in its conference each of those years. That's a pretty decent opening run for a young team on a streak of 5-7, 2-10, 2-10, 5-7. It also fares pretty well against what a lot of other SEC teams have done in recent years to open their campaigns.
4) problems:
Yes, Kentucky has been way too inconsistent, especially on offense, and hasn't improved over the course of the season. Both are serious problems. Is that due to QB play? OC inexperience? Team-wide attitudes? We'll find out. Until then, we can guess. That's what this forum is for. But despite everyone being dismayed at the second third of the season, there's no reason for anyone to be uncivil to other fans while we talk about it in here. If you aren't enjoying the games so much, you should at least enjoy the company you're in here.
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