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Posted by catmandoo (Member # 1284) on 09-21-2009, 08:31 AM:

It's obvious after our home game against Louisville we are far from being any kind of force in college football. How far down we are going to be will be determind in the next 3 games against Florida, Alabama and South Carolina. We don't have to even win but we had better not look bad against any of them or we are pretty much back where we have been for the last 5 years.

I hate to say it but after seeing the Louisville game we still have a long, long way to go...

Posted by catlogic15 (Member # 1227) on 09-21-2009, 08:44 AM:

I think we have to look at the bright side here. Louisville had nothing to lose and a pretty good game plan. Remember, Louisville made four trips into the red zone and got only six points. Our defense played over 13 (!) minutes in the third quarter and still found a way to stop Louisville enough in the fourth quarter without Trevard Lindley. We scored enough to win even though we took only four snaps in the 3rd quarter. All that really showed grit by our team. Maybe this was a clunker game, yet we won. Yes, the next three weeks will be brutal but we'll show up and I'm sure play better.

Posted by EnterpriseCat (Member # 2881) on 09-21-2009, 09:13 AM:

Catman,
I'm not sure which way to go with this team. They played poorly and yet won anyway. That would have never happened 5 years ago. I suppose we will find out for sure in the next 3 games. We need to win one of those 3 if we hope to move up a tier.

I was surprised by how well UT played UF. I thought for sure we would stop the streak against the Vols this year, but now I'm not sure about that either.

Posted by catmandoo (Member # 1284) on 09-21-2009, 09:41 AM:

EC, I really thought that this year might be our break-out year and it still might be but the Louisville game really has to be a downer. We had everything in our favor and we did not close the deal and had to get some serious breaks even to win at home against a team that is not very good. (no matter what anyone says)

Hopefully we can look better against our next 3 opponents with win against South Carolina, anything short of that definitely would show we are not there yet...

Posted by prophet (Member # 2089) on 09-21-2009, 08:27 PM:

Depends on the dimensions of the "tiers". IMO the top tier are those programs that perennially play in BCS bowls. Obviously UK isn't in that tier. The second tier would be those teams that are regular fixtures - say 3 of 5 years - ranked in the Top 25. The third tier are those teams that have a recent history of better than .500 records and bowl appearances no matter how minor but are usually unranked. UK would fit in that third tier. The good news is that is considerable improvement from most past seasons. The bad news is that they're not likely to reach the second tier under current conditions.

Posted by boomdaddy (Member # 2644) on 09-22-2009, 06:21 AM:

If you want to put UK in a class, you have to do it from the perspective of the SEC, because they aren't leaving any time soon. UK is clearly a 2nd tier team in the SEC. I seriously doubt that they will ever be a top tier team. That doesn't mean that UK will not eventually be a top 10 team every once in awhile.

That being said, UK used be a bottom tier team in the SEC. It matters not as to where UK was picked in preseason. They have 3 straight bowl victories and are looking for a better one. UK was one knuckleheaded QB away from a really great record, last season. That same kid would have been leading the team this year. Sometimes things just happen. If Mossokowski turns into a great colllege player and the D is solid, UK might have a top 10 team in a few years.

Posted by Trey Ball (Member # 332) on 09-22-2009, 06:41 AM:

quote:
Originally posted by catmandoo:
We don't have to even win but we had better not look bad against any of them or we are pretty much back where we have been for the last 5 years.

UK is light years ahead of where they were 5 years ago, IMO. They actually have some team speed now and athletes who can compete.

So they played a horrible third quarter against an arch rival it happens. I don't expect UK to beat either Florida or Alabama, nor do I expect those games to be close. I think UK has a chance against USC if they can forget that Spurrier is on the sideline (they always seem to find a way to lose to his teams even when UK is better than his teams).

Posted by uncSUCKS (Member # 2148) on 09-22-2009, 07:38 AM:

I like to say that I am a "UK football realist fan".
6-7 wins and a bowl game are a good season for me and I am happy. Last three years have been good seasons for us by those standards.

Anything can happen when you play your rival. Biggest weakness for us is obviously our defensive front. Losing J.Jarmon is killing us. Fla and Bama will exploit this the next two weeks and I dont expect these games to be close at all.
For us to reach 6-7 wins and a bowl game this year we will have to get our offense going and score alot of points.
By the way, I have been saying UT is better than most think and I dont see us beating them this year. They will run for over 200 yards against us and I doubt we can put up more than 10 points against their tough defense. Eric Berry is an absolute stud and could easily be the first or second pick in the NFL draft.

Posted by Trey Ball (Member # 332) on 09-22-2009, 07:45 AM:

quote:
Originally posted by uncSUCKS:
By the way, I have been saying UT is better than most think and I dont see us beating them this year. They will run for over 200 yards against us and I doubt we can put up more than 10 points against their tough defense.

Monte Kiffin is a defensive guru and I think he is bringing his NFL schemes to UT. All UT needs is a decent QB who doesn't turn the ball over and put the UT defense at a disadvantage.

Losing Jarmon was a huge loss for UK on the defensive line. You are talking about an All-SEC lineman leaving a huge void for the Cats.

[ 09-22-2009, 07:46 AM: Message edited by: Trey Ball ]

Posted by catmandoo (Member # 1284) on 09-22-2009, 08:48 PM:

Trey posts: UK is light years ahead of where they were 5 years ago, IMO.

5 years ago we were on probation from a previous coach and we had little to no talent with not a heck of a lot to look forward to with the probation penalties facing us so we had no place to go but up but it's hard to believe we are light years better. imo

If you look at the previous 6 years of Kentucky before the hire of Brooks and compare the full 6 year tenure of Brooks it looks very comparible. It should be noted too that the 6 year pre-Brooks era was started with very little talent left over from Bill Curry similar to what Brooks faced.

Kentucky went 15-33 in SEC conferance play for the 6 year stretch before Brooks and during Brook's 6 year stretch they are only 13-35. It looks like we have not turned the corner yet and it doesn't look like we will do it this year either but who knows, maybe this is the year.