Once again, I asked for feedback in the form of hot takes after Kentucky's latest football game and, predictably, folks were upset.
Here are some of those hot takes and my responses.
Buy. I really like what DSK has done this year in a lot of respects. He hasn't always had a lot of room to work but he has found a way to pick up some really tough yards and has been pretty efficient even against some strong opponents. He has carried more of a workload than I expected and he's very good in pass protection and as a receiving option. But Kentucky is one of the worst teams in the nation at generating explosive plays and Wilcox definitely has an extra gear. It may be the kind of thing where a lot of contrary evidence has surfaced in practice or they don't trust him to block on the level of Sumo-Karngbaye. But it's curious for sure.
Sell. I know a lot of people will agree with you and disagree with me. Fair opinion. I understand both hires. Hamdan has a solid track record at some other stops. He was a Chris Petersen protege, Mizzou's offense improved a lot once Hamdan started calling plays, and he left Boise State in a good position. But things have not been nearly good enough since he got to Kentucky. At some point we have to point out that most offensive coordinators find it difficult under Mark Stoops. Liam Coen and perhaps Eddie Gran were the exceptions. But the red zone play calling hasn't been great and Kentucky does not have an identity on offense. Those are big problems.
As for Wolford, he's one of the best recruiters on the staff and the kind of recruiter that you can't pass up at Kentucky, in my opinion. I just don't think the depth and personnel on the line has been fantastic recently so the ceiling has been lower in my head. But no question the offense to date is going to make folks very upset. The numbers are ugly. Four touchdowns in 16 quarters of SEC football.
Buy, but.... In a sense, everything goes back to the head coach. That's how this works. But I agree that the coaches can only do their jobs and the players have to do theirs. There were plenty of moments in that game when Kentucky's defensive players were in a position to bring Diego Pavia down and they just couldn't or didn't do it. That's not on Brad White. He's a hard player to defend.
The thing that I noticed early on was that Vanderbilt was confident and chippy. They were trying to get into the heads of UK's receivers and they may have succeeded. This team needs leadership especially on the offensive side of the ball.
Buy on the WRs, sell on the DL. There were some missed tackles at and behind the line of scrimmage, but I think the defensive line is fine. If every unit on the team had played all season like the defensive line has played, this team is probably 5-1 and 3-1 SEC. The receivers on the other hand ... Your points about inconsistency and overrated are true. Dane Key has had a really good year, give him that. But the lack of impact from Maclin, similar to Tayvion Robinson, and the fact that Barion Brown has slid down the pecking order in terms of targets, those aren't great things.
Ambivalent. When you look back to 2022 through now, it just hasn't been quite the same. They're losing home games. They don't have quite the same physical identity on offense. The Big Blue Wall isn't what it was. The defense has pretty much been the same thing year in, year out. The one thing I'll say is winning at Ole Miss and nearly beating Georgia change the big picture a little bit for me because a big, fair talking point was that UK didn't win enough of those games and didn't play well enough in them. But it looks like probably a minor bowl this season and fans wanted more with the receivers getting older and the defense boasting several stars. Some of this will go back to your expectations and what you feel is a fair demand for Kentucky football. I understand why someone would say Stoops has taken it as far as he can. But I also don't think starting 3-3 after this many straight bowl games is grounds for pushing someone out given Kentucky's history.
I don't have a strong opinion and not wading into the debate over Stoops' future at Kentucky but your point about the home record is especially saliant. You can't go 2-10 at home in conference games and say things are great. That's a lot of disappointed fans leaving Kroger Field on too regular a basis. They've been better on the road, but not good enough to make fans feel good about it.
BVG hasn't been great. He's had moments and he's had bad moments. Overall, he hasn't been consistent enough, just like the rest of the offense. It's hard for me to put too much blame on him, but he does deserve some.
I didn't expect that kind of ugly penalty fest especially in the first half. This team had been very good at avoiding penalties going into it. But throw in some other things that happened and it was not a clean game by Kentucky. Vandy will make you pay for that.
Buy. Pretty much agree. It has certainly been that way this season re: your last point. I still think the defense is very good. Holding Vanderbilt to 20 points should have been enough. They got the offense the ball back at the end of the game. In my opinion the defense did enough to win and has done enough to win or give the team a chance every single week, even against South Carolina though they weren't great then. The special teams are too up and down.
Almost buy. But it's really hard to compare Kentucky football and Kentucky basketball. Nationally or across the SEC when Kentucky football wins seven games or starts 3-3 nobody is thinking, "Wow, the coach isn't getting it done." Kentucky fans may be, and they may be correct at times, but Kentucky basketball is always going to make things easier for a coach. In terms of the trajectory it seems like you are correct. In the portal era however I am not sure it's so easy to just make it about trajectory. How else would you explain what has happened with Vanderbilt or really the unpredictability in SEC games all season?
They have one sure win. Louisville lost two in a row then barely beat Virginia. That one's at home as well. Beating Florida or Auburn is certainly on the table. This team beat Ole Miss. I think they get to a bowl but it will be closer than some other years.
Buy. They've proven that. The problem is you aren't going to play clean every week. The margins are too tight. The defense is good enough to give them a chance every week, but unless they're stonewalling opponents and the offense is very locked in and moving the chains a ton to control the game, it's very ugly. Mainly, when you are this unsuccessful on offense you just can't take anything for granted against SEC opponents.
They're a legit quality squad and capable of beating most teams on a good day. They have a quarterback who's doing something pretty special and the team is rallying around it right now. We would be having the playoff conversation if not for the Georgia State outcome. They're probably a bowl team and one that will show up and be happy to be there whoever they're playing.
