Monday morning 5-spot after Kentucky’s close-call 20-14 win over Middle Tennessee on Saturday:
- 1. Lones Seiber's struggles: The junior placekicker was just two-for-six on field goals Saturday. He made from 40, the missed from 48, 29 and 42. He made from 26, then had that 32-yarder blocked with 20 seconds left. Brooks put the blame for the block on the coaching staff, which called the wrong protection scheme. But on the season, Seiber has made just five of 10 attempts. Worse, he missed five of its last six attempts last season. So combine the two and Seiber has made just six of his last 16 field goal attempts.
- 2. That slippery football: One of Middle’s touchdowns Saturday was set up when the ball slipped out of Mike Hartline’s hands as the UK quarterback was attempting to pass. The Blue Raiders took over at the Kentucky 34, and scored three plays later. The same thing happened in the first quarter of the week before against Norfolk State. It was also about the same spot on the field. Hartline lost the ball at the 41, and luckily UK recovered at its own 38. The same thing happened to Denver quarterback Jay Cutler on Sunday against San Diego. (The play there was incorrectly ruled as an incomplete pass.) Cutler blamed the miscue on a new ball that was slippery. Maybe the same thing is happening with Hartline.
- 3. Defensive numbers: Kentucky’s defensive rankings dropped just a bit after Saturday. The Cats fell from 10th to 24th nationally in total defense. They are fifth in scoring defense, seventh in rush defense and 18th in pass efficiency defense.
- 4. Inactive ankles: High ankle sprains are no fun. Plus, it takes awhile to come back from a high ankle sprain. UK suddenly has a rash. Randall Cobb has one. Ricky Lumpkin has one. Micah Johnson has one. The latter really hurts. Johnson was on his way to his best game as a Cat before suffering his sprain. If he can’t return anytime soon, might Braxton Kelley be moved from his outside spot back to the middle?
- 5. Wrong-way receivers: The difficulty that dug under Rich Brooks’ skin on Saturday was the play of his receivers. Too many botched routes. Too many dropped balls. Too many receivers, according to Brooks. He wants to take the off week to pare down the rotation from about nine to six. Though he did play a few plays against Norfolk, wonder if ex-Henry Clay product Aaron Boyd could still get a redshirt?
I thought the FG attempt at the end was the correct call; coaches should show their players that they have confidence that the players can make the plays to win the game and it was (or should be) a high percentage kick. I’d be surprised not to see a change at placekicker, although Coach Brooks watches them kick all week and has identified who he thinks is best, although the results are poor. Micah Johnson is a big loss; he was playing great this year. Aaron Boyd played maybe 10 plays or so against Middle; does that forfeit any red-shirt in absence of an illness recurrence?