Dropping some Truth Bombs

[UKWinsAgainYep]

The weather in both of Drew's starts were terrible for QBs, especially a first time starting QB.

Talent was never really the issue with Drew, it was with his leadership and the mental part of the game, whether things would slow down for him. You just cannot go by what he did last year. New offense, more time as the bonafied leader of the offense, and from all accounts, he is taking this new position very, very seriously.

The oline does have question marks, but I tend to believe Gran will develop an offense that helps overcome any deficiencies on our oline. Slow developing plays will be the exception, not the rule. Looking for my slants, quick outs, rolling the pocket, etc. that will take advantage of our strengths and hide our weaknesses.

If Young and Leavitt give us good snaps the oline improves tremendously.

6 wins should be the minimum expectations for this year. We finally have talent and experienced talent all over the field. Dline will be a surprise this year and that will only allow our LBs to demonstrate their improved play.

We'll see how things go, but I believe this is a special year for the Cats. Stoops finally has everything in place and the addition of some new experience in the coaching staff should improve the cohesiveness of the staff and lead to better coaching on that sideline with a staff he now completely trusts and are all on the same page.

Sorry, but Stoops doesn't have everything in place, by a long shot.

We are thin on the D-Line, which means, yet again, teams will run the ball on us at will.

In addition, our Linebackers have basically no experience in the SEC. That is not what Stoops wants...Trust me.

Are we more talented than the past 10 years? Yes, but Stoops doesn't have everything in place to win in the SEC yet.

If we get 6 wins, that is an accomplishment. He should have gotten 6 wins last season.

 

[Hjack]

With all these pieces in place the only question is, can Stoops coach?
All other excuses are gone.

I certainly don't know, but my obvious question is 'What is the record that would convince you either way?"

 

[JC CATS]

I believe 6 wins, I would love to see 8 but just don't with the schedule. Tenn, Ga, Louisville - yes Louisville, ranked in top 25, Ala, Fla - Have we ever beat them? All losses, usually lose 1 we shouldn't. But I will gladly eat crow

 

[shutzhund]

This is the best time of year to have a tall glass of Blue Kool-Aid! Have you some.

Yea, you're right. Usually starts not to taste so good around midseason so now would be the time.

But it's great to see people get high on it but a word of warning. The hangovers are brutal.

 

[Anon1712931820]

Thanks for the report - this is a very key point IMO. If you goal is to be a 6 win team, guess what, you're going to play like a 6 win team. If your goal is to win the East - you have a good chance to overachieve.
I would much rather the team sets incremental goals - #1 get to 6 wins ASAP, #2 get the 8th win to ensure a premium bowl in a warm venue, not sitting in Nashville or Memphis in December in 30 degrees and sleet.
#3 Win the East.

I hope the coaches take this approach. It does not generate a lot of confidence to make a team think they are only capable of 6 wins regardless. History has shown we could have easily reached that goal the last 2 years with much less talent then we have this year so there is no reason to put that type of limitation on the goals.

I personally believe this team has a lot of potential to reach well beyond the bare minimum of bowl eligibility.

Agree. I get so sick of the "we aren't limiting our expectations to six wins" BS speak. 6 wins should be every teams beginning goal and once you hit that your team can play loose and try to win more.

 

[kyrivals]

Yea, you're right. Usually starts not to taste so good around midseason so now would be the time.

But it's great to see people get high on it but a word of warning. The hangovers are brutal.

I usually pour in some bourbon and slide right on in to December.

 

[shutzhund]

I usually pour in some bourbon and slide right on in to December.

Without a doubt this is the best plan.

 

[akaukswoosh]

A few quick thoughts after seeing a couple practices, meeting players and discussing the team with former teammates this weekend.

• Winning 6 games should not be the goal. More than enough talent to win 7-8 games.
• Several true freshman will play. Drew Barker looks better. Stronger arm, better mechanics and just has more confidence.
• Strength and conditioning has improved 100%. Maybe one of the keys to this season.
• We have elite SEC talent in the defensive backfield.
• Coaches are more on the same page. Lamar Thomas is awesome.
• Team now has leaders.
• WR's could be our strength. I could type a whole page on Ross.
• Im freaking pumped.

Stay healthy, Barker.

 

[SAECATFAN]

4-8

 

[Fadhi]

Sorry, but Stoops doesn't have everything in place, by a long shot.

We are thin on the D-Line, which means, yet again, teams will run the ball on us at will.

In addition, our Linebackers have basically no experience in the SEC. That is not what Stoops wants...Trust me.

Are we more talented than the past 10 years? Yes, but Stoops doesn't have everything in place to win in the SEC yet.

If we get 6 wins, that is an accomplishment. He should have gotten 6 wins last season.

I agree about the linebackers. On defense you want experience there. We have talent though. Stoops D will blow up when he has experienced thumpers back there runninf around. Allen is going to be good

 

[Fadhi]

I agree about the linebackers. On defense you want experience there. We have talent though. Stoops D will blow up when he has experienced thumpers back there runninf around. Allen is going to be good

And Bannerman

 

[Cats_2010]

I certainly don't know, but my obvious question is 'What is the record that would convince you either way?"

Not so sure I care as much for the record than I do how the team looks on the field. Getting your A** handed to you in more than half your SEC games is unacceptable at this stage. At least compete and let the chips fall where they may.

 

[bigbluewildcat84]

The DL is the biggest question. If they cant block their counterparts then the LB's cant get penetration and our defense will lean hard on their secondary which is our strength but can go only so far towards wins.

 

[CatsFanGG24]

The weather in both of Drew's starts were terrible for QBs, especially a first time starting QB.

To piggyback on this - I think the QBs from the opposing teams passed for about 35-40% completion rates in the games Barker started...he was also around 40%. So yes, tough weather for sure.

 

[ScrewDuke1]

Hopefully OP has a truth bomb on some one that can replace Meant effectively.

 

[UK Cats Rock]

I assume you mean aboard but I'm new so i might not get it.

Haha - yeah, sorry about that. I didn't proof read, obviously. ;-)

 

[BigBlueManSouthCentralKY]

A few quick thoughts after seeing a couple practices, meeting players and discussing the team with former teammates this weekend.

• Winning 6 games should not be the goal. More than enough talent to win 7-8 games.
• Several true freshman will play. Drew Barker looks better. Stronger arm, better mechanics and just has more confidence.
• Strength and conditioning has improved 100%. Maybe one of the keys to this season.
• We have elite SEC talent in the defensive backfield.
• Coaches are more on the same page. Lamar Thomas is awesome.
• Team now has leaders.
• WR's could be our strength. I could type a whole page on Ross.
• Im freaking pumped.

Definitely a lot of good to be excited about. But, football 101 is stopping the run first. Everything else flows from there.

 

[maverick1rw]

Nick Saban and Alabama ain't friggen gonna know what hit'em!!!!!!! Bama is officially on upset alert!

I like your optimism but I just hope we get 6 wins

 

[maverick1rw]

I told myself after last season that I would keep my expectations low going into the season. Until I see it on the field I'm going to keep them low. Hopefully the op is right though. The recruiting has been pretty good since Stoops arrived. It's time to start showing up on the field.

Agree, we lost 2 if not 3 games we should have won.

 

[maverick1rw]

4-8

Ouch..............4 W's would hurt............That's what the hefty lefty said as well so your not alone.

I'm hoping for 6 WS', we should have had it last year and should be better overall this year.

 

[SAECATFAN]

Lost by five to Florida, by three to Auburn and had Louisville dead to rights at the half. There's your 2 or 3 right there. That makes UK 7-5 or 8-4 pre bowl last season. Next season is even brighter. #Finish

Escaped Lafayette and EKU (lolz) in similar fashion. You are what your record says you are.

 

[oboroCATfan]

Ouch..............4 W's would hurt............That's what the hefty lefty said as well so your not alone.

I'm hoping for 6 WS', we should have had it last year and should be better overall this year.

If this team only wins 4 than Stoops is worse than Joker. We have more talent then we have had in years and the schedule, while tough, still has a lot of winnable games

 

[BearBryantsWatch]

Escaped Lafayette and EKU (lolz) in similar fashion. You are what your record says you are.

Not really, they were able to #Finish those games. I choose to live a happy life. Go be miserable somewhere else and stop tryin to spread your toxic negativity. It won't work on me any way. Cats go 8-4.

 

[Glenn Fohr]

great pipe bombs, thanks for dropping them. from what i watched on Saturday my feelings are the same on the talent & expectations of what this team should be. this team has a fantastic collection of athletes, fast ones, tall ones, big ones.

HOWEVER, my doubt at quarterback, given that Drew only started 2 games & looked awful in the last one, and at O line still hold me at expecting 6-6. Also the question mark at O line, particular tackle. Landon Young has gotta win one of those starting T spots, just gotta do it. no disrespect to Cole Mosier, great kid great story of a walkon earning time....but he cannot be our starting left tackle against the SEC.

Yep, Mosier has no business out on the edge. He is a natural guard, big strong, north and south guy. But he gets blown away on the edge.

 

[Grumpyolddawg]

I think UK gets to a bowl this year, I don't have any idea which one but I think you get that 6th win at least. But a couple of things I believe are being misunderstood. First of all recruiting isn't the answer to getting wins. Over the last 4 years, USC has out recruited UK, but are looking at loss number 3 in a row to UK this fall, but on the other hand UK has out recruited Vandy over the last 4 years, but lost to them last year. Recruiting is great, but football is about matchups. Some DCs are great at stopping the run, but have trouble stopping passing and spread attacks. Look at Bama, with Smart as DC you just didn't beat them running the ball, the teams who beat them spread them out, passed the ball with a running qb. Bama's new DC is very good against the pass and spread, heck we led the nation in pass defense in 15, but his schemes struggled against teams who line up and run at you. It will be interesting to see in Bama improves against the spread offenses and maintains the rush defense. So in the past, to beat them you had to be about to throw and your qb had to be able to run, because they weren't going to allow you to run the ball on them.

2nd, I think UK fans are over estimating your recruiting a little, its improved leaps and boutover what it was, but over the last 4 years it is still 12th in the SEC where everyone recruits pretty well

1. Bama 4 year average 1.25
2. LSU 5.25
3. AU 8.5
4. UGA 9
5. A&M 11
6. UT 11.5
7. UF 12.5
8. OM 13.75
9. USC 19.75
10. Ark 25
11. State 25.25
12. UK 25.5
13. Mis 37
14. Vandy 37.25

9 of 14 teams average top 20 classes over that time. But OM has won 2 in a row against Bama, UT is favored to win the East, so recruiting rankings are a start, but they are not the determining factors

 

[Deeeefense]

I think UK gets to a bowl this year, I don't have any idea which one but I think you get that 6th win at least. But a couple of things I believe are being misunderstood. First of all recruiting isn't the answer to getting wins. Over the last 4 years, USC has out recruited UK, but are looking at loss number 3 in a row to UK this fall, but on the other hand UK has out recruited Vandy over the last 4 years, but lost to them last year. Recruiting is great, but football is about matchups. Some DCs are great at stopping the run, but have trouble stopping passing and spread attacks. Look at Bama, with Smart as DC you just didn't beat them running the ball, the teams who beat them spread them out, passed the ball with a running qb. Bama's new DC is very good against the pass and spread, heck we led the nation in pass defense in 15, but his schemes struggled against teams who line up and run at you. It will be interesting to see in Bama improves against the spread offenses and maintains the rush defense. So in the past, to beat them you had to be about to throw and your qb had to be able to run, because they weren't going to allow you to run the ball on them.

2nd, I think UK fans are over estimating your recruiting a little, its improved leaps and boutover what it was, but over the last 4 years it is still 12th in the SEC where everyone recruits pretty well

1. Bama 4 year average 1.25
2. LSU 5.25
3. AU 8.5
4. UGA 9
5. A&M 11
6. UT 11.5
7. UF 12.5
8. OM 13.75
9. USC 19.75
10. Ark 25
11. State 25.25
12. UK 25.5
13. Mis 37
14. Vandy 37.25

9 of 14 teams average top 20 classes over that time. But OM has won 2 in a row against Bama, UT is favored to win the East, so recruiting rankings are a start, but they are not the determining factors

good post but relative SEC rankings don't mean much. Average star per player number and retention numbers are much more relevant. When you look at those there isn't much difference in the bottom half, and our retention has been better than most. In previous years our star per player has not been competitive with anyone other than Vandy and our retention worse.

 

[RV]

Regarding the recruiting averages. If you're averaging top 25 then you are accumulating talent. Enough so to keep you in the game most of the time. Exceptions being those games against teams that consistently recruit top 10.

Regarding our retention - that hasn't been so great but we are continuously bringing in better talent which causes older guys to drop down the depth chart. I was looking at last years yearbook and counted 19 non-Senior kids that either didn't make it to campus or left the program since this date last year. That's nearly a full recruiting class. Those losses should slow down now as our overall talent continues to level off at a higher level. There's no doubt that Stoops took over a dumpster fire 3 1/2 years ago.

 

[sluggercatfan]

Thanks for the report - this is a very key point IMO. If you goal is to be a 6 win team, guess what, you're going to play like a 6 win team. If your goal is to win the East - you have a good chance to overachieve.
I would much rather the team sets incremental goals - #1 get to 6 wins ASAP, #2 get the 8th win to ensure a premium bowl in a warm venue, not sitting in Nashville or Memphis in December in 30 degrees and sleet.
#3 Win the East.

I hope the coaches take this approach. It does not generate a lot of confidence to make a team think they are only capable of 6 wins regardless. History has shown we could have easily reached that goal the last 2 years with much less talent then we have this year so there is no reason to put that type of limitation on the goals.

I personally believe this team has a lot of potential to reach well beyond the bare minimum of bowl eligibility.

I LIKE THIS POST!!! Howard Schnellenburger would like this post.

 

[Grumpyolddawg]

good post but relative SEC rankings don't mean much. Average star per player number and retention numbers are much more relevant. When you look at those there isn't much difference in the bottom half, and our retention has been better than most. In previous years our star per player has not been competitive with anyone other than Vandy and our retention worse.

Retention is overrated, what if a guy can't contribute, do you want him to take up a spot 4-5 years while sitting on the bench waving at the stands? Out of single class there will be around 10 who never contribute, never step on the field unless mop up duty,but their spot counts just as much as your star towards the 85 limit, you are better off him transferring and sign another kid and hope he performs better.

 

[Deeeefense]

Retention is overrated, what if a guy can't contribute, do you want him to take up a spot 4-5 years while sitting on the bench waving at the stands? Out of single class there will be around 10 who never contribute, never step on the field unless mop up duty,but their spot counts just as much as your star towards the 85 limit, you are better off him transferring and sign another kid and hope he performs better.

I don't think any SEC coach including Stoops retains bench warmers. I think the retention number is somewhat significant becasue it is a metric of how well your staff is able to judge high school talent, and secondly how well they coach and develop them. High retention = high number of recruiting misses.

A team that has a lower retention rate has by default a more experienced team which is a very valuable trait when you only have players for 4 years and are constantly having to realign your depth chart each year. So many fans from other programs I talk to complain about being "young" at this spot or that spot.

 

[ScrewDuke1]

Escaped Lafayette and EKU (lolz) in similar fashion. You are what your record says you are.

At least we won those 2 games. We would have lost both under Joker.

 

[Mike-D]

Ouch..............4 W's would hurt............That's what the hefty lefty said as well so your not alone.

I'm hoping for 6 WS', we should have had it last year and should be better overall this year.

He also said Patrick Towles would throw for 3500 yards last year.

 

[vhcat70]

Yep, Mosier has no business out on the edge. He is a natural guard, big strong, north and south guy. But he gets blown away on the edge.

Since Leavitt & Young aren't beating him out, I guess we might as well go ahead & play with 4 OLmen.

 

[TBCat]

I think UK gets to a bowl this year, I don't have any idea which one but I think you get that 6th win at least. But a couple of things I believe are being misunderstood. First of all recruiting isn't the answer to getting wins. Over the last 4 years, USC has out recruited UK, but are looking at loss number 3 in a row to UK this fall, but on the other hand UK has out recruited Vandy over the last 4 years, but lost to them last year. Recruiting is great, but football is about matchups. Some DCs are great at stopping the run, but have trouble stopping passing and spread attacks. Look at Bama, with Smart as DC you just didn't beat them running the ball, the teams who beat them spread them out, passed the ball with a running qb. Bama's new DC is very good against the pass and spread, heck we led the nation in pass defense in 15, but his schemes struggled against teams who line up and run at you. It will be interesting to see in Bama improves against the spread offenses and maintains the rush defense. So in the past, to beat them you had to be about to throw and your qb had to be able to run, because they weren't going to allow you to run the ball on them.

2nd, I think UK fans are over estimating your recruiting a little, its improved leaps and boutover what it was, but over the last 4 years it is still 12th in the SEC where everyone recruits pretty well

1. Bama 4 year average 1.25
2. LSU 5.25
3. AU 8.5
4. UGA 9
5. A&M 11
6. UT 11.5
7. UF 12.5
8. OM 13.75
9. USC 19.75
10. Ark 25
11. State 25.25
12. UK 25.5
13. Mis 37
14. Vandy 37.25

9 of 14 teams average top 20 classes over that time. But OM has won 2 in a row against Bama, UT is favored to win the East, so recruiting rankings are a start, but they are not the determining factors

The numbers are kind of worthless. There is a dramatic difference between the top 100 players and the rest of high school players but there is very little difference below that. I'd say after Florida spot on that list the other schools except Vandy are roughly equal. Some players got higher marks from the "experts" but they aren't necessarily better. In most cases if you were to go watch a MLB ranked 250 in the clase and one ranked 400 in the same class you probably wouldn't be able to tell much of a difference. UK is now in the pack talent wise. They aren't good enough that they are clear and unmistakable favorites but we should be to the point that Miss State coming to Lexington should be perceived as a likely loss for them. Unfortunately it's not but that's for another thread.

 

[zumacat]

I don't believe we are all that inexperienced at LB, both transfers will likely start or play major minutes and our other starters have been practicing at a high level. We should be somewhat improved and may be pleasantly surprised. DL is our biggest unknown but smart coaching can help overcome that and we will be using many different formations which emphasize LB's and DB's.