Neither Too High Nor Too Low

Up front, I wish to make some things clear. I have been a supporter of Coach Joker Phillips since his head-coach-in-waiting days. Similarly, I have backed Mike Hartline as the starting quarterback in all but the incident where he bad-mouthed teammates a couple of years ago. I have even - dare I say? - supported Steve Brown as UK Defensive Coordinator. And while 32 years as a hard core Wildcats football fan probably makes me but a novice in the "Fellowship of the Miserable", I have experienced a lot of heartbreak in those 32 years.

All of this I point out to preface this remark. The Wildcats football team has proven nothing yet.

Correct that. The coaches and team have proved plenty. They have proved that they have heart and determination. A lesser group would have rolled over and given up after playing its fourth successive bad first half. A lesser group would especially have said, "here we go again," after two weeks in a row of "close but no cigar" results. Instead, they got seriously down to business in the second half against South Carolina. And for those who have said, 'yeah, but SC lost Lattimore," I would reply that UK had already started the game with a hand tied behind its back. Derrick Locke was out. So was DeQuin Evans. The Cats won anyway.

Now we get to see how good a coach Joker Phillips is and can be. It is one thing to rally the troops after two close losses. It is quite another to get them ready for the next game after a big win, especially since Georgia is starting to show signs of becoming, well, the Georgia of old. In the past two weeks, the Bulldogs have outscored the State of Tennessee 84-14 - the Volunteers 41-14 and Vanderbilt 43-0 which suggests that they are now remembering that they have one A.J. Green in the lineup again. (Green, incidentally, has caught 4 touchdown passes in his 3 games back from suspension.) So I expect another close battle, with more to come.

Yes, the Wildcats could, maybe even should win out, but in this season of weird results, who dares to predict anything? Who would have predicted, especially after the UK game, that Florida would drop three in a row, including one to Mississippi State (an upcoming UK opponent, I might add)? For that matter, who would have figured the Gators to score in single digits in 2 of their past three games and to have topped 14 points only once since that same UK game? Who would have predicted that Vanderbilt would manage what the Wildcats did not, a win AT Mississippi? (Who would have said Jacksonville State would beat the Rebels, while we are at it?) And the list goes on.

The bottom line then is this. The UK win against South Carolina and "The Old Ball Coach" was sweet indeed, but it was not the season.  Georgia will tell us more and Mississippi State more still about this Wildcats team. I am still waiting for the defense to catch up with the offense and it seems they should do that. After all, they get to see the offense in daily practice and barring the hiccup against Florida, those Cats have shown an ability to score and to move the ball against just about anybody.

It is time then for the defense to put together a complete game. Combine the first halves of the last two games and they have surrendered 59 points. Combine the second halves of those same two games and they have surrendered 6. I and all other UK fans like the 6 a whole lot better. So, Coach Phillips and Coach Brown, how about this week getting the defense in gear from the start of the game? How about instead of a "last team to get the ball wins" shoot out,  we see Georgia struggle to get any points on the board while Hartline and Company set about with ruthless efficiency dismantling the Bulldogs defense? Repeat as needed against Mississippi State, Charleston Southern, Vanderbilt, and Tennessee and we can say Operation Win shows promise/just wait 'til next year. (This year with such results would rid the Wildcats of another 0-for streak and lay the groundwork for ending that other one next year.) But let's do it one (Operation) Win at a time.