As mentioned last week in my mashup, I predicted that UK hits back to start the season out at 5-0. Now, a lot of you said we shouldn't count any of the starting SEC games as wins because we haven't had luck against Mizzou, the Florida streak, S.Car is now an away game. Yeah, that's nice.
NEXT OPPONENT: AUBURN- UK RECORD THUS FAR: 5-0 To start us out of the bye we have Auburn. A Thursday night game which I am no fan of, but we will see if a little change-of-pace can work some magic for the Cats. Auburn went 8-5 overall and 4-4 in the SEC. The Tigers absolutely decimated LSU and won a good game against Ole Miss in 2014 along with hard losses to Georgia and Miss. St. The Tigers shouldn't lose much steam from last season and that means that they'll likely have their running attack again. This doesn't bode well for 2014 Kentucky, but I suspect that the booster shot of linebacker recruits will help our 2015 team greatly. The losses of Bud and Z will be felt in this game, but I think Dubose, Huguenin, Hatcher, and Bell will be adequate replacements for this first year. UK wins a close one at home. We all saw how much we improved after our byes last year, and I feel as though this one is no different. Bring back the black and chrome and the fans will do their part. The Wildcats regain bowl eligibility for the first time in years.
*****This is where it starts to get dicey. At this point of the season we are likely to have multiple big injuries to guys in the 2-deep and I expect we will start to see our depth tested. Our very young depth. (Stoops's oldest recruits are true Juniors).
NEXT OPPONENT: MISSISSIPPI STATE- UK RECORD THUS FAR: 6-0 The next game is at Mississippi State. The Cats travel to Starkville for a rematch of the 2014 two-touchdown loss. I will not mention record or major wins/losses because the team will be so radically different this year. That being said, I do not see them succumbing at home to a young Wildcats team. UK loses its first- and a close one.
NEXT OPPONENT: TENNESSEE- UK RECORD THUS FAR: 6-1 Next up for the Cats are the Volunteers of Tennessee. In 2014, the Vols went 7-5 overall and 3-5 in the SEC. This is another home game and the earliest matchup of these two teams in the modern era. Home game for UK along with being a trap game for a Tennessee team coming off an away game at Bama.This plays favorably for UK, but the weakness in our depth starts to push through (This is not a slight on Stoops. There is no way we can expect reasonable SEC depth this soon. Again, the majority of the SEC is playing with mostly redshirted Juniors and Seniors whereas we're playing with true Juniors as Stoops's oldest pupils). Stoops has the team fired up and out for revenge but will it be enough? I'm not sure UK can pull it out so I'll call this a push leaning ever so slightly on a Tennessee victory.
NEXT OPPONENT: GEORGIA- UK RECORD THUS FAR: 6-2 Lack of depth or not, we had no pride while our asses were getting handed to us on limestone-fed fields. UGA went 10-2 overall and 6-2 in the SEC in the 2014 season with wins against Auburn and the cards. Losses include Florida and South Carolina. We get the Dawgs in their home environment to make things even worse this year. I have to imagine that Stoops will pull out all the stops to make this a respectable game, but I don't see a win. UGA's running attack will be excellent once again barring any catastrophic injury and again, I'm not sure if UK improves enough in that defensive department to hold off the ground attack. Cats lose by a couple touchdowns. Maybe 3 at most (I hope).
NEXT OPPONENT: VANDERBILT- UK RECORD THUS FAR: 6-3 Pretty good record so far, I'd say. I think it gets a lot better these next 3 games (hint: I think UK wins at least 2/3). This game, I will go worst-case scenario and say that Vandy gets its ish together and starts gradually building to playing like the team we thought they would be coming into 2014. That means tough lines, excellent coaching, gameplan, and the like. Make no mistake, folks, Vandy still has a lot of talent on that roster, and it's still very dangerous. UK had chances to blow open the gates last year and didn't. IF Vandy improves at all, we will need to hope and pray that we can make some of those plays. If they have a good season to this point, do not be surprised if the bandwagon Anchors come out of the woodwork for this matchup and make the game much more interesting. I will not post Vandy's wins or losses because I think the team will be much different this year, but I will say that we can not sleep on them. UK pulls out a win.
NEXT OPPONENT: CHARLOTTE- UK RECORD THUS FAR: 7-3 If ever there was a year to make the jump that so many of you predict, this will be it. with so many home games and no true guaranteed losses aside from probably UGA, UK's schedule sits favorably for a much nicer win/loss record. That said- good night, Charlotte. Could be a trap game since UK will be looking forward to the rivalry, but I doubt UK loses.
NEXT OPPONENT: UL- UK RECORD THUS FAR: 8-3 The cards won last season 44-40. I see UK turning the tables and getting the win against UL this year. At home, no more Parker, Christian, or NFL quality defensive backs. UL is really starting to run out of Hurtt and it'll show this year. Big time. By this time we will have hopefully gotten the kinks worked out of our "new" offense and Towles will be performing at the level that we think he is capable. Louisville went 9-4 last season and 5-3 in the ACC. The Cats take back the Governor's Cup and keep it in Lexington where it belongs for a few years.
UK ends the regular season at 9-3. Anything can happen in a bowl and that's even if we earn a bowl berth. I will not make a prediction on which bowl or who the opponent would be because there's way too much variance.
Now, know that this is not an unbiased list. I could easily see UK suffering two more losses (most likely to Auburn and Florida). Maybe a third to S.Car. I will be the first to admit that my lists are often tinted blue. Not ashamed of it. However, 6-7 wins is still enough to get us to that promised land of a bowl. Do not be unhappy with that result.
Now on with the mashup:
> Quintuple YAHTZEE!!!! Welcome to the BBN, Mr. Holtzclaw, Mr. Bannerman, Mr. Snell, Mr. Rigg, and Mr. Rose!
> Word through the grapevine is that Austin Kendall is ready to decommit from UT any day now. I like UK's chances for the flip.
> YAHTZEE alert: UK is on the tail end of another great recruiting weekend.
> Bud Dupree absolutely destroyed the combine. Posted incredible numbers like we thought he would, and likely helped his already high draft stock immensely.
> The guy who's been doing the most damage on the recruiting trail may surprise you... but probably not. It's Marrow. Everyone's favorite. Incredibly happy that UK gave this guy a raise. By far our most valued recruiter and one of the most important cogs in Stoops's coaching arsenal.
> If Lloyd Tubman is able to make his way back onto the team then that is incredible. It seems as though he hasn't missed a beat and has loaded up on the protein shakes. However this ends, whoever comes out with him will have a helluva athlete on their roster.
Yet again another slow week. except on the recruiting trail. Have a great week and hope to see you all back next weekend.
Go Big Blue!
NEXT OPPONENT: AUBURN- UK RECORD THUS FAR: 5-0 To start us out of the bye we have Auburn. A Thursday night game which I am no fan of, but we will see if a little change-of-pace can work some magic for the Cats. Auburn went 8-5 overall and 4-4 in the SEC. The Tigers absolutely decimated LSU and won a good game against Ole Miss in 2014 along with hard losses to Georgia and Miss. St. The Tigers shouldn't lose much steam from last season and that means that they'll likely have their running attack again. This doesn't bode well for 2014 Kentucky, but I suspect that the booster shot of linebacker recruits will help our 2015 team greatly. The losses of Bud and Z will be felt in this game, but I think Dubose, Huguenin, Hatcher, and Bell will be adequate replacements for this first year. UK wins a close one at home. We all saw how much we improved after our byes last year, and I feel as though this one is no different. Bring back the black and chrome and the fans will do their part. The Wildcats regain bowl eligibility for the first time in years.
*****This is where it starts to get dicey. At this point of the season we are likely to have multiple big injuries to guys in the 2-deep and I expect we will start to see our depth tested. Our very young depth. (Stoops's oldest recruits are true Juniors).
NEXT OPPONENT: MISSISSIPPI STATE- UK RECORD THUS FAR: 6-0 The next game is at Mississippi State. The Cats travel to Starkville for a rematch of the 2014 two-touchdown loss. I will not mention record or major wins/losses because the team will be so radically different this year. That being said, I do not see them succumbing at home to a young Wildcats team. UK loses its first- and a close one.
NEXT OPPONENT: TENNESSEE- UK RECORD THUS FAR: 6-1 Next up for the Cats are the Volunteers of Tennessee. In 2014, the Vols went 7-5 overall and 3-5 in the SEC. This is another home game and the earliest matchup of these two teams in the modern era. Home game for UK along with being a trap game for a Tennessee team coming off an away game at Bama.This plays favorably for UK, but the weakness in our depth starts to push through (This is not a slight on Stoops. There is no way we can expect reasonable SEC depth this soon. Again, the majority of the SEC is playing with mostly redshirted Juniors and Seniors whereas we're playing with true Juniors as Stoops's oldest pupils). Stoops has the team fired up and out for revenge but will it be enough? I'm not sure UK can pull it out so I'll call this a push leaning ever so slightly on a Tennessee victory.
NEXT OPPONENT: GEORGIA- UK RECORD THUS FAR: 6-2 Lack of depth or not, we had no pride while our asses were getting handed to us on limestone-fed fields. UGA went 10-2 overall and 6-2 in the SEC in the 2014 season with wins against Auburn and the cards. Losses include Florida and South Carolina. We get the Dawgs in their home environment to make things even worse this year. I have to imagine that Stoops will pull out all the stops to make this a respectable game, but I don't see a win. UGA's running attack will be excellent once again barring any catastrophic injury and again, I'm not sure if UK improves enough in that defensive department to hold off the ground attack. Cats lose by a couple touchdowns. Maybe 3 at most (I hope).
NEXT OPPONENT: VANDERBILT- UK RECORD THUS FAR: 6-3 Pretty good record so far, I'd say. I think it gets a lot better these next 3 games (hint: I think UK wins at least 2/3). This game, I will go worst-case scenario and say that Vandy gets its ish together and starts gradually building to playing like the team we thought they would be coming into 2014. That means tough lines, excellent coaching, gameplan, and the like. Make no mistake, folks, Vandy still has a lot of talent on that roster, and it's still very dangerous. UK had chances to blow open the gates last year and didn't. IF Vandy improves at all, we will need to hope and pray that we can make some of those plays. If they have a good season to this point, do not be surprised if the bandwagon Anchors come out of the woodwork for this matchup and make the game much more interesting. I will not post Vandy's wins or losses because I think the team will be much different this year, but I will say that we can not sleep on them. UK pulls out a win.
NEXT OPPONENT: CHARLOTTE- UK RECORD THUS FAR: 7-3 If ever there was a year to make the jump that so many of you predict, this will be it. with so many home games and no true guaranteed losses aside from probably UGA, UK's schedule sits favorably for a much nicer win/loss record. That said- good night, Charlotte. Could be a trap game since UK will be looking forward to the rivalry, but I doubt UK loses.
NEXT OPPONENT: UL- UK RECORD THUS FAR: 8-3 The cards won last season 44-40. I see UK turning the tables and getting the win against UL this year. At home, no more Parker, Christian, or NFL quality defensive backs. UL is really starting to run out of Hurtt and it'll show this year. Big time. By this time we will have hopefully gotten the kinks worked out of our "new" offense and Towles will be performing at the level that we think he is capable. Louisville went 9-4 last season and 5-3 in the ACC. The Cats take back the Governor's Cup and keep it in Lexington where it belongs for a few years.
UK ends the regular season at 9-3. Anything can happen in a bowl and that's even if we earn a bowl berth. I will not make a prediction on which bowl or who the opponent would be because there's way too much variance.
Now, know that this is not an unbiased list. I could easily see UK suffering two more losses (most likely to Auburn and Florida). Maybe a third to S.Car. I will be the first to admit that my lists are often tinted blue. Not ashamed of it. However, 6-7 wins is still enough to get us to that promised land of a bowl. Do not be unhappy with that result.
Now on with the mashup:
> Quintuple YAHTZEE!!!! Welcome to the BBN, Mr. Holtzclaw, Mr. Bannerman, Mr. Snell, Mr. Rigg, and Mr. Rose!
> Word through the grapevine is that Austin Kendall is ready to decommit from UT any day now. I like UK's chances for the flip.
> YAHTZEE alert: UK is on the tail end of another great recruiting weekend.
> Bud Dupree absolutely destroyed the combine. Posted incredible numbers like we thought he would, and likely helped his already high draft stock immensely.
> The guy who's been doing the most damage on the recruiting trail may surprise you... but probably not. It's Marrow. Everyone's favorite. Incredibly happy that UK gave this guy a raise. By far our most valued recruiter and one of the most important cogs in Stoops's coaching arsenal.
> If Lloyd Tubman is able to make his way back onto the team then that is incredible. It seems as though he hasn't missed a beat and has loaded up on the protein shakes. However this ends, whoever comes out with him will have a helluva athlete on their roster.
Yet again another slow week. except on the recruiting trail. Have a great week and hope to see you all back next weekend.
Go Big Blue!
