Western Kentucky Hilltoppers 32, Kentucky Wildcats 31: Postmortem

Congratulations to the Hilltoppers on their first, and well deserved SEC victory. This is one of those games where I can't really lose. Western wins, I am happy for them, Kentucky wins... Well, I'm a Kentucky blogger, so...

Anyway, Western really dominated the line of scrimmage in this game, and that, along with Maxwell Smith's interceptions, is why UK lost. Frankly, this is a devastating loss for Joker Phillips, and unless he pulls off some major upsets from here, he cannot recover from this defeat. It is simply too much for Kentucky fans to take to lose to both Louisville, and Sun Belt conference team Western, in the same year. Unless, of course, they somehow manage to win some unexpected victories. That is still possible, but given tonight, it is very unlikely.

Maxwell Smith was simply awful tonight, and to top all that off, he was hurt. That's the way football is, and although nobody who bleeds blue will accept that as an excuse, not even me, it is something everyone has seen before.

We can't know what's ahead for UK, but I think I can safely predict at this point that the Joker Phillips administration at Kentucky is likely to be under major, major pressure. I wouldn't have considered him on the hot seat to any great extent last week, but that has now radically changed. I'll leave the rest of that for later.

Observations:

• Robbed. The personal foul that led to the WKU touchdown was unacceptable.
• Sad. Kentucky's defense. No need to explain.
• Balls. Willie Taggert's call on the last play.
• Pride. Western's never-say-die attitude.
• Loss. The worst in recent memory.
• Hope. None for Kentucky.
• Tough. Maxwell Smith.
• Fail. The entire game from the UK standpoint.
• Confused. Maxwell Smith
• A mess. The playcalling.

Anything else I write, at this point, will be neither useful nor fair. I am very unhappy, and at the same time, proud -- of the other team. All I can tell you is that, emotionally, I am a wreck, and frankly, on the road to nothing less than a monumental bender. Perhaps my eventual sobriety will bring clarity to my conflicted and utterly unstable mind.

Try to keep it sane. Obey the community guidelines, which may be found here. Failure to do so will not be tolerated. I am not in a forgiving mood.