UK Football 2011 Thread

[WVRed]

UK only up 7-3 on WKU with 3:07 left in the third quarter.

This is going to be a loooooonnnnnnggggg season with the way things are looking.

[WMR]

It seems to be our destiny that whenever the basketball is truly rolling, football has to be bad.

The Curse of Bear Bryant lives on...

[Playadlc]

Newton looks awful.

[Scrap Irony]

My Toppers gave them a run, but it wasn't meant to be.

Some observations:

For WKU:
Rainey will struggle this year for WKU if they can't find consistent offensive help. For a West Coast offense, there isn't much throwing to the tight ends. That would have moved Trevathian and/or Guy away from the LoS, thereby giving Rainey more room to roam. (Both those guys are studs.)

For UK:
If Newton is as good as Kentucky has at QB, they may very well not win another game all year. He's horrid throwing the simple down and outs, slants, dumps that are gravy to all but the most inexperienced signal callers in the game. His long balls are beautiful. Too bad his WR corps can't catch them unless they're gift-wrapped. I'd get Maxwell Smith up to speed as quickly as possible. Newton doesn't appear to be the answer.

Does Kentucky have a WR that can catch?

What happened to the halfback dump? Does Joker use that play ever?

For an experienced offensive line with 50 pound advantages across the line from Western, UK basically sucked. Western dominated the LoS for most of the game. With a few breaks here and there and a couple calls going to other way (13 penalties on WKU), they very well could have won.

[WMR]

5 opening wins in a row... For Kentucky that is actually pretty impressive.

[KronoRed]

A new kind of pass technique?

[cumberlandreds]

I DVR'd the game and haven't watched it yet. I may not, considering how boring a game it looked to be. Judging by the stats and articles I have read the offense was just pathetic. They are going to have to considerable improvement in a short amount of time just to be competitive in the SEC. I'm not sure that's happening. The defense will have to carry this team but attrition may takes it toll and things may get really ugly by the end of the season. I never understood why some were hyping what a good offensive line UK had. It's basically the same as last seasons and they were not very good then. Apparently they have not improved at all since last season.
Its better to be 1-0 than 0-1. A loss would have been a disaster to this team and Joker Phillips that either could not have overcome. Hate to say it but it looks all UK fans sports eyes will be turning to basketball very soon.

[Joseph]

Originally Posted by cumberlandreds

I DVR'd the game and haven't watched it yet. I may not, considering how boring a game it looked to be. Judging by the stats and articles I have read the offense was just pathetic. They are going to have to considerable improvement in a short amount of time just to be competitive in the SEC. I'm not sure that's happening. The defense will have to carry this team but attrition may takes it toll and things may get really ugly by the end of the season. I never understood why some were hyping what a good offensive line UK had. It's basically the same as last seasons and they were not very good then. Apparently they have not improved at all since last season.
Its better to be 1-0 than 0-1. A loss would have been a disaster to this team and Joker Phillips that either could not have overcome. Hate to say it but it looks all UK fans sports eyes will be turning to basketball very soon.

Lets be realistic, I don't think they can be competitive in the SEC and I'm a true blue UK fan. Not unless last night was just the case of playing to the level of competition.

[cumberlandreds]

Originally Posted by Joseph

Lets be realistic, I don't think they can be competitive in the SEC and I'm a true blue UK fan. Not unless last night was just the case of playing to the level of competition.

I agree. From the way the first game went they won't be competitive at all in the SEC. In fact they may not win a game in conference.

[WVRed]

They may beat Central Michigan next week but Louisville is seriously in question. We desperately need the Louisville game if there is any hope of continuing the bowl streak, but even then there is work to be done.

I'm starting to wonder if this season goes the way I think it will if Joker will have a job next season.

[Scrap Irony]

Originally Posted by WVRed

They may beat Central Michigan next week but Louisville is seriously in question. We desperately need the Louisville game if there is any hope of continuing the bowl streak, but even then there is work to be done.

I'm starting to wonder if this season goes the way I think it will if Joker will have a job next season.

If he loses to Louisville, you have to start looking around.

Perhaps Urban Meyer would want to come out of retirement? Perhaps Jim Tressel would consider coaching at Kentucky? Want to give Charlie Weis a second shot at college football? Or perhaps Mike Leach?

Lots of good coaches currently without a job and, frankly, what's Joker done while at Kentucky aside from backsliding to Bill Curry territory?

[Captain13]

Originally Posted by Scrap Irony

If he loses to Louisville, you have to start looking around.

Perhaps Urban Meyer would want to come out of retirement? Perhaps Jim Tressel would consider coaching at Kentucky? Want to give Charlie Weis a second shot at college football? Or perhaps Mike Leach?

Lots of good coaches currently without a job and, frankly, what's Joker done while at Kentucky aside from backsliding to Bill Curry territory?

As a Louisville fan, I hope Mike Leach is never the head coach at UK. I like Mike Leach, think he is an amazing coach, and don't want to cheer against him 12 times a year.

As for week 3, it will be an interesting mess. Neither team looked good last night; both have plenty of work to do.

[PedroBourbon]

4 yards of offense in the 1st quarter, a whopping 35 the whole first half for UK? Not a good sign at all. I would have killed to have Hartline back and I HATED him as our QB.

[WVRed]

Originally Posted by Scrap Irony

If he loses to Louisville, you have to start looking around.

Perhaps Urban Meyer would want to come out of retirement? Perhaps Jim Tressel would consider coaching at Kentucky? Want to give Charlie Weis a second shot at college football? Or perhaps Mike Leach?

Lots of good coaches currently without a job and, frankly, what's Joker done while at Kentucky aside from backsliding to Bill Curry territory?

Out of that list, only Mike Leach seems the most realistic.

Urban Meyer is probably option A B C & D at Ohio State. I don't see any way Kentucky hires Tressel given the baggage that would be coming. Weis is a career assistant and I think he realizes that.

Leach coached at Kentucky under Hal Mumme. I think Leach would have a monumental impact in Lexington and might be the coach who could bring lofty expectations to UK's football program. That being said, given how Mumme left, I kinda wonder if fans would be very receptive to a former assistant.

[WMR]

Fire Joker, hire Leach. He would get us relevant in the SEC.