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Kentucky got stunned by South Carolina Saturday and just could not physically match the Gamecocks most of the game.
South Carolina coach Shane Beamer knew his team was going to be more of a physical challenge than maybe Kentucky expected.
“I know our physicality and toughness match up against anybody and we knew and said all week that this was going to be an extreme fight and that was the exact words we used with our team. It wasn’t going to be pretty when we played these guys and there were going to be some ugly runs,” Beamer said after his team’s 31-6 win.
“They are going to make some plays, which they certainly did today. We needed to be greedy and physical and tough and composed through adversity because there was no question about it.”
The hype about UK’s defensive front certainly motivated the Gamecocks.
“There was a lot of talk about Kentucky’s defensive line and front seven and rightfully so. Deone Walker is going to play in the NFL for a long time, J.J. Weaver is a really good pass rusher, and D’Eryk Jackson and Jamon Dumas-Johnson are great linebackers,” the South Carolina coach said. “Our defense is pretty good too.
“There was not a lot of talk about our front seven. That group is really good up front. Kentucky isn’t the only veteran defense out there today. We’ve got a lot of guys that have played football for a while as well. The perception of our defense was really good and we are making that our reality. We are planning on playing like we did last season. We won five out of our last six games.”
Kentucky coach Mark Stoops was disappointed with his team’s lack of fight against the Gamecocks. Beamer knows he has a team of fighters and likes that others know, too.
“Hell yeah, if that’s what people want to say about my team, we were a bunch of fighters at the end of the season,” Beamer said.
6 Responses
Just another typical UK game when Stoops & his staff did NOT have players mentally prepared and therefore just strolled into the field without any fire because of the drousy mental state which Stoops typically sends players out of the locker room for kickoff.
SC took control of the UK OL before the alarm went off to wake up and the OL slept through 60 minutes!
Of course, on par was the UK secondary who mailed it in AGAIN.
Does anyone know of the UK OC was at the game or did Stoops just call run-run-run via a recording and perhaps used some of those “complex plays” left by the complex OC?
There are many concerns facing this team. Our offensive line has been blown up and now backups will have to step up and play better than the starter they are replacing. We have a shell shocked quarterback who has no confidence in the O line or the plays that are being called on offense. He is running for his life out of necessity and teams will be teeing off on that. Our secondary, which I thought would be a strength this year, has taken a big step backwards. Our D line and linebacker play has been solid until Stoops calls for a prevent defense on 3rd and long that ends up in 1st downs more times than not. I am not sure the O line problems can be fixed and that makes Vandagriff a target at a turkey shoot. I KNOW that Stoops has elevated our program and he has been rewarded for that. With success comes expectations for even greater success, especially when you get paid $9 million a year. Stoops is the 5th highest paid football coach in the country! We do not have a No. 5 rated team. When you get paid the big bucks, you better deliver. That is the spot that Stoops has put himself in. It’s time to show he is worthy of that salary or move on to another coach who is. That is what life is like if you expect to win in the SEC and for $9 million we deserve better than a 7-6 record…which, quite frankly, I would be happy with this season based on what we saw last Saturday. Anyone who expects any less is not a true Big Blue fan. Kentucky is all about winning…even in football! Stoops has the rest of the season to prove that he can win. Make the most of if coach!
Agree 100%.
The UK AD has overpaid 3 UK BB coaches (TLT, the fraud & the women’s BB coach who sunk the program to a new low) and Stoops as well as some assistants who are among the highest paid in the nation.
Is it the position coach of the secondary or the players who are the real problem. At this point, I think it’s the coach(es) with bad strategy.
This is exactly why I have said repeatedly that I would wait and see what happens during the season rather than jumping on the bandwagon of expectations. Too many seasons in UK football where they were "supposed" to be this or that. When a bad offense is practicing against a bad defense, you don’t get a true read.
I just don’t get the feeling that Stoops or many of his assistants really want to be at UK. We know for a fact Wolford didn’t want to be at UK but Stoops had to hire him back. Why would you want an OL coach that went to Alabama and destroyed their OL??? They were horrible for at least the first 3 games last year.
You and the Professor & a few others always wisely take the “wait & see” approach instead of listening to one iota of coach/player/media hype.
I did get to where I was too disgusted to believe any of the UK BB hype when the fraud owned UK BB after Barnie sold it to him in small print in the ridiculous life time contract.
Unfortunately, I’ve been trying to look at the bright side of UK FB, especially since UK BB was a bummer for so many years.
The “faults” of Stoops he has been unwilling to address &/or correct kept adding up and now I am definitely done with any hype.
Stoops has FAILED miserably the last 2 seasons and gave away too many winnable games after his first 3 years.
UGA could send their 2nd with some of their fans as backups and randomly pick assistant coaches from their fans and still wallop UK !!!
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