Connect with us

Football

South Carolina defeats Kentucky 24-7

Published

on

I’m sitting here trying to figure out what to say, and I am truly at a loss for words.

We all saw it. Kentucky got ran over by South Carolina tonight, 24-7.

Sawyer Smith

Advertisement

After hearing that Sawyer Smith was a “little banged up” and they were going to do the “best they could” with the situation I was scared. Then, he threw another interception and off they went.

Smith was an atrocious 11/32 for 90 yards and an INT.

Yeah, Smith was banged up, which makes him the easy scapegoat. Stoops did say after the game that they should’ve gone to Lynn Bowden sooner. I concur.

“Rough day offensively. Sawyer is giving everything he can. He’s banged up. He’s banged up. We don’t need to make excuses – there are no excuses. Maybe should have went to Lynn (Bowden) maybe earlier. Everyone is going to ask that.”

Advertisement

Smith injured his wrist and shoulder against Florida.

There were a lot of inaccurate throws, which I think were caused by his injury, and lots of miscommunication on throws.

What happened to the running game?

Earlier in the week, Stoops made it sound like they threw the ball 40x just to shut the fans up. This made me think we would see A.J. Rose and Kavosiey Smoke in the run game more. That wasn’t the case at all.

Advertisement

Five Kentucky rushers totaled for 115 yards. Rose saw the most carries, with ten for 33 yards. Chris Rodriguez, who we hadn’t seen since his fumble against Toldeo, had six carries for 65 yards and the lone touchdown for Kentucky.

Kavosiey Smoke sat out the second half with an illness.

In all of this, I wonder why Stoops and Gran didn’t run the ball more. Helen Keller could’ve told you the passing game wasn’t working.

Did the defense show up?

Advertisement

Tackling, missed assignments, tackling, blown coverages, tackling, no effort, tackling. Did I say tackling?

The defense allowed 387 total yards of offense tonight.

TACKLING!

Should we let Lynn Bowden try QB?

Advertisement

If we’re talking about somehow salvaging the season, I think you try this. Yeah, I know Sawyer Smith will get healthy, but trying both wouldn’t hurt.

He’s a threat back there. Get a little crazy, and make losses like these more exciting. Please!

Did Benny, Josh, and Terry really cover all of this up?

We have seen the bad play calling, disorganization, lack of effort, etc. from Stoops’ teams in the past. But, we didn’t see it last year a lot.

Advertisement

That all leads me to believe that Josh Allen, Benny Snell, and Terry Wilson covered up all of the problems that are once again rearing their ugly heads. No, I do not think Stoops needs to go, but we cannot act like he doesn’t have problems of his own. The issues we have seen this season are nothing new. It’s his sixth year and these things haven’t been fixed.

Max Duffy is one hell of a punter

The most entertaining part of the game tonight, other than the touchdown, was Max Duffy’s excellent punting.

The Aussie had nine punts for 460 yards. That’s over 4.5 football fields.

Advertisement

Punting nine times, though? No thanks.

I wish I had an Australian accent.

Where do we go from here?

A 24-7 loss to a 1-3 team is just flat out terrible. South Carolina isn’t good at all and Kentucky looked like they didn’t even belong on the same field as the Gamecocks.

Advertisement

Well, the Cats are now 2-3. Not good. But, they have a bye-week coming up, which means a chance to get healthy and fix things.

Will Sawyer heal up before Arkansas?

“I hope so. I hope so. I don’t know. He definitely will not throw for a solid week. But I’m no doctor, so I shouldn’t pretend to be. I do what they tell me to do.”

So, if Sawyer is that banged up, then why didn’t you go to Walker Wood or Lynn Bowden sooner?

Advertisement

Stoops said they still have confidence in Walker, but he’s gone through a lot of injuries himself.

But, tonight was the make-or-break game. If you won tonight, 8-9 wins was a real possibility. But that’s pretty much out the window now.

What’s realistic you ask? Just make a damn bowl.

The Cats will return to Kroger Field on October 12th to take on the Arkansas Razorbacks.

Advertisement

Big Blue Madness is right around the corner folks!

Goodnight and go Cats.

Advertisement

Football

Kentucky Athletic Collectives Rank 11th of 16 Teams in SEC, Bring in over $11 Million

Published

on

Kentucky ranks 11th of 16 SEC teams in collective fundraising.
Jordan Prather | Imagn

For better or for worse of college sports, NIL is here to stay and it certainly gives an advantage to schools with more money. Just looking at the SEC alone, collectives raised more than $200 million in the 2023-24 fiscal year. Unfortunately, Kentucky is ranked in the lower half of that.

According to documents from the House v. NCAA proposed settlement, Kentucky raised $11,254,204 from athletics collectives for the 2023-24 fiscal year. That ranks 11th of the 15 public universities in the SEC and is just more than half of the top collective, Texas who raised over $22 million.

Full Rankings

Rank
School NameCollective Funding
1Texas22,272,474
2LSU20,137,141
3Georgia18,326,566
4Texas A&M17,228,714
5Alabama15,995,406
6Florida15,802,237
7Oklahoma14,817,595
8Tennessee11,602,164
9Auburn11,588,953
10Arkansas11,544,039
11Kentucky11,254,204
12S. Carolina9,554,700
13Ole Miss8,872,378
14Missouri7,146,859
15Mississippi St.6,467,166
NRVanderbiltNot Available (Private School)

While collective funding is low, Kentucky has been a top 20 athletic program in total revenue, partly thanks to being a school that profits from its basketball program. Looking ahead to 2025, Kentucky is expected to stay in the top 20 nationally in athletic revenue, fifth in the SEC by bringing in an estimated 131,139,792. Ahead of programs like Georgia, LSU, Florida, and Tennessee.

Advertisement

With revenue sharing coming in the near future, even more money is going to be involved in roster and program building. Schools in the Big Ten and SEC have an even bigger advantage due to their new TV deals, giving them up to an extra $70 million or more.

A new era of college sports is here. It’s time to prepare and embrace it.

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Football

Kentucky Wide Receiver Calls for “A Lot” More Leadership and Accountability from Staff

Published

on

Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Stoops walks onto the field before the game against the Louisville Cardinals.
Jordan Prather | Imagn

A poor offensive line. Inconsistent quarterback play. A lot of things led to Kentucky football’s abysmal 2024 season. However, they had the talent to finish better than 4-8, only defeating one power opponent this season. So what could have helped?

Kentucky wide receiver Ja’Mori Maclin was asked that question after the Wildcats’ loss to Louisville on Saturday. To his credit, he answered honestly and professionally.

“A lot more leadership,” Maclin said. “Holding guys accountable for things. A lot more discipline for all the guys… All around, players and coaches. We’re still a team, I don’t want to point at any one person or specific group. All around we need better leadership.”

Advertisement

Maclin is a junior and could return for another season. Despite talking about Kentucky taking the next step, he has not made his decision and will be returning home to talk to his family to do so. If Maclin does return, it sounds like Kentucky will have a leader in the receiving room.

Despite being a 1,000-yard receiver at North Texas, Maclin was not targeted often. However, on his 13 receptions, he caught four for touchdowns, the most of any receiver on the team.

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Football

Kentucky Player Seen At Concession Stand During Kentucky’s 41-14 Loss to Louisville

Published

on

A Kentucky football player was seen at buying food from the concession stand in Kentucky's 41-14 loss to Louisville.

Kentucky’s on-field product against Louisville was poor to say the least, sending 99% of Wildcat fans home early. It even sent an injured player from the sideline to get a snack…

Yes, offensive lineman Gerald Mincey, one of Kentucky’s most expensive transfer portal additions, was seen at one of the concession stands at Kroger Field during Kentucky’s 41-14 defeat.

Watching a 4-8 team is bad, but even worse to do on an empty stomach.

Advertisement

Mincey is a senior and will not be returning next season, but it is nice to see him reinvesting some money back into the program.

Continue Reading

Trending