| GAME THREAD Pre-Game discussions: Kentucky visits Alabama for Homecoming
- Thread starter TerryP
- Start date
I thought Kentucky was visiting us?
TerryP
Staff
They are ... I'm watching TV, talking to a couple of friends, and goofing off a bit all the while doing this ...
Corrected.
BAMANEWSBOT
Staff
Kentucky turned in its best performance of the season against South Carolina and now the Cats find themselves back at .500.
But now the Cats draw the apparent misfortune of traveling to Tuscaloosa to take on the greatest dynasty in the history of college football.
The most optimistic fans might call that an opportunity. One has to hope the coaches and players feel like it is. But for the vast majority of those who follow Kentucky football, the mountain staring at the UK football team next weekend could not be more steep or foreboding.
Alabama of the 21st century is indeed the greatest program and most powerful brand the sport has ever known. Four national championships in seven years is a testament to that. The Tide's roster is full of mostly four- and five-star players and the defense is made up almost entirely of those in the latter, higher star category.
Kentucky has made incremental progress in 2016. Following a disastrous start, allowing a stunning comeback to Southern Miss and turning in a hapless performance in Gainesville, Mark Stoops and his staff have demonstrated that their team is moving in the right direction. Even with a backup quarterback at the helm, with so much youth and so many new faces on the front seven on defense, Kentucky is improving.
It wasn't pretty against New Mexico State -- well, the offense was -- but the Cats won the second half by a wide margin. They won the second half again on Saturday, only this time against an SEC opponent and one they have now defeated three times in a row.
Against most other teams in the country this year a good portion of the fan base would be cautiously optimistic that the Cats could ride their recent momentum to a 3-2 record come next Saturday night.
But this is Alabama.
Las Vegas says, as of this moment, that Kentucky is likely to lose the game by some margin between four and five touchdowns.
This is Alabama, after all.
This is four national titles in seven years, domination of the sport's most dominant league, and the program that recruits like John Calipari only to fill out an 85-man roster with players who generally stay three or more seasons.
This is a team that has been completely unforgiving. While they struggled early against Ole Miss and looked mortal early against Southern California, the Crimson Tide has always rallied with a furious finish that either leaves a talented opponent heartbroken or utterly demoralized.
This is the brute force and explosive power of all the Nick Saban teams we've come to expect coupled with the mildly (or worse) obnoxious swagger and desire to humiliate the other sideline that Lane Kiffin brought with him.
So how do you judge Kentucky this week?
It would be a very positive development if the team, particularly the defense, can put together a solid week of practice. Turning in good practices day after day is difficult for any team, even for dynasties. But given the tone struck by the coaches last week (a tone that doesn't seem to have backfired, mind you), it would make Mark Stoops especially happy if these Cats could start to build some consistency in their practice habits.
Of course, only the coaches will really know how the team practices.
So what about Saturday?
Should realistic fans hope that Kentucky "keeps it close"? There have been fans all during the Mark Stoops era who say "being competitive with everyone on the schedule" is a mark of progress. But reality says that Alabama can blowout just about anyone on a given day. The line is what it is for a reason.
So maybe even the final score shouldn't be our best measuring stick.
Maybe the best way to judge Kentucky's progress as a team next Saturday is to look at the faces of the players on the sidelines, to watch the body language of the players on the field, to see how fast the players not named Jordan Jones and Benny Snell are playing, and to look for signs of life even when the crimson tidal wave crashes down on them, as it does to everyone at various points.
Will the team bounce back after giving up big plays and being hit in the mouth repeatedly? Or will they wilt? And if they wilt a time or two, will they bounce back again?
That's a very subjective and imprecise way to measure Kentucky's performance against Alabama, but it is Alabama after all.
CatsIllustrated.com - How to judge a team against a juggernaut
But now the Cats draw the apparent misfortune of traveling to Tuscaloosa to take on the greatest dynasty in the history of college football.
The most optimistic fans might call that an opportunity. One has to hope the coaches and players feel like it is. But for the vast majority of those who follow Kentucky football, the mountain staring at the UK football team next weekend could not be more steep or foreboding.
Alabama of the 21st century is indeed the greatest program and most powerful brand the sport has ever known. Four national championships in seven years is a testament to that. The Tide's roster is full of mostly four- and five-star players and the defense is made up almost entirely of those in the latter, higher star category.
Kentucky has made incremental progress in 2016. Following a disastrous start, allowing a stunning comeback to Southern Miss and turning in a hapless performance in Gainesville, Mark Stoops and his staff have demonstrated that their team is moving in the right direction. Even with a backup quarterback at the helm, with so much youth and so many new faces on the front seven on defense, Kentucky is improving.
It wasn't pretty against New Mexico State -- well, the offense was -- but the Cats won the second half by a wide margin. They won the second half again on Saturday, only this time against an SEC opponent and one they have now defeated three times in a row.
Against most other teams in the country this year a good portion of the fan base would be cautiously optimistic that the Cats could ride their recent momentum to a 3-2 record come next Saturday night.
But this is Alabama.
Las Vegas says, as of this moment, that Kentucky is likely to lose the game by some margin between four and five touchdowns.
This is Alabama, after all.
This is four national titles in seven years, domination of the sport's most dominant league, and the program that recruits like John Calipari only to fill out an 85-man roster with players who generally stay three or more seasons.
This is a team that has been completely unforgiving. While they struggled early against Ole Miss and looked mortal early against Southern California, the Crimson Tide has always rallied with a furious finish that either leaves a talented opponent heartbroken or utterly demoralized.
This is the brute force and explosive power of all the Nick Saban teams we've come to expect coupled with the mildly (or worse) obnoxious swagger and desire to humiliate the other sideline that Lane Kiffin brought with him.
So how do you judge Kentucky this week?
It would be a very positive development if the team, particularly the defense, can put together a solid week of practice. Turning in good practices day after day is difficult for any team, even for dynasties. But given the tone struck by the coaches last week (a tone that doesn't seem to have backfired, mind you), it would make Mark Stoops especially happy if these Cats could start to build some consistency in their practice habits.
Of course, only the coaches will really know how the team practices.
So what about Saturday?
Should realistic fans hope that Kentucky "keeps it close"? There have been fans all during the Mark Stoops era who say "being competitive with everyone on the schedule" is a mark of progress. But reality says that Alabama can blowout just about anyone on a given day. The line is what it is for a reason.
So maybe even the final score shouldn't be our best measuring stick.
Maybe the best way to judge Kentucky's progress as a team next Saturday is to look at the faces of the players on the sidelines, to watch the body language of the players on the field, to see how fast the players not named Jordan Jones and Benny Snell are playing, and to look for signs of life even when the crimson tidal wave crashes down on them, as it does to everyone at various points.
Will the team bounce back after giving up big plays and being hit in the mouth repeatedly? Or will they wilt? And if they wilt a time or two, will they bounce back again?
That's a very subjective and imprecise way to measure Kentucky's performance against Alabama, but it is Alabama after all.
CatsIllustrated.com - How to judge a team against a juggernaut
Max
Member
RTB Twitter Bot
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Alabama17Tide
Member
Comparing Kentucky and Alabama's starters by recruiting ranking
Justin Rowland | Publisher
This week's comparison of UK and Alabama starting lineups by recruiting rankings reveals what everyone already knows.
Alabama has talent. Lots of of it.
Key:
Blue: Five-star player
Green: Four-star player
Yellow: Three-star player
Gray: Two-star player
Light Blue: Not ranked
When Kentucky has the ball
When Alabama has the ball
Justin Rowland | Publisher
This week's comparison of UK and Alabama starting lineups by recruiting rankings reveals what everyone already knows.
Alabama has talent. Lots of of it.
Key:
Blue: Five-star player
Green: Four-star player
Yellow: Three-star player
Gray: Two-star player
Light Blue: Not ranked
When Kentucky has the ball
When Alabama has the ball
Alabama17Tide
Member
September 26, 2016
Ben Jones, Tidesports.com
Alabama was working in shells today as it opened practice for the Kentucky game.
Ben Jones, Tidesports.com
Alabama was working in shells today as it opened practice for the Kentucky game.
- Some number updates: Tony Brown is changing from 7 to 2 to avoid a conflict with Trevon Diggs (probably on special teams, don't think Diggs will stick on defense). Jared Mayden is changing from No. 2 to No. 8 to accommodate that switch.
- Saw ArDarius Stewart and Robert Foster both walking out in black jerseys, though they weren't participating for the portion of practice I saw.
- Saw Damien Harris also in black as we were leaving practice. He was not participating in the viewing period.
- Keith Holcombe was the 3rd inside linebacker, behind Reuben Foster and Shaun Dion Hamilton. Rashaan Evans is 4th now. Holcombe had been 4th and Evans was third.
- It was very, very difficult to see the RBs from where we were permitted to stand. They were on the far side of the field. But it looked like Joshua Jacobs and BJ Emmons were both in front of Bo Scarbrough today. Two other RBs were wearing Nos. 3 and 18, for Jojo Kemp and Boom Williams of Kentucky.
- Only got a brief look at the offensive line, but Lester Cotton was at RG and JC Hassenauer was at C when I took a gander over there. It wasn't all 5 when I looked, just 4 of them (Robinson-Pierschbacher-Hassenauer-Cotton-None). Shank and Bozeman were standing right there, so maybe they were just repping those two guys for some other reason. Will try and keep an eye on that later this week.
Alabama17Tide
Member
Lot of stuff to get to today, and most of it is good news. Here we go.
- Damien Harris was not in a noncontact jersey today. Looked like he still had a noticeable limp and he may have been limited, but he was out there and appeared to be progressing after being in black yesterday.
- ArDarius Stewart and Robert Foster were not in noncontact jerseys either (both were yesterday). Both were going through WR drills during the individual portion of practice.
- The offensive line looked like the same 5 guys for the most part, but I saw Lester Cotton swap in with the first team in place of Shank Taylor at least once. Gonna have to keep watching there.
- Tony Brown was working at Star today after being cleared to play this weekend. He was either with the second team or shadowing the second team. Either way, wouldn't expect to see a huge difference on defense this weekend.
- A funny moment at practice today. Tosh Lupoi was instructing the OLBs in a drill, and Ryan Anderson was set to be the first way to go through it. They were set up with some pads on the ground to maneuver over and a manager at the end holding a blocking dummy. Lupoi finished his instruction, then tacked on "Ryan, don't concuss him! (the manager)."
- Also heard Tosh shouting "8 yards per carry!" at the OLBs later on. Kentucky RB Boom Williams is averaging 8 yards per carry this season.
- The Jaguars had a scout at practice today.
- Practice notes: Sept. 27 | TideSports.com
Tidestalker
Member
Walking wounded!!! Damn.
Big chance for some younger cats to step up. Especially the freshman RB's. Can't afford any bad luck at WR this week... Already super thin.
Big chance for some younger cats to step up. Especially the freshman RB's. Can't afford any bad luck at WR this week... Already super thin.
uofarolltide
Member
What's the deal with Rashaan Evans? Is he in the doghouse or what? Whenever he gets on the field he's like a faster CJ Mosley.
BamaFan334
Member
I was thinking the same exact thing.
Also, I'm guessing Ben Davis is redshirting? How did it go from him possibly playing and Mack Wilson being out due to an injury and surgery to not seeing Davis and Wilson playing goal line offense and actually scoring a touchdown?
TerryP
Staff
He's been dealing with a few injuries the last few weeks. Looks like he'll be back in the rotation at 100% soon.
I think hes just having some growing pains learning a new position.
I look to see if he had any injuries, but I couldn't find any at all.
I look for this too, but I could find if he a red shirt.
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