The post-game hot takes shifted in a decidedly more optimistic direction after Kentucky's 27-17 win against No. 16 Mississippi State, but with No. 3 Tennessee looming in two weekends the takes vary.

Here are some of the highlights from Kentucky fans' postgame reactions as well as buy or sell takes from CI publisher Justin Rowland.

Buy. 30 carries for C Rod is better than 21 carries the week before. Of course, UK ran more plays this week, but you would have liked to see even more of that against South Carolina. C Rod is just different. I think we're all underestimating how good this guy is. I think it will also give the offensive line a confidence boost for the offense to get that physical identity back.

Buy. I recognize that it's not easy in real time, especially when you're thinking about a possible turnover that could tip momentum or your kicking issues and possibly having to kick again. But if you have 18 seconds and a timeout, whatever the reason, one six yard QB draw, a field goal on third down, and then declining an opportunity to take a shot for a touchdown didn't seem like the right call to me. But again, it worked out.

I don't have enough expertise on all the other teams out there to know, but they seem to get as much out of what they've got as any staff out there.

That's no knock on Kentucky's talent level. The recruiting under Stoops is much better than it was before him. But I do find myself thinking UK's defense probably overachieves a little bit relative to its true athletic ability. I love the linebackers but the defensive line and secondary are pretty good personnel wise, not out of this world.

They are coached very well in the scheme and they tackle well.

Sell. Just because UGA has been a real problem match-up wise over the last several years and Kentucky lost 45-42 to Tennessee last year. Georgia is giving up 9.1 points per game, which is fewer than the 10.2 per game it allowed last year. UK will be underdogs in both games but I probably give them a better chance against Tennessee because scoring against Georgia will be very difficult for a team that has struggled blocking.

Buy. Absolutely true. I thought Mississippi State was the best team they had faced to that point in the season. Whether or not MSU is as good as Ole Miss, it was a good win and in spite of a ton of mistakes to open the game.

Blocking breakdowns and special teams miscues have cost them more than miscues in every other part of the game combined, you would have to imagine.

The good news is both the line and the kicking game had improvements so there might be justifiable hope on both fronts.

Buy. I think you can make a case that to this point in the season it's the best coaching effort of Brad White's time with Kentucky. He's done a good job in Lexington so that's not a small compliment.

I don't know where they would finish with UGA and UT up there, but we would be talking about a 6-1 or 7-0 team with those conditions you set out.

Buy, no question. If you're good at the most important position on the field then it can make up for a lot. The other part of that, though, is that UK is getting the best quarterback play it has gotten in a very long time but the results (offensively) haven't been what you would like to see over the whole season. The hope just has to be that combining both Levis and C Rod changes everything for them.

Buy, as a step in the right direction. It wasn't a vintage, blow you off the ball performance but C Rod doesn't rush for right around 200 yards unless the line had taken care of a lot of the issues that plagued them for the previous games.

PFF gave Eli Cox a 67.3 score and he was the only player above 60.0, so a lot of it was C Rod's effort, but all things considered (sacks and TFLs allowed, rushing yardage), aside from the penalties it was a positive night.

In my view the game stopped the bleeding in terms of the Scangarello talk. That doesn't mean it was called extremely well, but you can't put up those numbers against MSU and feel like the world is ending. A lot of it was Levis and C Rod. Some of the calls are still tough to understand, but it was a badly needed performance for Scangarello's unit.

Do you think it's the Ole Miss game or the South Carolina game that has been the reason for the negativity? They did let that game get away, but I think losing to Shane Beamer and Spencer Rattler in Lexington was more of a blow for the Big Blue Nation, just with how inept the offense looked because they weren't going to put much on a backup with Levis out.

I get what you're saying. If they had finished Ole Miss then they'd still be 6-1 and you could just point to Levis' absence as the only reason for that loss. But people would still be looking at a loss to South Carolina as a huge blown opportunity to be 7-0.

Buy, at least it's something different. I just don't think Kentucky is going to beat Tennessee in an all out track meet so throw the polar opposite style at them, as a team that's a lot healthier than you've been, and you never know what could happen. Tennessee will rightfully be the favorite going into that game at home, but just because the Vols beat Alabama doesn't mean they're going to roll everybody else on the schedule.

Sell, but I get what you're saying. Maybe they were more likely to eek out a culture/program win against South Carolina with Levis out. But aside from the fact that UK wouldn't have Levis at quarterback if that was the situation, I just don't fault Scangarello for losing the Ole Miss game. They might be 6-1.

I think there's good reason to believe they will play better after the bye than they sometimes have. They haven't had Levis and C Rod. You know motivation is not going to be an issue for these next two weeks. They got a big jolt from that win after two straight losses and with guys coming back from injuries. Now, whether that leads to a win is another story, but I expect them to play well.