Kentucky 49, Charleston Southern 21: Postmortem

by Ken Howlett on Nov 6, 2010 5:20 PM EDT in Kentucky Wildcats Football

The Kentucky Wildcats (5-5, 1-4) football team held serve today in their match-up with FCS opponent Charleston Southern (2-7, 0-4) with a 49-21 victory at Commonwealth Stadium. The 'Cats, once again without running back Derrick Locke and Raymond Sanders, still shredded the over-matched Buccaneers for 228 rush yards and five rushing touchdowns.

For the game particulars, follow me after the jump:

The 'Cats put together several long plays this afternoon, here's a rundown: A Donald Russell 25-yard touchdown run; a CoShik Williams 41-yard touchdown run; a Mike Hartline 53-yard touchdown pass to Chris Matthews; a Hartline 36-yard touchdown pass to Randall Cobb; a 47-yard Hartline pass to La'Rod King; a 27-yard Hartline pass to Cobb; and a 37-yard Hartline pass to Cobb.

Donald Russell, replacing the injured Raymond Sanders, who replaced the injured Derrick Locke, ran for a career-high 110 yards on only 10 carries (11.0 yards per carry). Russell also scored two touchdowns.

Little-used fourth string running back CoShik Williams came up big today for the 'Cats, running for 95 yards on 13 carries (7.3 ypc) and three touchdowns.

Randall Cobb had yet another big day: Four catches for 101 yards (25.3 yards per reception) and one touchdown.

Wide receiver Chris Matthews also put up big numbers for UK, catching four passes for 92 yards (23.0 ypr) and one touchdown.

La'Rod King (one catch for 47 yards), tight end Jordan Aumiller (two catches for 23 yards), and uber-athlete Brian Adams (no, he didn't sing but he did catch two passes for 10 yards) all helped in the Wildcat cause, although, Aumiller did fumble the ball at midfield after making a 15-yard reception (in Aumiller's defense, it was a flush, helmet to ball hit)

UK quarterback Mike Hartline had an up and down day; at one point missing on six consecutive passes, then, completing seven in a row. On the day, Hartline completed 15 of 24 passes (62.5%) for two touchdowns and one interception, which happened to come at the CSU goal line.

Morgan Newton took over the play-calling duties at the 10:58 mark of the fourth quarter, and had a nice 11-yard run to set up a Donald Russell 17-yard touchdown run. Newton was 1-4 through the air for two yards.

Wildcat defensive standouts included the ferocious Danny Trevathan who had 13 tackles and one sack on the day. Safety Winston Guy Jr. led the 'Cats in tackles on the day with 16 (it's never good, though, when the safety leads the team in tackles). Corner back Martavious Neloms, coming off an injury, produced nine tackles and one sack.

Craig McIntosh, usually a very reliable kick-off man, today kicked the ball out-of-bounds, giving the Bucs the ball at their own 40 yard line. And of course, CSU scored a touchdown off the UK miscue. Kentucky also turned the ball over on downs at midfield, leading to a Buccaneers touchdown -- The big play of the drive being a 37-yard reception by Gerald Stevenson.

UK once again lost the turnover battle, this time 2-0. That makes 18 Kentucky turnovers in the last seven games. On a positive note, the UK defense did hold the Bucs to only five of 16 on third down conversions (31.3%), but the Bucs converted two fourth downs on two tries.

As a team, the Cats ran for 228 yards on the ground, good for an outstanding 8.4 yards per carry, while the defense held CSU to 140 yards on 2.9 yards per carry. Kentucky's offense produced 502 yards of offense to only 269 yards for CSU.

CSU, riding the arms of quarterbacks Andrew Trudnowski and Malcom Dixon, completed 15-18 passes (83.3%) for 129 yards and one touchdown. Only three incompletion's? ... unacceptable.

All-Big South performer Gerald Stevenson was held in check for most of the afternoon (except for his 37-yard pass reception setting up a CSU TD) by the UK defense, gaining only nine yards on four carries and a touchdown, along with catching five passes for 68 yards (13.6 ypr).

The 'Cats now sit at 5-5 with Vanderbilt -- who took a major beat-down from the Florida Gators today -- coming to Commonwealth next week, and two weeks later, UK travels to Knoxville in an attempt to do the seemingly impossible ... send the Vols home unhappy.

Thanks for reading and Go 'Cats!

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Comments

Nice rundown Ken. This years team has really been a pain in the rear. I say that because their defense is capable of
more. They did OK today but, Ken, something is wrong when a defense takes the field game after game not ready to
play. The head coach has to pump them up or rip their arses at halftime before they start playing FB.

The excuse that they are young and inexperienced just won’t hold water any more. They have proven in 10 games now that they CAN play defense. I think we may have bread here that has no yeast. Something is missing and it bewilders me as to what it is.

I think we will be hard pressed to beat Vandy and will lose again to the Vols. Wish I could be more positive but it just isn’t there.

We're as good as the best and better than the rest.
In basketball that is.
Happy days are here again,
The skies are Wildcat blue again,
We have the best recruits again,
Happy days are here again!
FREE ENES!!

by alwaysblue on Nov 6, 2010 8:31 PM EDT reply actions

maybe its coaching..

but not on game day but rather the coaching that was done during recruiting…

when a linebacker and a safety are your 2 leading tacklers, it does not speak well of your def line. perhaps we have been spoiled the last few years and perhaps a few recruits did not pan out, but the players may not be up to the last few years.

only one rule in my house - uk has to be your favorite college bball team

by memphis wildcat on Nov 7, 2010 7:57 AM EST up reply actions

Could be but I do know one thing, you nailed it with the old axiom, “When the LB,s and S’s lead the team in tackles, the team is in trouble.”

Look how that D line played the 2nd halves against Auburn, USC, Georgia, etc. They CAN play D when they want to. My question is, “Why don’t they want to?” Especially in the first half.

by alwaysblue on Nov 7, 2010 3:35 PM EST up reply actions

Oh, and I meant to add GO BIG BLUE anyway. LOL

by alwaysblue on Nov 6, 2010 8:35 PM EDT reply actions

Nice write up Ken

Now my question. Do you really think this team will win out? This team was no Tennessee. You know my past with football. I can’t see this defense playing the Vols close enough to win. Hope I’m wrong. At least the next 2 games will be on TV. Good Morning!

Happy Days are here again! Wildcat's have #1 recruiting class again!

by oldcat73 on Nov 7, 2010 2:36 AM EDT reply actions

Yeah. I listened on the net to FM 103.5 out of Radcliffe, KY. Really like those announcers. These last two games I’m going to mute the TV and listen to the game on my radio; like I used to do when “King Kawood” called the games.
Those were, “The best of times.” Quote by Mr. Spock of Star Trek.

by alwaysblue on Nov 7, 2010 3:41 PM EST reply actions

Radio

Radio announcers are generally better than their tv counterparts but it’s exceptionally difficult to listen to the radio while watching games anymore. The radio signal is usually a few seconds ahead of the tv signal.

DEEETROIT BASKETBALLL!!!

by davw83 on Nov 8, 2010 8:44 AM EST via mobile up reply actions

davw83

Yes. That’s because the radio signals are AM and TV is UHF and digital and they are faster.

by alwaysblue on Nov 8, 2010 10:10 AM EST up reply actions

Nice job Ken, as per usual.

Gang, I am going to do an article on this in the next couple days, but the issues here have become really clear to me after seeing the Cats in person Saturday. We DO NOT HAVE THE PLAYERS TO COMPETE IN THE SEC. I have been on Steve Brown harder than anyone, but this is really a personnel issue. People I talked to Saturday say we are paying for the recruiting nto getting done on the defensive side of the ball for the last 2-3 years, We had the defensive guys, and we simply did not replace them.

Also, our team is not very big. I saw guys that were not a whole lot bigger than their Charleston Southern opponents after a close review. And having seen SEC teams up cloase over the last few years, I can tell you that we do not have SEC caliber players on the defensive side of the ball. Our defensive stars probably would make servicable backups for teams like Florida and Bama. That is why we are not tackling. We lack the size and speed to compete. Brown must compensate for this somehow, but I have no idea what he is going to do.

If we win out, we should thank our lucky stars that we managed what we did and call Joker a wizard, not a gambler.Lets hope that his recruits are a little more SEC-like than what we have gotten on defense the last couple of years.

Blogging live from the UK Press Box at Commonwealth Stadium.....Go Cats!!!

by Greg Alan Edwards on Nov 7, 2010 10:42 PM EST reply actions

paris is gonna love this post

I have kleptomania,
but when it gets bad,
I take something for it.

by bluecrip on Nov 8, 2010 12:35 AM EST up reply actions

bluecrip

Where is he?

by alwaysblue on Nov 8, 2010 6:42 AM EST up reply actions

He's here

http://www.cardchronicle.com/2010/11/3/1791419/the-cards-and-the-cats-in-a-bowl

Then it comes to be that the soothing light at the end of your tunnel, is just a freight train coming your way...
@btcoop71

by btcoop71 on Nov 8, 2010 8:19 AM EST up reply actions

You talkin' about the same team that lost to the best team in the country by 3? :)

by Ken Howlett on Nov 8, 2010 1:38 AM EST up reply actions 1 recs

yeah, I am Ken......And actually, if you take that mobile QB out of the picture we win that game, which whould tell us something.

I looked at every guy on that field, and we just do not have the bodies we need to have. M personal opinion is that Bama, or Florida has a normal day and they tear Auburn to pieces, assuming they have that mobile QB situation resolved.

We will get the defensive people in there in time, but we just do not have them right now. And the Auburn comeback should be more attributed to our offensive might than our defensive. We got lucky in the second half when Auburn changed their game plan somewhat.

Blogging live from the UK Press Box at Commonwealth Stadium.....Go Cats!!!

by Greg Alan Edwards on Nov 8, 2010 8:01 AM EST up reply actions

+1 Ken

Blue... there is no other color to Bleed !!!

by a2d2 on Nov 8, 2010 9:30 AM EST up reply actions

Greg

Good comment but how do you explain this defense playing the 2nd halves that they have against SEC teams? Something else, in my opinion, is missing. True, I’m not a coach. But if the airplane is plummeting towards the ground at a 60 degree
angle, I don’t have to be a pilot to know that we’re in trouble.

About size I will say this. In 1959 Arkansas shared the old SWC title with an offensive line that averaged 195 lbs. They were “cat quick” though. They defeated a Texas team that was much bigger. This was the team that Jerry Jones and Jimmy Johnson played on. I have no idea why Kentucky’s defensive line can’t perform in the 1st half as they do in the 2nd.

On TV they don’t look that slow or that small. However my wife tells me that a person looks bigger on TV than they really are.

by alwaysblue on Nov 8, 2010 6:41 AM EST up reply actions

They adjust well, but they do not have the athletes to shut anyone down.

What would be a more telling stat, would be to see if they could even shut anyone down from the get go. And that 1959 Arkansas team couldnt get on the field with today’s schools. They are just all too big. Look at the average size of the other school’s defensive lines. We will rank close to the bottom. You cannot employ the defensive schemes we have deployed with the personnel we have. We do adjust, but the schools have all had things to go differently as well.

Something else that might be a factor for our second half performances is that we have not seen a school yet that has a runner who gets better the more you give them the ball. There are some guys that get to be more and more of a handful the more they run. We have not seen any of those yet. Most teams pile up the yardage on us in the first half, and ride out the second.

And your wife is right. After being there and on the field at one point, I can tell you that everything looks bigger on TV, at least on the football field. Even Commonwealth does. When I sat down in the press box, I thought I was in a really big high school football stadium. Or at least that was the “feel” I got. Which is truly amazing, because the TV cameras were in front of me and down one level.

Our guys are just not big and fast enough to tackle one on one, period. Until they are we will continue to struggle on defense. We had some big name guys that have played great the last couple of years, but we have not replaced them. With the exception of Trevathan, and Neloms, and possibly Guy, our defensive personnel would not see much playing time at the likes of Bama, Florida, LSU, etc. The fact that our linebackers are leading the team in tackles should tell us something. We cannot stop runners at the point of attack. We catch them from behind, or the side, as they are going by. Today’s big Offensive Linemen are shoving us off of the ball every snap.

Blogging live from the UK Press Box at Commonwealth Stadium.....Go Cats!!!

by Greg Alan Edwards on Nov 8, 2010 8:12 AM EST up reply actions

OK. That explains it. Appreciate you taking the time to respond in depth.

Thanks also for having to sit in that shivering cold weather. Hmmm. LOL

by alwaysblue on Nov 8, 2010 10:17 AM EST reply actions

it really becomes obvious when you look down on that line and see nothing else ab

The TV camera follows the ball and we lose sight of what is going on in the trenches. Charleston Southern was opening up holes against that d-line. That should never happen.

I am now and forever shall be The Cat In The Hat....The Artist formerly known as ABC!

by Greg Alan Edwards on Nov 8, 2010 10:34 AM EST up reply actions