DJ Elliot

[WildCard]

I believe this transition to 3-4 has been intended by Stoops and Eliot from the beginning. Looking back, Stoops has been trying since he arrived to recruit the right personnel for 3-4 defense. Nose tackles, big defensive ends, long outside linebackers, and physical defensive backs. Some notable samples include Melvin Lewis, Matt Elam, Javon Provitt, Alvonte Bell, Kengera Daniel, Kobie Walker, Josh Allen, Chris Westry, Derrick Baity. All ideal for 3-4. The list is long. I am sure others can be pointed out.

I don't know if he intended to do it but many coaches are being forced to do it. Spread sets in general and 4 wide in particular does that to you. You simply cannot effectively cover todays, 3, 4 and 5 wide sets with 4 DBs. And obviously putting a 5th DB on the field removes one of the front 7 from the field. Ex-coach Charlie Strong came to UofL with a long resume as 4-3 Under guy, ran it in first year but was nickeling up so much he switched to a 3-3-5 type base scheme.

Peace

 

[UKWinsAgainYep]

Towles had a couple chances to win the game at the end and came up empty. McWilson makes the interception and it's over. UL is likely to have around 11 draft picks to our two and we were on their field. They had more talent last year and we should have stole one. That was because of coaching. If Bonnafon isn't injured we win that game going away. Reggie didn't have the arm to take advantage of the huge mismatch they had with Parker on our small corner. What'd Parker have 180 yards receiving? No one else really did anything. We pretty well shut down their run game and outrushed them. Something like 14 of the past 15 years the team that ran the ball more effectively won. The game plan worked and gave us a chance to win a game that were were a 2 TD dog in. All we had to do was make a couple of individual plays and that goes back to recruiting depth and having experienced talent. When your best players are freshmen and sophomores you're fighting an uphill battle against a team that has more talent.

The balance of power shifts this year. I went to their spring game and I can tell you now we have more depth than they do. We are better at WR, QB, OL, RB, and DB. DL/LB may be a push but we'll find out. Game is at home we better win this one

That McWilson drop in the UL game was the single biggest choke I've seen as a UK football fan except for the interception Lorenzen threw against UF at Lexington when all he had to do was run the clock out in the game and instead he throws a ball up the sideline right into a UF player's hands.

That McWilson drop was literally on a silver platter with nobody around him and he dropped it. That would have sealed the game against UL last year and we would have gone to a bowl. I cannot fathom how awful UK football has been at times during my lifetime.

 

[Blue Decade]

That McWilson drop in the UL game was the single biggest choke I've seen as a UK football fan except for the interception Lorenzen threw against UF.

You have got to be kidding. It wasn't even the biggest choke of the season. That honor went to Khalid Henderson in Columbia, Missouri. Anyway, I think this is exactly the wrong way to look at last season. The 2 most important things that happened to our football team in 2014 were the dramatic transition by Patrick Towles from a forgotten redshirt into 1 of the better young quarterbacks in the SEC despite a seriously flawed offensive line and a depleted group of receivers, and the development of a group of freshman and sophomore defensive linemen and linebackers who will eventually become the foundation of Stoops' defense. We went from a 2 win team to a 5 win team, which was generally unappreciated by our fans although it was a big step forward, toward what comes next.

 

[Blue Decade]

Yes. If memory serves, during Stoops first year we dabbled with a 3-4 situationally. Big brother Bob at OU began that year in the spring by going to his version of a 3-4 and I have no doubt they had many conversations regarding the conversions.

Last year UK committed much more to the 3-4 and like blue decade has said, they have been recruiting toward that in all the classes they have fully recruited. The Stoops brothers have always been 4-3 guys and there's no doubt there's been a learning curve that began two seasons ago and continues into this season, being just the second full year Mark has committed to the defense. Adding to that is he is really getting to see the guys he recruited beginning to make a move up the depth chart. I look for more even play from what will be a very veteran defense which could be helped by the offense's enhanced ability to move the chains.

RV2 you said it much better than I could. Most classically trained coaches are, or were, 4-3 guys because 4-3 is a classic run stopping scheme. For most of my lifetime, the team with the best running game broke down the other team and usually won the game. But that has changed. Now everyone wants to spread out and throw all over the field. The 3-4 is an adaptation to everything that is happening on the offensive side. To play a 3-4, we must have long, athletic outside linebackers who can dominate at all levels. Everyone wants those guys. But we are now getting the players we need.