Today is September 18[SUP]th[/SUP], 2011 and we just witnessed the Kentucky Wildcats grind out a tough W against Louisville. I was totally pumped up hours before the game as I parked my flying car and listened to the pregame with my internal brain radio (signal was a little fuzzy, i probably need to have my nipple antenni looked at). It was finally time to show Da Ville how it felt to lose 5 straight games to supreme beings. If you watched the game you know how it all unfolded, but in case you didn’t or just wanted a kick as recap, then keep reading.
Kentucky started the game off with a decent 78 yard drive which was finished off with a 42 yard field goal by Craig “Daddy” Macintosh. Newton looked good as he completed a 35 yard frozen rope to La’Rod King. Raymond Sanders had trouble breaking free from the defensive line of Louisville and had 3 rushes for 6 yards. I guess you could say the size and depth of UofL’s defensive front really [B]Hurtt[/B] Sanders’ production on that first drive.
Louisville stormed back behind the legs of Victor Anderson who capped off their first drive with a 7 yard TD run. Will Stein looked a little shaky, but was bailed out on a couple of plays by some great yards after the catch from Anderson. UK’s defense looked puzzled as Louisville was presenting the biggest challenge to date after the Cats easily took down Western and CMU the previous 2 weeks. Louisville looked poise to run all over the cats.
UK and Louisville would then punt on their next 3 possessions as each team’s defenses started to figure each other out. 3 minutes before the half, Will Stein threw an awful ball straight to Randall Burden at the 50 yard line then he proceeded to run it back only to be tackled at the 12 yard line by the cardinal tailback Anderson. After 2 rushes with minimal gain, Morgan Newton went up top with a fade to Matt Roark for a TOUCHDOWN KENTUCKY!!! However, it was called back because of a hold call on Billy Joe Murphy and Macintosh kicked it through for a 7-6 Louisville halftime lead.
The fighting Clint Hurtts came out blazing to start the 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] half as Will Stein completed a 65 yard td bomb to Josh Bellamy thanks to broken coverage by the UK secondary. Louisville took the lead 14-6 and the Cats defense seemed to be confused by Louisville’s stellar offense.
From there the Kentucky offense began to click. Jonathan George started the half for the Cats due to Sanders’ [B]Hurtt[/B] knee he suffered at the end of the 1[SUP]st[/SUP] half (he was hovered off the field but gave a thumbs up to the fans). George found the holes UK’s experienced offensive line opened up for him. George got the cats 3 first downs all on short runs. Newton took over from there as he connected with La’Rod, Matt Roark and Brian Adams throughout the drive only to finish with a 6 yard touchdown pass to King. The Cats went for 2 as Joker wanted to let the Cardinals know he wasn’t playing around. A bubble screen pass to Roark tied the game up at 14-14.
Rick Minter’s offense finally took hold as the Cats forced 2 more turnovers that led to a qb sneak touchdown and a rushing touchdown by George. UK took a commanding 28-14 lead with 7:48 to go. Louisville did manage one more scoring drive as Art Carmondy Chris Philpot knocked a 24 yarder through the uprights. Kentucky received the ball with 5+ minutes left and Morgan Newton reminded us of his distant and recently imprisoned cousin (Can you believe he did that?), Cam Newton. Morgan matriculated the ball down the field by scrambling and connecting on short passes thus melting the clock. All Louisville could do was call timeouts as they watched Morgan Newton assume the victory position.
Congrats to the Cats as they took care of business yesterday. They started slow, but finished [B]Strong[/B]. It seems like none of the late pre-season player departures have [B]Hurtt[/B] UK so far, but they have a long road ahead of them. Up next, Florida comes to town, which can only mean one thing…that’s right, time to purchase some Vaseline.
[I]Injury Update; Sanders was diagnosed with a slight knee contusion, nothing serious. Joker stated he will start against the gators next week[/I]
