Thoughts on the Missou game...

[BlueRaider22]

-Timmons has been a disappointment this yr. In the past his mistakes could be rationalized by his youth but not anymore. You don't fair catch a punt inside the 5.....and the muffed KO, yikes.

-Defense - The last two games they've been really good. Well done boys.

-Dawson - finally some adjustments. Against Florida the o-line was struggling a lot......and the passing routes called didn't help at all. Against Missou, at first they adjusted. Towles was out of shotgun a lot more. There were a lot more quick passes to stretch the field. They rolled Towles out more to escape pressure. They moved the pocket by slanting the line. Later, when Missou adjusted, they went back to pistol and partial inverted wishbone formations and ran the ball well with Kemp.

-Towles - the notion that we've been hearing from a few posters that he "can't" or "doesn't possess the ability" is wrong. He's what he always has been....Terribly inconsistent. And we're gonna continue to see ups/downs throughout the yr. As they mentioned last night, Towles has a problem with nervousness. He needs his protection to be clean and his WRs to play well.....when he doesn't have that it's gonna be ugly. We can only hope that the staff and supporting cast put him in a position to succeed. Because they staff has made it clear that they choose Towles over Barker. Whether that's right or wrong....or your personal preference.....is irrelevant. The staff keeps choosing Towles......it is what it is. Just sit back, support the team, and pray that they steadily improve.

-There also have comments by posters saying that a bowl game is pretty much a lock now. BS. We should get to a bowl game, but it's not that easy. A win against EKU or Charlotte? Yep, those "should" be rather easy. Vandy? You would like to think it is easy but they just pushed top ranked Ole Miss' nerves. And don't forget that we had 5 games won last yr too and we all saw how "easy" it was to get the bowl game last yr.

 

[ukdesi]

If the coaches can scheme to help out Towles like they did last night, then maybe he'll be more consistent.I thought last night's performance was partially a function of having more time to throw. He also did a better job of escaping pressure last night.

 

[Aike]

Kind of a glass half empty analysis.

After a huge win, you start off with what was bad.

Then you explain that we shouldn't expect this out of our QB every week.

You may turn out right, but it seems a little curmudgeonly based on last night's results.

 

[CatDaddy4daWin]

Boy what a difference having protection makes. What a difference it makes when your receivers make the catches they should.

If you're getting hurried or sacked constantly it's kinda hard to have your head in the game and make consistent throws like we saw tonight.

 

[mrschwump]

Boy what a difference having protection makes. What a difference it makes when your receivers make the catches they should.

If you're getting hurried or sacked constantly it's kinda hard to have your head in the game and make consistent throws like we saw tonight.

+1.

 

[Perrin75]

Dawson helped build confidence for Towles by getting the ball out of his hand early. Those quick throws to the sidelines only netted about 5 yards a catch, but they were gold in terms of getting Towles some confidence. I actually saw him step up into the pocket a couple of times as opposed to panicking and running to his right straight into pressure. The OL did a great job, especially considering the injury issue. Too many are willing to throw them under the bus, but they have actually performed very well this season given the opposition they have faced and the relative inexperience. Hopefully this is a performance we can build on.

I wouldn't be surprised if we start a little slow against EKU next week. It's hard to imagine them not looking a little ahead to Auburn.

 

[UKWinsAgainYep]

-Timmons has been a disappointment this yr. In the past his mistakes could be rationalized by his youth but not anymore. You don't fair catch a punt inside the 5.....and the muffed KO, yikes.

-Defense - The last two games they've been really good. Well done boys.

-Dawson - finally some adjustments. Against Florida the o-line was struggling a lot......and the passing routes called didn't help at all. Against Missou, at first they adjusted. Towles was out of shotgun a lot more. There were a lot more quick passes to stretch the field. They rolled Towles out more to escape pressure. They moved the pocket by slanting the line. Later, when Missou adjusted, they went back to pistol and partial inverted wishbone formations and ran the ball well with Kemp.

-Towles - the notion that we've been hearing from a few posters that he "can't" or "doesn't possess the ability" is wrong. He's what he always has been....Terribly inconsistent. And we're gonna continue to see ups/downs throughout the yr. As they mentioned last night, Towles has a problem with nervousness. He needs his protection to be clean and his WRs to play well.....when he doesn't have that it's gonna be ugly. We can only hope that the staff and supporting cast put him in a position to succeed. Because they staff has made it clear that they choose Towles over Barker. Whether that's right or wrong....or your personal preference.....is irrelevant. The staff keeps choosing Towles......it is what it is. Just sit back, support the team, and pray that they steadily improve.

-There also have comments by posters saying that a bowl game is pretty much a lock now. BS. We should get to a bowl game, but it's not that easy. A win against EKU or Charlotte? Yep, those "should" be rather easy. Vandy? You would like to think it is easy but they just pushed top ranked Ole Miss' nerves. And don't forget that we had 5 games won last yr too and we all saw how "easy" it was to get the bowl game last yr.

Totally agree with everything. Towles' issue has always been nerves. If he doesn't get good protection he really doesn't do well under pressure at all. Dawson was smart by letting him run more this game and rolling out the pocket on some plays. Towles will probably be up and down like you said, but he is obviously better than Barker at this point. Hopefully this performance by Towles is a good harbinger.

Totally agree that we will be scratching and clawing to get 6-7 wins. The rest of our schedule is not easy, besides Charlotte and Eastern.

 

[Blue Decade]

-Timmons has been a disappointment this yr. In the past his mistakes could be rationalized by his youth but not anymore. You don't fair catch a punt inside the 5.....and the muffed KO, yikes.

-Defense - The last two games they've been really good. Well done boys.

-Dawson - finally some adjustments. Against Florida the o-line was struggling a lot......and the passing routes called didn't help at all. Against Missou, at first they adjusted. Towles was out of shotgun a lot more. There were a lot more quick passes to stretch the field. They rolled Towles out more to escape pressure. They moved the pocket by slanting the line. Later, when Missou adjusted, they went back to pistol and partial inverted wishbone formations and ran the ball well with Kemp.

-Towles - the notion that we've been hearing from a few posters that he "can't" or "doesn't possess the ability" is wrong. He's what he always has been....Terribly inconsistent. And we're gonna continue to see ups/downs throughout the yr. As they mentioned last night, Towles has a problem with nervousness. He needs his protection to be clean and his WRs to play well.....when he doesn't have that it's gonna be ugly. We can only hope that the staff and supporting cast put him in a position to succeed. Because they staff has made it clear that they choose Towles over Barker. Whether that's right or wrong....or your personal preference.....is irrelevant. The staff keeps choosing Towles......it is what it is. Just sit back, support the team, and pray that they steadily improve.

-There also have comments by posters saying that a bowl game is pretty much a lock now. BS. We should get to a bowl game, but it's not that easy. A win against EKU or Charlotte? Yep, those "should" be rather easy. Vandy? You would like to think it is easy but they just pushed top ranked Ole Miss' nerves. And don't forget that we had 5 games won last yr too and we all saw how "easy" it was to get the bowl game last yr.

Dawson called a solid game yesterday, overcame the loss of his left tackle, made key changes by using Kemp to chip Missouri's edge rusher and by rolling Towles out. In August, Dawson said we have to run the football, and he has the stones to stay the course. If we don't run the football well, we don't go to a bowl. Dawson is using every tool in the cabinet to get the job done. Timmons has always been overrated by our fans because he is from Frankfort, but he can be a contributory role player. All the criticisms of Towles are BS. Every quarterback learns with each game. Towles has 16 career starts under his belt, with 20 more regular season starts ahead of him if he stays healthy. Towles should finish the 2015 season as Kentucky's #5 career passer. By Thanksgiving of 2016, he will probably eclipse Woodson. If we just win the games in which we will be favored, we are going to a bowl this year. With an upset or 2, this could really become a historic year for Kentucky football.

 

[EliteBlue]

Boy what a difference having protection makes. What a difference it makes when your receivers make the catches they should.

If you're getting hurried or sacked constantly it's kinda hard to have your head in the game and make consistent throws like we saw tonight.

Protection improved tonight but some of those drops last week were more on Towles than the receivers. Throwing behind on quick slants and high and hot on 5-10 yard routes when he did have the time makes for some very difficult catches in traffic. He put the ball where it needed to be tonight and didn't put the receivers on tough situations.

 

[jhammons]

With an upset or 2, this could really become a historic year for Kentucky football.

At this point in the season, I would not call beating Louisville an upset and an argument can be made that beating Auburn would not necessarily be an upset. Furthermore, although slowing down Prescott and Dobbs are both huge challenges, a win over UT and/or at MSU seems possible to me. Just my humble opinion....

 

[sgt4269]

Boy what a difference having protection makes. What a difference it makes when your receivers make the catches they should.

If you're getting hurried or sacked constantly it's kinda hard to have your head in the game and make consistent throws like we saw tonight.

Yes. It's funny how much better a QB throws it when the other teams defense isn't on top of him every play.

 

[STUCKNBIG10]

A few thoughts:

-Certainly, beating Vandy is not a gimme. We have a history of ugly November games in Nashville, and this year will likely be no different.

-I love your point on Dawson and his adjustments. I do not feel he made any adjustments last week when things weren't working so was pleasantly surprised to see him change the game last night.

-I think the whole "let's make a bowl" goal is week. I love the attitude of Stoops when he says "why would I want to limit my team to 6 wins, all of them are winnable". That is not coach speak. We can win every game remaining (with the possible exception of UGA in Athens). Are there tough games left? Absolutely. But, we can beat Auburn, we can beat Ut, and we can beat UL. Will we? Who knows, but we have the kind of team that can compete and win every week, and that is exciting.

-UK will be favored over Auburn, so the experts will not see that as an upset. They are a mess, I just hope that they don't get things figured out before 10/15.

 

[rudd1]

-some people just can't be happy.

-The coaches chose towles...that makes it right. Fans opinions (like yours/mine) are meaningless/insignificant.

-i agree that expectations should be tempered (not lowered). Dont get too high/low. Enjoy the ride.

 

[stenchymouse]

Vandy will be tough, but we're gonna win another SEC game besides them I believe.

I think we'll either beat Auburn or Miss St...

I think that we go into the UofL game with 7 wins.

 

[BlueRaider22]

Kind of a glass half empty analysis.

After a huge win, you start off with what was bad.

Then you explain that we shouldn't expect this out of our QB every week.

You may turn out right, but it seems a little curmudgeonly based on last night's results.

I understand why t appears that way. This is merely a dose of reality. We had posters last wk that said Towles would never play well. Clearly the glass isn't that empty. And we currently have posters saying things like "there should be no reason why we can't go 9-3" after last night. And most likely the glass isn't that full yet.

 

[Katwatcher]

I think most of the improvement in our offense came by execution, not necessarily changes. The line play was certainly much better, which contributed to Towles good game. The criticism of Towels will subside.

The defense play well also. They will be the key to a successful season.
It was a team effort as the receivers make some great catches.We need
some work on our special teams. Overall I thought we were more focused and ready to play than the Florida game.

 

[BlueTick2]

+1.

+2
Receivers catching passes
Time to throw
QB 100% better