Cardinal's Perspective

[Deeeefense]

As autumn approached this year excitement grew intense in Louisville. This may be the year to achieve the great things they have been dreaming of. The media reminded them how great they were and they didn't disappoint as the year went on. Into the top 10 and then the top 5 and now talk of conference championships, final fours, and even national champions was everywhere. Lead by the best player in the nation they were told, and a lock for the Heisman trophy, pride and confidence abounded. A few decided to venture over here to our board and spread their wings, reminding us of how great they truly had become as a program and how far we would have to come to catch up.

But today a stark realization has set in once more. We're still KENTUCKY, and they're still 'lil brother.

GBB!!!

 

[ktbug]

Love it!

 

[1stkatman]

Yep, little brother never catches up to his mentor.

 

[irishcat1965]

All those clowns ever had was to mention football. Now that UK beat that *** in their own football stadium, what sport will the ghetto filth talk about now? They won't show their faces on the football forum just like they can't in the basketball forum.

 

[Icecoldbrewdoggy]

Yep, little brother never catches up to his mentor.

Where's publicenemy#1 and the Sugar bowl talk? Where are all the UK fans like Wildcatdon that wanted SLEEZE BALL Petrino at UK? Where's "fans" like andreigoudalaisgod that rush to post when we are playing poorly?

Great day for UK Football.

 

[CB3UK]

Cardinal's perspective

 

[catfanjd]

That is awesome pic!

 

[irishcat1965]

Where's publicenemy#1 and the Sugar bowl talk? Where are all the UK fans like Wildcatdon that wanted SLEEZE BALL Petrino at UK? Where's "fans" like andreigoudalaisgod that rush to post when we are playing poorly?

Great day for UK Football.

Yeah Public enemy guaranteed a top bowl. I said all year UL is a Belk Bowl type of team and UK proved it on the field today.

 

[Stenchymouse]

To bash on UofL too much, is to diminish our win today.

We beat a helluva team today and it's because we've become a helluva team ourselves!

This isn't about UofL NOT being good...

It's about us breaking through a barrier and into a higher level going forward.

 

[Woodrow24]

Where's publicenemy#1 and the Sugar bowl talk? Where are all the UK fans like Wildcatdon that wanted SLEEZE BALL Petrino at UK? Where's "fans" like andreigoudalaisgod that rush to post when we are playing poorly?

Great day for UK Football.

IDC to admit it I'm one of the people on this board that was disappointed that we didn't get Petrino and I was wrong for thinking that way. Many posters were wrong on that. I'm happy as hell that stoops and our staff have turned our program around. Stoops has shown me how important it is to be patient. Some posters on here were patient and give him time to stick to his process of building our program. Those posters were right. It's tough to turn around a bad program and ole stoops has done a fine job with our program. Been a great day for the BBN.

 

[Icecoldbrewdoggy]

IDC to admit it I'm one of the people on this board that was disappointed that we didn't get Petrino and I was wrong for thinking that way. Many posters were wrong on that. I'm happy as hell that stoops and our staff have turned our program around. Stoops has shown me how important it is to be patient. Some posters on here were patient and give him time to stick to his process of building our program. Those posters were right. It's tough to turn around a bad program and ole stoops has done a fine job with our program. Been a great day for the BBN.

Hopefully, he showed you how important it is to hire a guy with character instead of a lowlife POS, lol.

 

[Woodrow24]

Hopefully, he showed you how important it is to hire a guy with character instead of a lowlife POS, lol.

LOL

 

[Kats23]

All those clowns ever had was to mention football. Now that UK beat that *** in their own football stadium, what sport will the ghetto filth talk about now? They won't show their faces on the football forum just like they can't in the basketball forum.

soccer or baseball would be my guess

 

[irishcat1965]

soccer or baseball would be my guess

We beat them in soccer this year.

 

[Kats23]

We beat them in soccer this year.

They're screwed then I guess

 

[willievic]

We beat a good team today. UofL is a good team, and Jackson, I think, is really one of the best athletes I have seen this year. If you take him off the team, they are a 500 team at the best, even in the lowly ACC. We played a heck of a game today, and our coaches had a great game plan. I'm not taking anything away from the players of UofL. Their coach is a classless SOB, but I think their QB is a First Class young man.

OLD STOLL FIELD GUY!

 

[EliteBlue]

All those clowns ever had was to mention football. Now that UK beat that *** in their own football stadium, what sport will the ghetto filth talk about now? They won't show their faces on the football forum just like they can't in the basketball forum.

They love talking soccer

 

[vhcat70]

To bash on UofL too much, is to diminish our win today.

We beat a helluva team today and it's because we've become a helluva team ourselves!

This isn't about UofL NOT being good...

It's about us breaking through a barrier and into a higher level going forward.

Yep, no idea ether why people want to lessen the importance of our win by degrading the quality of the opponent.

 

[Crushgroove]

WildCard will be here shortly to talk down to us. It is God's mission for him.

 

[Deeeefense]

Yep, no idea ether why people want to lessen the importance of our win by degrading the quality of the opponent.

We're just having a little fun at their expense. We all know they are an excellent football team.

 

[TruBluCatFan]

We beat a good team today. UofL is a good team, and Jackson, I think, is really one of the best athletes I have seen this year. If you take him off the team, they are a 500 team at the best, even in the lowly ACC. We played a heck of a game today, and our coaches had a great game plan. I'm not taking anything away from the players of UofL. Their coach is a classless SOB, but I think their QB is a First Class young man.

OLD STOLL FIELD GUY!

The same lowly ACC that beat the SEC in 3 of 4 rivalry games yesterday?

 

[PhattyJ4UK_rivals309166]

One thing you can always count on:

The posters like brew who like to spout their sunshine on others after a victory. It's as predictable as the doom and gloom.

I've voiced my concerns and I still have them. If Lamar doesn't fumble, then the scared conservativeness in the 4th bites us again. Luckily, he did fumble.

Stoops has earned an all in fan base. He did what he had to do this year. However, games like USM and Florida are unacceptable next year. Also would like to see him seal the deal with games like Georgia(he should have had a 12 point lead which I give him credit for) but I think he really needs to play less scared with the game on line.

In conclusion, great job stoops. You're on track. But take the next step before I'll agree with people that say you're the 2nd coming of Bear Bryant.

 

[BoulderCat_rivals187983]

We rarely see it as UK football fans, but yesterday was just one of those days when everything seemed to go right for UK. Who would have thought UL, and specifically Jackson, would turn the ball over 4 times? Who would have thought a defender would pull up at the last second with a cramp giving UK a TD. What I saw anyway was a UK team that looked confident and secure in their identity as a running team. Perhaps it was all in my mind, but I seemed to see a team that felt like it was going to win. UL scores 2 mins into the game, and UK comes back and scores in 10 seconds. I knew then it was on. Yea we gave up 38 pts, but to one of the most prolific offenses in college football, and one which had racked up a lot more than 38 on a bunch of teams. Despite their loss to Houston that was a darn good football team our Cats beat yesterday.

 

[CatPhight_rivals65113]

 

[DCFseattle]

Stoops has earned an all in fan base. He did what he had to do this year. However, games like USM and Florida are unacceptable next year. Also would like to see him seal the deal with games like Georgia(he should have had a 12 point lead which I give him credit for) but I think he really needs to play less scared with the game on line.

So... Like the Mississippi state game? Or any of the other close games we closed out this year? I think he was 4-1 in games decided by a touchdown or less. It's early out here, but i think that's right.

 

[Comebakatz3]

The same lowly ACC that beat the SEC in 3 of 4 rivalry games yesterday?

I think the ACC has improved and Louisville has really improved them by giving them another very good football team. I think people want to kind of ignore that. However, from top to bottom I am not sure that they are as good as the SEC. Where I think there can be a big difference is actually at the bottom of the leagues. Here are the bottom four of each:

Duke, Syracuse, Virginia, and Boston College
Missouri, Ole Miss, Miss State, Vanderbilt

I think our bottom four are much tougher than their bottom four. That is where there can be a big difference. Look at Ole Miss for instance. Ole Miss gave Alabama everything they wanted and they were the only team really that close to beating them. Yet they finish the season with just 2 conference wins, both of which were against top 15 teams at the time they beat them. They also put a scare into FSU to start the year, and before halftime Ole Miss was up 28-13 before allowing 23 unanswered in the third.

Compare that to Duke, who also finished 2nd from last in their league, and you see that Duke won 1 conference game and went 4-8. Their only wins were against UNC (decent rivalry game win), North Carolina Central, Army, and Notre Dame.

Point being, I think the SEC is a tougher league because there are no teams that you can take for granted. Even a team that is traditionally on the bottom like a Vanderbilt will occasionally jump up and lay it to a team like Tennessee or Florida. Just my take anyway.

 

[Michigan Fan]

Yeah Public enemy guaranteed a top bowl. I said all year UL is a Belk Bowl type of team and UK proved it on the field today.

Actually I did offer congrats as did Pushup Man and it is off to the Citrus Bowl for Louisville...as long as Clemson wins the ACC..FSU is Orange Bowl Bound. Worse we go is the Russell Athletic Bowl....CBS Bowl Projections this morning...FTR, never said CFP but Always Orange Bowl and Citrus Bowl for the simple reason I knew our ACC Standing and the ACC Bowl Tie-Ins.

http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/bowls/predictions

And the Congrats thread from this morning

https://kentucky.forums.rivals.com/threads/congrats-on-the-much-deserved-win.218085/

 

[gojvc]

How in the hell could we be in the Independence Bowl after yesterday's game?

 

[Michigan Fan]

How in the hell could we be in the Independence Bowl after yesterday's game?

I don't buy that either...at 7-5 It would seem like Music City Bowl is a natural....and the Music City Bowl is considered a very good Bowl now...much higher payout

 

[mtn cat1]

To bash on UofL too much, is to diminish our win today.

We beat a helluva team today and it's because we've become a helluva team ourselves!

This isn't about UofL NOT being good...

It's about us breaking through a barrier and into a higher level going forward.

Preach it bro!!!

 

[Michigan Fan]

Preach it bro!!!

You're better....7-3 the last 10 games...says it all...

 

[Comebakatz3]

One thing you can always count on:

The posters like brew who like to spout their sunshine on others after a victory. It's as predictable as the doom and gloom.

I've voiced my concerns and I still have them. If Lamar doesn't fumble, then the scared conservativeness in the 4th bites us again. Luckily, he did fumble.

Stoops has earned an all in fan base. He did what he had to do this year. However, games like USM and Florida are unacceptable next year. Also would like to see him seal the deal with games like Georgia(he should have had a 12 point lead which I give him credit for) but I think he really needs to play less scared with the game on line.

In conclusion, great job stoops. You're on track. But take the next step before I'll agree with people that say you're the 2nd coming of Bear Bryant.

I think that is somewhat fair. I don't like your, "what if he hadn't fumbled" take though. What if Snell hadn't fumbled when we had the ball? Maybe we get the first down and continue to march down the field and score a touchdown? We can play that what if game, but it is really just a back and forth.

In terms of conservative... I am somewhat torn on that. UK was averaging about 5 yards per carry and rushed for about 130 more yards than Louisville averages. So, I don't mind running the ball. However, UL was most definitely crowding the box with 7 or 8 men and taking away the middle. I don't know that we needed a deep throw after the McClain interception near the endzone, but just getting the ball to someone in some space probably would have helped to loosen the UL defense late in the game.

On first down at the 19, after the Kemp run on 3rd and one, I think was a perfect chance for UK to get a pretty solid play and keep the chains moving with a throw. We were in the pistol formation with Kemp behind Johnson and an H-back, looks like Hart. I think if UK fakes the handoff to Kemp and then looks for a little dump over the middle to Hart then we pick up 10-15 yards and the UL linebackers will be forced to hesitate a bit before being so quick to stop the run. Instead, we run the read option and Kemp gets no gain.

I am personally still torn on Stoops. After the first three games I wanted him gone. Our defense looked historically bad. All three teams ran through our defense like it wasn't even there, and two of those teams were not power 5 teams. However, it did improve immensely (until the UT game when we regressed for a game). We now finally seem to have a pretty competent offense. I'm not sure that Stoops is the guy to get us to the top of the SEC, but his results to finish this year have at least given me reason to continue to give him a chance and see where he can take us. I have to say what really makes me nervous is when we lose a lot of the current juniors. Johnson, Baker, Boom, Mosier, Haynes, Meyers, Meadows, Hart, Badet, Bone, Walker, Juice, MacGinnis, Bell, Elam, and Randolph. That is a whole lot of big time contributors. We have time to find and develop the talent to replace them, but it sure is a big time class that has a whole lot of talent and I am curious to see if Stoops can find the talent behind them to help us continue this success.

 

[CatPhight_rivals65113]

My take is UK vs. Indiana in the Music City Bowl

 

[TruBluCatFan]

I think the ACC has improved and Louisville has really improved them by giving them another very good football team. I think people want to kind of ignore that. However, from top to bottom I am not sure that they are as good as the SEC. Where I think there can be a big difference is actually at the bottom of the leagues. Here are the bottom four of each:

Duke, Syracuse, Virginia, and Boston College
Missouri, Ole Miss, Miss State, Vanderbilt

I think our bottom four are much tougher than their bottom four. That is where there can be a big difference. Look at Ole Miss for instance. Ole Miss gave Alabama everything they wanted and they were the only team really that close to beating them. Yet they finish the season with just 2 conference wins, both of which were against top 15 teams at the time they beat them. They also put a scare into FSU to start the year, and before halftime Ole Miss was up 28-13 before allowing 23 unanswered in the third.

Compare that to Duke, who also finished 2nd from last in their league, and you see that Duke won 1 conference game and went 4-8. Their only wins were against UNC (decent rivalry game win), North Carolina Central, Army, and Notre Dame.

Point being, I think the SEC is a tougher league because there are no teams that you can take for granted. Even a team that is traditionally on the bottom like a Vanderbilt will occasionally jump up and lay it to a team like Tennessee or Florida. Just my take anyway.

I don't disagree. I was just calling out another crazy post by Willievic that was misinformed. The ACC is no longer lowly in football. It's not SEC (most years) or Big Ten level this year but not an afterthought anymore.

 

[PhattyJ4UK_rivals309166]

So... Like the Mississippi state game? Or any of the other close games we closed out this year? I think he was 4-1 in games decided by a touchdown or less. It's early out here, but i think that's right.

Not necessarily just talking wins and losses. Talking strategy. Plays not to lose and not just on offense. The defense played against Georgia on their last possession gave us absolutely zero chance to win. I like our chances if we're last to have the ball. I think we're doomed if we need a stop. Stoops won't gamble. With that 4-1 record we had some things go our way like a tying touchdown dropped and a go ahead score fumbled. But like I said, stoops has earned an all in fan base. That doesn't mean we have to think he's Vince Lombardi.

I think that is somewhat fair. I don't like your, "what if he hadn't fumbled" take though. What if Snell hadn't fumbled when we had the ball? Maybe we get the first down and continue to march down the field and score a touchdown? We can play that what if game, but it is really just a back and forth.

In terms of conservative... I am somewhat torn on that. UK was averaging about 5 yards per carry and rushed for about 130 more yards than Louisville averages. So, I don't mind running the ball. However, UL was most definitely crowding the box with 7 or 8 men and taking away the middle. I don't know that we needed a deep throw after the McClain interception near the endzone, but just getting the ball to someone in some space probably would have helped to loosen the UL defense late in the game.

On first down at the 19, after the Kemp run on 3rd and one, I think was a perfect chance for UK to get a pretty solid play and keep the chains moving with a throw. We were in the pistol formation with Kemp behind Johnson and an H-back, looks like Hart. I think if UK fakes the handoff to Kemp and then looks for a little dump over the middle to Hart then we pick up 10-15 yards and the UL linebackers will be forced to hesitate a bit before being so quick to stop the run. Instead, we run the read option and Kemp gets no gain.

I am personally still torn on Stoops. After the first three games I wanted him gone. Our defense looked historically bad. All three teams ran through our defense like it wasn't even there, and two of those teams were not power 5 teams. However, it did improve immensely (until the UT game when we regressed for a game). We now finally seem to have a pretty competent offense. I'm not sure that Stoops is the guy to get us to the top of the SEC, but his results to finish this year have at least given me reason to continue to give him a chance and see where he can take us. I have to say what really makes me nervous is when we lose a lot of the current juniors. Johnson, Baker, Boom, Mosier, Haynes, Meyers, Meadows, Hart, Badet, Bone, Walker, Juice, MacGinnis, Bell, Elam, and Randolph. That is a whole lot of big time contributors. We have time to find and develop the talent to replace them, but it sure is a big time class that has a whole lot of talent and I am curious to see if Stoops can find the talent behind them to help us continue this success.

We agree on a lot it seems. My point about the fumble is that we had gotten conservative which, imo led to snells fumble. It was 2nd and 13 and we had just lost 3 on a run and Boom went down. Next play, a run up the middle.

Also on defense the same base zone defense with cushion was employed and they were 5 yarding us to death. He was also sitting on 3 timeouts. When they got within the 10 he should have looked at using one to give the offense a chance. Luckily, a fumble happened. Stoops got lucky on that. But equally, he had us in the game and in position to capitalize on a mistake.

I'm not sold on stoops ever getting us above where we are. But I don't see us returning to joker level either. I am ready to see if he can and excited. I really hope we can have a Coloradoesque season next year. I think our offense will be absolutely lethal. I also think stoops needs to go out and get a mean d coordinator. And one who will bring the heat at times.

 

[CATFANFOLIFE87]

They've got nothing left now that we own football

 

[Pike 96]

Actually I did offer congrats as did Pushup Man and it is off to the Citrus Bowl for Louisville...as long as Clemson wins the ACC..FSU is Orange Bowl Bound. Worse we go is the Russell Athletic Bowl....CBS Bowl Projections this morning...FTR, never said CFP but Always Orange Bowl and Citrus Bowl for the simple reason I knew our ACC Standing and the ACC Bowl Tie-Ins.

http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/bowls/predictions

And the Congrats thread from this morning

https://kentucky.forums.rivals.com/threads/congrats-on-the-much-deserved-win.218085/

Question from previous convo TPE....do you still think this was the year before the year UL truly breaks out?? And that your defense is truly going to be better or as good NEXT year? Losing 6 on offense and 4 on defense (probably 4 NFL players). No doubt Jackson can carry your team.

But I Just don't see being aa good or better. Losing two OL, top rusher, top 2 WR, stud TE. And 4 of best five players on D(which was exposed last two games). Curious if you still feel that way?

 

[Michigan Fan]

Question from previous convo TPE....do you still think this was the year before the year UL truly breaks out?? And that your defense is truly going to be better or as good NEXT year? Losing 6 on offense and 4 on defense (probably 4 NFL players). No doubt Jackson can carry your team.

But I Just don't see being aa good or better. Losing two OL, top rusher, top 2 WR, stud TE. And 4 of best five players on D(which was exposed last two games). Curious if you still feel that way?

Actually I do....because of the Red Shirts-(in which I'm glad they were not burned long term) and what coming in....before the year said 9-3...unfortunately was dead on...next year barring injury it is us or FSU in the ACC Atlantic...but my only cause is I felt Petrino didn't do a good job at all down the stretch....and trust me....losing Hughley not much of a loss and not that concerned with losing Quick...especially since Smith, Samuels, Bonnefon and Dawkins will be back at WR and Fitzpatrick will be in the mix. Only real concern on defense is getting a replacement for Brown in the middle.

Will have a much better grasp in the Spring and after signing day...if I change my mind I will let you know in April...before the 2016 season had a 10-2 Ceiling and 7-5 Floor...but said 9-3 when it was all said and done. Next year barring massive injuries and recruiting continues expect to be playing in the ACC Title Game.

 

[vhcat70]

Not necessarily just talking wins and losses. Talking strategy. Plays not to lose and not just on offense. The defense played against Georgia on their last possession gave us absolutely zero chance to win. I like our chances if we're last to have the ball. I think we're doomed if we need a stop. Stoops won't gamble. With that 4-1 record we had some things go our way like a tying touchdown dropped and a go ahead score fumbled. But like I said, stoops has earned an all in fan base. That doesn't mean we have to think he's Vince Lombardi.



We agree on a lot it seems. My point about the fumble is that we had gotten conservative which, imo led to snells fumble. It was 2nd and 13 and we had just lost 3 on a run and Boom went down. Next play, a run up the middle.

Also on defense the same base zone defense with cushion was employed and they were 5 yarding us to death. He was also sitting on 3 timeouts. When they got within the 10 he should have looked at using one to give the offense a chance. Luckily, a fumble happened. Stoops got lucky on that. But equally, he had us in the game and in position to capitalize on a mistake.

I'm not sold on stoops ever getting us above where we are. But I don't see us returning to joker level either. I am ready to see if he can and excited. I really hope we can have a Coloradoesque season next year. I think our offense will be absolutely lethal. I also think stoops needs to go out and get a mean d coordinator. And one who will bring the heat at times.

I got a whole lot of problems with this.

Concerning get conservative: We'd just gotten a 1D running. Before that we were 2 & 15 & ran for 14 & then made a 1D. WTH do you want? We're trying to run down the clock to give LV little time to score after we do. We'd been successful moving the ball just as we were all day. Do you realize we ran 3x for every 2x passing? It's not conservative. It's totally intelligent & you fail to realize it.

Our D is what it is. 5 yarding against that O & waiting for them to make a mistake is what it was all about - and rightfully so. As for not calling a TO, I'd presume we were going to had LJ not fumbled - the mistake the staff was allowing them to make. We had plenty of time left to score if LV did as our subsequent drive demonstrated. Give Stoops & Gran just a little credit.

As for you not being sold on Stoops taking us further forward, so what? He's taken us from 2-10 to 7-5. I'd cut him some slack after this season before starting into your "What's he done for us lately" routine. Good grief.

 

[carolinacat]

One thing you can always count on:

The posters like brew who like to spout their sunshine on others after a victory. It's as predictable as the doom and gloom.

I've voiced my concerns and I still have them. If Lamar doesn't fumble, then the scared conservativeness in the 4th bites us again. Luckily, he did fumble.

Stoops has earned an all in fan base. He did what he had to do this year. However, games like USM and Florida are unacceptable next year. Also would like to see him seal the deal with games like Georgia(he should have had a 12 point lead which I give him credit for) but I think he really needs to play less scared with the game on line.

In conclusion, great job stoops. You're on track. But take the next step before I'll agree with people that say you're the 2nd coming of Bear Bryant.

Nice straw man dude...I haven't heard a single solitary fan who said Stoops was the 2nd coming of Bear Bryant. Absurd.