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By: LONNY DEMAREE:
This game was a total romp where in the swamp the Cats took a thumping that hardly anyone saw coming. Drew Barker the Kentucky quarterback got a real baptism in the sweltering heat. At the beginning of the fourth quarter the score was 45-0. In critiquing Barker's performance Gran said there was a lot of things coming at him and in one situation when he turned he said, “he's got to press up in the pocket and make that throw.” Gran took full responsibility for the performance of the offense's and Barker's shortcomings. He said he might have to much in and perhaps need to back off of some of the things they are doing. “I though they handled that hangover well,”Gran responding in reference to the second half of the Southern Miss. “They practiced well all week.” So much for the age old coach's cliche of 'you play like you practice.' The difference is in practice there are no live bullets coming at you.
This was a game several new player got into the game at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium – Naquez Pringle, Landon Young, Stephen Johnson lll, and Di'Nero Laster are some of the key names.
Matt Elam spent the bulk of the day on the sideline. Why, perhaps because he was ineffective in stopping the run. Kentucky played the 4-3 defense for much of the day. “They were milking us for to many yards in the big sets,” Stoops said as to the reason they went to the 4-3 almost exclusively. The Gators punted for the first time at the 9:38 mark of the fourth quarter, a 54-yarder.
The only Spark in the second came when Johnson completed a pass that almost went for a touchdown. Jeff Badet stepped out of bounds at the 18-yard line. Jojo Kemp came in the game at the seven yard line and in three plays punched it in for the touchdown.
The defense of the Wildcats was once again leaky against the run. D. J. Eliot was asked where do they go from here? “You can't forget but you've got to get to the point where we are bettering ourselves,” Eliot in a somber mood said. He said third down conversions were their downfall. “We all got to get,” Naquez said who most of the playing time at nose-tackle and the three-technique when in the 4-3 defense.
Mark Stoops said they played behind the chains all day and they can't play that way and win. “No we were not smarting over the past,” the coach said. “We didn't play good or smart.” Stephen Johnson lll got some playing time in the 'swamp' and got a sweltering heat baptism. Theses are the cases where it is tough for a quarterback and without good protection he turned the ball over on a slamming sack.
Losing the way they lost the first two Saturdays is crisis on the field another question now is fan attendance being another crisis. We remember the Joker (Phillips) years.
Stoops said he thought freshman offensive lineman Landon Young did some good things in the game in the 'Swamp.' “He was thrown into a tough situation,” Stoops said about his having played in the Swamp for the first time. The coach said he was surprised Drew Barker didn't play better.
In a post-game interview Gator defensive back Jalen Tabor said his jumping the wide receiver screen was a result of film study. This was an implication the play was telegraphed. Stoops said Barker should have pulled it down and ran the ball.
This team will play harder and better football. Again he said the team didn't handle controversy well.
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