Well, it's bitter. First loss of the season, streak continues, is what it is. I wanna talk about some positives that I seen, and some negatives.
First, the positives:
- This conversation starts with the defense. Overall, truly terrific, especially considering where this team was a year ago. This was the first complete game that the defense played. There were some things that could not be prevented (the stupid catches that Florida made several times), but Kentucky definitely fought hard and played well, especially in the red zone once again. This Florida offense has been better than they were at any point last season, or the past few seasons for that matter (credit MacElwain, that's why was an offensive coordinator at Alabama). I'm very happy that Kentucky held them to 14 points. Defense improving every game.
- JD Harmon has proven to be a leader of the defense. He stepped up when he needed to, and you can see how much he's improved since the end of last season. Credit that young man for doing what he needed to do to be a big factor for this team.
- Boom Williams didn't get his 4th consecutive 100 yard game. He had 80 yards on 16 carries, against what is most likely the fastest defense that we'll see all year, which is what often negates speed backs. He did a terrific job, just came up short. Onto the next one for him.
- Kentucky generated very good pass rushing. The return of Hatcher, and the presence of CJ Johnson is calming to me when it comes to rushing the passer. Adds a different dynamic to the defense.
Now, the negatives:
- Notice, above I didn't involve anything about the offense. They executed terribly, and credit Florida. That's an absolutely insane defensive front up there, but when you have the opportunity, you have to capitalize. Receivers beat their guys several times, but with the few passes that did hit them in the hands, they had issues hanging onto the ball. Baker missed a huge TD from 40+ yards out, and Badet dropped 2 or 3 short passes.
- Not all on the wide receivers. My goodness, Towles was awful tonight. Awful. Rarely threw a catchable ball, panicked several times, moving his feet at unbelievable speeds, making silly decisions that resulted in huge sacks. With the season that he's having, I'm not convinced that he's our guy. I believe that Barker should get a fair shake here, because it's hard to fathom that Barker couldn't do better than 51% completion percentage, 4 touchdowns, and 5 interceptions. I've been a huge advocate of Towles', but it may be time for a changing of the guard.
- Offensive line was outclassed. It was a concern leading up to the game, but the concerns came to fruition as early as the very first drive of the game, and went on to the very last offensive play of the game. The good news is, I think this had much, much more to do with Florida having an absurdly talented d-line, than it had to do with Kentucky having a bad o-line. We will not face another d-line of that caliber for the rest of the season. I'll take the experience.
- Defense has to finish plays in the backfield. Kentucky lived in their backfield several times tonight, but their QB just broke a lot of ankles. Can't have that happen. If Kentucky can generate pass rushing like that from this point on (very noticeable that we got Hatcher back, and CJ Johnson's presence was felt), we'll be in good shape, but Kentucky has to end those plays in the backfield and not allow the QB to extend the plays.
My final take:
All jobs, outside of RB on offense, should be open for grabs this week. Ultimately, I wouldn't argue with not having WR's compete. Baker, Johnson, and Badet, despite some mistakes, mostly lacked production because of Towles' issues. Still, can't drop passes like that.
Defense took another step forward this week, gotta keep it going though. Gotta progress into week 4, and so on. Hopefully this makes the team hungry. I think we have good players, just have a young offense, and the youth showed today. Onto the next one.
First, the positives:
- This conversation starts with the defense. Overall, truly terrific, especially considering where this team was a year ago. This was the first complete game that the defense played. There were some things that could not be prevented (the stupid catches that Florida made several times), but Kentucky definitely fought hard and played well, especially in the red zone once again. This Florida offense has been better than they were at any point last season, or the past few seasons for that matter (credit MacElwain, that's why was an offensive coordinator at Alabama). I'm very happy that Kentucky held them to 14 points. Defense improving every game.
- JD Harmon has proven to be a leader of the defense. He stepped up when he needed to, and you can see how much he's improved since the end of last season. Credit that young man for doing what he needed to do to be a big factor for this team.
- Boom Williams didn't get his 4th consecutive 100 yard game. He had 80 yards on 16 carries, against what is most likely the fastest defense that we'll see all year, which is what often negates speed backs. He did a terrific job, just came up short. Onto the next one for him.
- Kentucky generated very good pass rushing. The return of Hatcher, and the presence of CJ Johnson is calming to me when it comes to rushing the passer. Adds a different dynamic to the defense.
Now, the negatives:
- Notice, above I didn't involve anything about the offense. They executed terribly, and credit Florida. That's an absolutely insane defensive front up there, but when you have the opportunity, you have to capitalize. Receivers beat their guys several times, but with the few passes that did hit them in the hands, they had issues hanging onto the ball. Baker missed a huge TD from 40+ yards out, and Badet dropped 2 or 3 short passes.
- Not all on the wide receivers. My goodness, Towles was awful tonight. Awful. Rarely threw a catchable ball, panicked several times, moving his feet at unbelievable speeds, making silly decisions that resulted in huge sacks. With the season that he's having, I'm not convinced that he's our guy. I believe that Barker should get a fair shake here, because it's hard to fathom that Barker couldn't do better than 51% completion percentage, 4 touchdowns, and 5 interceptions. I've been a huge advocate of Towles', but it may be time for a changing of the guard.
- Offensive line was outclassed. It was a concern leading up to the game, but the concerns came to fruition as early as the very first drive of the game, and went on to the very last offensive play of the game. The good news is, I think this had much, much more to do with Florida having an absurdly talented d-line, than it had to do with Kentucky having a bad o-line. We will not face another d-line of that caliber for the rest of the season. I'll take the experience.
- Defense has to finish plays in the backfield. Kentucky lived in their backfield several times tonight, but their QB just broke a lot of ankles. Can't have that happen. If Kentucky can generate pass rushing like that from this point on (very noticeable that we got Hatcher back, and CJ Johnson's presence was felt), we'll be in good shape, but Kentucky has to end those plays in the backfield and not allow the QB to extend the plays.
My final take:
All jobs, outside of RB on offense, should be open for grabs this week. Ultimately, I wouldn't argue with not having WR's compete. Baker, Johnson, and Badet, despite some mistakes, mostly lacked production because of Towles' issues. Still, can't drop passes like that.
Defense took another step forward this week, gotta keep it going though. Gotta progress into week 4, and so on. Hopefully this makes the team hungry. I think we have good players, just have a young offense, and the youth showed today. Onto the next one.
