Kentucky once thought this would be at least a 10-win season. Now it might be hard to get seven wins. (Vicky Graff Photo)
Oscar Combs was the founder of The Cats’ Pause and has covered/watched Kentucky sports for even more years than me.
I have always valued his opinions/observations and he didn’t mince words Sunday following Kentucky’s disappointing loss at Tennessee Saturday night.
“That was a butt kicking and the end of UK’s run in AP Top 25 club for the rest of the fall,” Combs posted on Twitter. “Both staff and players will have to dig deep to regain their level of intensity to compete in the remaining four games.”
“I’d say 8-4 is attainable, but 6-6 is just as likely. We shall see.”
I say Combs is right. No way UK beats Georgia so that is loss to No. 4. Games at Missouri and Louisville are no longer gimmes like most thought when the season opened. I do think UK beats Vanderbilt at home for its sixth win, but getting win seven or win eight is going to be a lot harder than I ever imagined.
Again, not impossible but not a given.
Another media member I always respect for his honesty is Dr. John Huang, the author of several UK-related books. He writes for Nolan Media and also JustTheCats.com.
“Middle of the pack in SEC East. Serviceable defense. Inconsistent offense. One stinker game a year,” Huang tweeted Sunday. “The Liam Coen legend is growing.”
He’s right, especially about Coen. We all knew he was a gifted offensive coordinator last year but I don’t think I realized how good and how creative he was until he left to rejoin the Los Angeles Rams.
But this tweet from Huang was right on point.
“Win at Florida was fool’s gold. Let’s face it — after that, we all wanted to believe Kentucky was actually good,” Huang tweeted. “Team is still decent, but it’s definitely a victim of overhyped expectations.”
Fool’s gold — a favorite saying of former UK coach Rick Pitino — is exactly what the Florida game was because UK won it more with great defense than solid offense. That elevated the 10-win, SEC East hype even more and now that has all come crashing down.
8 Responses
UK has not had "good" offense against any quality team this year and they have not shown any improvement that jumps out at you. That falls on the coaches; especially, the OC.
I think the OC is trying to do too much. He runs plays that take 3-4 seconds to develop, but has an O line that gives a max of 2 seconds. You don’t even see receivers looking back to see if they need to cut their route short when Levis is running for his life.
That loss to TN was probably the most disappointing to me in Stoops’ time here. I did not expect UK to win, but I was hoping against all hope, to at least see a good game.
We have known all season the O line was the weakest link, and they really showed it in that game. The O line has not shown any improvement all year, in my opinion.
I agree with Old Fan about the O Line. Since Schlarmann’s passing, the O Line coaching has been questionable at best.
Early this season, the O Line issues were there for all to see, but many attempted to down play the O Line issues and offer excuses that sacks were Levis’ fault, and other excuses rather than man up and fix the O Line issues. Now, the season is winding down, and its probably too late to fix the issues there.
UK is as strong at the skill positions on offense as I can recall with Levis and the bevy of fine receivers. UK’s runners are good, and Rodriguez is truly exceptional. But, it all starts with the O Line, and this O Line has not done even a minimal job.
Is it coaching? Is it youth/experience? Is it personnel issues? I don’t know, but it could be a combination of all three.
Regardless, if Stoops wants to keep advancing this program toward the long term goal, next year’s O Line must be competitive with recent versions of the Big Blue Wall that we all came to respect and count on during Coach Schlarmann’s time at the helm.
And, I am still waiting on a plausible explanation for the consistently poor/inconsistent play on the kicking game. Why no special teams coach?
O Line has been perplexing
8-4 is not impossible but a major stretch, a 6-6 maybe, but my money is on a solid 7-5 season.
Liam is hands down a better play caller. I will say he had the benefit of a much better Oline than this year’s edition. Looking at the season the Rams are having so far, there may have been a very small part of him that wished he was back at UK 😉 And yes, we wish that as well! The good news is that some young offensive and defensive lineman are getting valuable experience for the future. Now to just keep kids here and out of the transfer portal!! I think we rally for 8-4!
I hate to say it but the OC play calling harkens me back to the Joker Phillips days. Look, after a good year, it is normal to have struggles in the offensive line. No experience, always working from below the learning curve. But the coaches are not rotating the younger players in to gain experience for the future. We’re going to get our butts kicked either way so why not expand the experience base.
What is really disappointing is the lack of consistency at the skill positions. We have some really talented dudes but I saw some really lazy route running against TN. And they have to make catches under duress. I don’t blame Levis for the picks. I don’t like it but can accept it. He’s just trying to make something out of nothing – make a play.
Thirdly, I saw a defense that looked confused at best. I can accept a safety getting beat on the same play that Alabama got beat on but getting beat a second time with the same receiver and the same play – come on.
All this is saying that there appears to be a huge disconnect between what the x and o’s coaches are putting on the board and what the players are seeing and absorbing. Right now this team is not top 25 material and it has a long way to go to get there. I’m running out of next years and cannot afford to keep saying "maybe next year". Let’s get it together Cats…
I’m calling it at 7 – 5 for the season. I ‘m giving the team the benefit of the doubt that they have enough personal and team pride to win more than just one more game this season.
If UK drops the Mizzou game 8-4 just may be a bridge to far. The Louisville game is no longer looking so easy, and Vandy will be licking their chops, as they always do. This team lost it’s Identity at Ole Miss IMO, UK was better than Ole Miss that day. The USC loss was just sorry effort that cost them big time, especially with no Levis under center. The UT loss took a lot out of the tank Saturday night. IT HAD TOO! It showed me UK was probably not prepared even after Stoops said they had a good week of practice for UT, and a whole two weeks to get healed up and ready for the Vols. Stoops can’t seem to motivate his teams against Tennessee. Kentucky wilts when they see that ORANGE, nor do they fair well in that rivalry that means so much to the BBN. What I saw happen at Knoxville last Saturday night was a lack of effort from the UK offense. Can’t have a wheelbarrow load of 3 and outs and expect your defense to hold em all night, Not Hooker and his receivers and a coach who can call the right plays.
Now UK is without Jones, and probably Square on defense for Sat in Columbia. Also it seemed like our boys were falling like flies at Tennessee Saturday against a UT defense that had been very weak against the pass, but were laying the wood to UK skill players in space and at the LOS all night. Hey coach, call a time out and get in somebody’s face, like your O line!! We are about to find out if UK can suck it up and play better football minus some key players against the Tigers. Driving people off the ball up front to help C-Rod run to glory would be nice to see. Next question, is C-Rod even able to play after the pounding he took? What was once a promising season hangs in the balance down the stretch here.
UK’s offense is regressing under coach Sang from where I sit. Whatever happened to the idea of getting UK’s TE’s involved in the offense, like catching passes across the middle, and down the seam, and out in the flat? Stoops should not have deferred either, thus giving UT the ball first last Saturday to open the game. I know this is nit picking, but that backfired big time. Keep Hooker on the bench as much as possible would have been the right call there. It resulted in UT scoring in a mere three plays. UK down 7-zip before we could even catch a breath. That alone set the stage for a long night. Hyatt was wide open and behind the defender with nothing but green. That happened twice mind you. Stoops didn’t have much to say, and wanted to move on during his radio show Monday night. I would have too. IMO, less talk at the podiums and more hard nosed football is what we need from UK now. Go Cats!!!!