This article appears as part of the Ace October 14 coverstory.
Sorry, Bluenecks
We’re Not Number One
Story and Photo by Tread
“We thought we had the momentum, but then we gave it to them.” UK Football Coach Joker Philips said it best after the disaster in Oxford, Mississippi that was the Ole Miss and Kentucky match-up. But I don’t write that off as just another mouthful of typical Saturday afternoon coach-speak. This line sort of sums up the woes of the Big Blue football teams in recent history. We are the perpetual optimists at the start of every year, “will we go 9-3, 8-4, aw heck, 7-5?” “What will be the biggest win?” “Will it be Florida, Tennessee, how about Auburn or South Carolina? We’ll get Ole Miss, maybe Georgia and Mississippi State is a shoo-in…” And it seems about this time each year we are looking at 3-2 with a cluster of vastly improving teams on the near horizon.
Now, for the past week, I have heard the faithful lamenting the horrible defense of the Cats, and I understand the frustration of those who look around the SEC and see these 300 pounders with 4.8 speed and gap-filling prowess who can stuff out everything but the craftiest offensive schemes. Us, well, we seem pretty easy to plan for…attack, early and often, right up the middle. The age old argument that we hear is “it’s that we just don’t have the hosses.” The players that is. We aren’t up to par with the better defenses in the league. I’ll buy a bit of that but, look at Danny Trevathan’s 15 tackles, 10 of them solo tackles and 2 for a loss at Ole Miss. Now those stats look like pretty good numbers for any SEC linebacker. Honestly, we have some very good players on defense when you look around, so it begs the question, what are they doing wrong?
An old friend of mine (and longtime season ticket holder) has been on me since the Western Kentucky game about UK Defensive Coordinator Mike Brown. He knows that I’m not much of a “bring me the head of the lousy coach” kinda guy but his point is well taken when he asks, “why the Hell doesn’t he try to do something more than just play a crappy base defense if he supposedly doesn’t have the quality players?” I am more of the school that players have responsibility in all this to make plays, to tackle, to defend, to work. But coaches and coordinators need to make sure players are where they need to be to make plays. I sure don’t buy that we are where we need to be. Now, would we make tackles if we were? Both Phillips and Brown have publicly nailed the defense for a lack of tackling skill. But whose job is it to see that they develop those skills? They are playing for a Division I school in the toughest conference in the United States, if they can’t tackle why did you bring them here?
When the “adults” in the room start the yakking about “the fundementals” that their teams are getting, well I generally start the eye rolling and squirming, I mean really. This is a big boy game built on a couple of real basic principles…defense hits and tackle and tries to tack away the ball. Offense, runs, passes and tries to hold on to the ball…which brings me to what really removed the wheels from UK’s trip to the deep South of Mississippi. Turnovers. No, not the delicious, cinnamonny apple variety…but the “bah, Hartline just threw an interception,” etc. variety…never delicious.
The UK offense did what no winning team can actually get away with. They gave the opposition three touchdowns. Yes, gave them, in 3 nice, gift bags, with stylish tissue paper, ribbon and customized “To: Mr. Nutt” name tags. You see, that momentum thing that Joker mentioned. I guess we had a bit. We scored a touchdown on the opening possession of the game. That’s been the mantra of this offensive unit in this young season, “we can score.” Yes, we can. And we can help the other team score too, that is what kind of offense we are. When you set up a team inside the UK 15-yard line, not once but twice and a third time give them field position on your side of the field, well, here’s 21 points we just aren’t gonna get back. It took only four plays. Four. Momentum–we got crushed by our own. Mike Hartline threw an interception. Now I have not been a Hartline hater, nor a Hartline bandwagoneer either. Serviceable. That is Hartline. I’m cool with that. But this was a costly turnover, setting up Ole Miss for a two play touchdown drive. “Okay, we’re tied,” most Bluenecks said with a sigh…” we’ll be alright, first play of the next offensive possession a Chris Matthews’ fumble. Five plays, 43 yards and in less than two minutes. 21-14. And then it got ugly.
But really this isn’t all about analyzing one loss to another conference team on the road, it’s a little about the reality of what being a UK Football fan is and has been for a while now. Yes, I know. We’ve improved over the past half a decade. Four back-to-back bowl games. A couple really big upsets. But that being said, we just repeatedly end up the whipping boy in our own conference. Against Ole Miss we managed to win the stat battle while getting our rears blistered because of mistakes and miscues. You just can’t give up the ball and you just can’t give up over 40 points. I have tried to really temper my expectations for our football program. I’d surmise you probably have too. I guess the question is “is that okay?” Should we just be happy in the SEC cellar and shoot for that goal of just enough wins to play a game in the post-season in some tater chip bowl somewhere?
I don’t have the answer to that question. My knee-jerk response is “no, we shouldn’t.” We’ve kinda, unwittingly become the Chicago Cubs of SEC football. Commonwealth Stadium still has plenty of gluteous maximi(sic) in the seats and there is no shortage of party enthusiasm that comes with being a Cat fan. But how do we get better? What is it that this program just doesn’t have? What will make us truly competitive week in and out? Are we just spoiled because we are used to having relevance with our basketball team? What is it?
But here’s a conclusion I’m slowing coming to–I cannot keep up the pre-season “this year’s gonna be different” hyperbole that I always buy into. It’s a little like the guy who mumbles to his drunken wingman, “I think that stripper dressed like the naughty schoolgirl is really into me.” Both that guy and I fail to see the lie we are living. Or we see it–we just choose to not deal with it emotionally. Do we always have to fall back on the tired and weathered sports cliché’ of “it’s a rebuilding year.” “Seriously, dude, she was winking at me, seriously.” I’m just not going to do it. I am going to bask in the strange satisfaction of knowing we just aren’t that good. Don’t try and persuade me otherwise. Let me be pleasantly surprised when we win a game, any game. I’m lowering my damned bar. It’s healthy. And I’d suggest you come to grips that Diamondique is neither interested in anything other than the singles in your jeans’ pocket nor is she Catholic. But we can both be okay with this knowledge and the reality truck that has just t-boned our Oldsmobubble we’ve been traveling in.
One of my favorite Letterman things ever was when Leno first overtook him in the ratings and NBC bought one of those tacky-assed banners that hung over a skyscraper in New York that said. “Number One in Late Night” or some other silly marketing speak…Letterman bought a nearly identical one on the building nearly next door that basically said and my memory is failing so I am paraphrasing. “We’re number two!” Which I thought was the perfect way to deflate the sting of not “winning” the battle of ratings. And an important lesson for us Kentucky football fans, we just aren’t #1 regardless of what that giant foam finger keeps repeating.
The obsession with calling into post-game sports talk shows to pontificate using your vast knowledge of coaching and play calling, that can now be bottled and directed to more sensible after-game activities like sobering up for church. We can do a lot with our newfound spare time if we just accept the conclusion that we just might not win this one…or that one or the next one. Let’s just get Joker’s words printed on a shirt, it says it all. “We thought we had the momentum, but then we gave it to them. TM”
I’m gonna try and get okay with this. I really am. And Diamondique, you should put your clothes on; you are going to be late for morning mass.
