John Clay’s Sidelines

(H-L photo/Mark Cornelison)

Some thoughts/notes on Kentucky’s 31-24 loss to Mississippi State:

• Yes, the big question was why Randall Cobb didn’t touch the ball on that late third-quarter/early fourth-quarter drive when UK had a first-and-goal a the Mississippi State 4-yard line. That’s my column for Sunday. In a nuthsell, Rich Brooks said that State had done a good job stopping the Wildcat, which was true. But Kentucky scored from the 3-yard using the Wildcat to take a 24-17 lead with 7:49 left in the third quarter. Still not quite sure understand why the staff went away from it when they had a chance to tie.

• FYI: No video tonight. With a 7:00 game, with the outcome in doubt right down to the end, got caught in a situation where I had to choose making my writing deadline and doing video. Tonight, the video got the short end of the stick.

• Mississippi State rushed for 348 yards on just 45 carries. That’s 7.73 yards per rush. If you go by yards per rush, that’s the best an opponent has gashed the Kentucky defense since Auburn averaged 7.92 yards per rush in 2006. In fact, if you go back to 1990, when Bill Curry was the head coach, the 7.73 is the fifth-best average running the football by a UK opponent. Tennessee averaged 8.48 yards per carry in 1993. Indiana averaged 8.06 yards per carry in 1994. Auburn averaged that 7.92 in 2006. Tennessee averaged 7.86 yards in 2004. And now the 7.73 by Mississippi State in 2009.

• Freshman quarterback Morgan Newton completed 11 of 18 passes for 119 yards, with that goal-line interception early in the fourth quarter. He was also sacked three times. He made a some good throws. A dart to La’Rod King on a key third down sticks out. But he’s also too often indecisive. That’s why the UK staff was going to redshirt the Indiana native before Mike Hartline got hurt. And we do need to remember that Hartline is out. He is Kentucky’s best quarterback. And he’s not playing.

• On that same subject, not sure why the staff went away from the Newton/Will Fidler rotation. Kentucky had won the last two games using that scenario. Why fix something that’s not broken. Brooks’ reply: “We thought the young kid (Newton) was doing some things. We tried to get a little rhythm going. We talked about it, but decided to (stick with Newton).”

• Not counting his one punt return and five kickoff returns, Cobb had 10 touches on the night. He rushed eight times for 17 yards. And he caught two passes for 32 yards. He did throw an incomplete pass. So if you add that, it would be 11 touches. Add the three categories, and he had 15 touches at South Carolina, 13 at Auburn, and 11 last week against UL-Monroe.

• So what does this do as far as UK’s season. The Cats are 4-4 overall and 1-4 in the SEC. You can forget the Outback Bowl or the Capital One Bowl, etc. UK would have to win out to make the Chick-fil-A, and though I picked the Cats to go 8-4, I had them beating State. I think 8-4 is still possible, but not probable. The bumps, bruises and worse are starting to have a cumulative effect. So is the quarterback situation. What Newton experienced tonight will help him down the road, but I’m not sure it’s the immediate road. Still think UK will win the next two, but the last two are iffy. Georgia is down, but will tough to beat in Athens. But you have to give Lane Kiffin credit. Tennessee has improved as the season as progressed. Right now, the Vols look like they will be too tough to handle in the finale. But we’re still a month away from then.