Yeah. All that.
Kentucky, after a year of frustration, picks up its fourth win of the season at home versus the Mississippi Rebels in a game that saw the Wildcats look mostly competent on offense. That's the first time we've been able to say that all year against an opponent who was not a mid-major or FCS team.
Kentucky, for the first time all year against an opponent that was not notably inferior, moved the football pretty well. It was an outstanding debut for Maxwell Smith, who reprised his strong performance against the Mississippi St. Bulldogs with an even more impressive one against Ole Miss.
Observations:
- A serious investigation needs to be done into the apparent replacement of Matt Roark with the spirit of Chris Matthews. He is unquestionably Smith's favorite target, and has earned that by catching the football, and today, he ran with it as well.
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Max Smith was very good. 19-36 (52%) is not really a super completion rate, and he missed some easy throws, three of which would have been touchdowns. But what he did not do was eat the football, or look like a deer in the headlights when his first option did not come open. He even spread the ball around a little and got six receivers involved. In summary, was prime rib for a starving man compared to the soul-destroying futility of Morgan Newton.
- CoShik Williams was once again a major contributor, and I'm not quite sure why Sanders didn't use him more. 111 yards on 25 attempts for 4.4 yards per carry. Those are SEC numbers. Offensive game ball.
- Danny Trevathan. 17 tackles., 1 interception. Defensive game ball. Winston Guy was pretty okay too with 10 tackles and 4 tackles for loss.
- We really missed Collins Ukwu, and he was an improvement today on the pass rush.
- The offensive line only gave up 1 sack and opened good holes for the running game most of the time. This is what we were promised early in the season, and it's nice to see it show up.
- Our secondary still needs help.
Overall, I have little to complain about and much to celebrate, and I'm starting with some of this:
Yeah, the old Four Roses Single Barrel bottle is going down tonight.
Nashville, here we come. Get ready, Commies, we know you're better this year, but we found ourselves a quarterback and are anxious to take him on the road.
Go, 'Cats!