Friday, October 22, 2010

Dawgs in Lexington: a preview

Some points of interest for tomorrow night as we try not to make history having lost two consecutive games to Kentucky for the first time, ever.
Don't make me tweet yo ass!
  • Has our defense really turned a corner? We'll know after tomorrow night. Kentucky loves to score as much as they love making bourbon.
  • Thank God Randall Cobb can't kick the football (at least I don't think that he can). It's nice to see him take a place on the sideline every now and then. He catches, throws, runs, returns, sells popcorn, conducts the band...even helped sell some tickets this week after calling out the fans.
  • Missing Locke would hurt Joker Phillips' club. But Cobb is the bread on which this offense is buttered. The 4th quarter game-winning TD over Carolina was Cobb's 5th of his career. Simply contain him and you're doing better than most.
  • And their QB Mike Hartline carved up a good secondary last week, 32/42 for 349 yards, 4 TD and 0 INTs. This is a big test for the Coach Lakatos' unit. I hope the front 7 is able to help out with some pressure.
  • You know what the Dawgs haven't done this season of course?...win on the road. In many ways they outplayed Colorado. In SEC road play, we just haven't been able to overcome crucial mistakes. There's no doubt in my mind that we can beat Kentucky. It's just a matter of how focused we can be for 60 minutes in a hostile environment.
  • Offensively it's simply about controlling the line of scrimmage and minimizing mistakes. I'm not sure if we can win a shoot-out with Kentucky on the road, but we can certainly put up a good number if we protect the football. If the players packed their razors for the trip, I sincerely hope they come home unused.
  • This game worries me a lot; has since August. It may come down to a late FG to win it. If so, it should help that Kentucky seems a bit unsettled at kicker. Could Blair Walsh recreate some magic from '78? Could he break Hap Hines' Commonwealth record? I know I wouldn't bet against him.
As much as it worries me, I'm truly looking forward to this one. Hope we're still barking about it Sunday.

No comments: