Will Stoops get it done this year?
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Yes. By it you mean Florida. Yes.
Stoops has gotten "it" done since he has been here.
The UK Football program is on as solid of a foundation as it has ever been in my opinion. We are stable and moving forward with better talent. This program was on rock bottom when CMS took over, both talent wise and national perspective. Trust me, we were the laughing stock of the SEC.
Last year at the Florida game we had more athletes on the field than the mighty Gators for the first time since pre-Spurrier years at UF. Yes, we still lost the game and CMS has been on a steep learning curve as far as in game coaching, but I believe if he ever gets over that hump, UK will enjoy several years of football success in the SEC.
I actually believe it starts this year if any of the quarterbacks are playmakers.
Fifty six years of hope.......
Last year at the Florida game we had more athletes on the field than the mighty Gators for the first time since pre-Spurrier years at UF. Yes, we still lost the game and CMS has been on a steep learning curve as far as in game coaching, but I believe if he ever gets over that hump, UK will enjoy several years of football success in the SEC.
I actually believe it starts this year if any of the quarterbacks are playmakers.
Fifty six years of hope.......
Would be nice to get to 8 wins in the regular season !
And just think, 4 years ago we were hoping for anything more than 2 wins to show some improvement in the program. It is time to take the next step up, but can’t deny we have improved.
Kentucky has improved. I can't see anyone else on a crash and burn the way UT, Ole Miss and Florida were last year. And we lost two of those.
UK is a team that plays on the edge. Couple bad calls, fumble, int....I just don't know if the talent and depth is there to overcome adversity. They showed flashes last season.
Maybe.
I believe with no settled quarterback the team steps back a notch this season....which wouldn't be a disaster.
Finishing with four or five wins though would set the torches ablaze.
UK is a team that plays on the edge. Couple bad calls, fumble, int....I just don't know if the talent and depth is there to overcome adversity. They showed flashes last season.
Maybe.
I believe with no settled quarterback the team steps back a notch this season....which wouldn't be a disaster.
Finishing with four or five wins though would set the torches ablaze.
Should be Mark Stoops best team. Hope it's best coaching year
So---8 wins.
So---8 wins.
I agree with this. If we can’t do it this year with 17 starters returning and what projects to be a very manageable schedule it’s hard to see how it ever happens under CMS.
I think it comes down to QB play. If whoever steps in and takes over at QB has to be able to make teams pay for loading the box with 8-9 men and playing man on the outside. As good as Snell is, he can't run into that and be successful. UGA saw alot of that last year, Fromm was able to hurt teams and force them to back a man out, opening up some running lanes. I think UK will face that this year, especially early with a new untested QB. Doesn't have to be 60 yard gains, multiple 15-20 yard completions will force teams to back off. Defense should be mature and experienced enough to keep every game winnable.
Nah, next to the smallest, and IF the players improve as much as I expect them to then any coaching errors, IF they happen, won't have nearly as much effect.
Then you can write about the OTHER teams coaching errors causing us to win.
Quarterback and WR play will be key-more balanced offensive attack. Don’t mean line it up and throw it 50% of the time because Gran won’t do that. Have to be able to pass when we should/need to. No matter how good our back is, we can’t line it up and run up the middle or out of the wildcat 70% or more and expect to come out on top. If we can pass 30-35% of the time and come up with the ball at a respectable clip-8 wins is possible. If we are as predictable on offense as we were last year-5/6 may be the ceiling.
I agree about the "opportunity for success". But unless talking about a very young team over the years I have learned that returning "performance" is usually more important than returning "experience".
Peace
I'm still looking for that season where we looked prepared in every game and we never get blown out in any game. Do this and the wins will come.
As bad as we were at times last year.....and the schedule was extremely good for us, that won't last and most teams will be much improved this season.
Stoops has mostly been treading water.
4 wins is reasonable beating Central Michigan, Murray State, Vandy, and MTSU with 5 wins IF we can beat Tennessee (but that will probly be a toss up considering how close it was last year.)
Stoops has mostly been treading water.
4 wins is reasonable beating Central Michigan, Murray State, Vandy, and MTSU with 5 wins IF we can beat Tennessee (but that will probly be a toss up considering how close it was last year.)
8 wins or bust. KY should have won 9 games last seasons with a terrible defense and a QB who was running on heart alone. SC won that many with arguably a tougher schedule and a very comparable roster. The same team KY owns right now and physically dominated at their place for 3 quarters.
He has his most experienced defense and Oline since he has been at KY and arguably the best RB in the SEC and maybe KY history. If the defense cannot at least move up 25 spots in total defense and QB can at least manage games, 8 wins should be expected.
If he wins 6-7 with this team against so many teams with new coaches, etc. my confidence he can ever win “big” at KY will be pretty low. This program needs bigger expectations now if it is ever going to climb the SEC ladder.
He has his most experienced defense and Oline since he has been at KY and arguably the best RB in the SEC and maybe KY history. If the defense cannot at least move up 25 spots in total defense and QB can at least manage games, 8 wins should be expected.
If he wins 6-7 with this team against so many teams with new coaches, etc. my confidence he can ever win “big” at KY will be pretty low. This program needs bigger expectations now if it is ever going to climb the SEC ladder.
I think this team will win 6 games solidly (3 non conference and Vandy). Then UL, Miss St, USC, Mizz and UT are all winnable and loseable as well. I think UK can find a way to get 2 of them to 6 wins..not sure about anything else.
1. It all comes down to me...our defense has to play way better with 10 of 11 starters back and tons of Sr/Jrs. I agree with Wildcard that experienced Sr in Westry isn't that vital...but guys like Allen, Ware, Edwards, Baity...even Jordan Jones his So year, etc...all have been playmakers at times. This unit has to finish in top 60 nationally in defense...it just has to happen this year or Stoops will never be able to do anything but outscore people (which ain't happening).
2. QB play is the other glaring issue...spring game did nothing to alleviate those concerns. As Grumpy pointed out...teams will load the box against the run and Wilson/Hoak have to have an answer. Personally...I hope we go Wilson and tons of read options. Wilson is very fast and can make you pay if you load up on Benny alone.
3. My last concern is UK wins a bunch by the skin of their teeth (and loses in same capacity). Austin FG have been huge and even the punting last year was really good. I think we see a downgrade in special teams and can UK win tight games if that isn't a strength this year? (i.e. more pressure on D IMO).
1. It all comes down to me...our defense has to play way better with 10 of 11 starters back and tons of Sr/Jrs. I agree with Wildcard that experienced Sr in Westry isn't that vital...but guys like Allen, Ware, Edwards, Baity...even Jordan Jones his So year, etc...all have been playmakers at times. This unit has to finish in top 60 nationally in defense...it just has to happen this year or Stoops will never be able to do anything but outscore people (which ain't happening).
2. QB play is the other glaring issue...spring game did nothing to alleviate those concerns. As Grumpy pointed out...teams will load the box against the run and Wilson/Hoak have to have an answer. Personally...I hope we go Wilson and tons of read options. Wilson is very fast and can make you pay if you load up on Benny alone.
3. My last concern is UK wins a bunch by the skin of their teeth (and loses in same capacity). Austin FG have been huge and even the punting last year was really good. I think we see a downgrade in special teams and can UK win tight games if that isn't a strength this year? (i.e. more pressure on D IMO).
I think with an improved defense we can win 8 regular season games with Hoak under center. However if Wilson were to morph into a more polished passer than we have a shot to make it to CATLANTA IMO because Wilson is a true dual threat and he's like having an extra running back on the field. With the TEs we have that would be an extremely hard offense to defend IMO.
That is awful for a program like UK. Playoffs or bust baby
Like the optimism, AND it is possible (it is football) but Georgia is the big obstacle. Their number one class last year had SEVEN five stars in it I believe, along with a LOT of four stars. Their biggest star RBs are gone, but plenty of talent left, and none of those inexperienced true frosh will be on the field his year, they will either be sophs or RS freshmen. And the best thing that can happen to freshmen is to become sophomores.
UGA will have quite a few frosh on the field this year. 15-17 are expected to contribute and by mid season 4-5 would be starting. Our sr class, Richt's last, will have 5, maybe 6 contributing, the others have either left the program or been passed.'
The fans that think the coaches aren't doing their job aren't paying attention to the huge talent gap that still exists between us and the SEC elite-------like you and Bama, and the others will be coming back. Improving a lot, yes, better talent than MOST SEC teams, no.
Red shirting becomes less significant each year. AL has had "the best" recruiting classes in 6 of the past 7 years and still played I believe 15 t-FR last year. 95 underclassmen had their name in last year's draft and 67 were taken. IOW, about 26% of the draft were underclassmen. If you've got a guy that is pretty good you might as well play him early.
For what little it is worth if I were a coach in today's game QB and O-line would be the two positions where I would be reluctant to play a talented FR. JMO
Peace
In agreement with you. We have to hope the coaching staff has grown or that we have enough talent to overcome their miscues. My chief complaint for the team is coaching-really, really hoping Stoops and company have grown.
I still think the three most glaring coaching errors were much more the responsibility of the coaches up above than the HC on the sidelines. Yeah, yeah, he is in charge, but still he has a lot of things to be thinking about and they have a much better view of the whole field.
Yes and for some reason I believe if our QB choice proves correct we will beat Fla, UT and UL this year.
I like Hoak-kid is accurate, faster on foot than I thought as well. If we can throw when we should and when needed and connect at a respectable rate, I see is doing some really good things on offense. Defense, especially run defense, has to make significant gains as well.
Won’t disagree. He just needs to keep a cooler head so he can pick up on these issues before it’s too costly. There’s been too many instances where he’s arguing with a ref rather than focusing on what’s happening on the field. It’s the little things that make the great ones great.
Funny, fans seemed to like it when Brooks was on the field with smoke coming out of his ears-----literally.
May have been the difference of who was upstairs. Brooks didn’t need to watch over them as much. We have to be a step ahead in every aspect of the game in order to have the best chance at winning. We have a talented team-game planning, excution and game management is key. Thought we were on point in the bowl game, hoping for much of the same.
Well, personally I think we have had a steady upgrade in our coaching staff assistants------PLUS we still have Marrow ------and Stoops has to get some credit for both of those feats. Much easier to get better assistants when your record is improving each year AND you finally have some SEC level support. Although we are still definitely behind a LOT of SEC teams in that regard. AND the in state level of talent will probably always be a problem, although it seems to be improving, probably a contributor is the emphasis UK is now putting on football. We will never reach the level of instate talent as the deep south teams, plus we have competition in the biggest city for in state talent.
I don't think we will have any "they sposed to be SEC" comments for a while, if ever.
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