Coach Stoops' was not happy in the days following Kentucky's loss to Missouri last weekend. And his tirade
still resonates as the Wildcats prepare for Georgia.
"We just need to grow up and play big-man football instead of just, like, little-boy football," Mosier said, paraphrasing his coach's speech. "His message was grow up and start playing disciplined."
That goes for everyone after an all-systems failure in the Wildcats' third consecutive loss, but especially for an offensive line that has hit a rough patch in conference play. Kentucky (5-4, 2-4 SEC) has allowed 25 tackles for loss and 12 sacks in these last three defeats.
The Cats now rank 108th nationally in sacks allowed and 112th in tackles for loss allowed this season.
Whoa. I mean, whoa. Saturday alone, against Missouri, the Wildcats gave up
three sacks (-24 yards) and
nine tackles for loss (-38 yards). And it's not just problems after the ball is snapped either.
But at right tackle, despite also generally playing pretty well, Jordan Swindle continued his baffling trend of false-start penalties. He now has eight in nine games.
"It's a frustrating deal for him," line coach John Schlarman said. "There's a fine line. You say too much and then it's in the forefront of his mind and it takes away from other aspects of his game. You say too little and then all the sudden it happens and everybody freaks out. So it's just something we have to get him over.
"I know that Jordan Swindle's going to get that fixed, and it needs to be this week."
No pressure kid. All in all this is shaping up to be one big key to the game, especially after Georgia's defensive front played so poorly in long stretches against Florida. Something will have to give. And I'm all for Kentucky's O-line gaining its confidence...next weekend when they go to Knoxville.
