Kentucky football's season slips away at South Carolina | KSR Football Podcast

welcome in to the ksr football podcast presented by Justice dentl Nick Rous here with Drew Frank on Adam Luckett Freddy mager is out this week a little uh scheduling snafu here we've got another Monday basketball game kicking this to a matina Edition but we have to discuss kuy's bad bad loss to South Carolina and the upcoming rivalry game with Louisville uh Drew um you were not with us on our road trip from hell but we we we do have to discuss our road trip from hell because I somehow like it I I think I might I think art trip wasn't even as bad as Ryan's everybody just went to Colombia and it it was a disaster an absolute disaster yeah just uh not a fun week for me specifically U Joe Burl gets hurt so that just ruins my December and January um Baker my son gets sick Thursday night puking all over himself um so that wasn't a good so about the weekend we even sucked before I even got to the weekend and then we get in the car go to Columbia um a Jeep starts barreling down at us I thought I was going to have to put a hurting on the Jeep's front end um but luckily we only that only Clips us and then after that uh things still continue to unravel even on Friday night rash when we went out to dinner the service was terrible like it was just it was just an awful awful weekend and then Saturday happens and I'm typically I typically have the approach of never overreact or underreact in a college football season because you know that's that's this season is a roller coaster in a lot of ways um the truth is always somewhere in the middle to me but that that result was you know damning to me that that was how Kentucky specifically off offensively went down there and played that's just that's just not a good sign yeah and then I I don't I think everybody's seen the sprinkler Stan food um and so I just this program just feels like it's in a really bad spot right now and now they're having to play a hot Louisville team who's getting who's catching breaks but who's capping aiz it on opportunities throughout the season and who's about to play in the biggest maybe the biggest game in their program's history uh next week and so there's there's just not a lot going well for right for this program right now there's a lot of warning signs that keep popping up and it's the program as in general I just don't think they're in a very great place right now we've kind of addressed that on the rapid reaction Nick we don't need to hammer that over the head but a critical off season is coming but first they have to play a game we can hammer it over the head so yeah just um not to be super jury but I just I don't feel good about this week don't feel good about the current space of this team don't feel good about where the program is sitting right now and so happy Monday happy Monday we do need to talk about the the nitty-gritty of actually what happened in the lost to South Carolina but first reminder we are brought to you by our friends at Justice Dental your One-Stop shop for all your dental needs whether you just need some preventive maintenance a little clean little x-ray action here there or you want a full mouth restoration veneers The Works they got it all at either one of their two locations conveniently located Wellington Way and Blazer Parkway you can visit them online at Justice dental.com or you can text or call yeah you can even text them a set of an appointment 859 543 0700 Dr Justice and Dr Thompson will hook you up at Justice dentl Drew at at at what point in the game Saturday night did did you feel like oh gosh here it is this ball game this one's over cats aren't going to be able to get it done you know oddly I probably hung on longer than most just because Kentucky was clearly the better football team even after each mistake and you know even in getting into the fourth quarter I'm like well eventually they have to win this that's just how it works I'd given up on some bets I had but I kept thinking well they're going to win the game might win about three whatever it might be close they're going to win but then when they had when South Carolina actually went up I I didn't think they'd score again really I thought at that moment we were kind of doomed really I'll go back my my confidence really took a hit when I saw that crowd so let me rephrase that I still thought Kentucky would pull off in the end but I went in thinking Kentucky would kick their ass and I just kept I thought the crowd kind of hurt them in the beginning that eventually it get right and then in the fourth quarter I started realizing oh wait Kentucky is not going to win this at all so I think I hung on a little longer than most but I I I'm still in shock that they looked like that much better of a football team and the score was 17 to 14 Kentucky having 14 points the the the part of the game for me I I got a bad feeling when they couldn't get that dagger score because for a lot of it it felt like if you just got a touchdown to start the third quarter or if you don't throw the interception in the end zone or Dane doesn't fumble the ball right before half feel like Kentucky was was ready to to put a dagger in him go up two scores and that would end the game but even after wette caught his second touchdown I had the our kind of post game post I had it written out and I just here's where the final drive started to go down and win the game I had it written out I was just going to fill in the details of how they went down and won it um and then the first play L gets St from behind I mean you had the ball in the 50 with two minutes and two timeouts just just even if you just got 20 yards I had confidence in Alex rer to go kick it and send us into overtime I even looked at luck at Ryan shared his prediction before the game that Dan key would catch the winning touchdown in overtime and I was like ah that so is going to get it right well you can't do that when you get strip sacked on a three-man rush and look it he held that ball up there for five seconds I mean he had all the time in the world get throw the damn football yeah Nick I think you hit on most of it I really had there's three sections of this game really four if you want to count South Carolina start but really three that really mattered 107 Kentucky has two possessions they cross South Carolina's 40 each time can't even get a field goal kick um attempted to tie the game you have the interception in the Red Zone with ly um but really before that that K Sharon pass like I don't think that's a bad call but it's probably when Cohen wants back you cannot have a fumble there now you end up converting that first down but that kind of felt like you kind of got off script a little bit and then Ramone Jefferson falls on the first down run after the you hit Baran for a first down to get a red zone possession and L makes a bad read and a bad throw so and then that and then Dan key makes a huge catch he's going to set you up to at least get a field goal attempt you fumble there so you miss that opportunity and then you have a chance in a slugfest game you've got two opportunities with the ball up 14 to 10 and you can't go score one of those possessions you're backed up the other one you can't get out you just can't get anything started and then the next one to me Nick was really the Midfield like you get the ball at Midfield right you punt it you your defense sets you up you get it back you got to go win that game at least you got to get the 20 yards to go attempt a field goal there and you get sacked you have a long against an eight man pressure or excuse me El geson eight man coverage only a three-man rush lirry just kind of sits there all game one time where I thought the pass protection really suffered so that was unfortunate so there was multiple chances I don't know if there was ever a Smoking Gun that I ever thought Kentucky was going to lose but they just there was again in these games multiple opportunities arose where Kentucky could have went and won the game there was about three or four of them and they they swung and Miss on all of those and that just keeps happening this year this team does not know how to go and win games I mean it's plain as day it's happened repeatedly throughout the season and it happened again Saturday night against South Carolina and it'll probably happen again Saturday against Louisville if they don't get their blown doors blown up they'll probably be in the game in the third and fourth quarter Louisville will make the plays and they won't and that just that'll be the recap of this season the the the problem that I have drew can can this team just you know start a game and when the game starts I know that that it was a very cool pregame intro the light show the sandstorm it's a lot of fun but can you not just start the game down two scores I mean how how many times is that happen this year you have to be awake when the football game starts oh there you go oh still muted oh no oh no yep now you're good there s we're on we're on fire day sounds like luck it's at a construction site I'm sick over here I did just pass a covid test everyone so we're good there just just just like two minutes ago I'm good but uh yeah the starts if I it was if it wasn't three and out it was close to it and then an immediate touchdown from South Carolina it's not even like they were had a little thing going on that first drive I think they might have one first down but then South Carolina turns around scores and it's 10 nothing on their first two play first two possessions and yeah I mean the crowd looked awesome but I mean it doesn't it's not go down 10 awesome it's not an excuse to be down 10 to a bad South Carolina team that shouldn't even be in the bowl conversation going to this Clemson game they shouldn't even wi against kuy so yeah disappointing right out of the gate and and that's this team isn't good enough to play from behind uh we we can now talk about our friend Ray Davis who uh was upset after the game but you it's hard to a keep your running game involved when you're down 10 nothing B people talk about how great Ray Davis is and that was an outstanding touchdown run but he was pretty bad the rest of the game uh the other 11 carries he had he was averaging less than three yards per carry he's been bad the last month he's he's he's not seeing things very well at all he's your best player and he's been kind of taken out of the equation the last month of the year luck it and to your point that you wrote about in today's Monday huddle it's like what what is this offense what is this team what is their identity because they they can't really do anything well right now yeah I think like we have to go back to Wy and Cohen was hired in the first place he was hired one to like fix recruiting fix QB recruiting fix that situation upgrade the pass a game and to score points in these SEC games that are very winable that they lose all the time A&M in 2018 you lose 20 to 14 in overtime last year against old miss you lose 22 to 19 the list goes on and on U about 2018 the offense just totally craps out against Tennessee and that was the main reason they lost that game just because they couldn't score so really he was highed to score points and win games and so that was a situation where in a year where the defense has labored right defense plays well enough to win which we kind of expected too going into the season defense plays well enough to win you hold South Carolina a good South Carolina offense not a great offense a really good South Carolina passing game you hold them to 17 points go you know you got to against a bad South Carolina defense you got to go score points points win the game and then against not great Mississippi State Defense this offense only scored 17 points yeah like I mean we can talk a lot and I know a big talking point is Brad white and soft Zone defenses and giving up too much yada yada yada and they've been got a little bit this year and that is all true but at the end of the day you got to score more points in the this program of scoring like you got to go and score and in a game like that you have to go score points like this is the name of the game and that's the most disappointing part about that game and it it keeps happening I'm not saying it's all you know on Cohen this is kind of a program issue yeah you know this has been a long time that they just haven't figured it out on offense and and that's really really frustrating for them and that they haven't figured it out this year Nick and Drew they invested a lot to fix this offense a lot of available resources nil money for to go out and get a Devon Larry nil money to keep a Baran Brown and a Dan key on the rock roster they went out and got offensive line transfers Marcus Cox who's been a solid SEC left tackle they fixed the offensive line we all thought was the biggest issue went out and got a running back who's going to run for a thousand yards has what 17 touchdowns this year mhm um so they've done a lot to try to fix and find answers and they're not producing and so they're just going to be they're going to have to like go go back to the drawing board whether it's player Talent evaluation development or scheme or whatever they have to kind of figure it out they cannot get in a situation like that what happened on Saturday where they cannot win a game because the offense can only score 14 points against a defense that has been one of the worst in the SEC and like why does it like I I why does a 335 keep giving this team problems you know it's been thing with Mississippi State they South Carolina's been running a 3 three5 for two weeks and they can't figure it out why like they can't just be like you got to figure it out so just a lot of frustration I think with with the offense and in a year where the defense is struggling defense played well enough to win a football game on the road you got to go score you can't go turn the ball over three times in 11 possessions TW in three of those turnovers happen at Midfield are better like in plus territory just can't happen what what's the saying the hold is not equal to some of its parts MH um yeah that that's identity like who what is there what is their when they had Eddie Grand I knew what their go-to thing was all right boys we're getting spread formations we're running inside Zone it was the U final drive against Vanderbilt in 2018 just give it to Benny like win it out let him run it 90 yards the other way yeah like you hire Cohen to kind of run the M MC Shanah or McVey Shanahan offense which is wide Zone play action can't really run wide Zone haven't ever been able to run it in the three years they've kind of had this offense and so what is it like who are your best players who are you force feeding in the past all right 24 save us which he kind of did against vanderbelt last year you remember the 75 yard touchdown in the second half or fourth quarter when it looked dire and then the defense just couldn't get a stop this year I don't they don't have a go-to guy they're trying looks like to me they want it to be Barry and brown and it just hasn't happened yet and they have reluctance to maybe give it to Dray Davis but I can't blame them because Nick like you mentioned he just hasn't the the results haven't been there for a month stretch now and you know you you paid David lirry to go out and win you a game he had won you a game yet you could argue he lost you the game Saturday so there's just there's just a lot there man and it's been a very very frustrating season and there's not a good football team and they come up short in these big clutch moments when the game is to be won it's three times now we're in a fourth quarter they just they can't make the play I mean what are they getting out scored in the fourth quarter against Tennessee Missouri and South Carolina it's a lot to little it's something proba probably look up maybe write about this week but it's been a massive disappointment in in that aspect Drew if I had a dollar for every time luck it said throw it to Dan key uh while we were sitting in the Press Box at Williams Bry Stadium I would have enough dollars to make a lot of money on prize pick if you haven't downloaded the prize piics app do it now sign up use promo code ksr they'll match your first deposit up to $100 it's pretty easy you pick squares then you go more or less you stre BR him together and you can win big and folks it's Feast week so that means tonight we've got cats in action we got Monday Night Football we got Thanksgiving football on Thursday I put together uh I I like this uh the little we'll we'll play I've Got Tonight DJ Wagner over 10 and a half more than 10 and a half points Justin Edwards less than 16 and a half points rebounds and assist and Jaylen Herz less than one rushing less than a half rushing touchdown oh yeah against the tush push yes betting against the tush push and I I we're waiting for a DJ or Justin bounceback and I I think DJ's going in the right direction I'm still hesitant on Mr Edwards particularly in the rebounding Department that's where he should be able to clean up inside don't think he'll do it against St Joe's um $20 right there can win me a 100 by playing at Price picks a fun daily fantasy sports way to get in on the action it's available in Most states downo the app now promo code Sr they'll match your initial deposit 100% up to $100 and I wasn't the the bar the Barry on Brown thing I mean he was there there was multiple times where Kentucky has guys pass the defense and either ly gets the ball tipped and he can't get it to him or barion just can't go catch the pass and I'm wondering I mean does he does he not catch them in the in practice does he not I you you can't just keep doing this in the games if they don't work in practice right I don't understand how they have these opportunities and he just can't make those plays of all the things that's gone wrong with Kentucky football this year the thing that has me most puzzled is how Baran Brown is just not good at football this year is not even close to what he was last year what they targeted him 11 times against South Carolina I mean the offense was let's go at brown brown he had four catches for maybe 30 yards yeah I think he has a combined 10 yards against in the games against Alabama and Georgia now I know that's Alabama and Georgia but if that's your offense and he has a combined 10 yards that's a problem I just I'm I'm just mindblown by how it went South I think back maybe the Florida game I I bring this up every week when uh Larry a feather to him in the end zone something you'd catch in the parking lot playing with kids and he it hits his feet like I just he had so many drops and so many mistakes that seem uncharacteristic but now it's 11 games in the season that's just what he was this year year it's truly unbelievable um how so much was on him and that offense and uh it just completely did not work out to Drew's Point Baran Brown leads the team in targets with 79 Dan key has 12 receptions over or Dan key and Taven Robinson both have more explosive receptions 15 plus yards than him Jordan Dingle has more um explosive receptions of seven 15 plus yards than than him um Baran Brown was six receptions of 15 plus yards is just ahead of Josh ctis who has four receptions of 15 plus yards like this is your the ass kicker isn't exactly an explosive playmaker either you know this is your big play threat this is the guy you're looking to hit home runs with on vertical deep shots and it just hasn't happened um Nick there's two of them in that game the first one to Baran he has to go get the ball um you know on the replay he's kind of letting up on that route now I don't know if that's by Design to kind of let up and go but the ball is there and it's within his grasp like you've got he's got to track that ball better in my opinion like you got to finish with that catch they throw a back shoulder to him hits him right in between right right dead smack middle of what should be the diamond when you make to catch it and just drops that one and so drops have been an issue he's not you know he's not the best route Runner I don't think but like you keep going to him and it's just we've played 11 games and it's that's a high that's a high high volume of your passing game with very little return six receptions of that gain 15 plus yards and that many targets it's it's damning it's not and it's not like he's just a like it's not you know dump offs that you're throwing to them there are some but they're they're looking to get him to the ball down the field a lot and it's just not worked all season and it's it's really frustrating has missed on some throws too it's not just barion but like your guys got to make some plays man with everything it took to get him to come back like I said he built the offens round went out and got the quarterback that you think he needed if you had told me before the year that he would have three touchdowns right now I would not believe that I would think that's that's crazy that is absolutely crazy that Baron Brown would have three touchdowns but that's just how bad that offense has being I keep bringing up him it's a collective unit it's just he he's been the most surprising to me because I I I put so much stock into him going into the year well the guy who's throwing it to him just keeps having SEC performances 50% completion percentage I mean what what do you is it ACC accuracy was his whole thing is it because he's short why are they why are they getting batted down I I'm not smart enough to know but his passes are getting batted down way too much I know that much Stoops is L was essentially he's not trusting it I think when in doubt he tries to muscle his way through it and I mean you saw will do that at times last year but now it's that Josh ctis Right the dude standing in the end zone and there wasn't anybody I mean within 15 yards I mean the complete left side of that defense just just crashed there was nobody there he could have waved for a fair catch he could have gone and hugged and kissed his girlfriend come back oh had all he had to do was just throw it up there and instead he tries to get a little piss missile in there and it just gets bad it gets swatted out I I don't I don't know why you can't just like toss it in there I mean it's it's almost like the he's doing the chest pass for throwing in the Dr Pepper thing like no just just give it a nice soft toss it's it's not that hard it's not that difficult I don't so what's happening when I keep hearing about man ball didn't touch the ground in practice this week and then on Saturday all the balls touched the ground I know it's a it's hard to go from practice to game but when it's every week it seems to be doing that you guys hear it oh Wednesday ball didn't hit the ground oh you should have seen him b ball didn't hit the ground literally hitting everybody and then you get in the game and it's like well what happened we even see to we saw it that one pass two to Tavon in the first touchdown of the year right where he put it in beautifully he had a nice touch and arc on it so he's done it in games like it but now that confidence is just completely eroded to me Dre like why are they just getting smacked in the fourth quarter of these games when the chips are on the line they just can't execute so whose fault is that is it the player's fault is it the coach's fault I think that's a you know that's hard to figure out but I think there's some deserve criticism mhm for both sides on that why can't they figure out out to your point about ly like it's when you have a quarterback as short as him that's going to be an issue bad at passes like you're going to have a couple there's just not much you can do about it but it shouldn't be the volume we're seeing I think offensive line wise they're probably not staying locked on as they should and defenses know that so uh a lot of times they're not even trying to rush the passer just get your hands up because if you get in his Lane you've got a really good chance to knock it down and I think a part of it is on LY like and Drew your lot your how you release the ball needs to change like the ctis pass Nick like you just got to Loft that up in the air yeah you know you can't you can't get that bad down he's wide open you like you said you a rainbow would have got to him there so he could have been the rookie in the year pitch you know when he throws it Rosen hen throws it up 30 feet in the air and he can't hit it I mean do that anything yeah so a lot of frustration let's let's get to the the fourth quarter stuff though luck it because Stoops used the word resolve again today he's used it a couple of times this year he clearly made that his mission statement going into the season that this team would have a little bit of guts a little bit of intestinal fortitude when the going got tough and they've done the exact opposite I think that's why he was so upset after the game is because he wanted to make that this team's mission statement and they just haven't done it I have my theory and a lot of it just comes down to the the leadership of this team the makeup of this team you have to go back to the 2019 2020 recruiting classes where the guys in that class A lot of them have turned out to be fine players but they aren't the guys that were keeping that locker room together during the peak Mark stops run where if if things were going wrong nobody messed with Benny snow right Drake Jackson those guys were tone Setters those guys were it was a play player Le team um you had leaders on both sides of the ball even going back to 2021 DeAndre squir he played a ton of football for you on defense on the offensive side of the football nobody question I mean juell Robinson was a transfer and they've got a lot of transfers on this team but the guy who replaced Wale he quit on the team last year Wale he was the dude who was working harder than anybody out there right will Levis for all of his faults nobody could question what he was putting in for that team and I I just think there's really been a vacuum there where the guys who got recruited as high schoolers um you know maybe they aren't your best players where they can be those vocal leaders right um and then your transfers I mean one of those guys you expect to be a leader tweeting after the game how he's not a bcal I I think the leadership vacuum is really rearing its ugly head in those those fourth quarter moments like it yeah I definitely think you have a point on that 2019 Nick was just a massive Miss of a class you know and it is what it is we don't have to kind of revisit it I think you've had a situation where seniors on this team haven't played like they needed them to play and so when your expected leaders aren't playing well it's probably hard to have leadership horse's played what five games this year right and then I think you look and JJ Weaver just hasn't had a good season right mhm I think you look at the offense just a lot of transfers on this team Marcus Cox at left tackle um Deon Larry at quarterback Ray Davis a tailback three of your most important players and they all weren't on your roster last year and those were three kind of leadership positions um let alone that and then at even at Center you've had to make a change midseason right had to go Eli Cox wanted him to play guard it couldn't happen you had to go shifting back to Center um and then I think a lot of in a lot of ways this offense was built around Dan key and Barry and brown I think Dan Key's play through his slump and now we're seeing him break out of that but Baran has struggled really all year and he hasn't provided the exposive plays um that you that you've relied on and then I think a lot of this Nick goes down to Identity when the chips are on the line who are you like where do you go like what do we do what do how do we make a play I still think Kentucky knows who they are defensively when the game is on the line now you can argue whether that's effective or not but they know what they're doing and what they're going to offensively I don't know if that's the case because they're they're trying to figure out um who they are and what they want to be you can say a lot of things about Mark stops but he's tried to evolve this is not from a lack of not trying to evolve like they've tried to go from this run heavy operation A system that couldn't recruit receivers and quarterbacks and they shifted to what they are now and now they're recruiting receivers and quarterbacks but they have to figure out how to go win games doing that and what it looks like and I think you're seeing some of the unhappiness in that offensive meeting room um start to leak out I mean every Mark snoop's press conference he refuses to say anything good about the offensive line yeah just refuses I think we know where that's headed right yeah it seems like they're probably going to make a staffing change there but now you're I think you're seeing guys like Ray Davis tweets out after the game he's unhappy with maybe how he's being used we saw danky's dad and brother tweet out Saturday unhappy I can't say I disagree with him on that like I don't I he is your like he's the best receiver I don't understand why when the game's on the line why they weren't looking I mean I know it's more complicated than that but you got to get him the football I in my opinion and the some of these big spots and they and they didn't even the fourth down at the end he was throwing to a covered Haven Robinson Devon lry was uh and so I understand the frustration there but that's not good if and it feels like they're losing the locker room two years in a row Nick I mean Mark Stoops kind of admitted that that what happened he's not gonna let happen again and to me that was people splintering yeah in that locker room um and it feels like that's happening again on the offensive side of the ball and I go back to this too the Missouri game the defense had to run over to the offense like during that game and Tred to like give them a pep top D like in the fourth quarter like that was kind of a sign like what something's going on over there in that offensive room it seems like um and Saturday was a very bad time because that is that is a defense they should have went and had a good day against and they didn't for whatever reason and so I mean critical December coming up with how they handle this roster management it's specifically I think on the offensive side of the football because I think defensively yeah they're still going to have pieces and they're still recruiting well I mean I I know he's not a popular man right now but I'm still willing to bet Brad White's going to figure it out and they're going to adjust and they're get back to playing good defense here but I do worry about the offense because I what is their identity who do they want to be and how does how do you cultivate the leadership and all of that out of that now I do like the quarterback Talent is better and I do think Cohen is going to go find him another good transfer quarterback he's proven that he that Talent accumulation he can check that box here but you got to go out and you got to go you know be able to score points against a South Carolina team like that and it's just concerning that it seems like two years in a row that they're losing the loer him and that's not a good sign Drew let's um you know we're going to look past Lille for right now because I mean it's the Governor's Cup Kentucky wins it that's just it's a DAT ends and why um we can discuss it more but um if H how would you try to find a silver lining for this off season like what is the let's try to fast forward to April and like what what are we what are we selling as like a well they can do this they can do this well in 2024 that should have should have some folks maybe maybe optimistic I know A lot's going to change between now and then but where can you find any sort of positive I'm very flattered you think I would have that answer because I think it's a big problem UK football has to address I really don't know and I don't I don't think they know I don't think anyone knows uh I mean we can assume there will be some significant departures obviously you're going to have a new quarterback new running back I I think you just have to clean up in the portal but that's what they did last year and we all bought in and got excited I was convinced this offense was going to score 35 points a game I mean yeah I was told Larry's the number one transfer quarterback Ray Davis I know what he's capable of saw some of that saw what the receivers did last year again I'm in shock it didn't work so they do have to go to portal but even if they clean house it's going to be hard to sell that like hey look these shiny new toys we got cuz we're all going to be like yeah well the toys last year were pretty broken so I don't know what they do like luck was alluding to there will be staff changes but as far as getting optimism back that is a big problem that I don't know how they're going to solve that next year especially the schedule's harder if anything next year is going to be more exciting to not go to lexon you Old Miss and Austin are like the two selling points next season getting away from Kroger field is probably the two most exciting things on the schedule unless they can do some serious get some serious Acquisitions to to get people excited for next year to me Nick it's almost like just don't say anything off seon cuz there's nothing you can say people are going to be poed regardless and you can't really blame them there's nothing you can really say but I think it's very important this year that they are very selective in the transfer market yeah and get guys that fit what that are going to fit their locker room and are going to fit schematically what they want to do um we can't get you know can't get caught up in the transfer portal rankings I think there was you know it's easy to do right you know we see what Larry accomplished you see what Davis accomplished and they're not taking any away from those guys or whatever but it's going to be very important that they get guys that fit and they get guys that contribute and play MH you can't I'm you're going to hear me say this 100 times over the next month you cannot afford to get transfers to not going to play on the team because then they're just they're they're just sitting there sucking up a scholarship like they have to be po you're better off getting guys from high school and developing them that way way than getting transfers and that that aren't going to play you get transfers they need to play and they need to produce on your team almost immediately um and I think there was a thought last year like if we lose a transfer and need to replace him with a portal guy I don't think we'll hear them that that'll be the case this year if they lose a transfer they're going to want to replace him with a high school guy um and kind of get back to their old school kind of development in that regard which is kind of um you know when John caliper was at a similar Crossroads he just went back to what worked well right which was recruiting like Gang Busters out of the high school ranks and you're seeing them take a lot of guys this year this is going to be a good class particularly defensively where I am going to end up getting into this season pretty optimistic as long as they can find somebody that's a dude back there at safety um because I think JQ Hardway is going to end up being a pretty good cornerback when it's all said and done I just think there just need some time to develop but most importantly Dion Walker is a I mean on the on the on the flip side of the bad tweets that was good tweets you know the grass isn't always greener um I think when you saw that your your response in the car was they need some more Detroit guys Dion Walker is very much a Mark Stoops football player like he has that sort of uh the the way he carries himself is very much like some of the OG guys that really led the way here and Har too yeah like they they they got some like dog you know where they're just not going to they don't take no stuff from from people and so I I think that that defense will have the sort of uh resolve the the kind of grit that you're looking for um and then but but to get back to where this all started offensively you just you don't know I think part of how you fix it is you get Cohen back on the field you get him around the players because I you know seeing your general at the front of the cavalry charge I I think plays a significant role right um you know your offensive line that you might think those guys aren't very good but you're going to get a lot of them back at least I I don't know yeah I got myself I know Stoops wants them to play better but they're improved and that group is playing hard with effort um and there was times last year where I questioned the fight of that group just like when ly got hit I don't question Dylan Ray's fight like you can think you are as a player but that dude scraps and yeah they need more of that Eli Cox scraps Marcus Cox scraps um Jeremy flax has shown resolve this year U so Kobe Keenum scraps from what I've seen from him in the past um so I I think they're getting more of the kind of their the guys that check kind of Kentucky offensive lineman boxes what your you know like Logan stimberg mentality to put it in the simplest form um Drake Jackson mentality playing with an edge fight your ass but um so I think they're getting back to what where they need to get there but offensively they just got to kind of figure out Cohen's got to find the right mix for his guys to run his system and who's going to who's going to check those boxes you know may it's might have gotten too portal heavy over there yeah right no yeah like we can we can fix anything the the the next gu can be the best guy then now you're still going to have to go and get a quarterback whatever you probably need a running back um but you need some of these guys you've recruited in the last couple classes you need them to start playing and you got to get you know back to your the sophomore class on that defense like Deion Walker and Max Harrison those are kind of the they kind of look like your future captains right you talking about player leadership those kind of look like guys so getting Dion back is very very important um and then you know you don't want to have an exodus at receiver I think that's when you're looking at transfers that's kind of the worry part to me like what happens there at receiver do you lose just everybody and you're stuck to that's the scary part to me you need to get those guys back um I wouldn't be surprised if I mean I'm talking about Dane and Baran obviously right I wouldn't be surprised if one of them Le but you really can't afford to lose too yeah yeah um we don't have to play favorites on who we would rather have around but I think everybody here can understand how we feel about those guys um I want to go back to something um that you mentioned U but first game time the game time app if you haven't used it yet you can use it to buy tickets to the governor cup Saturday at noon on ABC at the l&n FED cred Stadium uh formula artist known as Papa John's Cardinal Stadium just go on the game time app scroll through find your seat it's it's so simple two two buttons pressed and boom the tickets are right there on your phone easy to use and when you use promo code ksr you're going to get $20 off your first purchase tickets are definitely still available there that that Stadium's way too big for that school um but something crazy could happen and that could be a lot of fun whether you're going to a game there or to Kentucky basketball game cats play tonight at home they play Friday night at home I know that's a popular game uh for fans F especially family coming in town for Thanksgiving holidays it can always be a good time at rup Arena when you use the game time app promo code ksr for $20 off your first purchase talked about playing with Edge and they'll fight your ass Drew over under three and a half fights Saturday between the Kentucky Wildcats and louville fighting cardinal birds before kickoff over yeah I'll go over there I I think um especially if the football starts going the wrong way and kuy's seeing their season go six and six we might really see the cats try to play a different sport at that moment hope it done good that point I hope uh it's like the god in TS and ky's up big but I think whatever the scoreboard says there will be uh extra fist to cuffs throughout the game um do we need to hide the garbage cans um I don't know um they drink out of theirs so they're all in the parking lot I don't know if they have them inside they already took those measures okay uh I mean you know the other coach pretty well he doesn't seem like a fighter what assistant who who's locking up you brez is gone uh clink with his Kane's toast back in the day he's gone I don't know if if we'll have anything exciting of the uh of the adults in the room but I think the players will give us lots of fun I I've heard some stories about Jeff I I I think he would but you know what him and stops like each other because they're both kind of these they they got some some energy about them you know um no I wouldn't want to fight Jeff I just don't think he's the type that would take it to a football game he's got more class than that yeah um but it it here's the thing too is that like all of the people who get very upset about the fighting and the you know yeah it's it's it's not good but I mean guys we've been doing this forever like in that 2014 game we are Charles Walker sh on this podcast I mean Su basically told him to go start a fight before the game and it got him rattled and they were able to stay in it I I don't know if Kentucky will have that same energy where they're just going out and starting the fights right away but I think you need to have some of that as long as it's not fake just hold me back you know I I worry about the fake tough guy kind of energy that we we've been getting from this team you don't want fake tough guy and you don't want actual assault but I'd much rather have my team fighting than kind of rolling out of bed and going down tenno and not having energy out of the gate I'd rather be worrying about them going too far and being too aggressive than not bringing enough yeah I I have no idea where this team's Minds at right um I think we I think March stop said today we're going to have to work hard this week to get them ready to play or ready to bounce back I I I don't want to like misquoting but I don't want to get the context wrong there but uh I don't know where this team's mind is at and that's what's tricky about this game the most trickiest part to me kuy's had the mental Edge for a while here in this matchup and I just don't think they're going to have it this year because where are they at and then where Louisville is at um they made it pretty I think that's gone now to me and that's that's concerning and and I'm they've made it pretty clear too over there I mean Jeff's been talking about it since he got the job about how important it is to beat Kentucky and today their running backs coach m g Chris barklay he's like this is our Super Bowl um you know a lot of the they didn't say that the rest of the season means means nothing if we don't win this game but that's definitely the belief over there um now can they put it too much on a pedestal and do the whole Rick patino thing there's a chance that that um that that is possible um but what you can't do is you can't go and just let them score 14 points in the blink of an eye right you can't let the South Carolina game happen you can't let the Alabama thing happened where it's just bang bang bang you look up and the the scoreboards already off sided now if you do that on the other side though Wicket I think the guys who have seen them in that locker room that have seen Kentucky kick their ass year after year after year I think some doubt might creep into their minds if Kentucky can go out and punch them in the face early it's just that what has this team shown us as his of L that they can go do that right that's my point I do think like in that there'll be some nervous energy in that Stadium if that thing starts getting in the third quarter and it's a close game right M but I what makes us think that Kentucky could take advantage even if that opportunity presents itself I think is part of the problem here um I think it's a really big week for this offense Louisville's got a good defense and this the huge line of scrimmage Advantage Kentucky had is no longer the case in this contest L's defensive Line's going to give kuy's offensive line some some problems with just how they play stylist ically and Aston Gat is um a pro at defensive end he's R wreak havoc all season and so offensively can you take advantage of that like what Miami shown if you if you can get out on the perimeter you can be a little explosive you can go and get chunk plays against this defense but you got to go do it you got to win some one-on ones you got to bounce some runs um can't Kentuck do I I just you know to see but after last week like that was embarrassing offensively to me really the first time all season where I thought it was an embarrassing offensive performance um so how do they bounce back from that is what I'll be interested to see because uh everything from I think the way they called it to how they acted or not acted how they executed um to the plan to missing opportunities to land what Freddy would say the kill drive right they didn't they didn't execute the kill Drive even though they had multiple opportunities and even the defense even gave them two more chances late in the ball game Nick and they Nick and Drew and they still couldn't U finish it you saw it with Cohen I think after the game he was pretty dejected about how they performed and so they've got to find a way this week because if you go in and your defense holds this Louisville team to 20 points and you lose like 20 to 13 it's going to be bad right if the game if it's winnable if the defense plays well and they they hold Louisville under 24 you need to go win this game and and the defense is capable of doing it because Drew the one thing I've learned about watching Jack plumber over the years is if if you let him pass it long enough he's going to throw it to you um and Kentucky they've shown a good ability to stop traditional runs so uh the C they can create some turnovers with plumber in the passing game um but they almost feel like they need to right we need another Max Harrison pick six to be able to give this offense a leg up because they have been so bad as of late yeah and I know this Louisville team has better Playmakers than they've had since kuy's kind of own the Rivalry but in there a little of this part where when you just see them line up it's been such an obvious difference the last few years I think Louisville came in with seven wins each time they're excited and then Kentucky just whooped them both times lille's improved but there's still the chance of the SEC ACC Gap when they line up that we've seen the last four or five years yeah yeah that well well because if you look at it that they have upgraded their Playmakers but Jamari thrash has got a hand injury jar Jordan hasn't been healthy in a month they they've got a backup kicker in their kickers are rotating door like there are some cracks there in the armor and but but to your point though the the one difference is that in the past Kentucky would just bully them at the line of scrimmage and to luck at point this this defensive line for lville is pretty solid uh they're going to they're going to get some pressure after L yeah and on their Old Line Nick they've got like four super seniors so they got like four 25 year olds playing on the offensive line that has helped things I mean I was 22 when I was covering Brian Hudson's recruitment I mean and he's still playing college football right and the guy they got playing at left tackle Willie Tyler is up there too he's like he's up there as a super senior the other tackle Eric Miller I believe is his name he's from Purdue um and he has been around college football forever but to the point about the matchup what Louisville wants to do is run the football the traditional running game MH Kentucky stops that Deon Walker and The Crew I think if they stop that and M Jack Jack Plummer beat them with a banged up thrash I mean and if you're not Miami and you're just not leaving tight ends wide open running other I think the defense like this Florida or excuse me Louisville is built like Florida and South Carolina more often iiv L um they're better at other things than those two are but Kentucky was able to take the run away in both those games and make those quarterbacks beat them I think louville is a better running offense than both those teams probably um but I don't think plumber is as good as Merz or as Rattler right and so and I don't know if thrash is good but I don't know he's is he better than Xavier Legette no is he better than Ricky peaw maybe um but I don't know but I think the defense is going to be able to get some stops and play good enough to win this game offensively can't Kentucky do it right yeah you know and Louisville they if the three and outs start piling up then where does ky's confidence go in a game if that starts happening because we've seen them sputter out all year and Louisville will get some three and outs um and I don't do you have confidence that Kentucky will be able to hit the explosive plays they'll probably need to win this game I don't and I think that's kind of where we're at entering this matchup we're going to talk about it more on 11 personnel later this week but I do need to finish by bringing up something that Nick brought up in the chat um we can't let Joey Gaywood beat us I mean come on Joey Gatewood that guy I mean I just I I can't believe he's catching I mean Drew why didn't he just do this three years ago and he would be an NFL tight end instead he waited until now and he's actually he's actually kind of good for them playing tight end and it is it's something even though I knew he was on their roster I just assumed he was on the end of the bench somewhere just trying to see how many universities he could play for but I watched that Miami game I saw at least three catches maybe four uh some for big yardage I was like this guy's actually playing we have to run into Joey Gatewood next week so like Nick said that's a little element I wasn't even considering till I watched that Miami game that uh got a former cat to worry about not worried about him too much but that was an odd sighting watching him play for the U catching passes wearing number 84 or whatever it is we can't let Joey Gatewood have a Marvin Stone moment we just can't come on like no enough go out there cat show a little heart show a little resolve as Mark STS likes to say maybe maybe all Thanksgiving turkey will do them some good um but we've obviously got a lot more time to discuss this we appreciate you all joining us this week on the ksr football podcast um we'll be back with 11 personnel if we don't see you again though have a Happy Thanksgiving hopefully it's even happier when the cats take on the cards this Saturday 12:00 noon on ABC at Cardinal stadium for Adam Luckett and Drew Frankle I'm Nick rash go cats and go krog [Music] green