Kentucky Football Recruiting: The Weekend That Was wasn’t all that great

Auburn ran out of luck last night and Florida State stole it with a little of their own luck. This was the third game that ended on a hope and a prayer for Auburn. However, the Tigers were on the receiving end of the other team's good luck. For me, the game was a win-win no matter who won. If Auburn had won, I would be saying "SEC!" With Florida State's win, I can say that our coach was instrumental in building the Seminole defense. Anyway, it was a great game

Marcelys Jones one of seven who enrolled at Ohio State on Monday. Read about it at the Cleveland Plain Dealer.  And, Lattimore and Smith committed to the Buckeyes during the Army Bowl game. Smith, however, did have a UK hat on the table.

If that wasn't enough, Matt Elam was supposed to keep Kentucky in the recruiting news, but changed his mind. He's since clarified things, by saying he wasn't comfortable with the way the Army Game people (NBC?) was handling the announced commitments. What I do know is Kentucky lost out on an opportunity for media buzz in recruiting.

The Lunatic Fringe. Listen while you read because football recruiting is for lunatics like me.

Okay, there were some good things that happened. The UK commitments who played in the Offense Defense Bowl all did well, and "Boom" proved he was no bust. I had reported that Williams was the MVP of the game, but that isn't confirmed. See if you can find any news reports on this game. I can't, other than the Blake Bone article that I posted yesterday. Anyway reports are that Williams rolled his ankle and it wasn't serious. Blake Bone did catch the winning TD pass, but it wasn't as described. The West Team was leading at the time. The Orlando media outlet did not bother cover this game at the Citrus Bowl.

If you wish to watch the broadcast,  you can watch it here. Warning: the announcers are atrocious and the camera work isn't all that good.  I kept telling my computer for these two guys to just SHUT UP!  They did, however, mention Kentucky many times. Both had trouble pronouncing "Oglesby." Adrian Middleton had a nice sack in the 2^nd quarter. Also in the 2^nd quarter, Stanley Williams had a sweet 33 yard run and followed that with a four yard TD just before the half. Blake Bone scored in the 3^rd quarter for around 22-23 yards. The final score was 21-19 in favor of the West Team with the six UK commits.

Drew Barker out-played Kyle Allen (that's my opinion and I'm sticking to it) in the Army AA Bowl, although you wouldn't know it from the news reports. The NBC darling fumbled to catchable mis-snaps, yet he's the greatest thing since sliced bread. Meanwhile, Barker led the team on two touchdown drives and didn't get as many snaps as the Texas A&M commitment did.

In  the Simper Fidelis All America Bowl, UK commit Mikel Horton caught a 13 yard TD pass from Clayton Thorson, a Northwestern commit. Horton's East Team lost 31-24 in the last Semper Fidelis game for a while (due to military budget cuts). If you didn't see the game, you can read about it here.

There was some buzz about Travonte Valentine, but don't expect him to sign with UK. He's LSU's to lose. Don't fall for the hype that spews forth.

So, which top 100 recruits are left after all these weekend commitments? Schools shown are in competition for their services. The players listed are from 247 Sports Composite ratings. Only 4* and above are shown.

5*CB  Marlon Humphrey (Alabama or Florida St.); 5* DB Adoree' Jackson (Florida or USC); 5* ATH John Smith (USC, Notre Dame, Alabama); 5* DE Lorenzo Carter (Alabama or Georgia); 5* WR Malachi Dupree (LSU); 5* DE Soloman Thomas (Stanford); 5* OL Damien Prince (Maryland); 5* OL Damien Mama (USC); 4* DE Malik McDowell (Michigan or Michigan St.); 4* LB Rashaan Evans (Auburn); 4* ATH Michiah Quick (Notre Dame or Oklahoma); 4* OL Braden Smith (TCU); 4* OL Casey Tucker (Stanford). That's it for the 247 Sports Composite Top 100 and none have shown interest in Kentucky.

For Kentucky, we offered the following 4* players:

4* WR Dominique Boothe (Indiana); 4* OL Frank Ragnow (Minnesota or Florida St.); 4* DE Andrew Williams (Auburn); 5* DE Lorenzo Carter (Alabama or Georgia); 4* DL Matt Elam (Alabama or Kentucky); 4* DL Travonte Valentine (LSU); 4* DL Elisha Shaw (Georgia); 4* DL Daniel Cage (Louisville); 4* LB Rashaan Evans (Auburn); 4* DB D.J. Smith (South Carolina); 4* DB Wesley Green (Georgia or South Carolina).

I've only listed those who are composite four star players because they are the only players who can improve Kentucky's team ranking. There are several three star players out there with interest in Kentucky. It is hard to determine how much interest Kentucky has in any of these players other than Matt Elam. We don't even know how much interest there is in Valentine.

We are in a recruiting dead period until January 15^th so anything you read or hear is rumor and innuendo (Italian for Preparation H, according to the late (RIP) Karnac, the Magnificent).

What we do know is the unintended consequences of a coaching change. And, we know there might be the possibility of getting an extra sleaze pizza at Papa John's Stadium according to this. It makes you wonder why they didn't take the high road with the guy caught at Procini's. Imagine...Petrino and Hurtt. That's like having pepperoni and Italian sausage on the same pizza. They might even have extra oregano Orgeron to boot! Yeah, buddy.