A Calming Device
As the worrisome news is filtering out of the Kentucky camp in the aftermath of the team scrimmage at Commonwealth on Saturday it appears that all is not well with the Kentucky Offense. As bad as things have been made out to be by the media, the players, and especially the coaches surely there must be SOME reason to not give this edition of the Kentucky Wildcats up for dead (or at least 4-8)?!?!
I really believe that it all comes down to the truly important question: “What should we actually expect?”. Should we expect that a improving Kentucky Defense returning 17 of its 22 top players from last season as well as several other young talents and others returning from major injuries would yield a couple of touchdowns to a young patchwork offense still trying to learn it’s routes and play calls? Should a UK rushing attack missing 2 of its top 4 backs really breeze through a veteran UK defensive line that averages about 290lbs, is finally healthy, and starts 4 potential NFL draft picks? Can a overworked Mike Hartline still just coming to terms with being the “man” for the UK offense pick apart the best Kentucky secondary in a decade or more while throwing to a bunch of freshman in their first live action? The answer to all these questions is a complete and resound NO!
mmmmm…Happy Thoughts
Say whatever you want about the good things we saw in Blue/White game this spring, those guys had 3 weeks of practice to gel and no newcomers to try to work into the fold. There is no reason to get worried about the UK offense when a bunch of young, inexperienced guys got it handed to them by a group of grizzled veterans with an outside shot of being a top 25 defense this year. If the result from this game was anything different then I WOULD BE CONCERNED especially about our chances to stop anyone on defense! I don’t want to see a healthy defensive front 7 that will supposedly be much improved against the rush by finally playing up to their actual talent level give up tons of yards up the middle. I don’t want to see a veteran secondary led by Trevard Lindley giving up plays to ANYONE besides Dicky Lyons at this point. There is NO WAY that any of the freshman WRs should be having any kind of success in their first live action against SEC vets. Its amazing how worked up everyone (including me who kinda brooded over this for 2 days) has been getting over seeing things work out EXACTLY the way they should have. No we haven’t heard any good news or for that matter any reason for optimism about the new offensive cast (double meaning heheh…), but to have expected any else is rather foolish at this point. What will decide the outcome against the Cards on the 31st will not be what happened on Saturday but rather the progress and improvements the offense makes over the next 2 weeks and from past experience we have no reason to believe it will not get alot better. Some of my other thoughts:
-I’m really not too concerned about the O-line at this point. Its good that the coaches are calling them out now from a motivation standpoint but it is going to take awhile for these guys to find their rhythm, especially against a defensive line that attacks them on every single play. My only concern here is at Jess Beets’ guard spot, where I’m not yet sure if Beets is an SEC-caliber guy and Christian Johnson is still mired with injury and academic issues.
-We know that the young receivers are going to struggle at this point in camp, I am just glad that they will do their struggling against a very talented secondary. If anything is going to prepare these guys for catching passes against Louisville and the SEC it will be trying to get open against Lindley, Jones, & Crew every afternoon.
-Its very fair to say that Alfonso Smith needs to step it up. The guy looks like a beast this fall and showed in the spring that he could be a huge factor. Great backs still make some plays even when all the cards are stacked against them, so far we’ve seen none of that.
-With all the anti-praise heaped on the rest of the offense over the past 2 days I think the relative quiet on Randall Cobb’s progress might actually be a good thing. The so-so evaluation of Randall by Joker this Saturday leaves me with the impression that he too struggled in his first live action but that its obvious the potential and improvement is there.
-Really tough to hear about Greg Meisner’s injury. He has struggled with similar issues during his senior year of highschool as well as his first year as a Wildcat. I hope his recovery is quick and he has a chance to live up to his father’s impressive legacy. Thank the heavens that we have been blessed with relatively good health in camp so far.
Tags: Alfonso Smith, Greg Meisner, Jess Beets, Randall Cobb