Ten observations today
- Thread starter Rembrandt90
- Start date
Surely do agree. The opening post captures most of the team's unresolved issues. Most of these will eventually get resolved as the long season plays out. Other SEC teams' issues will also get resolved. In that way, it is like a coaching race. Which teams' issues get resolved first? Talent helps. Bama has the most talent. Georgia and Florida have lots too. Kentucky also has a bunch of talent but I worry about outside pass coverages.
I was a tad bit frustrated with the play calling but it’s nothing I’m concerned about. A few things I noticed on Saturday.
1. This offense relies on the run game. Our bread and butter in the pass game is play action but play action can’t work if the defense doesn’t respect your run game. We got to get the running game going early on Saturday. Chattanooga’s safeties we’re playing deep and not letting anything behind them. They weren’t concerned about Kentucky’s RBs whatsoever.
2. So many of the pass plays were designed to be 15+ yard gains. Seemed like Coen was greedy and wanted to take lots of deep shot and it just wasn’t there on Saturday.
3. We run 2 man route pass plays way too often. Those work just fine if the defense is expecting us to run the ball. I can’t see how we could have expected it to work on Saturday when we were throwing the ball so much. Yet it seems like we ran plays where only 2 receivers were running routes 5-7 times.
4. Levis is legit but still has work to do. He was off often on Saturday but I’m not concerned about this either. He’s good and will only get better.
1. This offense relies on the run game. Our bread and butter in the pass game is play action but play action can’t work if the defense doesn’t respect your run game. We got to get the running game going early on Saturday. Chattanooga’s safeties we’re playing deep and not letting anything behind them. They weren’t concerned about Kentucky’s RBs whatsoever.
2. So many of the pass plays were designed to be 15+ yard gains. Seemed like Coen was greedy and wanted to take lots of deep shot and it just wasn’t there on Saturday.
3. We run 2 man route pass plays way too often. Those work just fine if the defense is expecting us to run the ball. I can’t see how we could have expected it to work on Saturday when we were throwing the ball so much. Yet it seems like we ran plays where only 2 receivers were running routes 5-7 times.
4. Levis is legit but still has work to do. He was off often on Saturday but I’m not concerned about this either. He’s good and will only get better.
What game did you watch? Our D gave up a whopping 14 points. If our offense shows up, we win that game by 35. We were obviously looking ahead to the stretch of football beginning next week. Your meltdown is hilarious.
P.S. — can you give us a list of the schools who send 4 or 5 defensive linemen to the NFL every year? LOL … too funny.
This I agree with. Not a good sign that someone didn't rip em a new one very early in this game. No leadership. Stenberg or Jackson might have done it were they there. If they don't have that person on the sideline, then you pull every starter for a play and ask them if they like the bench or if they would like to actually play some football
BTTT
Stoops' team laid an egg last night. MS St is an average team. There is never a good time to play a bad game. Following a bye week is a particularly bad time to do it, especially when you are ranked and marching toward a historic bowl opportunity against an average opponent.
I have to pay a compliment here to Paul Finebaum. For weeks, Finebaum has contended UK was overrated because of our weak schedule. It burned to hear that. But Finebaum is right. This doesn't mean we have a bad team. We don't. But our team are not as good as we thought after beating FL and LSU. Rather, FL and LSU are weak.
What has happened in recent weeks? This can be summed up easily. First, injuries to McCall and Ox weakened our defensive front and made it possible for our opponents to wear down our run defense. With our pass rush already mediocre, losing Ox meant we can no longer push the middle of the pocket back into the opposing QB. This gives QBs space to step into their throws.
Also, our CBs are not very good. We lost Joseph, Echols, Devonshire, Brown, and Nesbitt. Stoops missed on a couple of juco CBs. So Dort, Valentine, and Moseley are getting pasted now by SEC QBs.
But the biggest problems have come from our offense. The hiring of Coach Coen and the effort to rebalance our offense have been undertaken for good reasons. We had come about as far as we could come with an offense than ran 75-80% of the time. Too predictable. But this kind of a change takes time. You have to reshape your roster to accommodate the new system. You can't throw the baby out with the bathwater.
In Chris Rodriguez, we have one of the best RBs in the south. Watching the game last night made me wonder if Rodriguez is hurt. Kavosiey Smoke got a lot of the early playing time. Smoke was not very effective. When Rodriguez got in the game, he looked inept. Fumbles and indecision Even with a more balanced offense, our game plans ought to be built around Rodriguez.
But last night's game plan was built around Levis. Levis was not up to it. He still locks onto receivers, usually onto Wandale. MS St's defensive secondary had been thinned by injuries and a targeting penalty, but Levis could not take advantage. SEC DBs follow a QB's eyes. Levis almost always tips off where the pass is going with his eyes, so interceptions continue to mount up. Levis may have a strong arm, but is not an accurate thrower and doesn't have much touch on his throws. I don't see much evidence of progress with his command of Coen's offense.
I am not saying Stoops should walk back his effort to balance UK's offense. He shouldn't. I am not saying Coen was a bad hire. It's still too soon to tell. But I am saying Levis is floundering, and it is killing our team. Levis' mental mistakes and poor throws cost UK last night's game. If anyone doubts that, then I don't understand what they are seeing.
Can Levis improve? Of course he can. After all, he has only been in Coen's offensive system for 5 months. But he hasn't shown much evidence of improvement yet. He is the weak link on this team. The interceptions are game killers, and they have sucked all the life out of our offense.
Is it time for Beau Allen? Maybe it is. IDK. That is for Stoops and Coen to figure out. But I know this much. This team cannot win many more games if we keep turning the ball over every time we need to score. And a defense weakened by injuries will not get better if Levis keeps handing our opponents a short field. This team desperately needs a QB who can lead and execute.
Stoops' team laid an egg last night. MS St is an average team. There is never a good time to play a bad game. Following a bye week is a particularly bad time to do it, especially when you are ranked and marching toward a historic bowl opportunity against an average opponent.
I have to pay a compliment here to Paul Finebaum. For weeks, Finebaum has contended UK was overrated because of our weak schedule. It burned to hear that. But Finebaum is right. This doesn't mean we have a bad team. We don't. But our team are not as good as we thought after beating FL and LSU. Rather, FL and LSU are weak.
What has happened in recent weeks? This can be summed up easily. First, injuries to McCall and Ox weakened our defensive front and made it possible for our opponents to wear down our run defense. With our pass rush already mediocre, losing Ox meant we can no longer push the middle of the pocket back into the opposing QB. This gives QBs space to step into their throws.
Also, our CBs are not very good. We lost Joseph, Echols, Devonshire, Brown, and Nesbitt. Stoops missed on a couple of juco CBs. So Dort, Valentine, and Moseley are getting pasted now by SEC QBs.
But the biggest problems have come from our offense. The hiring of Coach Coen and the effort to rebalance our offense have been undertaken for good reasons. We had come about as far as we could come with an offense than ran 75-80% of the time. Too predictable. But this kind of a change takes time. You have to reshape your roster to accommodate the new system. You can't throw the baby out with the bathwater.
In Chris Rodriguez, we have one of the best RBs in the south. Watching the game last night made me wonder if Rodriguez is hurt. Kavosiey Smoke got a lot of the early playing time. Smoke was not very effective. When Rodriguez got in the game, he looked inept. Fumbles and indecision Even with a more balanced offense, our game plans ought to be built around Rodriguez.
But last night's game plan was built around Levis. Levis was not up to it. He still locks onto receivers, usually onto Wandale. MS St's defensive secondary had been thinned by injuries and a targeting penalty, but Levis could not take advantage. SEC DBs follow a QB's eyes. Levis almost always tips off where the pass is going with his eyes, so interceptions continue to mount up. Levis may have a strong arm, but is not an accurate thrower and doesn't have much touch on his throws. I don't see much evidence of progress with his command of Coen's offense.
I am not saying Stoops should walk back his effort to balance UK's offense. He shouldn't. I am not saying Coen was a bad hire. It's still too soon to tell. But I am saying Levis is floundering, and it is killing our team. Levis' mental mistakes and poor throws cost UK last night's game. If anyone doubts that, then I don't understand what they are seeing.
Can Levis improve? Of course he can. After all, he has only been in Coen's offensive system for 5 months. But he hasn't shown much evidence of improvement yet. He is the weak link on this team. The interceptions are game killers, and they have sucked all the life out of our offense.
Is it time for Beau Allen? Maybe it is. IDK. That is for Stoops and Coen to figure out. But I know this much. This team cannot win many more games if we keep turning the ball over every time we need to score. And a defense weakened by injuries will not get better if Levis keeps handing our opponents a short field. This team desperately needs a QB who can lead and execute.
Rembrandt, you bring up some excellent points here. Levis is an average qb with limited field vision, imo and I believe he may not be the answer right now. SEC coaches have figured him out and they are going to be able to stop him all the more. UK should have relied upon Ali more and utilized Rodriguez in hand offs and short passes which Rogers beat the Cats on all night long. Levis tried to make big plays instead of wearing down State’s Defense by dink and dunk passes - is this Coen or Levis orchestrating these?
Regardless, on to Tennessee, a game that will be tough to win given their hurry up offense and improving defense. Very disappointed in the UK lack of preparation and poor adjustments that should have been made in the second half...GBB!
Regardless, on to Tennessee, a game that will be tough to win given their hurry up offense and improving defense. Very disappointed in the UK lack of preparation and poor adjustments that should have been made in the second half...GBB!
- I feel same about schedule, but most here laugh at the idea since we're in SEC. Net, has to be tough. LOL.
- All teams get injuries. If we can't overcome, we're not that good/deep. Back to the first point. Amazing how good the young Ox must be.
- Most here putting the problems last night on the D. Not me. We ran just FORTY-EIGHT PLAYS on O. D has nothing to do with that. In our other five SEC games we ran between 66 & 76. That puts the pressure on the D to be heroes - as mentioned.
- All teams get injuries. If we can't overcome, we're not that good/deep. Back to the first point. Amazing how good the young Ox must be.
- Most here putting the problems last night on the D. Not me. We ran just FORTY-EIGHT PLAYS on O. D has nothing to do with that. In our other five SEC games we ran between 66 & 76. That puts the pressure on the D to be heroes - as mentioned.
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I’ve been on this board since 2002 . I’ve never agreed with a post more than this . I would be curious who would make the call to sit Levis a series or two? Would Stoops make that call ? Does Coen have that authority? Probably they discuss it and Stoops has the final say.
Yeah, I agree. Up until this season we have had mostly physically overpowering brutes and one or two nasty types. This season we are more fines oriented. They move better but don't put a punishing type physicality on the DL's like we have been.
The o line doesn’t look anywhere near the line from the past several years. Is Wolford as good of a coach as Schlarman? The line doesn’t look unified. Rosenthal is not impressive.
This season has gone as I expected in terms of victories and losses, but I didn't expect us to implode on offense last night nor give their offense 5 yards every play for the last 3 quarters.
I don't think Levis is the "weak link." I think he IS the hinge. When he plays poorly, we're not winning SEC games. When he plays well and within the scheme, we get an LSU type result. Unless we're playing Georgia of course.
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The rest of our issues ARE the result of the TRANSITION. More should have known this would be the case. The Rams are not a power running team. It's not in their DNA as a system.
We are actually transitioning into a place where we eventually won't be able to compete with UF unless we out recruit them, imo. Having a mobile QB that can throw the ball extremely well is the key to having the system AND being able to run the ball well. Can we do both with an OL that is geared towards power running or what Coen is installing? Can we get the best DT QB every 2 years?
This is a lot more complicated for UK than it is for UF, UGA, or Bama, and more complicated enough than it is for UT, and all but 2 other SEC schools. We'll be finding that out over the next few years if it's not already obvious.
The only other question that's not answerable by any if us is- Does this program have the heart and grit to win games when the target is on their backs and they're not the underdogs? From the fans to the staff and team, we have to be able to handle that and it didn't look like it last night. Instead of relying on each other, the individuals tried to make plays on their own (mostly Levis, but others also).
I don't think Levis is the "weak link." I think he IS the hinge. When he plays poorly, we're not winning SEC games. When he plays well and within the scheme, we get an LSU type result. Unless we're playing Georgia of course.
.............
The rest of our issues ARE the result of the TRANSITION. More should have known this would be the case. The Rams are not a power running team. It's not in their DNA as a system.
We are actually transitioning into a place where we eventually won't be able to compete with UF unless we out recruit them, imo. Having a mobile QB that can throw the ball extremely well is the key to having the system AND being able to run the ball well. Can we do both with an OL that is geared towards power running or what Coen is installing? Can we get the best DT QB every 2 years?
This is a lot more complicated for UK than it is for UF, UGA, or Bama, and more complicated enough than it is for UT, and all but 2 other SEC schools. We'll be finding that out over the next few years if it's not already obvious.
The only other question that's not answerable by any if us is- Does this program have the heart and grit to win games when the target is on their backs and they're not the underdogs? From the fans to the staff and team, we have to be able to handle that and it didn't look like it last night. Instead of relying on each other, the individuals tried to make plays on their own (mostly Levis, but others also).
