Breaking down the Cats and Cards
- Thread starter UKErik
- Start date
I believe that deferring is the correct decision the vast majority of the time, and the information you posted here is even further evidence to support deferring. However I don't see any logic in the last paragraph. What advantage is it to end the half with possession if you didn't score? Each team gets the ball to start two separate equally timed halves. There is no possession advantage that I can see with deferring, but there are obviously many other advantages in doing so.
Stoops will be around next year with a very experienced team will you be satisfied with 5-6 wins next year? Home slate is going to be monstrous next year... Look at LSU and A&M, they will finish 7-4 & 8-4 and I dare say both will probably have new coaches next year...by the way, I plan on being at EVERY game next year cheering my a$$ off hoping every game ends with a W.
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If you don't score then there is no advantage. However, if you do end the first half with the ball and you score then you have the only opportunity in the game to score twice without the opponent ever touching the ball and not having to create a turnover. I think that is a huge deal because it can be a huge momentum swing. I think that the Southern Miss game is pretty much a good example of this.
UK is up 35-10 and for many UK fans we're thinking this thing is over and we're going to have a great start to the season. So. Miss then gets the ball with 48 seconds left in the half and they score a touchdown to make the game 35-17. Still up 18 points I felt pretty well about it at the time, but I do remember being a little nervous about the momentum that gave them. USM then gets the ball after halftime and they score on a long drive and they are suddenly only down 11. A 14 point swing with UK only getting one play between the two touchdowns due to the half ending. So, USM didn't technically have the last possession of the first half, but they still took advantage of this 14 point swing to get back into the game.
It doesn't happen extremely often, but if it plays out in your favor then I think it can be huge. It is a chance to really put the game away or to get back into the game if you're down.
So, I just gave a breakdown of the results of the first possession of each half this season. UK hasn't given up a single score (to date... knock on wood) on the first possession when they go on defense. Yet they've scored 24 points this year when getting the ball to open the second half. Seems to me like there is a huge advantage to putting our defense on the field first to start the game if we get the chance to do so.
@jauk11 I think Stoops is running a great defense with a great scheme and great discipline..just needs 10-15 more years to get his recruits in there, what say you?
One thing I completely disagree with is the "UK wins if". If UK possesses the ball for 40 mins, it won't need 45 points. 31 or so would do it.
I actually think UK will need to hit some big plays and have a couple quick strikes mixed in to ball control, bc UL has a nice run D.
I actually think UK will need to hit some big plays and have a couple quick strikes mixed in to ball control, bc UL has a nice run D.
I just honestly don't understand why you and your kind get on this board on a daily basis to just spew illogical negativity. You want to compare the number of games we win right now to LSU who has high ranked NFL talent all over the field every year. Just nonsense. It must be depressing to wake up in a glass half empty world every single day.
But if coming on this board to share your nonsense day after day after day keeps you from kicking your dog and/or smacking the wife or live in Mom around then..hey..have at it! ^ We'll do our part to keep society a better place
I'm "negative" because I'm calling a bad defense a bad defense? Interesting stuff man, tell me more..did you even watch the defense in the Austin Peay game or the Southern Miss game or basically every single other game this season? My God man, Stoops has done a lot of good things around here and I like the guy but you and @jauk11 act like the dude is Bear Bryant and is beyond any type of critique..fans like you and your boy @jauk11 are the reason this program will always be mediocre..you refuse to take off your blue goggles and call a spade a spade, meanwhile Louisville and WKU (who rarely if ever out-recruit us) have both passed us up..keep drinking your blue kool aid with your boy jauk, I'll keep pushing for this program to actually get better so that we're not 26-point underdogs to our in-state rival that was a C-USA school a few years back
I'm convinced that @Pike 96 and @jauk11 are both secretly Mitch Barnhart or UofL trolls trying to keep Mitch secure in his job. I hope they're getting paid well for all the PR work they do for the guy, it's a full time job defending an AD in the SEC that makes as many terrible football related decisions as him, but they somehow manage to do it. Do you two get a salary from Mitch or are you paid by the post? Seems like a pretty nice gig either way
Have you even watched the defense play this year? I'd like some of what you and @jauk11 are drinking man, it's got to be strong
There are two keys to beating Louisville, for Kentucky. The first is keeping Jackson in the pocket. Jackson cannot beat us with his arm, but he sure can beat us with his legs. The second is our run game. We have three good RB's and if our OL can open some holes, and we can control the clock, that will help keep Jackson off the field. We must put some pressure on him with the blitz, but not let him outside the pocket.
I know I'm probably one of the few who thinks we can beat Louisville, but stranger things have happened. GO CATS!
OLD STOLL FIELD GUY!
I know I'm probably one of the few who thinks we can beat Louisville, but stranger things have happened. GO CATS!
OLD STOLL FIELD GUY!
I'd knock the bejesus out of Jackson on every play. If he tosses it to a back for yardage so what? He'd be one big bruise by the time the game was over.
Are you comparing UK's football program with Texas A&M and LSU? Why not start with their in state talent, LOL
No, I expect to have 7 wins next year, and maybe 8, but there is little doubt that most of the SEC teams we beat this year will be much improved, just like us.
You know, I don't understand all this preoccupation with winning, being competitive yes, but to me the beauty of football is seeing great players making great plays, and we have a hell of a lot more of those than we have had in a long time. Sure winning forgives a lot of mistakes and is important, but you can take pride in playing as well as you can, AND winning without cheating.
That said what I wouldn't give to beat Transfer U tomorrow.
I think you are a miserable human being, and enjoy trying to make others miserable, LOL.
Edit" Sorry, I hadn't read Pike 96's reply before I wrote mine, I think he did a better job of answering your post than I did.
LOL, you can ask any old time poster on here who has been mitch's biggest critic for almost a decade and I am sure 90% would name me, I even got tired of writing my rants myself, although I thought they were necessary. I started a long thread on here trying to organize a one game boycott of the Charleston directional game in protest of mitch's long list of CRIMES against the football program long before the actual strike took place.
plus, UL has benefited greatly from sacks (that take away from rushing yards) because they get ahead and teams have to throw the ball, no matter what happens UK has to stick to running the ball and controlling the clock to have any chance
Really surprised how many people think they are so superior to us. Like Erik said, besides one player. I would say we are better, unfortunately, the guy on the sideline is far superior. All that said, last 2 years the better football team lost in the end holding huge leads at one point. What has changed so much to think we have no chance?? I think Louisville wins but in a very close one.
Louisville is 9th nationally in defensive efficiency (opponent-adjusted). We're 86th.
Not saying we have no chance, but it's a little more than one position. It's a mismatch on paper across the board.
Theoretically you could get an extra possession in either half by receiving, and then having the ball for the final possession of that half, but then the opposing team might have the same opportunity in the other half.
Otherwise there is no possession advantage to deferring or receiving.
When Jackson entered the game last year I honestly don't think we tackled him once. Every run of his ended in a TD, run out of bounds or he slid in front of a would be tackler but not once did he physically get tackled.
You have to want to see stoops bring a free for all nothing to lose game plan in a game like today. Nothing is more infuriating than watching a coach go in with the same vanilla game plan that gets his teams *** kicked in games like this. He needs to grow a set of balls if he is ever going to be a successful college football coach.
What makes UofL hard to defend is even when you have them in 3rd and long, it isn't necessarily a passing down. Jackson can easily run for 7-10 yards against a passing scheme. So you pick your poison and hope you get lucky.
To use a over used quote, If some of you want to crown them, you fricken crown 'em. I'm not ready to crown them. I believe this game is going to be close, until the 4th quarter. The key to this game is our offense being able to pass enough to loosen up Louisville's defense, and not throw the ball 5 feet over Conrad's head on blitzes (which Louisville does a lot). Keep them from packing the box, and the Boom & Benny show can run at will, and light Louisville up. On Louisville's offense, I've noticed a tendency for Petrino, to make Lamar Crazy legs Jackson pass the ball more than he likes in the first half of games. So the first half needs to be about our defense keeping lane integrity, and staying disciplined. Contain and make Lamar beat us with his arm. In the second half, I think Petrino just let's Jackson play his game, and that is run run and run some more. Unfortunately, with our lack of defensive speed and depth, this will be our undoing, and I think our D will simply wear out in the fourth. That being said, A few turnovers and a few lucky breaks our way, and we can beat them. Hope I'm right, but I can't see them beating us by some lopsided score. Our defense is no juggernaut, but I can damn sure guarantee them that our players are more physical and hit harder than the likes of Duke, Wake, Syracuse, BC, etc. Beyond that, we are playing with house money today.
Go Cats!
Go Cats!