"Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down" - Tennessee Edition
- Rating: No Rating
Thumbs Up:
Sam Maxwell- He got the stadium rocking with his interception return for a touchdown. Just another big play from the senior linebacker. Has had one of the best season in Wildcats history.
John Conner- Was carrying UT defenders all night long until he went down with an injury. If he stays healthy the Cats win, simple as that.
Monte Kiffin - Forced the UK offense to play the game UT wanted them to play. Make the freshman QB beat you.
Derrick Locke - Was having another good game running outside when he suddenly disappeared. Not sure why he only got 3 - 2nd half carries.
UK Fans - Packed the stadium, stayed all game and most importantly were very loud. Probably the loudest since LSU in 2007.
Play calling - Probably take a lot of hits for putting this as a thumbs up but for 3+ quarters I thought the coaching staff called a pretty good game. They changed things up and tried to catch UT off guard, with a smoke and mirrors offense like we have; it is what you have to do. Unfortunately the players didn't make plays. Cobb puts the ball on the ground, Matthews still refuses to layout for passes, the little things that in a tight game become very big. The overtime was atrocious though.
Thumbs Down:
Morgan Newton - Had his worst game as a Wildcat He simply played like a freshman. Played nervous and looked out of sync with the UT defensive attack. Had trouble hitting the WR's over the middle and struggled on when to run or throw the ball away. Also didn't get help from WR's like Matthews or RB Moncell Allen who dropped easy passes that would have gone for good yardage.
No Lessons Learned- For the third time this season we lost the game on our last possesion inside the opponent's 10 yard line because we refused to put the ball in the hands of our best player, Randall Cobb. Just extremely frustrating and the excuse given after the game was pretty weak, especially for such a standup coach as Rich Brooks. Also, the third time in four years we have been inside the UT 7 yard line with under 3 minutes to go and come away with a "L".
Randall Cobb - Had just a terrible game for Cobb. He put the ball on the ground twice, once on the Cats side of the 30 leading to a UT score. Routinely ran the Wildcat right into the teeth of the UT defense instead of running it outside or cutting back. No idea why he kept running where there were no holes. Unlike UT's RB Hardesty who on more than one occasion took off for the corner only to see a collapsing defense and cutback to pick up big yards. Cobb can be angry about the last series all he wants but if he takes care of business earlier it isn't an issue.
Derrick Locke - If he hits the block properly, Newton picks up at least the 1st down if not a touchdown. Ball game over, Cats win.
Trevard Lindley - Have never felt more sorry for a player in my life. He continues to get burnt, which in turn causes his NFL check to get smaller and smaller. Just isn't the same player.
3rd down defense - It's the Cats achillies heel. The defense cannot get off the field on third down, especially third and long. My favorite was the scramble Crompton had for the 1st down on 3rd and long. Actually worked out for UK because it could have been much worse as the UK defense was confused and LB Sam Maxwell ended up out wide covering their WR.
Refs - SEC continues to shine with the best here! Had nothing to do with the outcome of the game but they couldn't have looked much more stupid. Still trying to figure out why Tyler Sargent got flagged for holding on that punt. Seems the ref would have also flagged him for playing with a clipboard and a headset instead of a helmet.
UK Fans- Major issue here.... Learn football, shut up when your team has the ball. During crunch time in the 4th quarter UK fans are screaming their brains out why the offense and sidelines are begging the fans to quiet down. Commonwealth needs to create a quiet offense at work sign like the Colts have at home.
Amber Alert has been issued for LaRod King. If you see him please introduce him to Joker Phillips
Sam Maxwell- He got the stadium rocking with his interception return for a touchdown. Just another big play from the senior linebacker. Has had one of the best season in Wildcats history.
John Conner- Was carrying UT defenders all night long until he went down with an injury. If he stays healthy the Cats win, simple as that.
Monte Kiffin - Forced the UK offense to play the game UT wanted them to play. Make the freshman QB beat you.
Derrick Locke - Was having another good game running outside when he suddenly disappeared. Not sure why he only got 3 - 2nd half carries.
UK Fans - Packed the stadium, stayed all game and most importantly were very loud. Probably the loudest since LSU in 2007.
Play calling - Probably take a lot of hits for putting this as a thumbs up but for 3+ quarters I thought the coaching staff called a pretty good game. They changed things up and tried to catch UT off guard, with a smoke and mirrors offense like we have; it is what you have to do. Unfortunately the players didn't make plays. Cobb puts the ball on the ground, Matthews still refuses to layout for passes, the little things that in a tight game become very big. The overtime was atrocious though.
Thumbs Down:
Morgan Newton - Had his worst game as a Wildcat He simply played like a freshman. Played nervous and looked out of sync with the UT defensive attack. Had trouble hitting the WR's over the middle and struggled on when to run or throw the ball away. Also didn't get help from WR's like Matthews or RB Moncell Allen who dropped easy passes that would have gone for good yardage.
No Lessons Learned- For the third time this season we lost the game on our last possesion inside the opponent's 10 yard line because we refused to put the ball in the hands of our best player, Randall Cobb. Just extremely frustrating and the excuse given after the game was pretty weak, especially for such a standup coach as Rich Brooks. Also, the third time in four years we have been inside the UT 7 yard line with under 3 minutes to go and come away with a "L".
Randall Cobb - Had just a terrible game for Cobb. He put the ball on the ground twice, once on the Cats side of the 30 leading to a UT score. Routinely ran the Wildcat right into the teeth of the UT defense instead of running it outside or cutting back. No idea why he kept running where there were no holes. Unlike UT's RB Hardesty who on more than one occasion took off for the corner only to see a collapsing defense and cutback to pick up big yards. Cobb can be angry about the last series all he wants but if he takes care of business earlier it isn't an issue.
Derrick Locke - If he hits the block properly, Newton picks up at least the 1st down if not a touchdown. Ball game over, Cats win.
Trevard Lindley - Have never felt more sorry for a player in my life. He continues to get burnt, which in turn causes his NFL check to get smaller and smaller. Just isn't the same player.
3rd down defense - It's the Cats achillies heel. The defense cannot get off the field on third down, especially third and long. My favorite was the scramble Crompton had for the 1st down on 3rd and long. Actually worked out for UK because it could have been much worse as the UK defense was confused and LB Sam Maxwell ended up out wide covering their WR.
Refs - SEC continues to shine with the best here! Had nothing to do with the outcome of the game but they couldn't have looked much more stupid. Still trying to figure out why Tyler Sargent got flagged for holding on that punt. Seems the ref would have also flagged him for playing with a clipboard and a headset instead of a helmet.
UK Fans- Major issue here.... Learn football, shut up when your team has the ball. During crunch time in the 4th quarter UK fans are screaming their brains out why the offense and sidelines are begging the fans to quiet down. Commonwealth needs to create a quiet offense at work sign like the Colts have at home.
Amber Alert has been issued for LaRod King. If you see him please introduce him to Joker Phillips
Comment
-
Comment by Rob Elliott on December 1, 2009 at 12:04pm -
I've been on Joker and Steve Brown almost all season. Honestly, I felt most of this game was on the players. The Cats had several stupid penalties and too many of our most talented players made mistakes that we just can't have. I've said myself countless times that Cobb should be the one with the ball in his hands at the end of the game, but unlike vs. USC or Miss St I don't think that means we would have scored and won. In fact Cobb had been stuffed for little yardage several times vs. Vols.
Agreed C Dogg- I almost noted how awful that was playing the music right before the offense ran out. Another beef with Commonwealth is would it hurt to get a replay or two ?
-
Comment by kyfan32 on December 1, 2009 at 9:17am -
You seem to point the bame every where except of where the true blame is to go, the Coaches. Brooks and Phillips continue to make the same mistakes game in and game out. How many times do they have to make poor call, lose games, only to be congratulated for a terrific season. Joker is just that, a Joke. He couldn't call a game if his life depended on it. Four times in four years against Tenn, we have had the ball inside the 20 with less than 3-4 minutes and still lose. Play calling, plain and simple. You can blame Locke all you want for missing that block, but the play was wrong to begin with. Screen pass, put Cobb under center, play action, anything. Your best player deserved better and you know it. SO stop singing the praises of the great play calling for 3+ quarters, there was nothing great about it after halftime.
-
Comment by C Dogg on December 1, 2009 at 5:59am -
On the refs, how does the benefit of the doubt always go against UK? Cobb was clearly held on a long pass play in the second quarter but there was no flag. Brock Huard said he couldn't believe they didn't throw a flag. In the fourth quarter, however, they sure didn't let Randall Burden get away with some contact, even though the UT receiver was arguably initiating it. The second call wasn't necessarily a bad call but was just much less of a penalty than what UT got away with on Cobb in the second quarter.
On Lindley, he has to be hurt. He has been too good for 3 years to play the way he has played the last 2 games.
I agree on the UK fans cheering when UK has the ball but also how about a thumbs down for UK's PA people. Just as UK's offense was running onto the field to start the overtime the PA starts playing that Zombie Nation song to rally the fans. And speaking of PA, will UK ever put a new sound system in Commonwealth? Nothing says small time football more than playing music on those 1972 sounding speakers.
-
Comment by Clint on November 30, 2009 at 9:14pm -
On the last thumbs down...where i was sitting at I thought the crowd was doing well to quiten down at the appropriate time. Just wish folks would watch their language around the kids...oh well
-
Comment by JBR on November 30, 2009 at 6:44pm -
Agree on most....
But if you have seen my comments before, you know what I am going to say....JOKER THUMBS DOWN...how can you say that Locke disappearing in the second half, and the play calling was good for 3+ quarters? I was beside myself, even in the 3rd and early 4th quarters that Locke was not getting the ball. He has break-away speed, he almost always breaks tackles, he is a winner with an attitude. His lack of touches in the second half are to put it mildly "dumb". Not only does he have the potential to make plays, but you don't completely wear out Cobb by running the exact same play out of the wildcat 50 times. And, i can't even blame Locke for missing that block...Allen is more of a blocking back (I think Conner had been hurt and was unavailable)...and once again, we ran a screen pass or two in the second half to .....ALLEN, NOT LOCKE...ridiculous. And, I put this in one of my comments after the game...Joker has an obsession with running Newton...newsflash Joker, Newton is not very fast, especially compared to Cobb or Locke...he is not even a "running qb"....he is a qb that can run ok and scramble when he needs to. Cobb was a running qb. Michael Vick and Vince Young are running qb's. When it is 3rd and 25 years...you give the ball to Locke, in space, that will kill somebody to get into that end zone, not a slow footed (relatively) freshman qb.
One other note...I have stated before, I sit directly behind the UK bench...Trevard was not himself, and when I say that, I mean his attitude and demeanor. While at the beginning of the game, and for most of the game, really, all of the players were just amped and vocal and physical, Trevard's body language was one of someone that really wasn't there emotionally. He walked around with his head down, slumped...and that was before a play was even run. I don't know what was wrong, but he didn't seem to be nearly as excited as everyone else in the stadium.
-
Comment by The Fake Dermontti Dawson on November 30, 2009 at 4:50pm -
Great job once again this week.
© 2013 Created by KSN.
You need to be a member of Kentucky Sports Network to add comments!
Join Kentucky Sports Network