Good sign the D came up with multiple ints on Fan Day?

[gamecockcat]

While I hate turnovers and we have to protect the ball better this year, I figured the offense would be far ahead of the defense early in fall practice.

Reading between the lines, the defense made some really good plays to make the ints, not necessarily a poor throw by the QB.

That could be a sign that the D is going to be really stout this year as I expect the offense to be hard to handle for most of our opponents this year. I know it's just one practice but I choose to view it as a good sign.

 

[cathouse]

No. No it is not a good sign.

I was really hoping Will Levis had improved his decision making, vision for open receivers, and timing on the short, over the middle pass routes.

You can not live and die with a run game and home run pass plays only.

I was shocked to hear about that many interceptions thrown by a 5th. year QB being touted as a top draft pick.

We have seen our LB and Safeties trying to cover slot receivers and running backs in the short passing game (UT and MS. State).

I have felt a little sick at my stomach after yesterday.

Wandale Robinson turned several bad throws into game changing plays. WR is going to be greatly missed in the passing game, especially by Will Levis.

Please tell me I am wrong and everything is going to be ok.

 

[lazydave841]

Coen did an excellent job at accentuating Levis' strengths and minimizing his weaknesses. Wan'Dale will be GREATLY missed.

The only way to explain the INTs away and it be good; you are fielding a near equivalent defense to UGA '21.

Is that possible?

 

[gamecockcat]

We'll see how the remainder of the preseason goes. I think it could bode well that our defense will be better than last year when it was still pretty good.

You are correct that Levis can't put the ball in jeopardy. Too many weapons on the field to force a throw to anyone. We don't have THAT guy like Wan'dale. He has to spread it around and find the right guy to get the ball to.

Having said that, Levis is a huge talent with a good coach in his ear. He's a student of the game and desperately wants to be great. He'll correct the actions on his ints (don't think all of the picks were on him, fyi) so the tough D will only make him and the team better and more ready for the season.

 

[SosaUK87]

Levi’s said he was forcing things he normally wouldn’t do to see what his new receivers could do. Not worried one bit. It’s a freaking practice. Anyone who has played sports knows you can’t be perfect all the time. Especially at this level.

 

[The-Hack]

Please tell me I am wrong and everything is going to be ok.

On the first day of August drills in 2007, Trevard Lindley picked Woodson off twice, sending shock waives through the program, as Woodson had set the NCAA record for both attempts and completions without an interception in 2006.

Woodson would break his own records in 2007, and Lindley found himself on All-American lists following the 2007 and 2008 seasons.

I’m not too worried. I think our defense is nasty.

Steel sharpens steel.

 

[JPFisher]

Given how much we've heard about Levis' improvement from Maggard and Co., as well as rave reviews about the WR core, I doubt it's time to hit the panic button yet. However, I recognize this is the internet. Hot takes and panic reign supreme.

 

[cathouse]

On the first day of August drills in 2007, Trevard Lindley picked Woodson off twice, sending shock waives through the program, as Woodson had set the NCAA record for both attempts and completions without an interception in 2006.

Woodson would break his own records in 2007, and Lindley found himself on All-American lists following the 2007 and 2008 seasons.

I’m not too worried. I think our defense is nasty.

Steel sharpens steel.

Couple of things. Will Levis is not Andre Woodson. Andre was the most accurate passer on short to intermediate passes probably in UK FB history. And, AW was excellent at reading defenses and making the right throw to the right receiver. WL has more arm strength, and maybe (maybe!!) more arm talent than AW, but has nowhere near the accuracy or the vision that AW had..........up to this point.

I was certainly hoping, based on all the hype, that RScang had helped him improve in those areas. Saturday says NO to me.

Also, those weren't All Americans like TL making those interceptions. They are not even all SEC as of yet. Hope that changes. But, WL will be passing against All Americans and all SEC players on most Saturdays this fall, and what he showed Saturday will get your butt beat by almost everyone not named Vandy this year.

I only saw 2 of the interceptions on tape, but both of them were thrown right to the defender. Now, I know, I know, the receiver may have run the wrong route or made the wrong cut, but according to reports there were 5 actual interceptions by the defense ( not all by WL), and at least 3 more passes from WL that SHOULD have been intercepted.

If you watch WL play, he is his own worst enemy. One bad play and he gets into his own head and can't seem to get back on track. I hope they are using a sports psychologist to help him with that.

I love WL as our QB and hope he plays his best FB this year. Saturday, he did not come close based on his own comments.

 

[JHB4UK]

Defenses are ahead of offenses right now at virtually every CFB team fall camp. Non issue. No worries.

 

[Fadhi]

This year, Kentucky has a QB guru from the NFL as offensive coordinator. Levis is getting some of the best decision making training of his life right now. Im not suprised by the picks as the Defense is full of veterans and the WRs are full of rookies....and for all we know, Will was advised to force things a bit so he could get an idea of what his new recievers are capable of.

 

[aikenite4uk]

No. No it is not a good sign.

I was really hoping Will Levis had improved his decision making, vision for open receivers, and timing on the short, over the middle pass routes.

You can not live and die with a run game and home run pass plays only.

I was shocked to hear about that many interceptions thrown by a 5th. year QB being touted as a top draft pick.

We have seen our LB and Safeties trying to cover slot receivers and running backs in the short passing game (UT and MS. State).

I have felt a little sick at my stomach after yesterday.

Wandale Robinson turned several bad throws into game changing plays. WR is going to be greatly missed in the passing game, especially by Will Levis.

Please tell me I am wrong and everything is going to be ok.

You're wrong and everthing's gonna be OK.

 

[3632]

It's just a practice and people have bad days but it does raise my eyebrows because of Levis' history. He struggled with turnovers until the staff stopped some of the things that he just didn't throw well. He still made occasional bad throws and that's the thing with him...his int's tend to be just really bad. Not "I went deep on a one on one and under threw it a bit" or their guy just won one against the receiver. They seemed to be hideous throwing it right to the guy type stuff. We proved we can still win games if we have a functional offense, even if it isn't high level...but we relied on Robinson a whole lot for that last year in giving the run game some breathing room.

 

[JC CATS]

No. No it is not a good sign.

I was really hoping Will Levis had improved his decision making, vision for open receivers, and timing on the short, over the middle pass routes.

You can not live and die with a run game and home run pass plays only.

I was shocked to hear about that many interceptions thrown by a 5th. year QB being touted as a top draft pick.

We have seen our LB and Safeties trying to cover slot receivers and running backs in the short passing game (UT and MS. State).

I have felt a little sick at my stomach after yesterday.

Wandale Robinson turned several bad throws into game changing plays. WR is going to be greatly missed in the passing game, especially by Will Levis.

Please tell me I am wrong and everything is going to be ok.

As far as Robinson goes, every QB has receivers make great plays, Levi's will this season too! Why do we act like every QB laus it right into the hands of the receivers, except UKs

 

[Soupbean]

It's just a practice and people have bad days but it does raise my eyebrows because of Levis' history. He struggled with turnovers until the staff stopped some of the things that he just didn't throw well. He still made occasional bad throws and that's the thing with him...his int's tend to be just really bad. Not "I went deep on a one on one and under threw it a bit" or their guy just won one against the receiver. They seemed to be hideous throwing it right to the guy type stuff. We proved we can still win games if we have a functional offense, even if it isn't high level...but we relied on Robinson a whole lot for that last year in giving the run game some breathing room.

Wills interceptions last year were mostly down the field (15 yards or more) and on late reads or situations where he tried to gun it in a window one beat late. Guys with big arms tend to do that. They will try throws others wont thinking they can still get it in there but thats doesnt work well in the SEC. Brett Favre had that problem the first part of his career.

I remember at least 4 or 5 Will had last year that he threw 40 yards to a guy who was open for a second then that window closed quich with an athletic safety. You have to throw people open here not wait for the gap to materialize and I think Will will learn that this year with Scagarello's help.

 

[SaltyCat22]

I’m a UK football fan…I was born with panic buttons comin’ outta my butt!

 

[K_TIME]

Not worried but there is valid room for concern.

Moreso with the strategy and command Coen has with offense and Qb…..along with Yenser at OL..:sometime new coaches need time to adjust to teaching new team. Levis and Coen meshed fine and Coen sort of coaches around Levi’s early while he took time to improve in the offense and let him have more freedom later in season. Scangerello needs to show wisdom in how well the team adjusts to his offense as well. Let’s hope there is little to no growing pains on offense

 

[3632]

Wills interceptions last year were mostly down the field (15 yards or more) and on late reads or situations where he tried to gun it in a window one beat late. Guys with big arms tend to do that. They will try throws others wont thinking they can still get it in there but thats doesnt work well in the SEC. Brett Favre had that problem the first part of his career.

I remember at least 4 or 5 Will had last year that he threw 40 yards to a guy who was open for a second then that window closed quich with an athletic safety. You have to throw people open here not wait for the gap to materialize and I think Will will learn that this year with Scagarello's help.

He was late across the middle a lot. And threw just some inexplicable balls at times. He has a ton of physical talent. We're about to see whether he has made the jump mentally. The good news is we still found a way to win last year even if they do have to cut back the playbook book some to accommodate. I just don't know that it's a shoe-in that everything progressed. That was an unreal drive against Iowa to end the game but most of the game was pretty 'meh'.

 

[cathouse]

You're wrong and everthing's gonna be OK.

Thank you. That's what I was looking for!!!
Confidence and hype. Go Big Blue!!

 

[Old_Red]

He was late across the middle a lot. And threw just some inexplicable balls at times. He has a ton of physical talent. We're about to see whether he has made the jump mentally. The good news is we still found a way to win last year even if they do have to cut back the playbook book some to accommodate. I just don't know that it's a shoe-in that everything progressed. That was an unreal drive against Iowa to end the game but most of the game was pretty 'meh'.

Judging by Saturday would imply that Levis hasn't made progress. I know it was just a dog and pony show but it was a bad show for the QB position.

 

[EKCAT4YRS]

He was late across the middle a lot. And threw just some inexplicable balls at times. He has a ton of physical talent. We're about to see whether he has made the jump mentally. The good news is we still found a way to win last year even if they do have to cut back the playbook book some to accommodate. I just don't know that it's a shoe-in that everything progressed. That was an unreal drive against Iowa to end the game but most of the game was pretty 'meh'.

most of the game might have been kinda "meh" for Levis but I thought his poise was very impressive under a relentless rush by Iowa!

 

[3632]

most of the game might have been kinda "meh" for Levis but I thought his poise was very impressive under a relentless rush by Iowa!

Yes. I'm not knocking what he was or what he did for us. But there were clearly some things that needed improvement. I'm just saying it's human nature to assume things get better just because 'one more year' but that's not always the case. Some players just stay what they are. I'm not saying what will or won't happen, but I am concerned by the turnovers and whether it may indicate they'll have to shrink some offensive things to deal with it. I mean, we won 10 doing it last year, it's just not an automatic that the O will be better if that is still an issue along with a lot of Oline losses.

 

[Johnfarrel]

Remember media day is media day. Is the offense going to show it's best stuff to the world on media day, and have they even worked on their best stuff? I am not going to get all worked up over what happened on media day. Media day is to get the fan's attention focused on football, and it has certainly done that.

 

[BlueInTheBoro]

Remember media day is media day. Is the offense going to show it's best stuff to the world on media day, and have they even worked on their best stuff? I am not going to get all worked up over what happened on media day. Media day is to get the fan's attention focused on football, and it has certainly done that.

You are going to have to stop using common sense. We do not get that around here 🤣

 

[TBCat]

Couple of things. Will Levis is not Andre Woodson. Andre was the most accurate passer on short to intermediate passes probably in UK FB history. And, AW was excellent at reading defenses and making the right throw to the right receiver. WL has more arm strength, and maybe (maybe!!) more arm talent than AW, but has nowhere near the accuracy or the vision that AW had..........up to this point.

I was certainly hoping, based on all the hype, that RScang had helped him improve in those areas. Saturday says NO to me.

Also, those weren't All Americans like TL making those interceptions. They are not even all SEC as of yet. Hope that changes. But, WL will be passing against All Americans and all SEC players on most Saturdays this fall, and what he showed Saturday will get your butt beat by almost everyone not named Vandy this year.

I only saw 2 of the interceptions on tape, but both of them were thrown right to the defender. Now, I know, I know, the receiver may have run the wrong route or made the wrong cut, but according to reports there were 5 actual interceptions by the defense ( not all by WL), and at least 3 more passes from WL that SHOULD have been intercepted.

If you watch WL play, he is his own worst enemy. One bad play and he gets into his own head and can't seem to get back on track. I hope they are using a sports psychologist to help him with that.

I love WL as our QB and hope he plays his best FB this year. Saturday, he did not come close based on his own comments.

As someone that has been part of these practices in the past I can tell you that QBs throw INTs in practice all the time. And it's never something to get up set about. It does mean something when you have positive or negative plays in practice but it doesn't mean what the fan watching thinks it means. For starters you don't know the script. And there always is a script. Why did WL throw a pick? Did he make a bad play or were we testing something out that just didn't work. We don't know that but we do know that coach Scan was not scheming up the defense like he will for a real game.

Same goes for the defense. If WL throws 7 TDs does it mean our secondary sucks? No it doesn't. It will mean something but it won't mean directly what you think it means. The scripts for practice are built for entirely different purposes than they are for games.

 

[JHB4UK]

If anyone is still worried, reports are the offense has stepped up play since fan day

 

[JPFisher]

If anyone is still worried, reports are the offense has stepped up play since fan day

So now the defense sucks and we're going to let teams score at will this season? Great.

 

[JHB4UK]

Haha, is the perfect practice report for worry wart fans that the offense made big plays, no turnovers, marched down the field.........but then the D stiffens up & holds to field goals?

 

[JPFisher]

Haha, is the perfect practice report for worry wart fans that the offense made big plays, no turnovers, marched down the field.........but then the D stiffens up & holds to field goals?

No. We expect nothing less than the offense scored at will but the defense stood its ground and gave up nothing. Not even field goals.

 

[Johnfarrel]

As someone that has been part of these practices in the past I can tell you that QBs throw INTs in practice all the time. And it's never something to get up set about. It does mean something when you have positive or negative plays in practice but it doesn't mean what the fan watching thinks it means. For starters you don't know the script. And there always is a script. Why did WL throw a pick? Did he make a bad play or were we testing something out that just didn't work. We don't know that but we do know that coach Scan was not scheming up the defense like he will for a real game.

Same goes for the defense. If WL throws 7 TDs does it mean our secondary sucks? No it doesn't. It will mean something but it won't mean directly what you think it means. The scripts for practice are built for entirely different purposes than they are for games.

Thanks for posting this.