These next 2 games are must wins for Stoops

[ScrewDuke1]

Just my opinion.

Lose to NMSU and a most likely bad USC team then no chance we get to a bowl and Stoops era is probably all but finished. He can't go 1-1, he has to win both to give the fan base any hope.

Thoughts? 2-2 would look almost like a God send after these first 2 games.

 

[Cats_2010]

You have to win both, and it wouldn't hurt to win both while resembling something like a quality football team. Might give a slight reason for optimism for at least a partial turn around, at this point I don't expect a turn around to be competing against the upper tier of our schedule but would take 5-6 wins and at least being competitive against TN, GA or UofL. Lose either one and the season is toast ( close enough as it is)

 

[weezul]

It goes without saying, but they must be 3-3 after Vandy in order to have any hope of salvaging the season.

 

[sluggercatfan]

Just my opinion.

Lose to NMSU and a most likely bad USC team then no chance we get to a bowl and Stoops era is probably all but finished. He can't go 1-1, he has to win both to give the fan base any hope.

Thoughts? 2-2 would look almost like a God send after these first 2 games.

Must win four of the next five

 

[UKat51]

Just my opinion.

Lose to NMSU and a most likely bad USC team then no chance we get to a bowl and Stoops era is probably all but finished. He can't go 1-1, he has to win both to give the fan base any hope.

Thoughts? 2-2 would look almost like a God send after these first 2 games.

Agreed. We have to win both. We will beat NMSU. Do not need any injuries for USC game

 

[jauk11]

Must win four of the next five

Maybe not as pessimistic as the OP but you are saying if we beat AP (ALMOST a given to me, still an 18.5 point favorite) and beat SC, (Bama a loss, minus a miracle),Vandy, and LOSE to MSU we have ZERO chance of beating Missouri (with AP a gimme fifth win) and can't upset one of three chances, Georgia, Thug U, or Transfer U?

If we can win THREE of the next five I think Missouri is a possible win, and after that AP a gimme, leaving us one win away.

Do you remember us upsetting Thug U with a WR QB that threw FIVE passes for about ten yards with one of Joker's worst teams? Do you remember JOKER's team upsetting TOBC's USC TOP TEN team with TWO four stars playing while they had THIRTY EIGHT four star commits the previous five years PLUS a very good FIVE STAR? Do you remember that same team losing to CAM and NC Auburn by only three points? How about FORTY ONE point underdog Stanford upsetting Southern Cal in the past?

It is football, we might not even win two of the next five but if we do win three then we do have SOME chance of going bowling.

 

[Cats_2010]

Maybe not as pessimistic as the OP but you are saying if we beat AP (ALMOST a given to me, still an 18.5 point favorite) and beat SC, (Bama a loss, minus a miracle),Vandy, and LOSE to MSU we have ZERO chance of beating Missouri (with AP a gimme fifth win) and can't upset one of three chances, Georgia, Thug U, or Transfer U?

If we can win THREE of the next five I think Missouri is a possible win, and after that AP a gimme, leaving us one win away.

Do you remember us upsetting Thug U with a WR QB that threw FIVE passes for about ten yards with one of Joker's worst teams? Do you remember JOKER's team upsetting TOBC's USC TOP TEN team with TWO four stars playing while they had THIRTY EIGHT four star commits the previous five years PLUS a very good FIVE STAR? Do you remember that same team losing to CAM and NC Auburn by only three points? How about FORTY ONE point underdog Stanford upsetting Southern Cal in the past?

It is football, we might not even win two of the next five but if we do win three then we do have SOME chance of going bowling.

With all due respect, you are comparing apples and oranges and your few 3 and 4 stars vs multiple 4 and 5 stars schtick has grown old well past the point of being pure rotten. At this point in time UK has zero chance of winning at TN or UofL or at home against GA. Do you not recall TN scoring 42 points against a better team last year in the span of a quarter? Or UofL erasing a 21 point deficit with relative ease and win going away. Hell I don't even remember the GA game but it doesn't matter, Chubb will run for over 200 yards and maybe 300. If he is injured then whoever his backup is will still gash us. Appreciate your optimism but at some point in time you have to accept the reality.

 

[KY1WING]

It is football, we might not even win two of the next five but if we do win three then we do have SOME chance of going bowling.

Repectfully, I appreciate your post especially your final comment however recapping meager past successes only brings back the history of opportunities lost by this staff and previous ones.

And the comparisons to recruiting "stars" only reinforces my belief that "stars" is only a reflection of potential and without proper coaching to get that potential onto the field and into the game makes those ratings and comparisons meaningless.

Using those comparisons only shows how much better a coach Joker was than Stoops as he accomplished as much or more with less "stars" and resources at his disposal.

When it comes to the UT game - remember Butch Jones is not Derek Dooley. Dobbs is not Tyler Bray. Jury is out on whether Eddie Gran is Randy Sanders or Mark Stoops is Joker Phillips.

And for every unlikely UT or USC win or even Brooks LSU win, there is a UF in triple OT, a USM collapse, another Vandy loss, multiple WKU losses, bullets dodged with ULL and EKU, shellackings by UL, quitting at Arkansas or even a 2004 Ohio (28-16 Loss).

All we can do is see how it plays out and go from there.

Personally I hope they make six and go bowling and I'm thinking some bowl folks are as well. I feel confident there is someone out there looking for a post-season UK-WKU matchup.

 

[docholiday51]

Stoops has had a dozen or so must win games while he has been here,he has won about half of them.Thus, we are where we are at this point,I believe it is very unlikely that we will win the next two,but we can hope for a minor miracle.

I truly wish that I could be more positive but so far this year we have seen what we have seen on the field and the sidelines.We aren't as good as we were last year,does anyone really dispute that?

As I watched WLEX news last night I learned that our players aren't smart enough to play good football(according to our coaches) so we don't have enough talent and aren't smart.I find it strange that we haven't heard anything about this before being 0-2,the coaches seem to be grasping at straws to explain what we have seen so far..I thought Donald and Hillary were the only two that were making up goofy crap and expecting us to believe it:weary:

 

[K_TIME]

It goes without saying, but they must be 3-3 after Vandy in order to have any hope of salvaging the season.

Agreed...we just need to calm down hammer NMSU as we should and fight like heck to beat USC at home...then we focus on getting past Vandy at home and move on from there.

 

[LeonThe Camel]

Maybe not as pessimistic as the OP but you are saying if we beat AP (ALMOST a given to me, still an 18.5 point favorite) and beat SC, (Bama a loss, minus a miracle),Vandy, and LOSE to MSU we have ZERO chance of beating Missouri (with AP a gimme fifth win) and can't upset one of three chances, Georgia, Thug U, or Transfer U?

.

I get confused Thug U and Transfer U.

 

[Chuckinden]

Three of the next four should be wins.

 

[HSLex]

There is really no such thing as a "must win" for Stoops at this stage of things. He can skate by with losses, as he always has.

He will blame "poor execution by the players" and Mitch will continue to support him. We have seen this same episode many times in reruns.

 

[kyjohn]

Three of the next four should be wins.

Now that's being optomistic.I hope you are right.

 

[KentuckyStout]

Three of the next four should be wins.

Did you see our first two games?

 

[IFerg1969]

Agreed, they need to win the next 2 games to stay in the bowl hunt. Not sure that beating a really bad team in NMSt and another bad USC team really tells us much about UK though. I suppose it depends on the manor in which we beat them. Blow out NMSt by 25-30pts and handle USC somewhat easily and you might start getting some fan interest back. Beat NMSt but don't look good doing it and then scrape by a bad USC team probably doesn't get people too excited going forward. Lose either one or both and I think people are on to basketball season.

 

[KentuckyStout]

Southern Miss was a "must win". Now the next two games are "must wins".

It never ends.

 

[BigBlueTuckian]

2-2 may look like a God-send but it is still below preseason expectations. After 4 games UK should have been 3-1 at the worst. Miss State and Missouri are tougher than South Carolina.

 

[JumperJack]

I have pretty much grown tired of being pissed all the time about it, so sure, why not? I'm saying we're getting our late season collapse out of the way now and we'll start winning.

Right? Right?