Postgame thoughts on the Kentucky-Louisville game - the good, the bad, and the ugly
Sunday was not a pretty day to be a Kentucky fan, and I’m not just talking about the dark clouds and pouring rain from the remnants of Hurricane Isaac falling on everyone at Louisville’s Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium, which proved to be a gloomy tailgating omen for how the Wildcats’ day would end there that afternoon.
Depending on whom you asked before the game, predictions were varied. I personally predicted a close game with both teams having offensive struggles, coming down to a last possession field goal situation. I had Kentucky pulling the surprise upset in the rain, but it could easily have been Louisville. I was not alone in the opinion. From many, particularly very confident Louisville fans, I was hearing score predictions of Louisville win margins in the 20s and 30s.
Well, I was wrong.
Kentucky had a rough season last year and hardly anyone thinks that they have a puncher’s chance to achieve great things this season with a much harder SEC schedule in store for them. Head Coach Joker Phillips was already in the hot seat from the team’s lack of success last season. This year is especially crucial for him. Even more than that, this game against Louisville was arguably the most important opportunity that Phillips had to win over the fan base and get relieve that growing pressure.
So naturally, Kentucky lost 32-14 and it probably should have been worse.
Kentucky’s main struggle last season was their offensive game, specifically the play calling and the receiving core. What’s good about Sunday for them is that it showed that these things are much improved from what fans saw last season. The offense is being led this year by sophomore QB Maxwell Smith who managed to make this year’s offense look like a completely different team. It wasn’t perfect, but it worked. Their running game is still a bit sketchy and they’re relying heavily on the passing game, but if they can get 280 passing yards in less than 24 minutes of possession, that’s night and day from last season’s woes.
But the defense, which was the one bright spot of their team last year, was abysmal. Louisville was driving at will and Kentucky was powerless to stop it. The only reason that the score wasn’t more lopsided was because Charlie Strong took Teddy Bridgewater out early to save him from injury.
And while we’re on that subject, let’s talk about Louisville QB Teddy Bridgewater. Louisville has been spewing the Bridgewater hype for a while now, and from what he showed on Sunday, I became a believer. That kid really does have a lot of talent and could really be something special someday. He was 19/21 for 232 passing yards and didn’t even play the whole game. That’s impressive. He controlled the field when he was on it and I’m no longer subscribing to the theory that he is all talk, no walk.
But Rick Minter’s defense struggled. They were out-run, out-thrown, and almost looked lost on out there. It seemed like most plays there wasn’t even a defender anywhere near the receivers. As painful as it was to watch Kentucky’s biggest rival humiliate their defense in the first game of the season, at least it really cannot get worse on that side of the field for them.
So again, it wasn’t all bad for Kentucky; their offense is vastly improved with some gutsy play calls (as opposed to my favorite run-the-ball-up-the-middle-for-one-yard-three-plays-in-a-row from last year). But their defense? Let’s just say when they start the SEC portion of their schedule, it could get uglier than usual if things don’t turn around quickly.
Kentucky plays their first home game of the season Saturday, hosting Kent State. This is supposed to be a piece of cake for Kentucky, but Vegas has lost so much faith in the Cats that the line on the game is now only 7 in the Cats’ favor. That speaks volumes.
It’s not looking good for Head Coach Joker Phillips’ already hot seat. He had a big chance on Sunday to prove himself to the growing number of fans who already want him out of power. Looks like it may be down to an ever-elusive upset of a big name SEC team to save him.
- Danielle Chilton
