Some Ole Miss Takeaways

Hey, at least we can give these girls a run for their money.

If you are like me, after a rough Kentucky loss, you take it pretty hard.  You don’t like to watch anymore sports for a day at least, you don’t like to read about sports, you don’t like to think about sports.  Of course, if you were like that, chances are you aren’t reading this post anyways.  Still, it’s times like these that make being a sports blogger tough.

But the day goes on, and despite the weather taking a turn for the south in Lexington, I’ve got my beer and bourbon, so the positives are already stacking up.

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Positives – Yes, there were a few.  Maybe not many, but a few.

-Special teams: Surprisingly effective today were the special teams units (minus Joe Mansour.)  Aside from a couple decent Ole Miss returns (and the one silly huge return,) the special teams impressed me today.  Tydlacka had some stupid punts, including a sick 74 yarder and created some advantageous field positions for the defense.  On top of that, McIntosh hit a 42 yard field goal and a 50 yarder, both impressive for what was supposed to be the third string kicker this season.  Finally, the onside kick was a great one.  If Trevathan hadn’t had his arm in a cast (and why in the world he was on the hands team in the first place is beyond me,) I believe we recover it.

-Fourth quarter: Yes, Ole Miss was primarily in a prevent defense.  Yes, it didn’t amount to a win.  And no, I definitely don’t consider it a ‘moral victory.’  But in the fourth the Cats finall began to air it out, and they had some success.  On top of that, the defense looked a little more together and got some crucial third down stops.  On the flip side… WHY DIDNT THEY START IT EARLIER?  If we’re going to turn the ball over on short throws and runs up the middle, might as well air it out and see what happenes.

-Offensive line: Maybe the only unit that looked legitimately good (outside of Locke and Cobb,) the offensive line really looks like they are coming together.  Hartline stayed fairly clean most of the game as he put up over 300 yards, and a lot of credit needs to go to these guys.  Plus they had a totally killer QB sneak towards the end of the game.

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Negatives – There were a lot more of these.  But I will let you debate all of them in the comment section.  Here are a few that stood out to me.

-Discipline/Focus: For the second (and potentially fifth,) game in a row, this team has lacked discipline and focus throughout the game.  They have incurred silly penalties, missed easy catches, and botched tackle after tackle.  Some of this falls on the players, some of it falls on their youth, but a lot of it has to fall on the coaches.  You have to find a way to get your teams heads in the game for the full 60 minutes.

-Lack of aggression: We had the same complaint last week against Florida.  Kentucky is going to have a hard time competing in the SEC if they don’t play to win the games.  A team like Florida can make conservative play calls and win on talent alone, but clearly, even when Kentucky is a better team than their opponent like today, that will not work for this Wildcats team.  We need to see more of the fourth quarter, and less of the third.

There’s plenty more negatives, but they all seem to fall under a lack of discipline if you ask me.