Upon Further Review: Tennessee

Twenty-five years in a row.

That just leaves an awful taste in ones mouth to say, and the feeling of despair is running rampant amongst the Kentucky faithful. For one quarter century Kentucky has found a way to lose to Tennessee consecutive times, and there doesn’t appear to be an end in sight. If there was ever a year to beat the Volunteers, it would have been this one. Tennessee is in a transition season and comes to play in Commonwealth Stadium against a Kentucky team that is reeling off one record-breaking win after another. Some losses just hurt more than others, and this one hurts pretty bad.

The offensive play calling was once again the subject of much debate. Everyone got a glimpse of exactly why Joker has kept Newton from attacking down field and it wasn’t very pretty. The first half saw a hungry Kentucky team execute properly and make plays. The second saw a Kentucky team that was falling apart trying to keep a lead and playing not lose the game. Offensively, Kentucky relied on the run game once again to punish their opponent and it was really clicking. The pass was there all game long, but UK just couldn’t connect. Joker will once again take heat for play selection, and what I saw from Kentucky in regulation, some of the second guessing isn’t fair. Kentucky called some good plays to put Newton in a position to make an easy throw off of an easy read, but the players just didn’t execute. The play selection in overtime is a different story, but I’ll get to that later. This game was lost for the same reason the Georgia game was won, and that’s because of turnovers and penalties. Kentucky shot themselves in the foot with bad penalties and totaled six for sixty-four yards at the end f the game. The fumbles were the dagger in the heart and allowed UT to take over the field position battle in the second half.

Newton had a tough game. I’ve pointed out before that Newton doesn’t use any touch on his throws, and it was apparent this weekend. It’s easy for a young QB with an gun like Newton’s to try to rely on his arm strength to zip the throw in to the receivers. All game, passes sailed above receivers and UK was forced to stay with the ground game. Newton has to be able to hit an open target for the opposition to respect the passing game, and he couldn’t do it on Saturday. In the second half, Tennessee stacked the box with eight and nine defenders, daring Kentucky to throw, and the Cats couldn’t connect. Anytime you’re one-sided, it’s going to be tough to win.

The running backs had almost no impact on this game. Conner had some pulverizing runs up the middle, but Locke struggled to really get going. In the end, Locke only rushed eleven times for thirty yards and one touchdown. That’s two yards per carry, and that just won’t cut it in the SEC. When you’re forced to run the ball, your workhorse back needs to get more than eleven touches. Hopefully Locke will return to UK for his senior season and stay healthy enough to put up the kind of numbers we all know he can. His level of talent doesn’t come around very often, and Kentucky could use his senior leadership in 2010.

The receivers just didn’t show up on the stat sheet this week. Matthews, Cobb and Lanxter were the only three WRs to record a catch against Tennessee. The blocking was solid, but UK’s backs never got to the second level to allow this group to physically take over the defensive backs. The ineffectiveness of UK’s passing game doesn’t all lie on Newton, and the receivers weren’t getting open and making plays. Cobb rushing was obviously the bright spot of the week. As long as Kentucky cannot pass, everyone better hope Cobb can run, because this was about all the Cats had going for them.

The Offensive line had an up and down game. This should have been a game in which they really dominated the defensive line, and Tennessee’s quickness gave them lots of trouble. For every play one of the offensive linemen blew their man five yards off the ball, there was another where that same player was pushed five yards into the backfield. Overall I would say that the O-line played pretty well, but this unit has to play great for UK to win in this league.

As has been the case all season, the tight end position is non-existent.

The defense had a really bad game. Everyone watching saw a mediocre Tennessee offense slice through the Kentucky defense on the way to 446 yards of offense. Kentucky players were out of position and arm tackling the Tennessee players all night and once again allowed a running back to pile up ridiculous yards against the Cats. The cats brought virtually no pressure against Crompton and allowed the worst quarterback Tennessee has had in recent memory to throw for 220 yards and a touchdown to a wide open Luke Stocker (aka Judas) in the end zone.

The Defensive line play was as bad as it’s been in years. Kentucky was once again pushed out of gaps and man-handled by the opponents Offensive line. With Corey Peters graduation, Kentucky loses it’s only consistent D-Lineman this season, and gap responsibility is a major area of concern going into next year. Let’s hope that Steve Brown and his staff can address it in the offseason. The Cats registered only one sack this week and I know I’ve said this almost every week, but they have got to get to the QB. When there’s no pressure, an average passer can look like a Heisman candidate.

The linebackers had a better game than the rest of the defense. Sam Maxwell just finds a way to impact every game and his pick six gave UK an immediate boost earl in the game. Micah Johnson had a whopping 13 total tackles and was clearly ready for Tennessee. These two have really played their hearts out in their senior season and Kentucky might not have a duo like this again for quite some time.

The Secondary was really bad. There’s no specific player who was a liability this week. This unit, as a whole, struggled to cover the Volunteer receivers from start to finish and allowed Tennessee to make first down after first down. The Defensive backfield is a major area of concern heading into the offseason, and if one looks at Kentucky’s recruiting targets, it shows UK knows this.

The overtime period was painful Kentucky looked like a team that didn’t know how to win, and it cost them. Offensively, Joker called two of the worst calls he’s made in his tenure here. I don’t mind the swing pass to Allen, because if he’d caught it, he’d have likely picked up five to ten yards. The option play was bad. The problem with this play is that it is the only one Kentucky runs out of the Pistol formation. As soon as Kentucky lined up, Eric Berry walked right up to the line where he knew the play was coming. I looked at the guys I was watching the game with and said “UK’s running the speed option right, and UT knows it’s coming.” Then Berry screams into the backfield and stops a helpless Locke behind the line. It’s easy to win when the defense knows what’s coming. The QB sweep was almost as bad. I said it last week and I’ll say it again, Newton is not a running Quarterback. In reality, Newton is much closer to a Ben Roethlisberger or a Tim Tebow than a Vince Young or Pat White. He’s big, and he can run around in the pocket and burn you if he takes off up the middle, but he cannot stretch the defense at his size and speed. Newton was not put in a position to succeed on that play. Hindsight is 20/20, but Cobb had to have the ball in his hands for UK to win. There are too many plays in the wildcat formation to expect your rattled freshman QB to win this game for you.

The Defense just gave up. As soon as Seiber missed the 49-yard kick, it was like the whole stadium knew the game was over. Tennessee’s starting kicker was dinged up and they had a walk on that joined the team a couple of weeks ago in to kick. If UK could have held them without a first down, I think there’s a decent chance he misses or Roark blocks the kick. Instead UT runs up the middle, almost untouched, for a twenty yard touchdown and sends the UK fans into despair one more time.

The special teams units played well again this week. I’ll give the game MVP to Ryan Tydlacka this week, and it’s not really even close. Kentucky punted seven times, for an average of 42.3 yards, and Tennessee did not have a single punt return yard in the stat book. This was quite a performance from one of UK’s most consistent producers. The goat of the week will be Seiber because of his missed field goal, but I don't think many people expected him to make a 49-yarder that is out of his range. He's been inconsistent throughout his career at UK, but asking him to hit that kick might have been a bit much.

Like I said before, this loss hurts. Kentucky seems to always be this close to winning against UT, but finds a way to lose. The season as a whole should be considered a success though. I know my tone is a little down in this installment of “Upon Further Review,” but it’s only because I’m breaking down this one game. If you look back over the season, most expected a 6-6 or 7-5 team in August. Kentucky is going to a fourth strait bowl and finishing above .500 this year, so we should be happy with the overall results. Kentucky’s young players will get a much needed extra month of practice, and the seniors get to finish their outstanding careers with four straight bowls, and possibly four rings from those bowls.