After the Kentucky Wildcats 45-7 dud of a game against the Mississippi State Bulldogs, one could say that the team went through most of the game sleepwalking. There wasn’t much on the field to elicit much passion or emotion.
At least one person showed some fire: Vince Marrow. During Mark Stoops’ postgame press conference, Marrow could be heard in the next room ripping into players in a NSFW diatribe that had to be shut down so Stoops could continue. I heard it live during my postgame radio show and our fast acting producer had to dump the sound.
Here it is if you want to listen. Again, it’s NSFW so you are warned:
Words from the locker room spilled into Mark Stoops' postgame presser. pic.twitter.com/MF7Ss6E5g2
— Joe Mussatto (@joe_mussatto) October 22, 2017
- This could be a good thing. The player frustration and the passionate words of coach Marrow may spark this team into better play down the road and we can dismiss this as one bad performance against a good team on their home field.
- This could signal the beginning of an implosion like we saw in 2014 and 2015 when the Cats were 5-6 heading into the final game of the season after starting off with promising records.
Whichever is the case, we won’t have long to find out the answer as the Tennessee Volunteers will limp into Kroger Field on Saturday a week after they took a 45-7 shellacking of their own at Alabama.
Tweet of the Day
Any negative vibes or comments I'm blocking y'all so keep y'all fakeness that way <<<<
— Lynn Bowden (@H_Huncho) October 22, 2017
A.) Don’t tweet the players; B). These guys need all the positive vibes they can get after that miserable performance.
Quickies
Mark Stoops postgame press conference | SEC Country- Stoops is generally pretty bland during his postgame comments, especially after a loss, but last night’s were interesting to say the least. Along with Marrow losing his cool in the background, Stoops stopped short of throwing someone under the bus. From the comments he made about the 3rd and one play and some of the other hints he dropped, my guess is Eddie Gran was his target.
Did Kentucky get exposed in blowout loss? | Lexington Herald Leader- John Clay asks the question that was on all of our minds last night. The Cats were 5-1 heading into Starkville but few of us felt really good about that record considering the opponents and the manner in which they won.
How players plan to bounce back | KSR- The players and coaches want to get back to work in order to get over the humiliating loss. They want to avoid becoming the “old Kentucky” once again.
Frustration can’t carry over for Cats | Courier-Journal- As bad as that loss was, this team cannot afford to let it carry over into practice this week and against Tennessee on Saturday. The season is a bump away from going offtrack completely.
UK play controversial 3rd and 1 play call “perfect”? | KSR- “If it worked you would have liked it”- Shannon Dawson
Twany Beckham details end to his career | Lexington Herald Leader- Beckham was looking forward to his senior season but it was derailed by back surgery that ended his career. Twany discusses the depression and disbelief he went through and discusses those that helped him through his difficult time.
Kentucky’s offense had no answers to Grantham’s defense | WDRB- Last season defensive coordinator Todd Grantham was at Louisville. He was run out of town after the Wildcats ran roughshod over his defense in the 41-38 win that defined the season for both teams. He got his revenge last night as his unit dismantled Gran’s.
A bowl game is far from a guarantee for the Vols | Saturday’s Down South- The Vols are a sinking ship heading into Saturday night. They haven’t scored a touchdown in three straight games and they are 0-4 in the SEC. Kentucky HAS to win Saturday.
Tennessee QB predicts a “magical” season after being sacrificed to Nick Saban | Rocky Top Talk- I would like to laugh at this but my confidence that Kentucky will beat them isn’t exactly high right now. Still... Haha.
CBS poll forecast | CBS- #13 Notre Dame looks to make a big leap after destroying #11 Southern California. Penn State solidified it’s spot at #2 after they dismantled the visiting Michigan Wolverines.
Astors headed to World Series to face Dodgers | CBS- Houston shutout the Yankees 4-0 last night to make the World Series for the first time since Roger Clemens was on the mound.
Curry and Durant tossed during Warriors loss | ESPN- Golden State hasn’t had that Championship look so far this season in spite of all that talent. I’m not mad about it.
Kansas/Missouri border war will be available online | Sporting News- Many teams are holding these secret scrimmages to raise money for Hurricane Relief but so far Kansas and Missouri is the only game that will be available for fans not in the arena. You can stream the game online for a fee that will go to charity. I wonder if more teams will follow suit because this is a great idea.
Former Ohio State QB arrested on Friday | Yahoo!- Troy Smith was arrested Friday for driving while intoxicated. The former Heisman winner never found a place in the NFL and has struggled to stay out of trouble.
8 things to save season 8 of The Walking Dead | Forbes- I completely forgot TWD starts tonight because I have lost interest in the show. The formula is now predictable and the plot isn’t advancing. I may bail if things don’t get better. Soon.
Stranger Things is back on Friday! ACT ACCORDINGLY!!!!