- Offensively we lose 3 OL... no getting around that. But the ones who are behind them, have played in mop-up duty alot, and have now been in the system 2-3 years.
- We lose James Quick, and I have to say that he is not a Devante Parker-type WR... he has never shown himself to be an Elite play maker at this level of College Football.
- We lose Brandon Ratcliff... but he is a product of the offense. He is good... but he is not game breaker good... Jeremy Smith is a better back... and we have several GOOD backs behind both of them. In fact, Ratcliff is our only back smaller than 6'0"... and we have a "Boom Williams\Dalvin Cook" -type RB coming in next year. B-Rad's numbers a product of Jackson and the improved offensive line.
- We lose Col H., the Tight End... but, hey, that is a plug in position for Petrino. We have Micky Crum who is just as versatile (Scored TD against A&M, and against Clemson last year).
- We lose Jamari Staples... who is good, but once again, none of these guys put "Scares" in defenses like Devante Parker and Seth Dawkins... Dawkins, as a 3-star who was being pursued HOTLY by UK, is an elite WR with NFL size, and Megatron-like Catch Radius... As a TRUE freshman, he has played and scored 2 TD's... while 2 other higher ranked WR's have been red-shirted...
- That is literally all we lose on offense...7 guys... who, honestly, will be replaced by better talent.
- On defense, that is where I fear, we will take a beating. We lose Elite playmakers in Josh Harvey Clemmons, Devonte Fields, and De-Angelo Brown.... Yes, Johnathan Greenard has stepped up, and hopefully, prayerfully, we should get back the guy who had better numbers and was more disruptive than Fields, in Trevon Young... But our Defensive Backfield will be stinging... because Chucky Williams is not versatile enough to play that LB\Safety combo position like JHC...
When I look at the games... over past 5 years, against UK, I can sum then up as this:
- 2011 Was Teddy's coming out party. UK knocked the Walk-on starting QB, Stein out of the game, in 1st quarter. In come's Teddy, and Cards take the lead for entire game and hold on with Ball Control and defense. Bridgewater became that Elite, playmaker QB, in the clutch. He was the difference, and our defense sacked a very bad situation at QB for UK. Strong's defense basically stymied UK's offense for most of the 2nd half...
- 2012 Was a "grind-out" game where Cards got the lead, and used Ball Control and some timely defensive plays, to maintain that lead. Stats are very misleading...half time score was 22-7, and then in 3rd quarter, it was 32-7 before UK tacked on another TD.
- 2013 was another grind it out game, this time, where UK just could not match the Cards on the offensive side of the ball. Stoops first game was a decent battle, where Louisville, once again, led for most of a grind it out game.
- 2014 was a disaster... From the pre-kick off activities, to the quick start by UK... Just like with last year, its not that UK dominated the opening half... its that UK punched Louisville in the mouth, and the Cards had to adjust. Interception, -5 yard drive, PUNT, by Louisville offense shows how UK DID managed to dominate the first part of the 1st quarter. But then, Louisville seemed to remember who they were... 10 plays led to 2 TD's sandwiched around a defensive stop... was all it took, from Bolin... (keep in mind, that, for the 2nd time in this series, UK knocked a Louisville QB out, and the replacement came in and Led the CARDS to victory). From the moment, UK lost the lead, at 14-13, only Turnovers kept the CATS in hte game as the Louisville defense dominated from the middle of the 2nd quarter to the middle of the 3rd quarter. 4rth quarter went back and forth... but Cards pull out the win.
- 2015, started out like 2014... but when you look between the lines, UK only had 2 sustained drives in the entire 1st half... 1 for a FG and 1 For a TD... this is telling...as UK gained 229 total yards in the 1st half... while Louisville threw 3 INT's that led to 2 TD's and a FG for UK... (17 points off of turnovers). 2nd half was a night mare as UK generated only 62 yards of total offense...and was literally dominated...
Here are some observation notes from past 5 games of this entire series
- 4 different coaches have coached, Joker, Strong, Stoops, and Petrino. UK's total offense has never been ranked inside of the top 94 (via ESPN stats).
- 4 different OC's at UK... during this 5 year period, and none of them have compiled more than 376 total yards against Louisville's defense. Last year, and 2011, the total was 290...
- 3 different OC's at Louisville during this 5 year period (Sanford, Watson, McGee) have averaged no less than 466 yards of total offense against Kentucky defenses that have never been ranked inside the top 40, top 30, or even top 20...
- AS it stands, UK's defense is not built to stop Louisville's offensive. 426 yards allowed per-game, 202 yards on the ground... 3 of the teams UK has beaten have put up 141-242 yards on the ground on UK regardless of who the DC was. Louisville averages 280-300+ yards on the ground.To Stop Louisville, you will need to have an Alabama or NC State, or FSU, or Clemson like defensive line...which is just not available to UK at the moment, regardless of if we use Jackson or Bolin at QB... We run the ball very well...and we pass the ball, very well...
- total weirdness... Jokers last 2 teams, finished the season ranked 41 in Total Defense... With Missouri, UGA, UT, Austin Peay, and Louisville coming up... I don't see UK's currently ranked #72 defense, finishing near the top 40...
- According to stats, in regards to YPG, Louisville has faced the following offenses
- Syracuse #23
- FSU #25
- Will face Houston at #32
- Clemson #35
- NC State #72
- Charlotte # 87
- Marshall #88
- Will face UVA at #90
- Duke at #92
- Will face UK at #98
- Will face WFU at #119
- Will face BC at #124
- UK has faced
- Will face Missouri #11
- Alabama #15
- Southern Miss #19
- New Mexico State #46
- Florida #52
- Will face UGA #74
- Miss. State #77
- Will face UT #80
- South Carolina #123
- Vandy #125
- Louisville #2
3 top 30 offenses Louisville has gone against... and gone 2-1. We did not strangle Syracuse, but we did hold them 70+ yards below their average. FSU was basically dominated... And Clemson went over their averages... So far, UK has played 2 top 30 offenses and is 0-2...
