Building Ashley a Winner: GJEM’s Kentucky Wildcats Dynasty

[GJEM]

Lexington, KY- Kentucky’s anemic offense continued to falter as Coach Mitchell’s quarterback swap backfired in the Wildcats near loss to the Vanderbilt Commodores but inch out the come from behind win 27-23.

Kentucky’s starting quarterback red shirt senior Will Fidler completed just 4-of-9 pass attempts for 59 yards and 2 interceptions to go along with 1 touchdown pass through two and half quarters of play Saturday night before getting the hook with 3:51 left in the third-quarter.

“He looked overwhelmed,” said Coach Mitchell. “I didn’t expect him to look that bad, maybe the nerves got to him, I have no idea.”

If not an E.J. Fields 28-yard interception return and a Chris Johnson 91-yard kick return with 5:35 left to play Kentucky would be looking at a 5-5 record with two very likely losses coming up to the #16 Georgia Bulldogs and the 5-5 Wyoming Cowboys on the road to end the 2010 season.

Red shirt sophomore kicker Ryan Fowler made just 1-3 field goals for Vanderbilt and missed 1 PAT on the night, points that no doubt are haunting Coach Bobby Johnson right about now.

The real problem that’s apparent for the Wildcats is not their lack of offensive consistency out of the quarterback position but their offensive lines inability to protect the quarterback and open up running lanes for their running backs. Their youth and inexperience on the offensive line is the real problem for the Wildcats at the moment. It’s getting late in the season and they’re wearing down physically and mentally which is shutting down their running game and forcing them to become one dimensional, and when you’re not giving your quarterback more than two seconds to throw it’s leading to shorter drives and turnovers. You always hear it, it starts up front, if your big uglies aren’t getting it done then you’re going to struggle offensively and that’s exactly what is happening right now. The real question is will they be able to turn it around or will it become their Achilles’ heel and cost them the rest of the season.

The play of the game came with just 49 seconds left when the Wildcats got a huge tackle from LOLB Chris Cessna to stop Vanderbilt on the 1 ½ -yard line on a 4th and 8 try from the 9-yard line. The stop saved Kentucky from allowing the Commodores to get the first down and attempt an eventual game winning touchdown.

The win gave Kentucky their elusive 6th win on the season which has escaped them for the last two weeks. They now have the unenviable task of trying to upset their second top 25 team of the season this time against the 16th ranked Georgia Bulldogs right here in Lexington. Despite how lack luster the Wildcats offense has played some experts have actually put the Bulldogs on upset alert. The scariest teams are always those that have nothing to lose and that’s exactly the position Kentucky’s sitting in at the moment. They have been told that they have ABSOULTLY no shot at winning this game and they shouldn’t even show up. We know one thing about a Garrett Mitchell coached team and that is they’re always going to show up and they’ll never quit so here’s a warning to all you Bulldogs fans out there don’t sleep on the Kentucky Wildcats and you better bring your lunch because if nothing else it’s going to be a long day hard hitting day.

[GJEM]

vs.
SCOUTING REPORT

 
           #16 Georgia        Kentucky
               A,A+,B+        C+,C+,B-

Games Played   10    (8-2)    10    (6-4)
Pts. Per Game  37.5  (10)     24.1  (86)
Total Off.     4,299 (22)     2,723 (109)
Rush Off.      2,011 (20)     984   (112)
Pass Off.      2,288 (44)     1,739 (95)
Total D        2,867 (16)     3,075 (25)
Rush D         1,018 (13)     920   (7)
Pass D         1,849 (33)     2,155 (73)
T.0. Diff      10    (6)      -7    (103)

               Lee  Picks- Kentucky
               Kirk Picks- Georgia

[GJEM]

Lexington, KY- Prior to Saturday nights game against the Kentucky Wildcats the #16 Georgia Bulldogs were put on upset alert by many experts around the nation, unfortunately for the Bulldogs they didn’t take it as seriously as they needed to.

Kentucky came out on fire putting up 14 unanswered points before the Georgia Bulldogs even knew what hit them. One of their two touchdowns came courtesy of an E.J. Fields interception of William Terry on the 31-yard line which Kentucky promptly turned into seven two plays later thanks to a Paul Wilcher 2-yard touchdown run.

Georgia would regain their composure however and come roaring back in a big way putting up a shutout streak of their own as the Bulldogs went onto hang 17-points of the Wildcats defense before heading into the locker room leading by 3 at 17-14.

The drive to end all drives was orchestrated by the Kentucky Wildcats mid-way through the fourth-quarter with the game tied up at 24 a piece. Kentucky’s 16-play, 76-yard drive was able to take 5:15 off the clock which was all the time remaining and they did with all but 10 of their 76-yards coming on the ground. The Georgia Bulldogs knew what was coming and just were helpless to do anything about it. This type of grind it out, burn up the play clock type of strategy by Coach Mitchell wasn’t anything new and he’s shown it before in their upset win of then #8 Florida back on September 6th in the Swamp. Kentucky lined up in the “I” formation on just about every play and then proceeded to pound the Gators with fullback Paul Wilcher and running back Adam Richard it worked that day and it worked tonight. So you would think Georgia would have had some way of combating this style play calling but they didn’t, play after play Wilcher and Richard pounded the rock down Georgia’s throat until the Wildcats were on the 12-yard line with just 2 seconds left on the clock. Facing a huge loss at the hands of the Wildcats Georgia and head coach Mark Richt called a timeout to ice down red shirt freshman kicker Corey Church and the call nearly paid off as Church nearly sent it wide left from the right hash mark but it cleared the upright by 1-yard which sent Commonwealth stadium into an all out frenzy with students and fans alike storming the field in celebration.

“This is amazing,” said red shirt senior QB Mike Hartline amongst the mob at mid field following the game. “I’m so glad we were able to pick up such a huge win in our final home game of the year, I couldn’t imagine ending my career on a higher note. I know we have Wyoming next week but I’m going to take some time to enjoy this one.”

The win gives Kentucky seven wins on the season with a chance to do one better than last year and make it eight next week on the high plains of Laramie, Wyoming. Kentucky’s trip to the War will be a homecoming of sorts for Coach Mitchell as he once brought a National title to Laramie and put that school and city on the map.

“It’s going to be nice to go back there,” said Coach Mitchell. “I have nothing but respect for that school and that program but I’m with Kentucky now and that’s exactly how I’m going to treat it, their our opponent and were going out there to win.”

[GJEM]

Laramie, WY- Being 7,220 feet above sea level didn’t seem to affect Kentucky WR Chris Johnson as he set the tone early in this match-up with a 97-yard kickoff return to open up the game.

From that point on Kentucky never looked back and never lead by less than 11-points as the Wildcats went on to pick up their 8th win of the season and finish the regular season winning three straight games a first under Head Coach Garrett Mitchell.

The thin air did play games with QB Mike Hartline as his turnover fest continued throwing three interceptions to just two touchdowns. Two however were complete BS said Coach Mitchell. “His second MLB Gabe Knapton jumped at least 10 yards off the ground to catch it and I highly doubt a MLB has hops like that. Then his third was picked off by RE Will Young, yes a RE, come on now.”

Special teams really became the story of this game as both teams combined to run back a total of 364 yards worth of kick returns for 1 touchdown. Neither team started their drives farther back than their own 37-yard line.

Unfortunately for the Cowboys their loss to the Wildcats dropped them to 5-7 on the year and one win shy of being considered for any post season Bowl games.

“It was a good win and I’m glad we were able to finish the year undefeated in our non-conference games, now hopefully we’ll be able to keep this ball rolling and win our bowl game as well wherever that might be,” said Coach Mitchell.

At this point in time the Wildcats are slated to go back to Memphis to take on the winner of the Conference USA Championship Game between Southern Miss and #18 Tulsa. If Southern Miss wins the Liberty Bowl committee will have no choice but to take both Kentucky and Southern Miss which will be a rematch from last year.

[GJEM]

CHAMPIONSHIP WEEK

ACC         Clemson -       52
        #21 Georgia Tech -  49
 
SEC     #13 LSU -           45
        #5  Florida -       28

C-USA       Southern Miss - 35
        #18 Tulsa -         43
            
BIG 12  #6  Colorado -      31
        #7  Oklahoma -      24

MAC         Ball State -    38
            Akron -         10

[GJEM]

[stewaat]

Hahaha you beat your old team!

[GJEM]

Quote: Originally Posted by stewaat

Hahaha you beat your old team!

Ya and I knocked them out of bowl contention also which made me feel a little bad but I would have been mad if I lost so it's kind of a lose lose situation. Only thing that would have been nice is if they already had six or seven wins and then I beat them.

[GJEM]

VS.
SCOUTING REPORT

 
               Kentucky   #18 Tulsa
               C+,C+,B-       C,B-,C-

Games Played   12    (8-4)    13    (12-1)
Pts. Per Game  25.1  (74)     36.1  (16)
Total Off.     3,386 (102)    5,452 (3)
Rush Off.      1,200 (109)    2,238 (31)
Pass Off.      2,186 (83)     3,214 (13)
Total D        3,575 (21)     4,088 (51)
Rush D         1,044 (3)      1,491 (31)
Pass D         2,531 (78)     2,597 (85)
T.0. Diff      -9    (108)    7     (16)

               Lee  Picks- Kentucky
               Kirk Picks- Tulsa

Memphis, TN- Liberty Bowl Executive Director Steve Ehrhart announced Saturday that #18 Tulsa and the University of Kentucky have been chosen to play in this year’s AutoZone Liberty Bowl. The game, played on December 29 at 4:30 p.m. will be televised nationally on ESPN.

Tulsa makes its first trip to the Liberty Bowl since 2005 when they defeated the Western Athletic Conference’s Fresno State Bulldogs 31-24. Tulsa earned their trip to Memphis after beating Southern Miss in the Conference USA Championship Game. The Golden Hurricane finished the regular season with an impressive 12-1 record (9-0 C-USA) and all 12 of their wins came in a row after dropping their opener to now #19 Texas Tech 30-14.

Tulsa is led by QB Jacob Bower, a red shirt senior who ranks eighth nationally in total passing yards with 3,212 and averages over 240 yards passing a game. Bower also ranks in the top 10 nationally in passing touchdowns with 33.

His offensive weapons include junior WR Damaris Johnson and senior WR Trae Johnson who combined have caught more than 120 passes for 1,890 yards and 15 touchdowns.

Kentucky makes its second appearance in as many years after finishing the season 8-4 (4-4 SEC). The Wildcats finished the season 3-0 beating then #16 Georgia 27-24 in the process.

The Wildcats are an amazing 7-1 when rushing for 100 yards or more and 0-3 when failing to do so.

Keys to the Game: If the Wildcats can rush for 100 yards or more while holding Tulsa to under 30 points then it should be a great game. If Kentucky allows Tulsa to score more than 30 points who when doing so are 12-0 and fail to reach the 100-yard mark on the ground then it will be a very long evening for the boys from the Blue Grass State.

Prediction: Kentucky 31, #18 Tulsa 27 (Greatest Game #6)

[GJEM]

Memphis, TN- An unsuccessful 2-point conversion late in the fourth-quarter by Tulsa proved to be the deciding factor in the 2010 Liberty Bowl.

It was senior TE Logan Cawyer’s 4-yard touchdown catch on 4th and goal from the 4-yard line that allowed Tulsa to pull within just two points of Kentucky 28-26.

On Tulsa’s 2-point try the Golden Hurricane tried to fool Kentucky on a HB miss-direction draw which had proven to be effective all night but this time it was not to be as MLB Bo Horne stormed through the offensive line and met HB Jamad Williams in the backfield to keep Kentucky’s slim 2-point lead.

With over 2:16 remaining on the clock and three timeouts Tulsa elected to kick it deep.

All Kentucky needed to do was force Tulsa to burn all three timeouts while picking up 3 to 4-yard chunks on the ground to seal up their second straight Liberty Bowl win.

Lead by freshman FB Paul Wilcher and HB Adam Richards Kentucky was able to gain enough yards on the ground to do just that as the Wildcats went on to beat Tulsa and win their second straight Liberty bowl title 28-26.

Both times Kentucky has played in the Liberty Bowl they have beaten their Conference USA counterpart by just two points. Last year Kentucky was able to edge out Southern Miss 23-21 on a last second field goal by senior kicker Lones Seiber. Then this year the Wildcats were able take down Tulsa 28-26 on a 2-point conversion stop.

Two of the games final five turnovers were returned for touchdowns and all but one of them was turned into some kind of points.

Kentucky’s Winston Guy picked off Tulsa’s Jacob Bower on the 6-yard line and returned it 97 yards to the house in the second-quarter to give Kentucky the lead 7-3.

Then early in the third-quarter Tulsa SS James Lockett stripped tailback Adam Richard on the 33-yard line and ran it back 67 yards which at that point brought Tulsa within 1 at 21-20.

Prior to this game senior QB Jacob Bower threw just 5 interceptions on the season he nearly matched that total in this game alone as he threw 3 on the evening. Two of his three were picked off by sophomore FS Winston Guy who always seemed to be matched up on WR Trae Johnson.

Kentucky accomplished both of the goals they set out to accomplish and that is probably the biggest reason as to why they won this game. The first was holding Tulsa under 30 points and the second was to rush for 100 yards of more and they were able to achieve both. If you’re wondering as to why then does their box score only show 98 yards rushing well then the answer is because of two kneel downs by QB Mike Hartline to end the game. You put those 4 yards back on the board and Kentucky finishes the game with 102 yards rushing.

With the win Kentucky finishes the year 9-4 while Tulsa finishes the 2010 campaign 12-2 and still ranked in the final BCS Top 25.