I remember someone saying before this game “Don’t expect a blowout”. That same person also predicted a 10 point win. Well, it wasn’t a blowout and it was an 11 point win. Some people hate to say they told you so, but i happen to enjoy it very much….I digress.
It wasn’t much to look at. In fact at times it seemed like the longest regulation football game in the history of mankind. Morgan Newton and the receivers had a tough game along with the entire offensive line, but there was a silver lining. It really is a bummer having game breakers like Locke and Cobb for the past 3 years. This team simply does not have that “game changer” on offense. This UK team will have to rely on its special teams and defense to win games this year.
This WKU team may not set the world on fire this year or even win more than 2 games, but last year with the same qb and running back hung 28 points on UK. One year later scored only 3 points. The biggest difference was the defensive containment of Bobby Rainey. Last year he ran for 180+ yards on 22 carries. This year he carried the ball 28 times for 105 yards. UK’s defense this year prevented Rainey from having that huge run (Rainey had a 58 yard run last year). UK also contained the te WKU quarterback Jakes as they snatched 4 interceptions by night’s end.
The defense played very physical with Jakes and his receivers. Jakes got roughed up all night long after the 1[SUP]st[/SUP] quarter. Minter made the necessary adjustments for Guy, Neloms and Trevathan to start hitting the toppers and WKU began to waiver. The UK defensive line showed impressive quickness with some really nice open field 1 on 1 tackles. UK’s defense seems to be legit, minus a few busted coverage deals in the 1[SUP]st[/SUP] quarter.
As good as the defense ,the special teams was as good or better. Ryan Tydlacka punted the ball 7 times with an average of 47 yards and 3 of those 7 were inside the 20. The special teams coverage didn’t give up any homerun plays either. Western only had the opportunity to return 4 kicks and did so with a total of 44 yards.
One positive note for the UK offense was freshman Josh Clemons. He broke free in the 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] quarter and scored UK’s first TD of the year. Clemons started the 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] half and played all of the 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] quarter with Sanders on the bench. Clemons may start a few games before this season ends.
That was the good, now the bad. The offensive line had a truly terrible night. They couldn’t corral WKU’s defensive front thus Newton was sacked 3 times and appeared to running for his life during the first 3 quarters. Once Newton broke free for his big run at the end he gained some confidence and threw a beautiful fade to Larod King. Prior to that TD catch King and Roark each dropped 40+ yard passes that could have broke the game open. Instead UK was desperate to score and ultimately won by double figures in the end.
This could be a season full of lulling the opponent for 3 quarters and delivering a knock out punch. UK’s defense may be good enough to carry out such a plan. Or at least they need to be, because this offense isn’t going to win many games this year.
