Kentucky Wildcats Morning Quickies: Back In The Saddle Edition

I’m back after a somewhat rainy but relaxing vacation in South Carolina. Sometimes, just laying around the condo relaxing is as good as laying on the beach.

Tweet of the Morning

"The defense has a whole different demeanor. That got me fired up. I’m ready to be on that defense." - Four-star LB Eli Brown after game.

— Justin Rowland (@RowlandRIVALS) September 29, 2014

This is how you convince highly-ranked players to consider Kentucky. Neal Brown, time for you to step it up on offense.

Your Quickies:

Kentucky football

• Ira Combs thinks UK won ugly over Vanderbilt, but a win is a win:

  However , regardless of the final score and missed scoring opportunities Kentucky football finally has that ugly SEC monkey off it’s back after last Saturday’s 17 – 7 win over Vanderbilt at CWS in front of 56, 976 the largest home crowd for the up and coming 3 – 1 Wildcats in almost (3) years . While the final score didn’t indicate a dominate win the Wildcat defense may have had it’s finest game under Mark Stoops in holding the "Commodores" to only 139 yards of offense for the entire game and no scores of any type against the UK defense . Vandy’s only score of the day came on an interception of a Patrick Towles pass in the 2nd quarter .

  I’m pleased to see the attendance, although a sellout would have been nice under the circumstances.

• Kentucky defense shines against Vandy, offense struggles. That’s pretty much all there is to say, except — Victory!

• Saturday Down South calls Kentucky’s defensive performance “dominant” on Saturday, and calls Kentucky’s running attack “underrated:”

  Kentucky does not need one featured back to be a great rushing offense. It seems peculiar to talk about a team’s ability to run the ball when it operates an Air Raid offense, but the Cats have had an underrated rushing attack in 2014. Six different players carried the ball for Kentucky on Saturday, and they combined to rush for 183 yards and a touchdown against a decent Commodores defense. Braylon Heard may be the team’s No. 1 back, but Kentucky has the luxury of possessing a deep stable of tailbacks, and it has used all of them so far this year. Those backs all use different running styles, and rotating a few players through the backfield will keep all of them fresh deep into the season. Kentucky possessed the ball for 17 minutes longer than Vanderbilt in a low-scoring game, and its rushing attack was a big reason why.

• Mark Stoops a “winner” from week 5, according to NFL.com:

  Mark Stoops, Sonny Dykes, Charlie Strong, Randy Edsall: After being so close against Florida, Kentucky’s Stoops captured his first SEC victory as a head coach. Dykes captured his first Pac-12 win at Cal, but needed double overtime to top Colorado. Strong’s defense shut out Kansas on the road for his first Big 12 win, and Edsall had a nice Big Ten debut with a 37-15 win at Indiana.

• This will be the first time since 2008 that UK has faced an unranked South Carolina team. Steve Spurrier says that his team looks beatable, and I’m sure he thinks that after losing to Missouri, but the Gamecocks will be a heavy favorite next Saturday in Lexington.

• After angering Mark Stoops, Jojo Kemp impressed him by being a team player on the sidelines when his teammates were getting all the touches. When he did get touches, Kemp absolutely made the most out of them.

Kentucky basketball

• John Calipari woos Wildcat women. Well, that would’ve been my headline, anyway. I have a thing for alliteration.

• Contra this author, I don’t think there’s much chance of Tyler Ulis taking the starting point guard spot away from Andrew Harrison. Ulis is good, but Harrison would have to fall a long way to get the hook.

• Whoever this Marcus Jackson guy is, he’s yet another room-temperature IQ guy comparing Calipari’s combine (which any fine coach can hold exactly like Cal) and Mike Krzyzewski’s seemingly lifelong affiliation with Team USA.

Other Kentucky sports

• Softball splits a doubleheader with Ohio State.

• Volleyball powers past South Carolina in Columbia.

• Women’s soccer takes down Auburn 2-1 in Lexington.

Links posts

• The Leach Report: Monday Wildcat Links

• Rush The Court: Morning Five

College football

• The SEC West is very, very good. We just don’t quite know how good yet.

• Week five SEC results and what they appear to mean from Team Speed Kills. I’m wondering two things — just how good is Missouri, and is South Carolina really bad enough to lose in Lexington?

• Is the fat lady about to sing for Brady Hoke at Michigan? Maize ‘N Brew is all the way on board with the idea of replacing him. Hat tip: Real Clear Sports.

• NFL commish meets with Texas Longhorns head coach Charlie Strong. Really?

• SEC Morning Links (ESPN)

College basketball

• Draft Express continues their look at the top NBA prospects in the SEC. Scouting videos are included:

  • Karl Towns — Kentucky
  • Willie Cauley-Stein — Kentucky
  • Chris Walker — Florida
  • Bobby Portis — Arkansas
  • Dakari Johnson — Kentucky
  • Jarrell Martin — LSU
  • Andrew Harrison — Kentucky
  • Aaron Harrison — Kentucky
  • Alex Poythress — Kentucky

• Early Kansas Jayhawks preview

• Evidence of a kinder, gentler NCAA? John Infante thinks so.

Other sports news

• Europe defeats USA in the Ryder Cup. I saw little of the tournament, as I was traveling during most of it, but I never did like the USA’s chances in this one. Right now, USA golf is simply down. Too many recent Ryder Cuppers have been flashes in the pan, and as long as that continues and the USA has to lean on aging stars like Phil Mickelson and Jim Furyk, the younger, more consistent Euros will come out on top.

  On this same topic, Phil Mickelson candidly wonders why Paul Azinger’s winning formula for selecting Ryder Cup players was abandoned. Good question.

Other news

• What’s new with iOS 8’s notification center. I hope it’s better than whatever my current iPhone is running (note: I haven’t updated in a long time.)

• “Love is a concept invented by poor people.” So sayeth the founder of many online dating sites. Don’t tell my wife … Via Fark

• Wealthy parents saying “No” to childhood vaccinations. Disturbing.

• Christine McVie rejoins Fleetwood Mac.