Kentucky Sports Radio
[Moderated by Matt Jones]
[Moderated by Matt Jones]
WOW….thats about all you can say about the end of the UK-MTSU game on Saturday night. While much of the game was forgettable, the last two plays were as shocking as almost anything that anyone could have imagined for a game ending. With the Cats clinging to a 20-14 lead, David Jones got an interception and seemingly put the game away by returning it deep into MTSU territory (the 17 yard line). But then the Cats began a string of events that combined bizarre decision making and awful execution, almost culminating a dagger of a loss. A rundown:
(1): After Derrick Locke goes for 9 yards and gives the Cats a 2nd and 1, which if executed would effectively end the game, the Cats get a bizarre illegal procedure penalty. Without the penalty, the Cats have three plays to get 1 yard….the penalty backs them up to six yards and changes the calculation.
(2): Then, after the clock operater started the clock after the procedure penalty (which in my view cant be correct under the rules….if after an illegal procedure penalty, they will still run the clock, why not just get penalty after penalty? I personally think the operater ran the clock for 20 seconds incorrectly. It will be interesting to see if that is correct), Hartline snapped the ball with 15 seconds remaining on the play clock. If those 15 ran off, then there would have been no need for the last field goal. Poor clock management.
(3): Rich Brooks then makes the decision to kick. I understand this decision, although many of the media folks afterwards thought it was wrong. If they just go for it and miss, MTSU probably gets two plays to try and score. The smart play is a kick. But what isnt smart is taking a kick, missing the rusher coming from the end, snapping it high, taking too long to get the ball down and kicking somewhat low. Now we have a block. The seconds that followed were beyond bizarre…..MTSU runs the kick back, Seiber cuts off an angle which allows the runner to be taken out of bounds….then a holding call. Disaster 1 adverted.
(4): Hail Mary time…..for the second time in as many years, the Cats allow the ball to be tipped back, and just like against Louisville last year, it was caught. However unlike last year, no one was behind to stop the runner. If not for Robbie Macatee doing a shoestring tackle, MTSU wins the game and the Bluegrass Miracle gets the worst sequel that a Cats’ fan could imagine.
Four errors back to back. Stunning to watch. But as Coach Brooks said afterwards, you do have to look at the positive. The Cats won…..Ronnie Macatee made a play for all-time. And the Cats are 3-0….still, what a way to end a game. Some observations:
— I thought Michael Hartline generally had a pretty good performance. He didnt make mistakes (besides the fumble) and was saddled with some unfortunate breaks from his receivers. It was a step forward for the guy and an improvement from last week.
— I have no idea why Randall Cobb was playing WR when he got hurt. If the Cats are going to really run a two-QB system, then you cant have the second quarterback out running routes….there is too much need for good health to let that happen.
— It looks like Tony Dixon’s day as #1 RB could be coming to an end. Alphonso Smith started the second half and took most of his carries. Dixon simply doesnt look to have the burst and falls down too easily. He still is the best pass catcher out of the backfield, but he may see his PT diminish.
— The Wide receivers were simply awful for a great part of the day. While Dicky finished strong and may have been the offensive MVP, he dropped a couple early that hurt. But the rest of the guys were simply lost throughout. AFter the game, Coach Brooks ripped the receivers and said that too many of then “dont know what the hell is going on.” Joker Phillips even went further, saying”
“”You see guys pregame singing Kanye West songs. How can they freaking understand every word that he’s saying but they can’t freaking understand the freaking signals. That’s what discouraging. If you can remember every word to a Kanye West song you should remember a dang hand signal that we work on every freaking day.”
— When Micah Johnson got hurt, it was scary. I was standing next to the bench as he walked off and he was screaming in pain. He sat on the bench grabbing his ankle and letting out obvious painful shouts. Tough to watch and hopefully the injury isnt as bad as his reaction made it seem to be.
— Randall Burden, who played a bit when David Jones was hurt, dances to all the music between plays while on the sideline. While he plays more, his role as team comedian is a bit like Dwight Perry.
— It was disappointing to see the defensive front not get a lot of pressure on the QB. After the game, there was a lot of talk about chop blocks by the MTSU offensive line and Jeremy Jarmon even said he thought it was their gameplan to block in that manner. But it was surprising to see the front 4 not be quite as effective.
— Tons of missed tackles. MTSU generally had a “big play” game, breaking four during the contest….all were a result of a missed tackle.
— What can you say about Lones Seiber? Brooks called his performance “poor to atrocious” and that may be kind. 2-6 on field goal kicks, with any one of the misses having been able to put away the game. Thing about how differently this game looks if the final score is 32-14. A loss would have been (as we talked about earlier this week on the Seiber post) directly on his shoulders. You hope the kid can bounce back and his teammates do have faith in him. But I would suggest that the coaches consider a trip to Bell County this weekend to see Monte Merrick again.
— Both Rafeal Little and Shane Boyd were in attendance and standing with the team on the sideline. Both nice guys and both embraced by the current team members.
— While he continues to run bad routes and look lost from time to time, Matt Roark is a physical specimen. He did get into a post-game altercation with the MTSU players that led to some pushing and shoving. Needs focus, but surely has potential.
POSTGAME QUOTES:
Rich Brooks:
“We are always thinking about concession sales….we dont want anyone to leave early.”
“There are way too many people not knowing whats going on, particularly on offense. We are going to stop rotating half of the Commonwealth in at wide receiver. We will use the off week to narrow down the playing time. Some wide receivers dont know what the hell is going on.”
“We were close to some big plays. They had ankle tackles that if we had broken them, could have been big runs. But we didnt break them.”
“Right now we arent a very good football team. The thing that is most disappointing is how we are running the football. I dont feel very good about where we are with our offensive line.”
“This week we didnt work at getting better in any way, shape or form and today it showed.”
Michael Hartline:
“At the end my heart fell out of my stomach. We have got to find a way to finish games. That is on all of us.”
“I take some responsibility too. We should have scored more than 30 points in this game. We cant have guys at receiver not knowing the plays. I partially blame myself as maybe I am not communicating it as well as I should.”
Dicky Lyons:
“The old Kentucky loses that game. This Kentucky wins it.”
“You got to put it on me when a Wide Receiver runs a wrong route. I am the leader out there and I need to teach them better. Back a couple of years ago with David Jones, I would show him how to do every play, that is what I am going to do here too.”
Jeremy Jarmon”
“If Dicky said this is new Kentucky, if the way we performed today, if that is new Kentucky, then we are gonna lose a lot of games.”
Defensive Coordinator Steve Brown:
“The last play blew my mind. It was absolutely preposterous to let a guy get behind the ball. It is as ignorant as it gets. I promise you we will have a lot of Hail Mary drills until these guys get that in their head.”
So a crazy night in Commonwealth, BUT the Cats did win. Lots of frustration, but much less than if the result had been different. This team is still a ways away from being good….but they are winning as they try to reach that level. Getting out of this game was big, but there is a lot of work to be done. More all day Sunday, including an on-the-field look at various reactions as the last play fell at the one yard line.
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September 14th, 2008 at 3:26 am
It was McClinton that made the late INT. Also, it was Dixon that got the late 9 yard run before the penalty. I disagree completely with the assessment on Cobb. He’s your best playmaker from the WR position and a guy with his talent must be on the field. We simply don’t have the talent or experience at WR right now for him to not get some snaps there. That is where his future lies. Remember, Pulley was our backup QB in 06 and still played a lot at WR. With that said, whew, glad that one is over and a W is in the books.
September 14th, 2008 at 3:26 am
As always, thanks for the post after a long night! I’ve been waiting to read your take and now… its bed time! Good day, SIR!!
September 14th, 2008 at 3:30 am
Seiber sucks! Maybe Coach needs to go to see a soccer game or something to find a new kicker but something has to give! You can always depend on him missing BIG kicks. Now i know he made some big ones against LSU last year but really how many BIG kicks has he made in his career? More often than not he misses. I just dont understand missing when you are that close. The 47 yd attempt i can see but not any of the others. I was glad to hear Coach talking about the receivers too. I think it is a really good idea to have 3 or 4 guys and thats it. It will be interesting to who those guys will be that step up.
ALSO I hate to say it but this win should be a wake up call for these players. They are here to play football not here to think that the easy games are EASY. Sorry for the rambling
September 14th, 2008 at 3:31 am
I laughed at what Joker had to say, but if what he says is true, then this team is obviously not focused on what needs to be done. The defense seems to be on point but can always improve. If the offense is not focused and improving like it should at this point something has to drastically change, whether it be from Joker or Brooks or leadership from the upper classman. It will be sad if this team goes thru the year and doesn’t make huge strides because the talent although young is there and the future is very bright for this team with the players coming in next season…maybe this game was a blessing in disguise and the team will focus during this bye week and use it to their advantage..this team can still win 7 games.
September 14th, 2008 at 3:44 am
did you see him when they showed him on TV? He was pissed! If I was coach 2 things would happen at practice:
1. Receivers spend the next 2 weeks running routes! and knowing what the correct plays are that are being called.
2. Receivers also spend time knowing what audibles are being called and how that affects them
3. Seiber needs to go to woodshop to cut himself a new bench because not even the waterboy wants to be next to him on the end of the bench
on a side note that i just thought of… I dont know which is worse for me watching Seiber Kick or Coury airball wide open layups. Both are equally discouraging
September 14th, 2008 at 3:45 am
i know i said 2 things but the last one is not really something for practice ha ha ha
September 14th, 2008 at 5:53 am
what a finish….any update on recruits comin’ in for madness….
September 14th, 2008 at 7:39 am
This team better get their head out of their azz before the SEC comes a calling. It WILL be ugly if they don’t
September 14th, 2008 at 8:40 am
Nice run down Matt. Your post game chatter kicks the hell out of the LHL.
Scary game. WKU is better than MTSU. We’ll be lucky to win any SEC game.
September 14th, 2008 at 9:06 am
Seiber goes from bad to horrible when he goes against any team with “Tennessee” in its name. Hope this Seiber experiment is over, he’s been poor to aweful from the get go.
September 14th, 2008 at 9:08 am
Any word on the injuries to Lumpkin, M. Johnson, and R. Cobb? Are they serious?
September 14th, 2008 at 9:17 am
Is there any video available? I was expecting to see something on Sportscenter but for those of us that are no where near the Motherland I have yet to see any highlights.
September 14th, 2008 at 9:27 am
I was at the game until the bitter end. The only good thing that came out of it is that we won. The offensive play calling was awful. Too many runs between the tackles (it seemed like that’s all we did on 1st down)and inside screens on 3rd and long (they don’t work). Game management in the last few minutes was pathetic — we couldn’t put them away and they handed us the game time after time. Both tight ends made big plays and yet we didn’t use them in the 2nd half. The wide receivers - incompetent (except for Dicky). Hartline improved over the 1st 2 games, but his “unforced” fumble led quickly to their go-ahead touchdown. The front four and secondary seemed out-of-sync all night long. Lones Sieber? He should have been sent packing long ago. Why Brooks sticks with him is beyond belief. Brooks’ postgame comments make sme think he’s still going with him “because he’s the best in practice”. Well, sh SUCKS in the GAME! That’s enough for now - I feel a little better.
September 14th, 2008 at 9:31 am
12, it was on Sportscenter. Must have missed it.
This is the best I can find so far:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYBO6cZ9xMY
September 14th, 2008 at 9:50 am
14) thanks I was flipping channels last night trying to find it must have missed it.
That ending made me sick. I knew we won but even watching it knowing the outcome it makes you sick. The eerie silence of the crowd after the return of the blocked punt was chilling. It was like the crowd knew something bad was about to happen.
September 14th, 2008 at 9:51 am
^blocked field goal
September 14th, 2008 at 9:54 am
My thoughts:
As I said last week, the players don’t play for Hartline. He needs to grab some face masks and kick some a**.
Play calling leaves A LOT to be desired. I hope we’re still playing it close to the vest, but afraid we’re not.
DLJ needs to take a leadership role.
Aside from the injuries (all high ankle sprains, correct?) this game will be the best thing that’s happened all year.
September 14th, 2008 at 9:58 am
Good thing Macatee was paying attention.
September 14th, 2008 at 10:02 am
Dicky Lyons: “I had to change my pants before I could come out to talk to you” At the start of his post game radio interview.
September 14th, 2008 at 10:11 am
I’ve seen several people say it was a solid performance by Hartline. If that is “solid”, I’d hate to see what someone would call a poor performance. I gave him a standing “O” at the beginning of the game, but by the end I was ready to boo him.
In my time of seriously watching UK football, I cannot think of a worse game played by the Cats from top to bottom. Passing game, terrible (and yes, te receivers obviously missed some routes, but Hartline was horribly off on many of his passes). Running game pathetic (hey, how about a run to the outside just to mix things up). Secondary on defense was absolutely awful (d-line got pressure on the QB a lot, but the secondary was non-existant). The game was on par with Mississippi State last year and the Central Michigan opener of 1995. By the end of the game last night, I had a headache and it wasn’t because I was getting a hangover.
September 14th, 2008 at 10:16 am
I thought his name is spelled McAtee.
September 14th, 2008 at 10:16 am
Sieber is a joke and doesn’t deserve to play. Even his stupid name pisses me off. I didn’t get to see the game but how the hell do you miss 4 FGs?
Bell County anyone?
The team as a whole can’t afford to NOT improve is these first games before SEC play. I hope they utilize the upcoming bye week and get thier sh*t together.
September 14th, 2008 at 10:18 am
The offensive line couldn’t buy more than 1 second for Hartline to throw on any play. Hartline’s not gaining any confidence because he has no time to make good decisions. The line never opened up a decent hole for the RB’s. Every first down was a run up the middle for a gain of 2 yards. Felt like the Curry era (except those were for no gain.)
September 14th, 2008 at 10:24 am
1- spot on. COBB HAS to be on the field. Backup QB or not, he is your only playmaker behind DLJ.
September 14th, 2008 at 10:25 am
Well, look at it this way. We have three weeks to heal up and get better before SEC play begins.
September 14th, 2008 at 10:29 am
9- you’re so wrong it’s not even funny, I wonder what made you type sucj nonsense. Did you really just say that Western is better than MTSU? Really? Who has western beaten this year? They just took a 41-7 ass shelacking from Bama last night.
UK beats the dog ish outta western.
September 14th, 2008 at 10:35 am
people (everyone but the players) need to forget this game and move forward.
-we are 3-0 heading into a buy week with a cupcake on the other side
-Randall Cobb, the QB, is not the savior of this team…RC the WR is. Ge this idea that he needs to play more under center completely out of your heads. It’s not gonna happen after Hatline manned up last night, simply b/c Cobb is worth more as a developed receiver to next year’s team.
-first guy who makes 3 field goals in a row at practice the next few weeks wins the starting kicker spot.
-Our wideouts need to be broken down like smart-mouthed teenagers And the o-line needs a good, old-fashioned ass whoopin.
September 14th, 2008 at 10:44 am
20- shoulda put a hurt cobb in so he could throw another pick. If Hartline was so off, how many pics did he throw against a defense that is TONS better than the defense Cobb gave up a pic to?
September 14th, 2008 at 10:46 am
hmmm…i could be way wrong, but i dont remember hartline getting sacked very much last night, or even hurried for that matter. am i wrong?
i would love to know what our YAC stat is this year compared to the last few years. seems like as soon as our guys catch the ball, they fall. and DLJ is the main culprit.
and as for WKU being a cupcake team, i remember many on this site saying MTSU was going to be an easy win, including some of the moderators and maybe even a host or two. i wouldnt take WKU for granted after last nights play.
September 14th, 2008 at 10:49 am
I appreciate the loyalty to a senior like Tony Dixon. However, heading into SEC play he simply cannot be our #1 back.
Although he is okay, he has no explosion, its just 3 yards and fall down. 3 yards would work if we had last year’s passing game but we don’t, our passing game is sloppy and we need a big play threat at running back.
September 14th, 2008 at 10:53 am
Seriously, man. Western is the weakest team on the schedule, by far. They’ve given up 85 points in 3 games while we’ve givin up a total of 19. Yeah, I can see why you’re worried.
September 14th, 2008 at 10:58 am
off task but too good to not share…
September 14th, 2008 at 10:59 am
heyjennyslater.blogspot.com/2006/04/great-moments-in-clausen-family.ht ml
September 14th, 2008 at 11:03 am
Funny, you asked why Cobb was on the field and your own post answered it:
“The Wide receivers were simply awful for a great part of the day. While Dicky finished strong and may have been the offensive MVP, he dropped a couple early that hurt. But the rest of the guys were simply lost throughout. AFter the game, Coach Brooks ripped the receivers and said that too many of then “dont know what the hell is going on.” Joker Phillips even went further, saying”
Cobb is probably the second best receiver we have and as a couple of posters indicated that is where his future probably is. With the status of our receivers, Cobb needs to be on the field catching balls when he is not under center even at the risk of injury. There is the risk of injury whether he is playing QB or receiver and he is too good not to have on the field.
Hartline played a very solid game last night. I think many of us want to compare him to Andre’s performance over the last two seasons (which statwise last night was comparable to many of those games). The better indicator is to compare him to Andre’s peformance his red shirt sophomore season. I think he is ahead of Andre’s peformance when you compare sophomore season to sophmore season and he seems to be improving with each game.
September 14th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
MTSU SHOULD have been a cup cake. 2 plays changed that…..
1. Gave up a ridiculous big play in first quarter
2. Hartline makes ridiculous fumble (albeit his only major mistake of the game, don’t want tp rag on him)
That makes the score 30 something to ZERO if we make field goals and don’t get that TD pass called back. MTSU wasn’t that great, we just sucked
September 14th, 2008 at 12:08 pm
Also our offense put us in a position 4 times to add 3 points to the board so tack on 12 right there, now we’re looking at 32-14 which is a nice pounding…
September 14th, 2008 at 12:39 pm
Matt Jones: For a Duke educated lawyer, you sir are a dumb ass.
September 14th, 2008 at 4:29 pm
20) you must not have seen many uk football games if you think that is their worst effort top to bottom. wasn’t great by any means but I promise there can and has been much worse.
I haven’t seen anybody comment on how the tight end position played well and is fairly deep. I thought they deserve a little credit. Also, how many balls does Lanxter have to drop or how many routes does he have to run wrong until he isn’t on the field. He just doesn’t look very motivated but maybe that’s just me. I know that the wr position is thin and he has some serious talent (alleged) but I would go with Roark over him. At least Roark is going to give effort. His mistakes seem to be mental which can be fixed. On the field goal call…I love Brooks but I would have never made that call in those circumstances.
On a positive note we are 3-0 and should be 4-0 going in to sec play. We need to find 2 more wins and keep the bowl streak alive and the recruits coming in to the program and uk football is going to continue to improve over the next few years. GO CATS!!!!
September 14th, 2008 at 5:37 pm
Every team lays an egg during the season and we are very fortunate to get out of there with a W. It also shows how good we can become to make that many mistakes and still be in a position late in the game to put it away. Maryland’s performance yesterday made an MTSU win look that much better. I think we have a chance to be 8 - 4 going into Knoxville.