How would you gameplan the UL game?

[Catonahottinroof]

If Coach Darin was on the staff at UK, it would go something like this.

Last year UL held us to less than 50 yds rushing. I think the box is stacked again, daring us to throw the ball and they will bring edge pressure. If I'm Sanders, I play 4 receiver sets with trips opposite Larod King to get some one on one. I sneak a screen behind King a few times and run the stretch handoff behind our goons to keep them off balance.

On defense, Bridgewater will kill us if let him be comfortable. We have to close the edges, force them to run in the between the tackles. We have an advantage there in my opinion. Play a spy of occasional zone blitz to keep him out of rhythm. We are exposed on the corners. If Bridgewater has the time, it will be a long game for UK.

Special teams may well decide it. I'm not buying the opening line on this game, talent levels are similar...

[Catfan73]

I agree that we go after Bridgewater. Make Dave Ragone feel sorry for him, but we have to stop the run first, and we should be better at that this year. UL's worst games last year were the ones where they were forced to pass more than they ran.

I would stack the box but also send Dupree after Bridgewater every single snap. On offense, I like the switch back to the shotgun. I'm hoping we try a couple of passes downfield to heep them honest, and just mix it up. Last year after Newton went a combined 16 out of 36 passing for 211 yards, 2 tds and 4 ints against WKU and CMU, UL decided to key on our running game and the "gamble" (said sarcastically) paid off. I think this year that would be a mistake for them as long as Joker plays Max Smith.

The fact they insist on playing this game as the first of the season will backfire on them this year as they don't really know what to expect from our offense like they did last year.

[Catonahottinroof]

Their offense has changed too. More West Coast now. They will be as much of a mystery to us IMO.
Rush and/or contain on Bridgewater. I think they will become one dimensional against our front. Can we pressure him and defend in the secondary? To me that's the biggest question

[suncat05]

On offense: pass, run, then pass some more. Pressure them to defend every single play, and do not hesitate to go long frequently. Throw those passes out to the flat and those hitch plays too.
On defense, blitz, lots of pressure up the middle and from the ends, DB's play lots of contact with their WR's, and our LB's....... HIT ANYBODY WEARING A U of L UNIFORM!
Find a Louisville weakness and exploit it, again and again and again. On both sides of the ball.
They are not that good, they play in a weak league, and I am not convinced they have much of an advantage aside for the game being in the Pizza Palace this year.
We MUST make a statement for the season in this first game. We CANNOT be conservative in any way, and we MUST NOT PLAY "NOT TO LOSE"!
SMOKE THESE GUYS!

[suncat05]

I want to see some "I PLAY FOR KENTUCKY, I'M BETTER THAN YOU, AND I'M GONNA BEAT YOUR ASS!" from our guys!
But that's just me talking. Attack, attack, attack until they give up!

[Catonahottinroof]

I want to see some "I PLAY FOR KENTUCKY, I'M BETTER THAN YOU, AND I'M GONNA BEAT YOUR ASS!" from our guys!
But that's just me talking. Attack, attack, attack until they give up!

This game has a lot of the feel of the 2002 game.....
I hope the outcome is the same too..

[Lfbj00]

I want to see some "I PLAY FOR KENTUCKY, I'M BETTER THAN YOU, AND I'M GONNA BEAT YOUR ASS!" from our guys!

I'm probably gonna be in the minority on this one, but I want to see us line up and rush the damn ball down their throats!! RB will be one of our strong suits this year, and I think those big ol boys in the trenches would relish a smash mouth game. 3 1/2 yards a carry and we keep moving the sticks. THEN open Max up a little with some throws downfield. Blood and guts football!!!!

[Darrell KSR]

Lfbj00, I agree with you.

I think it is something like 13 consecutive years the winner of the UK-UL game has rushed for more yards than the loser of the game. We must establish the running game and if we cannot control the LOS, we are in for a difficult time.

Cats are, I think surprisingly, 14+ point underdogs in the game. I'd be happy with a lower-than-expected score of 17-14 Kentucky, 21-17, something like that, as long as the good guys were on top. We don't necessarily have to have a 40-34 UK win like we did in 2007. I'll take a W regardless of score, though.

[Catfan73]

I think it'll end up something like UK 28-UL 20.

[Darrell KSR]

I'm not making predictions, but as the game gets closer, I get more optimistic. The right things are being said by the right people, and not just coach-speak. You have to read between the lines a little, but I like our position.

[suncat05]

I'm not making predictions, but as the game gets closer, I get more optimistic. The right things are being said by the right people, and not just coach-speak. You have to read between the lines a little, but I like our position.

I am in complete agreement with you, Darrell. And for some reason, for the first time in a couple of years I am not as apprehensive as I have been about the WR group. This has been about the most quietly confident preseason I can remember in a long while.
We are long, long overdue for a very good season. Long overdue!

[suncat05]

I'm probably gonna be in the minority on this one, but I want to see us line up and rush the damn ball down their throats!! RB will be one of our strong suits this year, and I think those big ol boys in the trenches would relish a smash mouth game. 3 1/2 yards a carry and we keep moving the sticks. THEN open Max up a little with some throws downfield. Blood and guts football!!!!

And not just "yeah ", but "hell yeah! " to this!
We are long overdue for this from our football program!

[Darrell KSR]

I hope we are not sadly disappointed, suncat. We both know that's a possibility. Very cautiously optimistic that won't be the case.

I am in complete agreement with you, Darrell. And for some reason, for the first time in a couple of years I am not as apprehensive as I have been about the WR group. This has been about the most quietly confident preseason I can remember in a long while.
We are long, long overdue for a very good season. Long overdue!

[Catfan73]

Something Bad posted over on the other site got me to thinking about something. . . might Joker have a couple of tricks up his sleeve for the offense against UL? There are several signs that say we just might. Bad had an article that detailed how teams like Oklahoma State and Oregon have been piling up points. Both utilize offenses that primarily operate out of pass-first spreads, but the gist of the article was that these teams have developed packages that allow them to wait until after the ball is snapped and seeing which way the linebackers are defending before deciding what they want to do with the ball.

Our practices have been closed and the coaches tight-lipped. We switched to the shotgun. No huddle. We made Patrick Towles a priority, who played in Dale Mueller's spread at Highlands. Jalen Whitlow's name, a dual threat quarterback, is on everyone's lips. Joker suddenly becoming enamored again with the wildcat after speaking ill of it last year.

I think something like this would also go a long ways in explaining the relationship between Joker & Newton (the perceived dual-threat) & Mossakowski (purely drop-back) and his reluctance to play Max Smith instead of Newton. I think he's been hoping Newton developed into the kind of quarterback that could run a spread, but finally had to go get a couple of freshmen that should be able to do the trick. Heck, as talented as Andre obviously was, Joker as OC still preferred Pulley until Pulley took himself out of the running.

Might we have installed a couple of these packages for Whitlow? Maybe the "50% Whitlow in the wildcat" rumor actually had some truth to it, only we line up in the spread instead of the wildcat? I know Larry and Lonny have seen a lot more than the rest of us, and I don't know how hard it would be to keep something like that under wraps. If not this, hopefully we've got some other tricks up our sleeves!

Check out the dive at around 1:30 in: http://cfbsection.com/2012/08/kentuc.../#.UDUp59ZlTz0

[Darrell KSR]

I think not only is it possible, it is very likely. I don't know about 50% Wildcat/Spread/whatever, but I do anticipate...."something." I don't know what packages we will have, but something we haven't seen.

That dive was pretty darn graceful for that size, wouldn't you say? I was impressed.

[suncat05]

Plus, I'd just have to believe in my heart thay even though it would be a great story to break, that "if" Joker "asked" both of them not to say anything, that they would do it as a courtesy to Joker. Just my .02 worth.

[suncat05]

But then again, I also love the idea of our guys just coming out all mean & nasty and talking all kinds of 'spit' to Louisville like I said before......."I PLAY FOR KENTUCKY, I'M BETTER THAN YOU, AND I'M GONNA BEAT YOUR ASS!!"

I can always dream, can't I??

[truecatsfan]

Sun. Are you ready for some football.I think the Tenn game last year will help the coaching staff think out side the box a little more. It was tight liped about Roark playing qb that game and expect more the same against ul.

[Catfan73]

^ That's another good point. I really can't wait for this season to get started.

[Catonahottinroof]

I feel better about the first game, maybe not the rest of the schedule just yet. Louisville is becoming vulnerable due to nothing more than pressure, expectations and failing to respect UK as an opponent.

[fastkat]

Don't forget throwing to the tight ends. All the TE's looked good at the spring game. We've lacked good TE play the last few years.

[suncat05]

Can we just beat these guys? Please? Is it too much to ask for? Can we puh-lease see some "I PLAY FOR KENTUCKY, I'M BETTER THAN YOU, AND I'M GONNA BEAT YOUR ASS!!"???
I ain't asking for the world......... just a good, solid ass-whuppin' of the Cards in their precious Pizza Palace!
Man........... I AM READY FOR SOME KENTUCKY FOOTBALL!!

[suncat05]

IS SEPTEMBER 2ND HERE YET??

[dan_bgblue]

Big uglies on both sides of the ball can not shave for at least a week prior to the game. They also have to eat a clove of garlic before kickoff and they should try to find a skunk to make friends with the night before the game.

[ram]

Based solely on what I saw of our offense last year, As much as it pains me to say it and though I'd prefer seeing an offense that threw the ball to set up the run, I'd run the ball until they stop us.

ram

[Darrell KSR]

Something like 13 consecutive years the winner of the rushing game has won the UK-UL game.

With field conditions possibly being subpar due to the remnants of Isaac, I think I'd plan on expanding the running game as much as possible.

[Catonahottinroof]

Agree with that Darrell. I think that is a help to us as we are to be pretty good on both side of the LOS. I still believe we load trips leaving King with some one on one, even as a decoy to run the ball. Ultimately, we keep Bridgewater off the field by playing keep away.

[Catfan73]

The Weather Channel now is saying it will be cooling (YEA) from 91 Friday to 83 Saturday to a high of 79 Sunday in Louisville with a 70% chance of rain, with potential for heavy rainfall.

[CitizenBBN]

The Weather Channel now is saying it will be cooling (YEA) from 91 Friday to 83 Saturday to a high of 79 Sunday in Louisville with a 70% chance of rain, with potential for heavy rainfall.

Agree with you again, two posts in a row now. You should worry.

Glad Joker is practicing with wet balls some. Like Joker I think we'll see a lot of on the fly scheming depending on the weather. Could be dry, wet, soaking wet or all 3.

[Catfan73]

Hopefully there won't be any lightning delays like the year (2000?) when we appeared to be heading for the win before a protracted delay. After the teams came back out we looked out of sync and not ready to resume the game and lost.