Welcome to the first home football of the season for the Kentucky Wildcats! I’ll be posting here for you the fans what random thoughts I have during today’s contest against Eastern Kentucky.
1st Quarter
- Breaking News! Jordan Smith can sing very well. Also, water is wet.
- Word is Jordan Jones is suspended for the first quarter. That makes me mad enough to spit out my tobacco.
- Eastern chooses to defend the East Endzone. Coincidence? I think not.
- Juice Johnson’s reverse was 10 miles wide and 10 yards long.
- Money MacGinnis keeps moving up the all time scoring list.
- Eastern’s runner falling into a touch back was a wise choice.
- Ah the coal whistle returns. I’m more partial to the Law and Order duh duh.
- That first drive by EKU was impressive. Former UConn QB hasn’t been bothered yet. Maybe he should have been the next Bachelor?
- Lynn Bowden decleats a guy at midfield. The fact they even reviewed it for targeting is sad. That was a football play.
- Are. You. Serious.
- Damn Siheim! Get on a roll!
- Oh Jon Toth. Let me count the ways we miss you.
- Thank God that quarter is over.
2nd Quarter
Let us hope this gets better before it gets worse shall we?
- Wow. Calling a timeout before the quarter even starts. Not a good look.
- Oh boy. Here comes Barker.
- Ladies and gentlemen, we have a full blown quarterback controversy.
- Or maybe not.
- EKU came to play for sure. UK’s defense out on the field way too much this half.
- Wow. EKU seems to still be ticked off about losing to UK 2 seasons ago. Cats need to man up to win this game.
- Barker doesn’t look comfortable at all. Hears footsteps coming from a mile away.
- Touching speech by Wa
- lker Montgomery. R.I.P. Troy Gentry.
- So close to an interception.
- Charles Walker to the house. I’m calling it.
- Maybe not. Jump pile!!!
- 2:26 left in the first half and if the Cats don’t score, this crowd may turn on them.
- Nice pass and catch by Charles Walker. Try to punch this in to pump up the crowd. Bruno Mars can only go so far.
- Johnson and Conrad have definitely practiced their butts off this past summer. That was perfection in a pass.
- Blake Bone fans. What a catch.
- The referees mike is stuck open and he just launched a lugee. The press box is in tears.
- Austin MacGinnis shows us he is human after all. I’d rather he miss one against the Colonels than late in the game vs. USC or Florida.
Halftime thoughts. So it’s been very underwhelming game for UK so far. The offense has not kicked into gear for the most part, again. Benny Snell leaving early with a rib injury did not help. Bringing in Barker for a couple of series was a good idea if we had been ahead by a little bit.
However, it did Coach Stoops no good to have him come in the game while trailing. I don’t feel like there is a QB controversy because Johnson came back in and immediately showed what he’s made of, leading the Cats on a 75 yard drive. Kentucky needs to have more sustained drives in the second half to pull out the victory.
3rd Quarter
Lets hope Rock Oliver’s show tunes song and dance from the elevator helps in this half.
- No. the show tunes didn’t help. That’s 2 kickoffs MacGinnis had to stop himself.
- Big turnover or knee down?
- Knee down and EKU knocking on the doorstep.
- Now THAT fumble counts! And Benny Snell has returned to the lineup. Let’s see if he can get on track here.
- That’s the Benny Snell from last year. Hesitate behind the line, find the hole, hit it hard.
- Bunchy is having another rough day snapping the ball. By my count that’s 3 that have cost the Cats yards.
- Punter U is struggling today too. Hell everyone is struggling. This is like going to the dentist to get a tooth filled.
- Seeing Jones go down is not good for this team. With all the hype heading into this year, he is needed on defense. Let’s see if the Cats can stop them inside the 20.
- Good to see Jacob Tamme back home. His NFL career is possibly coming to a close. One of the UK all time greats.
- Colonels tack on a field goal. 16-10 with 4:08 in the quarter. Crowd not very active. Worst performance in Kroger Field history.
- She don’t eat meat, but she sure likes the Bone. Blake with 3 catches now
- Benny Snell Jr. Cats take the lead for the first time since the first quarter.
- Glancing at the time of possession I’m slightly shocked that EKU has had the ball only 2 minutes longer. They feel like they’re milking the clock.
4th quarter
- Big play to start this quarter. Cats need a stop.
- And they get it! Big hit by Westry to end that drive.
- Benny starting to steamroll now.
- I hate to see Bunchy Stallings limping off the field. His ankle injury may hinder him all season.
- Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh baby. That was a slick move by Johnson.
- West saves a touchdown. Cats need to get off the field and put some more distance between them and EKU.
- Baity with a huge tackle and help from his friends.
- Huge penalty on EKU. Refs mike is open again.
- Cats get the ball back with the chance to stretch this out. With the Gamecocks coming up next week they need to push this down the field and show they can do it.
- They can not. Cats with a very disappointing 3 and out.
- Not a lot of smiles on the smile cam. Oh wait, they found a drunk guy.
- Big interception by Mike Edwards. That may seal it up.
- Apparently East Carolina swapped with EKU during the timeout.
- UK trying to milk this clock out. Close to a 2-0 start and USC on the road next week. If they want to win there, they can’t get too cocky here.
- Benny busts over 100 yards for the game and MacGinnis comes on to ice it.
- The butterscotch cookies in the press area were amazing today. #ilikethemcrunchy
- Money. Cats appear headed to second victory this year.
- Jones almost picks it off near the end and now he’s on the ground in pain.
- And that is a wrap Cats beat Colonels 27-16. As Denzil Ware said after the game last week, “You can’t stay undefeated unless you win the next game.”
The home opener for the 2017 season may not have been the prettiest game. Sure it had it’s moments. Blake Bone channeling Lynn Swann. Benny hitting his stride finally. Siheim King flashing legit moves. Johnson with a highlight TD run. The most important stat to look at after today’s game is this one: 2 wins, no losses. So long from Kroger Field.