Mark Stoops likes for his team to be the hunter and that could provide extra inspiration for the Cats this season. (Vicky Graff Photo)
Former Kentucky quarterback Freddie Maggard has made it clear he believes quarterback Devin Leary could be a better college quarterback than Will Levis was even though Levis probably has the higher NFL ceiling.
Maggard also believes Kentucky is going to be a lot better than last year’s seven-win team even though the final record might not be a lot better.
“I don’t do season predictions but did this year,” Maggard, a high school/college football writer/analyst for Kentucky Sports Radio, said. “I said, ‘Eight or more (wins) good, seven or less bad.”
“They could win eight games and be much better because Alabama and Georgia are both on the schedule and there is a head coach in Louisville now who could win games, South Carolina is on the rise and Missouri has got some dudes on defense. And we are not even considering Florida as a potential loss and what world are we now living in to be thinking that.”
Maggard said the margin for winning and losing in the SEC is “minuscule” for most teams, especially since Kentucky is not a team loaded with four- and five-star players like Georgia and Alabama are.
“Kentucky does not have to overachieve but has got to be more efficient. Coach Mark Stoops has been efficient and patient in his approach and demands the best from everybody in that (football) building,” Maggard said.
There’s also a plus Maggard sees to Kentucky being doubted by many.
“Mark stoops likes to be the hunter instead of the hunted and this season sets up perfectly for him and his team to do the hunting,” Maggard said.
One Response
Now you are singing my tune.
Efficiency on both sides of the ball is how to assess teams, and championship contenders every year are the most efficient teams throughout the entire season.
Efficiency can be considered qualitatively, but I have found that quantitative measurements of efficiency are valid, and the measure I have used is the average number of points scored or allowed normalized on a per possession basis and normalized for the strength of the opponents.