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Published Oct 19, 2021
Buy or Sell: Your hot takes on Kentucky football
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Justin Rowland  •  CatsIllustrated
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@RowlandRIVALS

Cats Illustrated publisher Justin Rowland responds to your hot takes on Kentucky football from after the team's 30-13 loss at UGA and heading into a bye week...

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Pretty much agree with this take although I'm not sure if I would predict 11-1 or 10-2 right now. Between all the remaining games there are probably at least two that should be close. But I do think all things considered UK is better than Tennessee or Mississippi State and so if the games play out like they would most of the time then that's a realistic outcome.

Georgia is a great team for sure. They should win the title, but if they have to go through Alabama and then two games in the playoff they will have earned it.

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Truthfully, if they finish 10-2 then I don't think that would be a disappointment. I think it's natural to think about what's possible but losing to Tennessee or Mississippi State wouldn't be one of the worst things that has happened to this program. It could cost them a NY6 game but I feel like big picture, this is a team and a program that are going to be in a lot of national headlines this year and they're already changing perceptions. I think 9-3 at this point would be a disappointment but still a good season overall.

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I think he'll return because there are things he can improve on, like getting it out quicker and going through progressions. But going back to Week 1 you might remember I did think that it was possible he could come out. Physically he's fantastic. He's poised. He's smart too. But he can still improve.

This won't be the best quarterback draft class and that's a consideration. Another is if you're replacing both starting tackles, both starting receivers, who knows what else, it might be interesting to see if anything happens with the portal that could showcase him better.

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The drop that really hurt the most was the Wan'Dale drop in the end zone. If he catches that then it's 24-14 and the game could get interesting late. It's hard to fault someone who did so much for Kentucky and without him they would be much worse off. But the drops did hurt.

I think you have to say a 10-3 game against Clemson was a bit tougher UGA only had 256 yards of total offense and averaged 4.2 yards per play, less than half of what Kentucky allowed, but this was the next toughest game and I do think for the whole year UK has been the better team than Clemson.

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He's trending in the right direction for sure. He followed up some big throws and moments against LSU with a very smart game against UGA. You just shouldn't have to target a guy 17 times. That really illustrated what they think of the receiving corps. Fortunately, Georgia is one of the only teams in the country that can really shut UK down because of that. The big thing was how they took away the run game. 260 yards per game in SEC play, totally shut down against Georgia. That's what UK's best passing comes from.

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Buy your thinking. I've watched most of Georgia's games this year and Kentucky played them better than most. I thought the best comment I've seen was from a Georgia fan. Unlike other opponents UGA has faced, UK was not intimated. They were not intimidated and they played a clean game.

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If they are 11-1 at the end of the regular season then they won't be far off from that. Regardless, that we can even have this conversation with straight faces is impressive. I think you've got to put UGA and Alabama up there at the top. Cincinnati, maybe Ohio State, we'll see about Oklahoma once they get going with this new quarterback. But yes, other than maybe a couple of teams, I think Kentucky can play with anyone this year. First time I've ever been able to say that, although I think they could have been competitive with almost everyone in 2018 as well.

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The game probably would have been a bit different if you pick that fumble up. I don't think they would have won but that was the kind of thing that had to go right for you early in the game. We knew going in that every possible break had to go Kentucky's way. Realistically, that just doesn't happen very often.

It seems like a lot of people assume Coen is gone after this year. I understand the thinking with him being a young guy from the NFL coming in and installing something from the league that looks a lot better. It's going to depend on opportunity and pay. I think UK would be willing to give him a raise if the season-long product justifies it at the end of the year but we'll see. I don't think it's a given he's gone like some seem to.

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At the end of the day I think almost everyone could improve their stock by returning but there's a lot to consider and I've just always had the sense that this was a one-and-done year. He's not going to get any bigger and I think when you balance longevity, career earnings, and wear and tear with everything else he'll make a calculation that going is the right call. But I'm not 100% sure of that. I think for him to come back UK would have to have some other WRs lined up so he knows the quality of his touches will improve.

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Receiver is definitely a trouble spot. They're playing so many tight ends, throwing to the backs, and targeting Wan'Dale 17 times in one game because, especially with Ali out, they just don't feel good enough about the unit.

Not every week will be like that. It was just clear that Wan'Dale was the only player they trusted to go win a one-on-one matchup against UGA's defense.

Going to be difficult for anybody to block UGA's offensive line. The pass protection has been okay for such a big transition I've thought. But they do have some guys who are better at blocking the run.

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Adding six all-conference players to watch they already have seems like a tall order. I don't think you're off base entirely. I think to really make Kentucky like this year's Georgia team that's the scale of what you're talking about. It's a bit humbling, but shows that there is nothing to be ashamed of in how they played to minimize that talent gap.

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Next year is a long way off but if Levis comes back then they should be at least pretty good. We know Stoops is going to have a solid defense and there are some young playmakers on that side. They lose a lot on both sides after this year. If they can keep most of the staff intact, return Levis, and hit the portal hard it can be another very interesting season. No clue about the rankings though. Way too much uncertainty about rosters everywhere at this point.

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He has done enough that they can afford to put more on his plate. I think you have to trust him a lot more now. When he was throwing picks and not playing really clean or confident football a few weeks ago I think it made sense to scale it back and reestablish the same kind of run game they've had in recent years. But now I think you have to let him take the next step forward and become one of the SEC's better quarterbacks.

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I'd really have to rack my brain about that. Stephen Johnson had a great game against Louisville when the 'Cats won as four touchdown favorites. Terry Wilson played really well when Kentucky beat Louisville down on the road in Petrino's last year. Levis looked great in the opener against a bad team.

But all things considered it's tough to remember feeling as positive about the QB position coming out of a game as this one. You went in honestly not knowing how Levis would respond to that defense. Coen called a great game that made it a bit easier for him in spots, but nothing is easy against UGA and Levis was really on point. Big day for him. All the Georgia fans I read seemed to be impressed with him as well.

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Some said this before the UK-UGA game and I knew where they were coming from. At the time I was not prepared to say that, because even as great as UGA is, I felt like at 6-0 (4-0) that UK had "earned" the hype of that game. If they had won it would have been the program's biggest win maybe ever. But I understand the thinking because it probably wasn't realistic to expect them to win. I don't like the "this team has nothing to lose" language, but you really did get the sense that it was more about UGA than Kentucky because they were clearly the leading national title contender.

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Buy, they are better than No. 14, which they dropped to in both polls. As I've said elsewhere, I think the pollsters did a very fair job this week. When you look at all the data for all the teams ranked ahead of and behind Kentucky, they did a pretty good job. When you consider that winning the next five would take care of everything, No. 14 is pretty fair. But I do think they're better than No. 14. It's a complete team with a defensive identity, a physical component, a good quarterback and some star power. There's a lot to like. The only thing is they don't have quite the overall skill position play at WR and CB of some other top teams.

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We'll see how impactful it is but I had no problem with it and would have done pretty much the same thing. I'm not crazy about running the play clock down at times if you're trying to score, but once you've run 22 plays over 11 minutes then you really owe it to your players to give them a chance to finish a drive against a transcendent defense. That's the kind of drive he'll be able to cite or build on. It's a compliment to UGA's defense that it was important to punch that in.

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This is said pretty well. They have to replace a lot after this season and TBD on how that'll shake out at tackle, center, etc., but that's a fair assessment. They need more Wan'Dale type players on offense and they could use a boost at corner. I don't think the corners have been bad at all but if they had a lockdown guy and more depth it would be helpful.

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Agree with everything said here. The bye comes at a good time. UK is really banged up and it's impressive to me that they followed the UF and LSU games, as a banged up team, with that kind of effort. Took a lot of mental focus and digging deep to get whatever they had in the tank. Georgia's a great team. I'd put them in the same category as LSU 19 or Bama 20 but they have to do it the rest of the year.

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One thing I like about the offense is they can really emphasize pretty much anything in a given week. If they want to rush 50 times for 300 yards against an average defense, they can and will do that. If they're facing a team that can take away the run, they can shift and throw 42 times. The personnel on the outside is the only limitation but Coen is gradually rolling more out.

The bye is a great time for coaching staffs to look closely at tendencies and make sure they're not letting the defense off easy with tells. I'd expect to see some twists for Mississippi State when the 'Cats go back in action.

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Understand someone feeling that way. The kicking game was dicey in the 2018 season when they were 10-3, if I remember, and all season long I was wondering if special teams were going to cost them. (Turns out it helped them against Mizzou with Lynn Bowden's punt return and then against Penn State). If you keep living on the edge with special teams or any unit it usually bites you.

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I'm going to dig into this topic sometime this week. It's definitely possible and we're probably not talking about it enough. I know I'm guilty of projecting likely outcomes and have arrived at the conclusion that the NY6 is a more realistic goal. But the playoff is always the goal so we should probably be more focused on that.

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Georgia at the top, Alabama second. Then I'd have Kentucky in a third tier with Ole Miss and Texas A&M. We'll see if Auburn can get there into that tier.

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Statistically Arkansas is No. 21 in total offense (yards per game) and Kentucky is about 75th but I don't think that tells the whole story. Florida is No. 9 in the country in total offense. I think you can make a case that Kentucky is right there but it's close. I just couldn't quite say that when you look at all the numbers. In terms of offensive potential and the potential for balance, plus how things are trending, then it evens things out a bit for UK.

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Buy, there was absolutely no shame in losing to Georgia 30-13, nor would there have been any shame in losing 30-7. The great thing about playing Georgia (and the only great thing) is they've already beaten down some name opponents so badly that almost no outcome would have prompted more than a passing glance from people around the country.

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It's going to be a tough game but I don't know why you would pick them to lose. The bye week comes at a good time.

While Mississippi State doesn't have a bye this week they "only" have Vanderbilt.

If you look at the whole of its schedule Mississippi State was impressive in wins against NC State and Texas A&M. If they play like that, it's going to be a really tough game. But on the other hand they barely beat La Tech, lost to Memphis, lost at home to an LSU team that Kentucky handled at home, and has just been totally up and down.

I'm sure MSU and Leach are going to have this one circled after scoring no offensive points last season.

I'll say it has to be considered a close game that could be a loss but I wouldn't put UK's odds any worse than 50/50.

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Sell, I think the run game is fine. Georgia was the problem.

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Buy, definitely saw some over pursuit. I don't think it was guys being so hyped up they were undisciplined. But I do think they were compensating for competition and knew they had to sell out to pull an upset. It cost them early when UGA built that 14-0 lead.

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He's got to be one of the best players Kentucky is going to face this season. There are a lot of guys on that defense who can wreck your game plan but he really blows it all up right in the middle. He has this way of elevating in short yardage situations that makes it almost impossible to run the ball there.

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Sell, not because I don't believe in the run game but for a couple of other reasons. I think they gained a lot of trust in Levis against UGA and they're going to work the pass game in more where they can. MSU is only allowing 3.66 yards per rush but on the other hand opponents have a 144.3 passer rating against the Bulldogs. I think they'll have to put it in the air more.

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That is definitely possible. The other three distinct possibilities that would keep Kentucky out: 1) UGA and Bama both get in, 2) Cincinnati gets in, 3) The Big Ten gets two teams in.

The second and third scenarios would not rule Kentucky out but would hurt their chances.

There's a path but UK no longer controls its own playoff destiny.

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