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Yesterday was yet another injury-filled nightmare for Kentucky football as they dropped yet another game, 27-14 to the Mississippi St. Bulldogs in Commonwealth Stadium.
Tweet of the Morning:
NCAA stats updated and Kentucky now 117 out of 120 in third-down defense.
— John Clay (@johnclayiv) October 7, 2012
Sigh.
Your Quickies:
John Clay: Kentucky football just can't catch a break | Football | Kentucky.com
The play that got me in Kentucky's 27-14 loss to 20th-ranked Mississippi State on Saturday had nothing to do with injury, but much to do with luck as a metaphor for the season.
And maybe for Kentucky football, in general.
John Clay's piece is a must-read today. He even uses the idiom "Tough row to hoe" correctly, a surprisingly rare thing.
"I'd told him all week if he didn't make quick decisions, get the ball out of his hand, he might get his leg broke," offensive coordinator Randy Sanders said. "And he got caught holding onto the ball one time; didn't have his eyes in the right place, held onto the ball and got hurt."
This is why freshman quarterbacks struggle in the SEC. They just can't understand, or get comfortable, with the speed of decision-making required.
BBL: Losing games, losing players, the hits keep coming // John Clay's Sidelines
Freshman punter Landon Foster continues to be solid performer for Kentucky // vaughtsviews
Foster was terrific yesterday, and will only get better. We are fortunate to have him.
Kentucky’s Recruiting Monopoly: Blame our Culture, not just Calipari // Busting Brackets
Andrew and Aaron Harrison, for example, are not worried about being coached up or dressed down. They don’t care about tough love, team GPA track records or best positioning themselves for a long-term career after college. The twins, like most modern recruits mesmerized by the Calipari call, only care about having immediate success spoon-fed to them. Their family, coaches, handlers and closest supporters: too glitter-eyed to see the bigger picture.
You can just feel the passive-aggressive jealous rage seething throughout this article. In a way, it is most remarkable for the shamelessly obvious, green-eyed mouth-breathing in the sheep's clothing of reasonableness.
The false-choice arguments like "Any true, self-respecting competitor who wishes to differentiate himself as much as possible would never (emphasis on never) follow the herd," along with the suggestion that the Harrisons are really meek, fearful cult followers bespeaks a conspicuous lack of self-awareness on the part of the writer. He's mad, but he doesn't want to descend into invective, so he attacks 18-year-olds for not making what he considers a bold choice, not even considering that maybe they genuinely want a chance to win it all.
It's worth your time, mainly for its value in evoking schadenfreude.
No. 6 South Carolina demolishes No. 5 Georgia // NBC Sports
Connor Shaw threw two touchdown passes and ran for another, Ace Sanders had a dazzling 70-yard punt return touchdown and No. 6 South Carolina's defense dominated fifth-ranked Georgia in a 35-7 victory Saturday.
Never in a million years would I have predicted that Kentucky would wind up suffering a lesser thrashing than the Dawgs.
Hope nearly lost // The State Journal
The UK coach said the motto coming into Saturday as the injuries mount has been "Next man up."
But, Phillips admits now: "We’re running out of next men."
Succinct. There never was much hope. Only a fool's hope.
Terrence Jones and Patrick Patterson Comment on Harrison Twins // Everything Kentucky Online
Kentucky Sports Radio // Can The Underclassmen Save Joker’s Job?
At this point, it would take a miracle.
Kentucky Sports Radio // You Mad, Bro? Harrison Twins Edition
Pretty funny. Some angry fans are truly priceless.
Quote sheet: Kentucky coach Joker Phillips // John Clay's Sidelines
All I can say is that teams rarely do well when they are this decimated by injury. Even good teams in the SEC go bad when they get this beat up. 2010 Georgia comes immediately to mind.
UK drops fourth in a row, this time to No. 20 Miss. State // The Kentucky Kernel
"We will look at (Towles’s ankle) tomorrow, but today he couldn’t get up on his toes, and it’s unfortunate," Phillips said of Towles’ injury just minutes into his playing career.
That probably means it is not a grade I sprain. If there is no tendons torn, and it isn't a high ankle, he could probably be back in a couple of weeks.
Mitch Barnhart Yells at Fan During Miss St. Game // Everything Kentucky Online
Not sure I agree with Sam's assessment here. Barnhart has proven before that he doesn't blow with the fan winds. I still don't believe Phillips will be retained, but Barnhart's track record on such matters makes it far from a slam dunk.
We want him to as well. Let's hope for good news on Monday.
Chizik’s seat red-hot after embarrassing loss to Hogs // CollegeFootballTalk
Heh. Here is a guy only two years removed from a national title.
I agree the playcalling wasn't great yesterday, but I have seen worse. Not sure I would call it terrible.
Well, good, I guess.
UK offensive woes could be hurting an "improving" defense // vaughtsviews
Ashley's right. The offensive inconsistency is killing our defense, tiring them out. The first half the defensive players were sucking wind, they hardly had any rest at all.
Recapping SEC week 6 in 60 seconds // Saturday Down South
Florida over LSU is shocking to me. Ole Miss coming within a feild goal of Texas A&M is also somewhat surprising.
Stay classy, Dawgnation. // Get The Picture
Good grief.
Burwell: It's getting ugly at Mizzou // Stltoday
Mizzou, Kentucky , Auburn, Arkansas. The four miserables.