1. Writers note: I have intentionally not been on the board since the end of the game yesterday.
A. I did not have the stomach to read all the chicken little opinions and finger-pointing threads that I am sure were/are on there (I sure wish I would have stayed off social media too. More on that in a minute). I heard enough negativity and finger-pointing walking out of the game yesterday. I am amazed that some people can call themselves fans with such poor, fair-weather attitudes.
B. I did not want to have what I wrote here today influenced by what those that I do have respect for (not just Neal and Chase, but them for example) on this site swaying or even changing what I think before writing it in this piece.
2. This post will be random and the chronology will possibly be skewed. I appreciate your patience and understanding.
Yesterday was a tough day for those of us in Red and Blue as Mississippi State University-Kentucky campus (that is what it looked like with all the MSU fans celebrating on social media while their own 1-4 team was toting a 3 TD loss, which they were proud of, btw...smh) came to VHS and left with a hard-fought 20-17 upset victory over no.6 Ole Miss in front of a record crowd of 67, 616. The win was Kentucky's first at VHS since 1978 and was only their second victory against a top-ten-ranked opponent in the Mark Stoops era. The upset win left those of us in attendance shocked and searching for answers about how this happened. Here are my observations:
1. Bottom line up front: We just got beat.
A. Kentucky had a solid game plan. They believed in that plan. They implemented and followed that plan. They made adjustments when necessary (going for it on 4th down at the end), but they stuck to their plan. Their coaching staff left everything on the field as far as putting everything into winning the game. Our plan seemed bland and had little creativity, especially in the passing game. We got outcoached...bad!
B. Kentucky dictated the tempo. They had the ball for nearly 40 minutes. Our defense, which I thought fought gallantly, was gassed at the end.
C. Kentucky was more physical than Ole Miss. The Wildcats won the battle in the trenches on both sides of the ball. We couldn't run effectively and Dart had little time to throw the ball. They ran the ball when they had to, and we couldn't.
D. Kentucky made fewer mistakes. They only had 3 penalties for 30 yards (more on that in a second) while we had 8 for 53 yards, including some incredibly ill-timed PI and defensive holding calls. They seemed to miss fewer assignments (more on that in a minute) and seemed to have more guys running free in the secondary (more on that as well). We committed the game's only turnover as well.
2. Our offensive line was dominated most of the game by a very good Kentucky DL.
A. We couldn't run the ball consistently or effectively. This prevented us from establishing the tempo that we needed to establish to force their big guys to play fast. We had them gassed in the 1st possession, one where we didn't rush but for the 1 yard on the TD. After that, we had the one drive to start the 2nd half where we ran for the majority of the final tally of 92 yards on just 29 attempts.
B. We had a large number of 1 on 1 losses and complete whiffs by our big guys. Kalepo had a particularly bad game. Scott missed some blocks, and Pounds got beat several times and had a big missed assignment on a 3rd down running play. I know this may not be a popular statement on this board, but we need Jeremy James and Caleb Warren back.
C. We have to develop some continuity on the OL. We don't seem to play together as a group. I am not out there in a game or at practice every day, but there seems to be a lack of communication and trust. OL is a team game within a team game. I hope that going forward, we concentrate our high school recruiting efforts on OL (and DL) and rely less on the transfer portal. Relying on primarily plugging and playing guys on those position groups is not, IMHO, a good strategy long term.
3. We have got to develop another option at RB.
A. Henry Parrish had a solid game at RB, with 13 attempts for 62 yards and a TD. Those yards were hard-earned against a great DL behind an OL that was being whipped. He took some shots. He is banged up. He came back after being helped off at least twice. We have got to get him healthy.
B. I mean NO disrespect when I say this...Our 2nd option, while obviously a hard worker and a solid individual, is NOT a player who could start at any other school in the SEC, except maybe MSU. Kentucky knew this, as will other teams moving forward. I am not going to dwell on the guy who was our very serviceable 2nd option last year and who has obviously lost the coaching staff's confidence this year. It just is what it is. I have been there before as a coach. We fans don't see behind the curtain. There may be something bigger than what we know going on. I hope that we just trust the staff to play the guys they feel give us the best shot to win.
4. The passing game, from a route concept, looked bland.
A. We had little to no usage of the middle of the field. Crossing routes, digs, slants, etc did not play a major role yesterday. We threw a slant to Harris on 4th and 7 from midfield that went for a TD. Other than that, little to no usage of the middle of the field.
B. We rely on Tre Harris too much. JD is throwing to Harris as much as to the other receivers...combined. Tre had 11 catches for 176 yards. Cayden Lee was next among WRs with 2 catches for 19 yards. Prieskorn only had the desperation catch at the end. Watkins and Wells had 0 catches. Well did drop at least 1 catchable ball. I noticed in the game that they all did not seem to run hard, crisp routes. Is that due to JD relying on Harris too much? Is some other dynamic at play? I am not sure. I just know that we had very few times where receivers were open and Kentucky seemed to have guys running free all day. Is that a concept issue, a favoritism issue, a jealousy issue,...? We have too good of a WR corps to only score 17 points on Kentucky!
5. Defensive thoughts.
A. The DL was not as dominant as we may have thought they were. Nolen is a load. He had 7 tackles and a TFL. He was a factor all day long. That said, Kentucky gave their QB time for the most part and ran the ball well when they had to run the ball well. Jared Ivey, Prince U, and Suntarine Perkins had QB sacks. Zxavian Harris played a solid game.
B. The LBs did what the LBs are supposed to do, they led the team in tackles. Dottery had 10 tackles and Paul had 8, including a QB sack. That said, we didn't do a good job of taking the proper angle and keeping the ball carrier from falling forward. That may be more a credit to Kentucky than a strike against us.
C. Kentucky seemed to be throwing at Trey Amos more than others. I thought (think) he is our best corner. Maybe he was lined up on their primary guy a lot. I know I wish he was lined up on Barion Brown on 4th and 7. He had a couple of questionable PI calls. Trey Washington was solid, as usual. Jadon Canady, who some on here like to pile on, had a good game. Kentucky seemed to target him too and he rose to the occasion for the most part.
D. Bottom line: If I told you that Kentucky would only score 20 points... almost all of us would think that we would not only win, but win and cover. I told the guy I went to the game with that we were going to win 38-20. I had their score right. Wish I had been closer to ours.
6. Officiating
A. 3-30 versus 8-53. Kentucky did a good job of getting away with holding our DL and LBs, especially on key running plays. We did a poor job of disguising our holding in the defensive backfield. Bottom line, we have established a reputation as a team that commits a lot of penalties. Right, wrong, or indifferent. It is what it is.
B. The officials have got to do something about the obvious targeting of Jaxson Dart. He had his helmet ripped off the back of his head while running for a 1st down in the 1st half. The official had to have seen it. Later, The big Kentucky DL, number 0, sacks JD and intentionally drives his forearm into JDs chin in an attempt to take his helmet while on the ground. Those clips need to be sent to the SEC office, where nothing will be done I am sure, but both were flagrant attempts to injure a marquee player.
7. Where do we go from here?
A. As the players said in their postgame interviews, we have 2 choices:
I. We point fingers, turn on each other, and let yesterday be the beginning of the end of the 2024 season.
II. We cowboy up, circle the wagons, and let yesterday be the beginning of a renewed commitment to being the very best version of us that we can be. I like the potential of this option.
B. Everything that we want, the players, the coaches, the fans, is still in front of us. We can still win every game left on our schedule. 1 game at a time. 1 practice at a time. 1 rep at a time. Win the next play!
C. Football is not a transitive property. I heard people saying they were going to sell their USC/LSU/OU/etc tickets while walking out yesterday. It made me want to grab them up and.... well... you know. The Nettleton legend and I will be making the trip to USCe this weekend. We may go to LSU the next weekend. We will be at the OU game. This is STILL our year!
8. I attended the game yesterday, which was a last-minute decision.
A. Special Thanks to @pontguy for inviting me to attend the game with him yesterday. It was good to spend time with an old friend from the coaching business and watch the game from one of the good seats!
B. In spite of the outcome, it was a great atmosphere and I thought the fans really showed up. That said, it was advertised as a sellout with a new record crowd. If that is the case, we have a lot of room to build on that record, as there were a lot of empty seats.
C. Ok, yesterday is gone. The milk is spilled. It is over with. Time to move forward. I will most likely be late with my post next weekend, depending on when we get home from Columbia, SC. LFG! HYDR!
A. I did not have the stomach to read all the chicken little opinions and finger-pointing threads that I am sure were/are on there (I sure wish I would have stayed off social media too. More on that in a minute). I heard enough negativity and finger-pointing walking out of the game yesterday. I am amazed that some people can call themselves fans with such poor, fair-weather attitudes.
B. I did not want to have what I wrote here today influenced by what those that I do have respect for (not just Neal and Chase, but them for example) on this site swaying or even changing what I think before writing it in this piece.
2. This post will be random and the chronology will possibly be skewed. I appreciate your patience and understanding.
Yesterday was a tough day for those of us in Red and Blue as Mississippi State University-Kentucky campus (that is what it looked like with all the MSU fans celebrating on social media while their own 1-4 team was toting a 3 TD loss, which they were proud of, btw...smh) came to VHS and left with a hard-fought 20-17 upset victory over no.6 Ole Miss in front of a record crowd of 67, 616. The win was Kentucky's first at VHS since 1978 and was only their second victory against a top-ten-ranked opponent in the Mark Stoops era. The upset win left those of us in attendance shocked and searching for answers about how this happened. Here are my observations:
1. Bottom line up front: We just got beat.
A. Kentucky had a solid game plan. They believed in that plan. They implemented and followed that plan. They made adjustments when necessary (going for it on 4th down at the end), but they stuck to their plan. Their coaching staff left everything on the field as far as putting everything into winning the game. Our plan seemed bland and had little creativity, especially in the passing game. We got outcoached...bad!
B. Kentucky dictated the tempo. They had the ball for nearly 40 minutes. Our defense, which I thought fought gallantly, was gassed at the end.
C. Kentucky was more physical than Ole Miss. The Wildcats won the battle in the trenches on both sides of the ball. We couldn't run effectively and Dart had little time to throw the ball. They ran the ball when they had to, and we couldn't.
D. Kentucky made fewer mistakes. They only had 3 penalties for 30 yards (more on that in a second) while we had 8 for 53 yards, including some incredibly ill-timed PI and defensive holding calls. They seemed to miss fewer assignments (more on that in a minute) and seemed to have more guys running free in the secondary (more on that as well). We committed the game's only turnover as well.
2. Our offensive line was dominated most of the game by a very good Kentucky DL.
A. We couldn't run the ball consistently or effectively. This prevented us from establishing the tempo that we needed to establish to force their big guys to play fast. We had them gassed in the 1st possession, one where we didn't rush but for the 1 yard on the TD. After that, we had the one drive to start the 2nd half where we ran for the majority of the final tally of 92 yards on just 29 attempts.
B. We had a large number of 1 on 1 losses and complete whiffs by our big guys. Kalepo had a particularly bad game. Scott missed some blocks, and Pounds got beat several times and had a big missed assignment on a 3rd down running play. I know this may not be a popular statement on this board, but we need Jeremy James and Caleb Warren back.
C. We have to develop some continuity on the OL. We don't seem to play together as a group. I am not out there in a game or at practice every day, but there seems to be a lack of communication and trust. OL is a team game within a team game. I hope that going forward, we concentrate our high school recruiting efforts on OL (and DL) and rely less on the transfer portal. Relying on primarily plugging and playing guys on those position groups is not, IMHO, a good strategy long term.
3. We have got to develop another option at RB.
A. Henry Parrish had a solid game at RB, with 13 attempts for 62 yards and a TD. Those yards were hard-earned against a great DL behind an OL that was being whipped. He took some shots. He is banged up. He came back after being helped off at least twice. We have got to get him healthy.
B. I mean NO disrespect when I say this...Our 2nd option, while obviously a hard worker and a solid individual, is NOT a player who could start at any other school in the SEC, except maybe MSU. Kentucky knew this, as will other teams moving forward. I am not going to dwell on the guy who was our very serviceable 2nd option last year and who has obviously lost the coaching staff's confidence this year. It just is what it is. I have been there before as a coach. We fans don't see behind the curtain. There may be something bigger than what we know going on. I hope that we just trust the staff to play the guys they feel give us the best shot to win.
4. The passing game, from a route concept, looked bland.
A. We had little to no usage of the middle of the field. Crossing routes, digs, slants, etc did not play a major role yesterday. We threw a slant to Harris on 4th and 7 from midfield that went for a TD. Other than that, little to no usage of the middle of the field.
B. We rely on Tre Harris too much. JD is throwing to Harris as much as to the other receivers...combined. Tre had 11 catches for 176 yards. Cayden Lee was next among WRs with 2 catches for 19 yards. Prieskorn only had the desperation catch at the end. Watkins and Wells had 0 catches. Well did drop at least 1 catchable ball. I noticed in the game that they all did not seem to run hard, crisp routes. Is that due to JD relying on Harris too much? Is some other dynamic at play? I am not sure. I just know that we had very few times where receivers were open and Kentucky seemed to have guys running free all day. Is that a concept issue, a favoritism issue, a jealousy issue,...? We have too good of a WR corps to only score 17 points on Kentucky!
5. Defensive thoughts.
A. The DL was not as dominant as we may have thought they were. Nolen is a load. He had 7 tackles and a TFL. He was a factor all day long. That said, Kentucky gave their QB time for the most part and ran the ball well when they had to run the ball well. Jared Ivey, Prince U, and Suntarine Perkins had QB sacks. Zxavian Harris played a solid game.
B. The LBs did what the LBs are supposed to do, they led the team in tackles. Dottery had 10 tackles and Paul had 8, including a QB sack. That said, we didn't do a good job of taking the proper angle and keeping the ball carrier from falling forward. That may be more a credit to Kentucky than a strike against us.
C. Kentucky seemed to be throwing at Trey Amos more than others. I thought (think) he is our best corner. Maybe he was lined up on their primary guy a lot. I know I wish he was lined up on Barion Brown on 4th and 7. He had a couple of questionable PI calls. Trey Washington was solid, as usual. Jadon Canady, who some on here like to pile on, had a good game. Kentucky seemed to target him too and he rose to the occasion for the most part.
D. Bottom line: If I told you that Kentucky would only score 20 points... almost all of us would think that we would not only win, but win and cover. I told the guy I went to the game with that we were going to win 38-20. I had their score right. Wish I had been closer to ours.
6. Officiating
A. 3-30 versus 8-53. Kentucky did a good job of getting away with holding our DL and LBs, especially on key running plays. We did a poor job of disguising our holding in the defensive backfield. Bottom line, we have established a reputation as a team that commits a lot of penalties. Right, wrong, or indifferent. It is what it is.
B. The officials have got to do something about the obvious targeting of Jaxson Dart. He had his helmet ripped off the back of his head while running for a 1st down in the 1st half. The official had to have seen it. Later, The big Kentucky DL, number 0, sacks JD and intentionally drives his forearm into JDs chin in an attempt to take his helmet while on the ground. Those clips need to be sent to the SEC office, where nothing will be done I am sure, but both were flagrant attempts to injure a marquee player.
7. Where do we go from here?
A. As the players said in their postgame interviews, we have 2 choices:
I. We point fingers, turn on each other, and let yesterday be the beginning of the end of the 2024 season.
II. We cowboy up, circle the wagons, and let yesterday be the beginning of a renewed commitment to being the very best version of us that we can be. I like the potential of this option.
B. Everything that we want, the players, the coaches, the fans, is still in front of us. We can still win every game left on our schedule. 1 game at a time. 1 practice at a time. 1 rep at a time. Win the next play!
C. Football is not a transitive property. I heard people saying they were going to sell their USC/LSU/OU/etc tickets while walking out yesterday. It made me want to grab them up and.... well... you know. The Nettleton legend and I will be making the trip to USCe this weekend. We may go to LSU the next weekend. We will be at the OU game. This is STILL our year!
8. I attended the game yesterday, which was a last-minute decision.
A. Special Thanks to @pontguy for inviting me to attend the game with him yesterday. It was good to spend time with an old friend from the coaching business and watch the game from one of the good seats!
B. In spite of the outcome, it was a great atmosphere and I thought the fans really showed up. That said, it was advertised as a sellout with a new record crowd. If that is the case, we have a lot of room to build on that record, as there were a lot of empty seats.
C. Ok, yesterday is gone. The milk is spilled. It is over with. Time to move forward. I will most likely be late with my post next weekend, depending on when we get home from Columbia, SC. LFG! HYDR!
