Our football team after 5 games
- Thread starter Blue Decade
- Start date
Please justify why you are calling me a "pumper". I predicted 4-5 wins this year when many other posters were predicting a bowl. When many other posters were saying Kentucky would blow out Southern Miss, I cautioned that Southern Miss had a better team than Kentucky. I have called for DJ Eliot to be fired. So, how am I a pumper?
The evidence for your opinion is circumstantial and premature. You don't know yet how strong most SEC teams will be a year from now. Every year, some teams overachieve, others underachieve. This isn't always foreseeable. That's why they play the games. You are evidently assuming Kentucky will underachieve again. Your opening sentence declares getting 19 starters back as both good news and bad news. If you think getting 19 starters back can actually be bad news, there isn't much point in hearing the rest of your reasoning.
The evidence that we would lose to Alabama was also circumstantial but it still happened. You act like circumstantial evidence is the same thing as weak evidence. It's not necessarily. You still haven't explained why we should be expected to beat Vandy at home but its a sure thing on the road.
Please tell me where you see 7-8 wins coming in next years schedule?
at Southern Miss (toss up)
Eastern KY- W
at South Carolina (toss up)
Florida- L
Eastern Michigan-W
Missouri (toss up)
at Miss St- L
Tenn- L
Ole Miss- L
at Vandy (toss up)
at Georgia- L
Louisville- L (they lose a lot on defense but will still have LJ barring injury)
I have 2 wins, 4 toss ups (which 3 are on the road) and 6 Losses. That is clearly another recipe for a 4-5 win season.
The problem is that, if the current regime remains intact, we'll be having the same discussion next season, and the season after that, and the season after that. I came into the season with maximum optimism, much like last season, and the season before that, but I quickly realized that it doesn't matter how good our players are if our coaching staff isn't up to snuff. The way to win football games in a conference like the SEC at a program that isn't known for having success is to recruit above your reputation - make the kids believe that coming to UK is going to propel them to their dreams of playing in the NFL. This current regime has been very impressive in their ability to recruit quality talent. Secondly however, you HAVE to have quality coaching. A good coach can achieve decent results with great players (Les Miles), but a great coach can achieve better results with good (not so much great) players (Bill Snyder). We need a great coach who can do more with less and unfortunately, I do not think that Mark Stoops is that guy. I love his fire and tenacity and he wants to win so badly, I just don't think he's the right guy for THIS program.
I think Blue Decade is more than reasonable with his projection. The biggest problem we face this year is the lack of experience and maturity in our front seven and OL. Next year that problem will be less than this year and although our skill positions will not have a big boost from incoming talent the two lines will be better after a year of experience and increasing depth. My problem this year and one I have not recovered from was our complete collapse in the 2nd half by our defense. I do not think SM would beat us if we were to play that game this week-end. I predicted 6 wins this year and like last years Vandy game we did not win the tipping point game which to me was SM. I'm trying hard to remember this year is not over and keeping my spirits up, the fight I saw from our team at Bama was encouraging.
People tried to minimize my concerns when I raised them about our DL, now we see changes being made that are out of necessity. Elam has not learned how to play his position yet and is losing playing time because of it. Next year he will have to learn how to play his position or lose even more minutes to newcomers.
People tried to minimize my concerns when I raised them about our DL, now we see changes being made that are out of necessity. Elam has not learned how to play his position yet and is losing playing time because of it. Next year he will have to learn how to play his position or lose even more minutes to newcomers.
Dont recall how the punter was the last 2 games but I sure as heck wouldnt brag about having him back after the first couple games . Guy was AWFUL in game 1 . Just horrible.
Game preparation, explosive plays, and turnovers almost always determine the outcome of football games. Most people immediately understand why comparing other games to Alabama-Kentucky is not very informative. But here's a hint. Alabama has the best football team in the SEC and probably the best in the entire country, and we played Alabama in Tuscaloosa. I doubt I can explain to your satisfaction why I expect Kentucky to win or lose various games, so I won't try. I expect to beat Vandy at home because we have a better team than Vandy. But that doesn't mean we will win. The game must still be played. I expect the winner's score to be in the 20s.
We have a painfully obvious lack of lateral containment / corner pursuit which is directly attributable to linebackers not shedding blocks or being a step slow. Perhaps we are doing the best we can with the personnel we have. Regardless, it's a key problem on defense.
If we have learned 1 thing by now, evaluating the future performance of a football team has nothing to do with fans' optimism or pessimism. Before this season began, the most frequent reason given by fans who predicted a bowl this year was they are "tired" of losing. LOL! What the hell difference does that make? If you came into the season with maximum optimism, then you didn't grasp the obvious weaknesses of this team. Only 5 incumbent defensive starters back. Mediocre talent and poor depth on the defensive line. New starting linebackers. Obvious major questions at quarterback and the offensive line. Half of our opening starting lineup sophomores and freshmen. The 1st sentence of your comment says it all. You have given up on Stoops, so you can't muster any future optimism unless he is dismissed. But if Stoops is dismissed, you will probably pass through the same cycles of optimism and pessimism with the next coach the next season, the season after that, and the season after that.
I am aware what great coaches accomplish, because I played for 1. I am not sold on Mark Stoops, but I am not a hater either. Stoops will probably return in 2017. He has been a HC for 41 games. I see strengths, and I also see the same mistakes of inexperience that we see in other inexperienced coaches. I honestly don't know if Stoops will make it or not. Although there is still a chance Stoops might screw this season up bad enough to force Barnhart's hand, the higher likelihood is that Stoops will be back in 2017. This week's game against Vandy is not necessarily do or die, but it's an important opportunity to show his team is learning and growing. OTOH, Kentucky is playing with a 2nd string quarterback who has started 2 games, a true freshman starting at left tackle, and a defensive front 7 with very little collective SEC experience. Back in June and July, I could easily see 2016 would be another rebuilding season and 2017 would be Stoops season of decision at Kentucky. Many times, I predicted 4-5 wins this year. Others slammed me then, but the outcome is telling the truth now. Everyone just needs to deal with it, or watch something else. Because it was obvious all along.
LOL! They aren't slow. They are good athletes, but they are sophomores. This is why good offensive coordinators use misdirection tactics against inexperienced defenses.
You apparently haven't watched him closely. Our punter is a true freshman, and he is having a very solid 1st season. Getting McKinniss back next year is definitely a positive.
You always hope player progress from year to year. We will be returning a lot of players next year with experience. This year we had a lot of inexperienced players playing and they have shown progress so far. What else could you hope for in the long term.
In the short term the team is making improvements. While everything isn't perfect like many people want it to be, it is getting better. Saban, Meyers, Harbaugh aren't walking through the locker room door. We have Stoops and all we can ask for right now is progress. You can be down on the team all you want, but I am not. Granted we all get disappointed but most of you think there is no chance for UK to ever get better. How many of you guys thought Coach Brooks sucked when he was coaching here his first 3-4 years. His record was 4–8, 2–9 and 3–8 his first three years. He was 7-5 his fourth year and 8-5 his fifth year. Many fans hated to see him go when he left but he started our horribly just like Stoops. Give Stoops some credit atleast. He's done more than Joker and will hopefully improve on his record as HC at UK.
I would love to see 7-8 wins next year, and I am one that believes you can find positives even in a loss. The problem is, the schedule looks more difficult next year. To win 7-8 games means UK will need to experience significant improvement between this year and next. I haven't see significant improvement anywhere since Stoops took over other than in recruiting. I just haven't seen anything to indicate next year's team will be a lot better, a little better maybe, a lot better, I just don't see it yet. That could change though, we'll see.
Clearly you aren't going to answer the question. There is no reason to expect 4 wins this year and claim we are on track to win 7 next year. The games you don't expect us to be able to win this year will be on the road next year and thus they won't be anymore winnable. This is a typical delaying tactic you are using. I'm pretty sure next year your line will be that 2018 is the big year. And of course when 2018 gets here you will push it back to 2019.. etc.
Sorry that doesn't fly. The big year was actually last year. Stoops failed due to his annual 2nd half collapse. This year started bad and isn't in good shape either. Next year the schedule is even less favorable. You probably won't admit that until we are in the middle of next year and looking at a 2 and 4 record.
You are predicting 7-8 wins next year and i am ridiculous? The way i figure you are missing it is you are expecting 7-8 wins as a result of the rs guys along with this years freshman. I thought i was pretty clear, but your prediction tells me you believe UK can win in the SEC with young linemen, which is factually absurd. You need 2 deep rs jrs and sr' s to win consistently in conference. That is fact, proven historically!