Roughly 6 weeks until spring practice opens - top priorities?

[gamecockcat]

3rd week of March is what I've seen for spring ball.

1. Fix the OL - if we're as bad (or worse) than last 2 years, almost nothing else matters re: offensive production. Have to be at least decent and not require 6-7 guys blocking 4 defenders in order to pass the ball.
2. Be more aggressive on defense when necessary - our default has been, for several years, to almost always play to prevent big plays. Last year, we still gave up plenty of big plays and had a devil of a time getting off the field on 3rd down. I'd be all for playing a bit more 4 DL and coach them to disrupt rather than occupy blockers. But, regardless, being too passive allows QBs too much time to throw, easy pitch and catch for gimme first downs, significant yardage on 1st down, opening most games in vanilla base defense that either allows points or pins the offense deep in our own territory.
3. Find a rhythm on offense - too many games where the offense's plays looked like they were picked at random with no overarching strategy.
4. Eliminate the stupid and costly brain farts - both sides of the ball, but more so on the offense who continually shot themselves in the foot

 

[TuckyFB]

1. Offensive Line
2. Pass Rush
3. QB Play

I think all 3 will be improved. I like our *projected* starting OL (Pete, Farmer, Wibberley, Braun and Wollschlaeger) and our pass rush looks to be improved with the additions of Grace and Olds. Calzada should be a upgrade over BVG.

 

[billoliver40]

Get the offensive line fixed.

Adopt an aggressive defense and junk the bend don't break system until you find a way to quit breaking.

More discipline. More discipline. More discipline.

I guess that's 5 things.

 

[K_TIME]

Great post and agreed on all counts

I think the most not talked about but is a concern is the defense being more disruptive yet disciplined and your point about occupying blockers is so accurate

On passing downs…..we simply have to be way better at being in backfield and forcing our will. Unless these transfers are ass kickers….im struggling to see it

 

[BigTyrone]

1. Not sucking

 

[bigblueinsanity]

OL and DL. Thats an evergreen approach to winning and proves itself time and again.

On the DL that means getting a jack. Fearbry had every opportunity to be good just never followed through. In fact he missed a few sacks that ended breaking the back of our season.

That ties into our perceived lack of aggression. I say perceived because we are certainly aggressive. We blitz dbs more than anyone in the country and they get home. We play very aggressive run defense and complex zones.

The difference of late is the lack of DL pass rush. That makes it harder to pressure the qb and finish sacks. So us not getting there makes fans think we aren't aggressive. However not getting there isnt for lack of schematic effort, its just personnel.

 

[BigBlueManSouthCentralKY]

Get all our new OL on the same page since they will be starting. This should be our biggest and most talented OL we have had in quite some time. Pass protecting and road grading should be the best we have seen in a long time. They all can do both well.

Get the new QB all the reps you can with all the new WR's. Now a lot of experience at these positions so getting them on the same page should come quicker than having to bring a lot of freshmen along the first year.

 

[K_TIME]

OL and DL. Thats an evergreen approach to winning and proves itself time and again.

On the DL that means getting a jack. Fearbry had every opportunity to be good just never followed through. In fact he missed a few sacks that ended breaking the back of our season.

That ties into our perceived lack of aggression. I say perceived because we are certainly aggressive. We blitz dbs more than anyone in the country and they get home. We play very aggressive run defense and complex zones.

The difference of late is the lack of DL pass rush. That makes it harder to pressure the qb and finish sacks. So us not getting there makes fans think we aren't aggressive. However not getting there isnt for lack of schematic effort, its just personnel.

This is a good debate and hard to get into details.

- I agree we tend to bring blitzes in our base 3-4 look
- But here is my major schematic issue with Stoops/White defense up front. Our DLine tend to stand up and hand fight quite bit vs. getting low, exploding/attacking gaps between Oline, our edge rushers tend to play high vs. low and bending the corner to get to QB, etc... Now maybe that is talent but just feels like we teach/coach not a very aggressive scheme from our front 7 IMO.

 

[gamecockcat]

^Exactly. Too many times I've watched our DL hold their position while the QB scans the field for open receivers. Or, hold their position while the ball carrier scoots into a crack and picks up 5+ yards. Every so often, a DL should shoot a gap or attempt to penetrate into the backfield instead of hand fighting to maintain their position along the LOS. On paper, we have had some pretty highly regarded DL the past few years but we look like we're teaching very passive techniques. Paschal was very disruptive. Deone, prior to his back issues, was disruptive at times. But not many others in a long line of DL. They seem satisfied to just keep their blocker occupied.

 

[K_TIME]

Go to the 4:32 mark....Deonne did this all year long....just stands up and chicken fights with Oline and if the QB is in his vicinity, he'd explode but otherwise he occupying a blocker/gap. And vs. scrambling QBs...I get lane integrity...but Quinn Ewers and guys like him are not a threat with their legs.

This kind of stuff goes on year after year at UK. Walker, Silver, Saunders, etc... Rybka was not as bad but those interior guys many snaps...they never get pad level low and exert to penetrate gaps and disrupt plays. This is what I argue is our non aggressive defensive nature.

 

[TuckyFB]

Go to the 4:32 mark....Deonne did this all year long....just stands up and chicken fights with Oline and if the QB is in his vicinity, he'd explode but otherwise he occupying a blocker/gap. And vs. scrambling QBs...I get lane integrity...but Quinn Ewers and guys like him are not a threat with their legs.

This kind of stuff goes on year after year at UK. Walker, Silver, Saunders, etc... Rybka was not as bad but those interior guys many snaps...they never get pad level low and exert to penetrate gaps and disrupt plays. This is what I argue is our non aggressive defensive nature.

View embedded media

Walker had a back injury this past season and played through it. Scouts were raving about him at the Senior Bowl a couple of weeks ago.

 

[bigblueinsanity]

This is a good debate and hard to get into details.

- I agree we tend to bring blitzes in our base 3-4 look
- But here is my major schematic issue with Stoops/White defense up front. Our DLine tend to stand up and hand fight quite bit vs. getting low, exploding/attacking gaps between Oline, our edge rushers tend to play high vs. low and bending the corner to get to QB, etc... Now maybe that is talent but just feels like we teach/coach not a very aggressive scheme from our front 7 IMO.

Its personnel. Josh Allen showed insane bend. Fearbry showed plenty too, just couldn't complete the sack when he got there. We just can't get the jacks we need. Instead we end up with a guy like weaver out of position.

Also look at paschal, calvin Taylor, and others. They aren't taught to play high. Deonne was just lazy.

Nose is a bit different because their job is mainly eat blockers. The worst d we had was with rogers at nose because he didn't even command a double. Other than rogers we've been good there with q and bully and silver. Silver was lazy too though.

 

[UKBlueBlood]

Been watching the same story for decades.

All I ask is our team find a way, any way, to do the following things:

1. Beat the teams we "should' beat on the schedule 100% of the time. That's usually 3-4 games on the schedule from season to season.
2. Be competitive and capable of winning every one of the other 8-9 games on the schedule, and then find a way to consistently win more of those games than you lose.

Do those things, and we should, at minimum, win 8-9 games every season... with occasional seasons where we sneak up and win 10, maybe 11. Do that, and you're vying for SEC Championship game appearances and playoff berths.

Tall order to ask in the SEC though.

 

[southindycat]

1. Fix offensive line
2. Fix offensive line
3. Fix offensive line
...

 

[satcheluk]

3rd week of March is what I've seen for spring ball.

1. Fix the OL - if we're as bad (or worse) than last 2 years, almost nothing else matters re: offensive production. Have to be at least decent and not require 6-7 guys blocking 4 defenders in order to pass the ball.
2. Be more aggressive on defense when necessary - our default has been, for several years, to almost always play to prevent big plays. Last year, we still gave up plenty of big plays and had a devil of a time getting off the field on 3rd down. I'd be all for playing a bit more 4 DL and coach them to disrupt rather than occupy blockers. But, regardless, being too passive allows QBs too much time to throw, easy pitch and catch for gimme first downs, significant yardage on 1st down, opening most games in vanilla base defense that either allows points or pins the offense deep in our own territory.
3. Find a rhythm on offense - too many games where the offense's plays looked like they were picked at random with no overarching strategy.
4. Eliminate the stupid and costly brain farts - both sides of the ball, but more so on the offense who continually shot themselves in the foot

I agree that we need an enormous improvement on offense, especially the Oline which is probably 75% of the problem the last few years, but I would also argue that the defense is not nearly as problematic. You could make an argument that the defense played worse, due to the offense not being able to stay on the field and it was apparent through injuries and effort that their effectiveness dropped as the season progressed, but even with that terrible record they finished hi 30s/low 40s in total defense and were top 30 in mid November. And beginning in 2018 Kentucky has ranked 23rd, 20th, 45th and 25th in total defense.

I'm not sure why everyone thinks our defense is substandard when the data says otherwise for overall defense.

 

[gamecockcat]

I agree that we need an enormous improvement on offense, especially the Oline which is probably 75% of the problem the last few years, but I would also argue that the defense is not nearly as problematic. You could make an argument that the defense played worse, due to the offense not being able to stay on the field and it was apparent through injuries and effort that their effectiveness dropped as the season progressed, but even with that terrible record they finished hi 30s/low 40s in total defense and were top 30 in mid November. And beginning in 2018 Kentucky has ranked 23rd, 20th, 45th and 25th in total defense.

I'm not sure why everyone thinks our defense is substandard when the data says otherwise for overall defense.

Good points. In my mind, it's situational. When we desperately need a stop to give the offense a chance to tie/win the game, when the opposing team has the ball on their own 25 with <2 minutes until halftime, when we punt the ball deep and pin the opponent near their own goal line, etc. - it just seems like we're unable to rise to the occasion a lot more than not. Maybe the other team doesn't score, but they pick up a couple of first downs, burn some clock and punt us back to our 25. With our problems on offense the past couple of years, needing 60+ yards to score every drive is a VERY tall order. It seems very rarely that we get a short field. In addition, we don't seem to create turnovers like other teams do (I know that's a year-by-year thing many times). I see other teams attempting to strip the ball from ball carriers, slap at the QB's throwing arm consistently, jump a route going for the int. Instead, we lay back in zone so we don't get beat over the top. Not only do we give up easy completions but we eliminate any chance of an interception unless the ball is tipped.

This past year, especially, we were dreadful in that 'middle 8' that Stoops talks about all the time (last 4 minutes of the first half and first 4 of the second). Overall, White has put a competitive defense on the field year after year. But, playing vanilla base in the first few drives nearly every game very regularly puts the team behind or, at least, our offense starts their first few drives pinned back deep in our own territory. Last year, the team as a whole pretty much quit. No excuse to give up the rushing yards we gave up late in the season except the players were going through the motions.

In general, the defense has held up much better than the offense these past several years. I'm not ready to say that the defense doesn't need some significant improvement, though.

 

[satcheluk]

Good points. In my mind, it's situational. When we desperately need a stop to give the offense a chance to tie/win the game, when the opposing team has the ball on their own 25 with <2 minutes until halftime, when we punt the ball deep and pin the opponent near their own goal line, etc. - it just seems like we're unable to rise to the occasion a lot more than not. Maybe the other team doesn't score, but they pick up a couple of first downs, burn some clock and punt us back to our 25. With our problems on offense the past couple of years, needing 60+ yards to score every drive is a VERY tall order. It seems very rarely that we get a short field. In addition, we don't seem to create turnovers like other teams do (I know that's a year-by-year thing many times). I see other teams attempting to strip the ball from ball carriers, slap at the QB's throwing arm consistently, jump a route going for the int. Instead, we lay back in zone so we don't get beat over the top. Not only do we give up easy completions but we eliminate any chance of an interception unless the ball is tipped.

This past year, especially, we were dreadful in that 'middle 8' that Stoops talks about all the time (last 4 minutes of the first half and first 4 of the second). Overall, White has put a competitive defense on the field year after year. But, playing vanilla base in the first few drives nearly every game very regularly puts the team behind or, at least, our offense starts their first few drives pinned back deep in our own territory. Last year, the team as a whole pretty much quit. No excuse to give up the rushing yards we gave up late in the season except the players were going through the motions.

In general, the defense has held up much better than the offense these past several years. I'm not ready to say that the defense doesn't need some significant improvement, though.

I agree they always need to improve, especially with getting sacks, though I would bet big money our best defenses occurred in years when we had good to very good offenses that won the time of possession battles mor often than not. If your defense is not fatigued, from snaps and more importantly snaps under stress, then they are more likely to get the stops needed late in the game. In listening to Stoops recently, it seems we are headed back to a more run heavy/control the line of scrimmage type offense, which should see a rise in defensive production for all the reasons stated. Anyone waiting for a big change in defensive strategy is going to be disappointed.

 

[truebluewildcat]

Obviously coming off consecutive disappointing seasons we can all argue just about everything needs improvement.

All Jimmies, Joes, Xs and Os…need to get better.

I’d like to lock in on QB.

CMS is going on 13 years with 2 maybe 3 years seeing serviceable competitive play at the most important position in the game.

Defense, ground game, special teams, OL…at this point are not going to save him or his legacy.

We’re not going to sniff an invitation to the .500 Mark Stoops Bourbon Bowl, let alone anything better if a QB and the passing game doesn’t get to a 25 TD 3,000 yd level.

If Cutter Boley is remotely close to being something he needs to play. If the other guy is pretty good, great. We need Boley for the next few years so if it’s close then he needs to get some run.