John Clay's Sidelines

(H-L photo/Mark Cornelison)

In wake of Kentucky’s 48-14 drubbing at Florida, some Sunday morning quarterbacks have taken shots as UK’s reluctance to throw the ball down the field against the Gators. Was Randy Sanders’ game-plan too conservative? Did the Cats try too much dink-and-dunk against the speedy Florida defenders?

Decided to go back and take a look at quarterback Mike Hartline’s 18 attempted passes in the first half. By halftime score was 21-7 Gators, then Florida took second half kickoff and marched for touchdown to put the game away. So focused on the first half, when theoretically the game was in doubt.

With the magic of TiVo, here’s what I found:

Series 1

• No. 1 – 2nd-and-4 at UK 31 – Shotgun, threw into triple coverage for LaRod King at the 40-yard line. Nearly intercepted by Florida’s A.J. Jones. Pass traveled nine yards. Incomplete.

Series 2

• No. 2 – 2-7 at 23 – Shotgun, with play-action fake to Locke, then pass to Cobb, who was coming in motion on the play. Throw is a bit behind Cobb, who has to stop to catch it right at or just behind the line of scrimmage. Cobb sort of loses his balance while making catch, puts his hand on the ground to keep from going down, and ends up with a 2-yard gain.
• No. 3 – 3-5 at 25 – Shotgun, Florida blitzes up the middle, which is picked up nicely. King had gone in motion, stopping behind right tackle. He runs a crossing route to the area left open by the blitz — this will be repeated a couple more times — and catches perfect Hartline pass at 26, a yard past line of scrimmage. Nice King run takes ball all the way to the 45 for a 20-yard gain.
• No. 4 – 2-10 at 45 – Shotgun. Florida rushes five, with a blitzer from the left corner.  Chris Matthews had lined up on left side and is uncovered by blitzer. Hartline throws in direction of area left open by blitzer. Matthews takes a shot from Gators linebacker who does come to cover, then turns on a 2-yard pattern and takes short Hartline throw at 45. Picks up seven yards to the Florida 48.

Continue reading ‘Mike Hartline’s first-half throws at Florida’

Big Blue Links for Wednesday:

• Tennessee lineman Shaquille Love big pickup for football Cats, reports Jesse Smithey of the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
• NCAA deems Eric Bledsoe a closed case, reports Jerry Tipton of the Herald-Leader.
• Kentucky defense revisits the art of tackling, reports Chip Cosby of the Herald-Leader.
• Mississippi working on its pass defense, reports Parrish Alford of the NE Mississippi Daily News.
• Injuries taking a toll on Ole Miss football, writes Kyle Veazey of the Clarion-Ledger.
• Winchester rolls out the red carpet for John Calipari, reports Keith Taylor of the Winchester Sun.
• Chris Matthews is making strides, reports Nick Craddock of the Kentucky Kernel.
• A Kentucky football recruiting roundup from Bleed Blue Kentucky.
• New bats could affect the college baseball season, writes Eric Lindsey of Cat Scratches.
• At Orlando Magic’s media day, Daniel Orton talks about his knee and the D-League, reports the Orlando Pinstriped Post.

Auburn

SEC links for Wednesday:

• Kevin Scarbinsky of the Birmingham News thinks Florida would be much better with Cameron Newton.
• Florida’s Fun N’ Gun more run, run, run, reports Izzy Gould of the Birmingham News.
• Despite defenses knowing what’s coming, Bama’s wildcat has been very effective, writes Chase Goodbread of the Tuscaloosa News.
• Florida’s Trey Burton is a triple threat, writes Joseph Goodman of the Miami Herald.
• David Jones of Florida Today reports that John Brantley faces a huge test in the Alabama defense.
• Mississippi State’s Dee Bost is still waiting on an answer from the NCAA, reports Brad Locke of the NE Mississippi Daily Journal.
• Georgia’s A.J. Green explains his jersey sale, reports Tim Tucker of the AJC.
• With Tennessee up next, LSU’s John Chavis has no time for nostalgia, writes Scott Rabalais of The Advocate.
• Matt Simms is surviving the SEC school of hard knocks, writes David Climer of the Tennessean.
• Gus Malzahn’s Auburn offense is more than just finesse, writes David Morrison of the Opelika News.

Kentucky offensive lineman Billy Joe Murphy has played every position on the offensive line but center. He started against Louisville at right tackle. Last Saturday at Florida, Murphy started at left guard for the injured Stuart Hines. At Monday’s UK press luncheon, the junior talked about playing all over the place.

Dick Weiss

Dick “Hoops” Weiss of the New York Daily News has weighed in on the scrutiny given John Calipari, in a piece this morning in the New York Daily News.

Excerpt:

Calipari was never at any time linked to either investigation, but that has not stopped local and national media, who are suspicious of his methods, of judging him harshly – and in many cases – vilifying him.

Calipari is currently trying to avoid more shrapnel and get the last laugh in this latest round of salvos directed toward his current program.

He got an expected victory last week when the academic fraud allegations against Eric Bledsoe evaporated after the Birmingham (Ala.) school district said it would allow the former UK guard – and first-round NBA draft pick – to keep the math grade that made him eligible for his freshman year. The ruling occurred ex post facto and any other decision would have jeopardized the integrity of the NCAA clearing house for not doing due diligence and looking more closely at the player’s transcript.

Weiss quotes Matt Jones of KSR as an “informed opinion” on the Enes Kanter situation:

Writes Weiss:

One informed opinion on the subject comes from Matt Jones, a lawyer who does a sports talk show for Kentucky sports radio. He compares the money Kanter received from Fenerbache to what an international student who plays for a prep school power like Oak Hill Academy receives – a scholarship worth $31,000 and personal expenses up to $10,000. The NCAA sees such expenses paid by European basketball teams to be similar, as players play and learn in basketball academies that are the equivalent to prep schools in this country.

(Hat tip to Walter’s Wildcat World.)

Ole Miss

Ten quick hitters on Ole Miss:

1. The Rebels rushed for 425 yards in their 55-38 win over Fresno State in Oxford on Saturday night.
2. Running back Brandon Bolden rushed for 288 yards on just 19 carries. He had touchdown runs of 60 and 71 yards.
3. Big plays were a big theme for Ole Miss, as quarterback Jeremiah Masoli had a 56-yard run.
4. Little back Jeff Scott had a 55-yard touchdown run.
5. Jesse Grandy returned a punt 50 yards for a touchdown against the Bulldogs.
6. The Ole Miss offensive line featured two new starting guards Saturday in Patrick Junen, a walk-on, and Logan Clair.
7. Ole Miss led the Bulldogs 27-10 at halftime. Unlike the season opener, when the Rebels led Jacksonville State 31-10 at intermission, Houston Nutt’s team did not fold in the second half.
8. Fresno State quarterback Rocky Colburn did complete 32 of 42 passes for 390 yards and four touchdowns, without an interception, against the Rebels. So the Cats could take to the air on Saturday.
9. Fresno State had allowed 545 yards in its first two games, against Cincinnati and Utah State. Ole Miss gained 578 yards.
10. Fresno State beat Cincinnati 28-14 on the opening Saturday of the college football season. That’s the same Cincinnati that lost by 31-29 to visiting Oklahoma this past Saturday night.

The good news is that because Saturday’s UK-Ole Miss game is scheduled for a 12:21 kickoff, this Ole Miss fan, shown celebrating after last week’s win over Fresno State, will not have as much pre-game time in The Grove.

She takes a fall at about the 40-second mark.

(H-L photo/Mark Cornelison)

Lost a bit in the thrashing Kentucky took at Florida was the fact that Derrick Locke earned his fourth straight 100-yard rushing game of the season. The senior running back has rushed for at least 100 yards in every game this season, including a 103-yard effort in the loss to the Gators.

In fact, Locke was just the fourth Kentucky back to rush for 100 yards against Florida. Ever.

And, he is the ninth Kentucky running back to rush for 100-or-more yards at least four times season.

Sonny Collins, Moe Williams and Rafael Little are the only UK backs to rush for 100-yards at more at least four times in more than one season.

And now, the charts.