So...is UK Football turning the corner next season?
- Thread starter Kaizer Sosay
- Start date
Had the same thought. There is a difference between moving up the same road a little farther then falling way back down the same road like did for so many years, than actually turning a corner onto a new path. I think we actually took the exit onto a new road when our recruiting started picking up after Stoops arrived. So now we're on the exit ramp getting ready to merge onto the highway and are in the process of picking up speed to do so.You gotta start somewhere. But I have long believed that when you have minimal football tradition or history that elusive "corner" is really a big, wide sweeping turn in the road that takes years to "turn". JMO.
Peace
![[winking]](http://l.yimg.com/j/assets/img/emoticons/classic/wink.r191677.gif "Winking [winking]")
Not sure if any single game will do that but it will take continued recruiting success and at least some "Big Wins" to get up fast enough to merge in with the big boys without crashing. What a ground breaking win over Florida does is keeps changing the perception of UK football which continues bring up the talent level that keeps the accelerator mashed a little harder.
The good news is our floor has been raised considerably IMO so that if we miss a gear here or there we won't have to fall back to first anymore to keep going, but maybe drop back to third and pick back up from there.
Everything you said is true. The problem in football is even with our better recruiting, we are light years away from them. Our best recruits are a dime a dozen to the big boys 3 deep! Stoops recruiting right now as it stands has us not middle of the pack but a little outside the middle. To "compete" with the big boys we need 5-8 5*'s, and at least 10 4*'s a class. AT LEAST. Until we do we are not gaining ground on who it matters to gain ground on.
This is not like basketball where a scrub 16-14 team full of 3*'s can upset all 5* lineup. Football it's waaaaaay less likely because they are knee deep three deep in 4/5* players.
That's why what Wild said it was a slow curve and not a sharp corner that suddenly changes everything. The improvement in recruiting is the same way. Better recruiting leads to a few more wins which leads to slightly better recruiting and so on. You don't suddenly start getting 5 stars because you went to a bowl game. But when you start stacking classed together that are clearly a step (or two) above where you have been before then the wins start slowly growing and then the recruiting does too. You just can't have the disaster year and fall back like we have in the past but that's not likely with the level of better talent we have brought in and that is the good thing.
That's why I say we may not have turned a clear corner yet but there is no question we have taken the exit from the slow lane and are headed to better times because of the consistency in better talent than before for the past 3 years.
You said it best yourself! That's why it's frustrating when I hear people talking about competing for the east 10-2 ect... But I'm blasted and receive silly responses. I love UK, I want us to win against the Alabamas , Florida's, Tennessee. But I must stay real, and true. We are not ready, not even close to competing for SEC championship's, but people hate me for saying it. We can't win away from home and only went 7-6 but Alot of people expect a miracle now. You said best! It takes time. I do believe we are on the right track, I don't believe we are close to our true goal though.
UK will be competitive and a player in the east. I realize you feel the Dawgs are primed to claw everyone in their way. I also realize SC will have a stout defense. Florida should succumb to the Dawgs. UT is a question. Vandy is Vandy. As for the Wildcats, we will come to play.
Sept 2: @ Miss St- Win
Sept 9: EKU - Win Overall 8-4
Sept 16: @ USC- Hard fought win
Sept 23: UF- lose
Sept 30: E. Mich- Win
Oct 7: Mizzu-Win
Oct 21
Miss ST- Win
Oct 28: Tenn- Lose
Nov 4: Ol Miss- Win
Nov 11: @Vandy- Win
Nov 18: @Georgia-Lose
Nov 25: Louisville- Lose
Sept 9: EKU - Win Overall 8-4
Sept 16: @ USC- Hard fought win
Sept 23: UF- lose
Sept 30: E. Mich- Win
Oct 7: Mizzu-Win
Oct 21
Miss ST- WinOct 28: Tenn- Lose
Nov 4: Ol Miss- Win
Nov 11: @Vandy- Win
Nov 18: @Georgia-Lose
Nov 25: Louisville- Lose
I general I think we have turned the corner. The rest of the SEC had been sleeping on us. When teams stop scheduling you as their homecoming game cause they know they might lose, you've turned the corner.
I think have potential to be much better in 17 than 16, but 18 is the year we should be a contender for a playoff spot if we are ever going to be one. Depending on who leaves early, defense could return as many as 8 starters who have started multiple years, offense will return 9 and Eason will be a Jr. Shouldn't be any frosh being forced to start, that isn't the case in 17. I do expect us to win 10+ before the bowl game in 17, not sure that is good enough to win the East. No one on the schedule we don't have a chance to beat, may even be favored, but still have to beat UF and we haven't shown we can do that with any consistency.
I wouldn't say we are light years away. We're not on equal footing, but we've recruited well enough to be competitive. There are only 25 5* players each year so there is no way we're getting 5-8. Bama is probably the only team that consistently pulls that. I'd agree on averaging 10 4* per year and it should be doable.
I disagree with you on your second paragraph. In years where turnover is high we may struggle more, but years where we are returning a lot and have been redshirting a lot of our guys we'll be very competitive. Miss St in 2015 was almost 3* across their 2 deep and were in the hunt for a National Championship and were ranked #1 when we played them. Same year Vandy's defense was chock full of 3* players and they shut down about every offense they played. The common denominator there is good player development. That'll go a long way in determining exactly how successful we are this coming year in regards to having a good year or a great year.
jbapp1978, I won't pound on you too hard, but the Southern Miss loss was to a team who had one of the most productive QB's in college football. He's gone, now.
At the time of our first game in '16, we had yet to find an unknown fellow on our own bench who finished in the top 5 nationally for TD passes of 40 yards or longer, and a true frosh who EASILY topped the true frosh rushing numbers of luminaries such as Mark Higgs, Mark Logan, Chris Jones, Boom Williams, etc., etc., and who did so missing the first 2 games.
A loss to Southern Miss is not out of the question, but you state we won't touch Ole Miss at home?? They will be a shadow of '16, which was a shadow of their program in '14.
And you state that we need "5-8 five stars and 10 four stars" to get it done? I think those numbers might actually slightly exceed Bama's average class the last 5 years. I'd love to see it, but if we had pulled those recruiting numbers any of the last 4 seasons, Ole Miss might be looking clean compared to us.
Enjoy the process, and the easy exceeding of your modest expectations in '17.
At the time of our first game in '16, we had yet to find an unknown fellow on our own bench who finished in the top 5 nationally for TD passes of 40 yards or longer, and a true frosh who EASILY topped the true frosh rushing numbers of luminaries such as Mark Higgs, Mark Logan, Chris Jones, Boom Williams, etc., etc., and who did so missing the first 2 games.
A loss to Southern Miss is not out of the question, but you state we won't touch Ole Miss at home?? They will be a shadow of '16, which was a shadow of their program in '14.
And you state that we need "5-8 five stars and 10 four stars" to get it done? I think those numbers might actually slightly exceed Bama's average class the last 5 years. I'd love to see it, but if we had pulled those recruiting numbers any of the last 4 seasons, Ole Miss might be looking clean compared to us.
Enjoy the process, and the easy exceeding of your modest expectations in '17.
Ive been looking forward to this season for 2 years. Have multiple posts saying i believe 2017 would be the breakout year. Lost confidence that it could happen early last season....back to feeling good about it now. So, im gonna say yes to turning the corner this year.
There are a lot of factors that determine if we turn the corner. One being how will the new coaching additions do another how we replace Boom Williams and Toth. Most fans are just looking at our record and Counting games as wins. But as far as I can remember no game is an automatic win.
Yes we are headed in the right direction but we still have a lot of work to do. Why we should improve so shall other teams. By my account we didn't blow anyone away last season. There were quite a few games that could have went either way.
Yes we are headed in the right direction but we still have a lot of work to do. Why we should improve so shall other teams. By my account we didn't blow anyone away last season. There were quite a few games that could have went either way.
Not all teams will improve, some will regress or stay essentially the same, while others may improve but necessarily to the degree that we will. On paper anyway Kentucky should be one of the most improved teams in the league. I think that's the feeling a lot of our fans are expressing.
True and that includes some of our losses as well as wins.
Believe you have nailed it here. We had some close wins that could have gone the other way, but think about another shot at the second half of USM, think about Georgia. Those games were VERY winnable.
I believe the HOPE, is that next year might be a year where we avoid the (almost guaranteed) mistakes of UK teams in the past. It could be a solid year where we know who we are and what we have, and then take care of business.
That could certainly equate to ~8 wins in 2017.
This season, UK football WILL turn the corner with a new passion, inexhaustible work ethic, superior coaching, and EPIC amounts of dedication and focus. Trust me on this--my insider sources are updating me with some EXTREMELY encouraging info that will get BBN AMPED for this season. It's going to be a breakout season where the chains come off of UK football.
Stay tuned......
Stay tuned......
Sept 2: @ Miss St- Win
Sept 9: EKU - Win Overall 8-4
Sept 16: @ USC- Hard fought win
Sept 23: UF- lose
Sept 30: E. Mich- Win
Oct 7: Mizzu-Win
Oct 21
Oct 28: Tenn- Lose
Nov 4: Ol Miss- Win
Nov 11: @Vandy- Win
Nov 18: @Georgia-Lose
Nov 25: Louisville- Lose
You must REALLY want to beat Mississippi State.
Not sure how that emoji got there but I'm happy that it's that one instead of a rainbow or unicorn. Honestly was on a PC and must have got keyed something.
Bama rotating off the schedule makes it a little easier, but OM is a very talented team, good OL, very good WR, the top rated DT qb from the 16 class who has starting experience. As we have seen, they have the best team they could buy. The big question is can Freeze regain control of the team and they choose to play hard for him again, or have they mailed in their career and waiting to get out. OM was a very good team the first half of the season and they quit on Freeze, number 2 team in the conference in my opinion, in fact was up big on Bama early. Maybe they got word of what was coming in terms of sanctions, If they decide to put forth the effort, they have the talent to be a 10 game winner in the West, the only team clearly more talented is Bama, but if they mail it in from the beginning they are a 10 loss team waiting to happen, But they are far more than a shadow of the 16 team, can be better offensively because Patterson isn't an idiot. But reality of no bowl in their careers may set in and they go through the motions. OM has recruiting pretty well the last 4 years except for the 17 class. Their classes were ranked 8, 14 and 19, so they have some talent in, their last 4 class had 29 4* and 2 5*. Now I have no idea how many are still there, but thats enough talent to put a good team on the field. But it all depends on Freeze regaining control, A motivated OM can't be counted as an easy win by anyone.
Actually I said that because you had Miss St down twice and us beating them both times.
Grump, I love your posts and participation, but I called the State beatdown in the Egg Bowl in 2016, and simply believe they are toast.
I understand UK is having to issue tickets and sideline passes for NCAA personnel attending the game to continue the investigation of Ole Piss. Unfortunately, I (and other UK fans) have been through quite a few of these NCAA multiyear investigations/penalties (in more than one sport) and we have typically fallen on hard times during and after the scrutiny.
Ole Miss won one road game in '16. If their close calls in the first half of '16 mean all that much, then Jerry Claiborne should be named Coach of the (last) Century . . . . we almost always led major opponents in his tenure, here.
Hell, we led Bama (by a small margin) for much of the first half in Tuscaloosa in '16, but that didn't pan out well.
I understand UK is having to issue tickets and sideline passes for NCAA personnel attending the game to continue the investigation of Ole Piss. Unfortunately, I (and other UK fans) have been through quite a few of these NCAA multiyear investigations/penalties (in more than one sport) and we have typically fallen on hard times during and after the scrutiny.
Ole Miss won one road game in '16. If their close calls in the first half of '16 mean all that much, then Jerry Claiborne should be named Coach of the (last) Century . . . . we almost always led major opponents in his tenure, here.
Hell, we led Bama (by a small margin) for much of the first half in Tuscaloosa in '16, but that didn't pan out well.
