SB Nation - Josh Chichester

Louisville 10, Syracuse 9

Mike Rutherford — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:08:13 -0000

Ten quick thoughts from the masterpiece that was Saturday's victory:

1. That may have been the least exciting BCS conference football game ever played, but it still did feel really good to win. The players deserved it and it was also nice to thrust a knife into the collective heart of a Syracuse fan base that had been rejuvenated a bit by a new head coach. That was for the last two years.

2. Kragthorpe is still so gone.

3. Josh Chichester is really tall and can catch the football. It's unbelievable that it took 21 games to properly utilize these pair of facts.

4. I was surprised that Chris Campa wasn't named a starter at the beginning of the season and am even more surprised now that it's become apparent that he's the BIGGEST BAD ASS IN ALL OF FOOTBALL.

5. It's safe to say Chris Philpott was probably the right choice at place kicker from the beginning.

6. I wasn't there but I heard the wave exhibition put on by Louisville fans was the most impressive one in sports since circa 1988 in the Astrodome.

7. The Big East Network making Trent Guy's negative one-yard punt return the "Play of the Game" was my favorite television move since Don Russell and the gang at Fox-41 made a DeJuan Wheat three-pointer their "Drive of the Game."

8. If we beat South Florida this weekend - which, even with our struggles in Tampa seems at least possible given the way the Bulls have been playing - how friggin' pumped are you going to be for a season finale against Rutgers with a possible trip to Toronto on the line? It's a little hard to get jacked at 7 in the morning (the official kickoff time, I think) but I'm sure Card fans will answer the bell.

9. Darius Ashley has the potential to be very, very good. If we can bring in a coach with any sort of offensive acumen, next year's team could at least be a lot of fun to watch.

10. Eat it, Syracuse. Eat it all.

The Big Blue Daily Mail -- Told You So Edition

Truzenzuzex — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 03:51:35 -0000

More photos » by Ed Reinke - AP

I didn't fire anybody.

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Told ya.

Well, just kidding, but I turned out to be correct in a recent back-and-forth with Rush The Court over the question of whether a UK assistant was terminated or left of his own accord.

The word is that Bilal Batley, the recent departure from the UK staff, was punished for his creation of a secondary violation, as was a Gillispie assistant earlier in the year -- with a letter of admonishment. He was not fired, he was not run off, he was not threatened with cement overshoes if he did not leave. That is that.

Moving on, we find that we have some legal trouble on the football team and other stuff in the news, which follows:

UK Basketball News

Bluegrass State Basketball: Ex-Cat Allen Edwards Talks Past, Present and Future
Very good stuff here. Allen Edwards was an important part of Kentucky's most recent championship stretch, and it's great to hear he's doing well.
Gillispie's tale rings familiar tune to recovering Eustachy - NCAA Division I Mens Basketball - CBSSports.com
This is a really good article by Gary Parrish. Alcoholism is a difficult problem to overcome, and Larry Eustachy shows how it can be done. Can Gillispie recover and coach again? Absolutely. But not unless he realizes that he is an alcoholic, and accepts responsibility for his life and actions in the context of that disease.

Via Bluegrass State Basketball.
Top impact freshmen for 2009-10 - CBK News - FOX Sports on MSN
Virtually all of Kentucky's five-stars make this list.

UK Football News

Louisville Tale of the Tape " Over The Pylon
Great stuff from Over the Pylon, as always.
Kentucky vs. Louisville 9-19-09 – What UL fans are saying " Kentucky Wildcard
Lots of love going on in Card Nation for the Wildcats. As usual.
Wildcats, Cardinals well rested | Cincinnati.com
If there's an advantage - or a disadvantage - to having a week off before a rivalry game, good luck getting either coach to say so.

Heh.
Take the Governor's Cup quiz | KentuckySports.com
It's not only the players who need to get into the rivalry frame of mind. Fans have to get there, too.
John Clay: U of L presents some fear factors | KentuckySports.com
A 13-point spread amounts to zilch. Toss out the numbers. That's the rivalry-game creed. That's right. There are lots of things to fear, not the least of which is our kicking game.
Low kickoffs make for high stress for Brooks | courier-journal.com | The Courier-Journal
Asked whether he'll consider trickery — pooch punts, squib kicks, etc. — Brooks chuckled. "The first squib kick we ordered (against Miami of Ohio) ended up a line drive down to the 2-yard line with a 2.2 (second) hang," Brooks said. "God bless our coverage guys, because they did a hell of a job on that one."

Scary.
UK staff challenges defense to step up | courier-journal.com | The Courier-Journal
Last season, UK was able to put pressure on quarterbacks, thanks to a particularly strong defensive line. Two of those linemen — end Jeremy Jarmon and tackle Myron Pryor — now are on NFL rosters. Brown thinks his current line — with Peters and Ricky Lumpkin at tackle and a rotation of DeQuin Evans, Chandler Burden and Collins Uku at the ends — can do similar things in time.
Tom Leach Productions -- DeQuin Evans
Video of DeQuin Evans talking about his game.
Tom Leach Productions -- Rich Brooks
Tom Leach has a video of Rich Brooks discussing the team status.
Alan Cutler " Ridge Wilson Is In Jail…..His Future ?
Pretty good comments from the mustachioed one.
Louisville game can indicate success of season | The Kentucky Kernel

Other UK Sports News

None today

NCAA Sports News

Ranking the SEC after Week 2 | HOG COUNTRY
10. Kentucky … The Wildcats are one gigantic question mark, as are most of Rich Brooks’ teams at this point of the year. Kentucky’s football team has been flying over the radar since John Calipari was hired as the basketball coach and that’s just how Brooks likes it.
LSU v Vandy: Behind the Numbers - And The Valley Shook
Don't Bet On It!: Around the SEC - Dawg Sports
With another big weekend of college football on tap in the SEC, Dawg Sports offers the latest round of league predictions in this week's installment of "Don't Bet On It!"

Other News of Interest

UK's Todd turns down bonus - Local - Kentucky.com
"I appreciate the Board of Trustees' strong expression of support for the progress and accomplishments of the past year, but it has been yet another very challenging year from a budget standpoint, and I am simply not comfortable accepting the performance award at a time when every department on campus is dealing with severe budget reductions," Todd said in a written statement.

Nice gesture by Dr. Todd, but I'm sure the editorial pages will pick on him for hiring Calipari.

The Daily Schadenfreude

Eric Crawford: Governor's Cup starting to lose luster | courier-journal.com | The Courier-Journal
UK not only had its way in the scheduling with this rivalry, but now it is having its way with its rival. The Wildcats have clearly passed the Cardinals. Three years ago they were 13-point underdogs. This season they're 13-point favorites. Think about that turn of events.

Heh. Love it.

Kentucky Football: A Look Down the Schedule, Part 1 -- The Non-conference Opponents

Truzenzuzex — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 23:48:47 -0000

More photos » by Ed Reinke - AP

UK sure is going to miss this guy. Oh, uh... This is Jeremy Jarmon, by the way.

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While basketball is the bread and butter of all UK fans, there comes a time when we need to begin focusing a bit on football. Prognostications about the upcoming season have been all over the place, and understandably so when returning such an anemic offense, and losing several defensive stalwarts. But in spite of that, looks very much to be in the same position as they were last year, with perhaps just enough seasoning on the offensive side to perform better.

Today, we'll be taking a look at the non-conference schedule. For Kentucky, this is typically the "easy" part of the schedule, and deliberately so because the conference schedule is so brutally tough. Last year, UK had four non-conference opponents in a row before beginning the SEC schedule. This year, UK gets only two.

So let's have a look at the schedule, highlighting the non-conference teams:

Date	Opponent	oConf
9/5/09	vs Miami (OH)	Mid-American
9/12/09	open
9/19/09	Louisville	Big East
9/26/09	Florida	SEC
10/3/09	Alabama	SEC
10/10/09	at South Carolina	SEC
10/17/09	at Auburn	SEC
10/24/09	Louisiana-Monroe	Sun Belt
10/31/09	Mississippi State	SEC
11/7/09	Eastern Kentucky	Ohio Valley
11/14/09	at Vanderbilt	SEC
11/21/09	at Georgia	SEC
11/28/09	Tennessee	SEC

So how does this OOC schedule compare to last year? It is somewhat more difficult, but once again we wind up with FCS Eastern Kentucky on the schedule, something that's sure to bring snorts of derision from Georgia and South Carolina fans, among others. Nevertheless, that's what we have.

Now, let's take a look at each of our out-of-conference opponents and see what they have to offer this year.

Miami (OH)

Last year's record: 1-7 (Conf) 2-10 (overall)
Last year's Strength of Schedule: 42.56
Significant wins -- None. Miami managed to defeat only an FCS opponent and one conference opponent, Bowling Green, who was a .500 team both in conference and overall
Likely outcome -- Miami is still in the rebuilding mode, and even though their non-conference slate is more forgiving than last year, it's hard to see them having a winning season in the MAC. The Miami defense was beyond weak later last season, and it would take a major breakdown for UK not to win this game going away.

Louisville

Last year's record: 1-6 (Conf) 5-7 (overall)
Las year's Strength of Schedule: 45.46
Significant wins -- South Florida (8-5) at home.
Likely outcome -- Louisville is hard to figure this year, but they have problems on paper. A new quarterback, a new defensive coordinator and some significant losses on the offensive line could hurt them, although the line does have experienced backups moving into starting spots. The linebacking corps, a major concern at the beginning of last year turned out OK, and they are back intact. Victor Anderson is a capable tailback, and Doug Beaumont and Josh Chichester return at wideout.

UK gets Louisville in Commonwealth Stadium, and although this one is far from a lock, UK looks to be in solid shape to take the third game in a row for the Cardinals, probably sealing Kragthorpe's fate in the process.

Louisiana-Monroe

Last year's record: 3-4 (Conf) 4-8 (overall)
Last year's Strength of Schedule: 36.19
Significant wins -- Troy. The Trojans are perennially the best team in the Sun Belt, and Louisiana-Monroe managed to beat them at home last year.
Likely outcome -- The Warhawks figure to be better than they were last year if first-year starting quarterback Trey Revel is able to deliver on some of his promise. ULM should have a solid running attack and a very good secondary, while their defensive line is suspect, and their passing attack is an unknown.

UK should be able to handle the Warkhawks, but they are capable of giving UK some trouble if Kentucky does not prepare well or is beat up after their two-game road swing through South Carolina and Auburn. This is a bit of a danger game for UK for that reason.

Eastern Kentucky

Last year's record: 7-1 (Conf) 8-4 (overall)
Last year's Strength of Schedule: 25.95
Significant wins -- EKU had two wins over FCS teams with a winning record last year.
Eastern is not a bad FCS team, but they are unlikely to beat Kentucky in Commonwealth Stadium. Western, whom Kentucky beat last year and who only manage two wins, defeated Eastern easily 37-13. The only other FBS school they played also handed them a lopsided loss. Anything other than a 20+ point win by UK would be considered a major upset.

Louisville 38, Kansas State 29

Mike Rutherford — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 19:28:13 -0000

We'll move quickly since this game is already five days old and Larry Taylor Depreciation Week appears to be in full swing.

This is as excited as I've been about Louisville football since the first offensive drive/play of last year's Murray State game. If the last two weeks have proven anything it's that the effort level is going to be there week in and week out, and that there is a decided dedication to improving the execution. After the Kentucky debacle, this is all any of us could have hoped for.

It would still take something resembling a miracle for this team to have a legit crack at the BCS once mid-November rolls around, but honestly, what team in the Big East terrifies you right now? What team in the Big East do you know beyond the shadow of a doubt would have beaten the Cardinals last Wednesday?

If Connecticut is toppled on Friday then we're all allowed to at least entertain crazy thoughts for a couple of weeks, and that's something to get excited about.

I'm not driving it, but I'm officially on the Vic Anderson bandwagon.

All spring and summer we heard about Vic's speed, but what's been amazing to me is how many times we've seen him lower the boom on potential tacklers in the first three games. It's safe to say that the kid can leg press more than I can.

Another fine, fine game from Hunter Cantwell, but now he has to prove he can do it against a 4-3 defense stacked with talented linebackers. Hunter's been able to sit back and pick apart 3-4 sets for the past two weeks, but Lutrus, Wilson and company aren't going to allow him that luxury Friday night. Robert Vaughn and Darius Butler are also two of the better defensive backs the Cards will see from here on out. Overall, this will be a fantastic test of just how far this offense has come since Kentucky.

Doug Beaumont: when this is all over, let's go somewhere warm and sandy together.

Josh Chichester is still very much a work in progress, which means we're going to have to take the good with the bad for the foreseeable future. The great news is that the good has far outshone the bad to this point.

Even though I think the time for the Tim Dougherty placekicking era to commence is upon us, it's pretty obvious that Chris Philpott is still in possession of a stronger leg and I'd like to see him remain the man on kickoffs.

I love deferring after winning the coin toss, and I hope it becomes a trend. Delayed gratification is the shit.

One of the most positive things I saw on Wednesday was Latarrius Thomas and Bobby Buchanan kneeling next to Richard Raglin when he went down with the wrist injury in the second half. It was just one of those little things that last season was so devoid of.

Speaking of Buchanan, I love the way he's stepped up and embraced the leadership role in his senior season. Even though he's had his fair share of bad moments over the course of his college career, and even though he and Thomas were again the main culprits on Kansas State's four biggest offensive plays, it's impossible not to root extra hard for someone who cares about his team and his program as much as No. 34 does.

Major props need to be hurled in the direction of Greg Tomczyk and Josh Byrom, who made it possible for thousands of fans to have no idea that George Bussey and Mark Wetterer were out with injuries.

Whatever wasn't clicking with Woodny Turenne a year ago certainly seems to have been rectified. Good things happen when you're talented and in the place you're supposed to be.

Let's go ahead and up the amount of practice time devoted to special teams by about eight hours this week.

I think it's safe to say that Bilal Powell is still at his best when he's forced to improvise, a fact which is a bit more discouraging than it was when he was a true freshman. Still, I remain bullish on his potential and think he needs to see at least ten touches a game for this team to have the best chance to reach its ceiling.

The crowd was tremendous for the first three quarters of the game, but it was sort of depressing to see so many empty seats as the Cards closed things out. On the other hand, you can't schedule a Wednesday night game and then be upset when people with families and 8-5 jobs choose not to stay at the stadium until 11:45. It's just the way it is.

Even though it came at the expense of my favorite team, it did bring me at least a little bit of pleasure to watch someone three inches shorter and 25 pounds lighter than myself tear it up in a major college football game.

Black jerseys > red jerseys

Zack Stoudt jersey > Art Carmody jersey

Art Carmody > any other football player to ever put on pads

Raise your hand if you wish the fake dive, pitch to Vic had been put in the playbook a month ago.

Being friends with Brock Bolen and Joe Tronzo is basically a free pass to look at or talk to anyone however you want on Saturday nights.

The inconsistent Mo Mitchell of yesteryear appears to have graduated a year early. Mitchell has been playing inspired football since the first snap of the Kentucky game, and has become the force off the edge that the defense lacked in '07.

No one on the team talks more than L.D. Scott. Focusing on him for a couple of plays every game is hilarious.

It was great to see Daniel Covington flying around the field and bringing the lumber on multiple plays, especially since it appears the secondary is going to be without Richard Raglin for at least a couple of games.

Dan - of having his U of L hat thrown on the ground by a girl outside a bar in Charlotte fame - called the Kansas State fake punt and was justified moments after his dad and I ripped the prediction for a solid 15 seconds. For the record, it was an awful call and we should had the up man who took the snap behind the line.

I'm going to go ahead and give the Card Chronicle seal of approval to the Jeff Brohm moving back upstairs decision.

I really, really want to win on Friday just so the seeds of insanely irrational objectivity can be planted.

Larry Taylor sucks.