Maybe it is time to lower expectations for UK football

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Chris Rodriguez ran for 120 yards against Louisville. (Vicky Graff Photo)

It Was the Best of Times, It Was the Worst of Times. The hype since last spring for this year’s Kentucky football team was unprecedented. A top NFL draft quarterback, the leading rusher in the SEC and three talented new receivers filled the roster. Expectations were high. However, it is known that with expectations often come disappointments.

According to fans and media, a 10-2 season would be easy, and 11-1 possible. This was the perfect schedule.

Then came the suspension of Chris Rodriquez. The biggest secret that wasn’t a secret in the preseason. Could the Cats survive the first four games without their star running back. The schedule was in their favor and they did survive.

Then came Ole Miss. Perhaps the turning point in the season. Will Levis got injured. It couldn’t be that bad. He’d be back full strength and after all it was felt the Cats would drop a road game. What wasn’t known was the injury would plague Levis for the rest of the season. Crippling his ability to leap other players and run for yardage.

South Carolina was presumed to suck. After all, their coach has a thing with sunglasses and acts like a player. Tennessee is really down. Their second-year coach doesn’t know how to coach in the SEC. Vanderbilt’s coach at SEC Media Days proclaimed they were rising to greatness. All felt good and then the wheels started falling off.

Losses to South Carolina, Tennessee, and Vanderbilt destroyed all hopes of a New Year’s Day bowl game. Yes…Vanderbilt at home. One of if not the worst losses of the Stoops era at Kentucky.

Scott Satterfield was coaching each game to keep his job up the road in Louisville. Then the Cardinals took a turn for the better. The Cats would have to play (and find offense) to defeat them at Kroger Field. Special teams came together (finally), the defense made big plays and the offense struggled but UK still won 26-13.

There will be no New Year’s Day bowl game. In fact, the way the teams are stacking up the wins in the SEC perhaps the Liberty Bowl in Memphis could be the ceiling.

Changes will be made. The transfer portal opens in nine days.

It is tough to get to the SEC Championship game. Very few teams achieve this goal. It is hard to get 10 wins when competing in the SEC.

Maybe it is time to temper our expectations.

6 Responses

  1. Kentucky can and should compete in the SEC. Some/most years we will fall short of what we expect. But you have to field a team capable of beating any opponent. That said, I think the program under Stoops is still at a high. but we have to continue to get better, because everyone else in CFB is doing the same.

  2. You temper your expectations. I’ll filter out your negativity attacks. The underaching season was a football issue. The perineal top 3 SEC o-line was bottom 3 and previously reliable kicking game had issues. Everything else was ready for 10-11-12 win season. Took a while to get to this point. Built right, not fadinh away, lousy take by Larry.

  3. Oh how times have changed. A hundred and twenty years of being a doormat and in steps Mark Stoops. After ten years fans think they are
    "entitled" to championships. Just ten short years ago fans would have took 6-6 and a bowl game. Now the narcissists are never satisfied. It’s pathetic the comments on the internet even after the Cats dominated the dirty birds. There are A LOT of "fans" that need to hit the transfer portal. The Cats are young. In fact about a dozen of their best players are freshman and redshirt freshman. After 2018 I heard people saying Stoops couldn’t win 10 games again. Well…he did. If players transfer, fans will blame everything and everyone under the sun. I would say look in the mirror. Fans are naive if they think players don’t visit the net and hear the crap spewed about them. I wouldn’t blame them for not wanting to play for a bunch of entitled crybabies. Next year my hopes will be high, but I am not going to "expect" anything.

  4. There is a point to the article. Hopefully, we will get a Music City Bowl bid and win. That would give us an 8 – 5 season. An 8 – 5 season would be a great record for next year, given the turnover that is coming. There are very few programs that can expect a 10 plus winning season year in and year out, and we aren’t one of them. Can we become one…maybe, but that may fall to the next coach that leads our team. I think Stoops has taken this program as far as he can. Once he realizes that he has hit his ceiling, he will step down and give the next guy a shot at it.

  5. The 2022 season was lost as far as early expectations were concerned when Coen went back to the L A Rams. Stoops had better keep a great coaching staff around him going forward is all I can say because he needs expert help. With the exception of White, I don’t think Stoops has the right coaches in place for some football positions right now. Lower expectations? No! No! These coaches today are being paid way to much money to lower expectations. Look south to USC and the Beamer hire. They are getting their money’s worth in Columbia. UK fans deserve the same production for the money paid. For starters, beat the ugly A$$ orange in Knoxville as much or more than they beat UK year in year out. On On UK!!!!

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