John Clay's Sidelines

(H-L photo/David Perry)

Click here for Herald-Leader photo gallery from last night.

Click here for Herald-Leader tailgate photo gallery.

Big Blue Links for Sunday:

• Florida runs all over Kentucky 48-10, reports H-L’s Jerry Tipton.
• Gap between SEC elite and UK is widening, says my Sunday column.
• Turnovers killing Kentucky hopes, writes Herald-Leader’s Mark Story.
• Coaches dread mega-conferences is lead to Jerry Tipton’s notebook.
• UK should consider changing conferences, writes H-L’s Mark Story.
• Gators run away from Kentucky, writes Miami Herald’s Jeff Darlington.
• Florida has no trouble caging Cats, writes Gainesville Sun’s Robbie Andreu.
• Pat Dooley of Sun says we are about to find out about Florida.
• Defense steps up early for Gators, writes Rachel George of Orlando Sentinel.
• Demps runs away from Kentucky, says David Jones of Florida Today.
• Defense a big hit for Florida, says Michael DiRocco of Florida Times-Union.
• UK has big visitors on campus, blogs Courier-Journal’s Jody Demling.
• Wildcats are out of their league in SEC, says C-J’s Eric Crawford.
• Cats put up fight for half a quarter, reports Kyle Tucker of C-J.

(AP photo)

SEC links for Sunday:

• Alabama rolls Hogs 38-14, reports Michael Casagrande of Montgomery Advertiser.
• Alabama uses thunder and lightning, writes Cecil Hurt of the Tuscaloosa News.
• Arkansas a disappointment, writes Joe Medley of the Anniston Star.
• LSU whips West Virginia 47-21, writes Jim Kleinpeter of the Times-Picayune.
• Scott Rabalais of The Advocate writes that Tyrann Mathieu did it all in LSU win.
• Vandy loses 21-3 at South Carolina, reports Tennessean’s Jeff Lockridge.
• Ron Morris of The State says South Carolina is halfway to being a good team.
• Georgia beats Ole Miss 27-13, writes Parrish Alford of NE Mississippi Daily Journal.
• Jeff Schultz of the AJC says Georgia left plenty of room for improvement.
• Auburn wins ugly 30-14 over FAU, reports Birmingham News’ Charles Goldberg.
• MSU survives Louisiana Tech 26-20 in OT, reports C-L’s Brandon Marcello.

UK defensive coordinator Rick Minter talks to the media after his unit allowed 405 rushing yards to Florida, the most allowed by a UK defense since 1994.

(H-L photo/Mark Cornelison)

A few notes from Kentucky’s 48-10 loss to Florida.

• Florida rushed for 405 yards, the most against a UK defense since the 1994 team allowed 564 rushing yards to Indiana.
• Rick Minter on that stat: “Anytime you have somebody come into your house and rush for over 400 yards, that’s embarrassing.”
• The 405 rushing yards is the most by a Florida team since the 1989 team rushed for 466 against New Mexico in 1989.
• Florida’s 520 total yards was most against UK since national champ Auburn gained 521 last year.
• UK trailed 21-3 at the end of first quarter. Over last four years, the Gators outscored UK 94-3 in the first quarter.

Video of UK quarterback after he threw for just 124 yards with two interceptions and a fumble against Florida.

Kentucky offensive coordinator Randy Sanders talks to media after the Cats’ 48-10 thumping by Florida.

Backup quarterback Maxwell Smith talks to the media after getting his first action of the season. The true freshman completed six of 11 passes for 41 yards.

The first five minutes of Joker Phillips post-game press conference after Kentucky lost its 25th straight game to Florida.

As provided by UK:

COACH JOKER PHILLIPS

COACH PHILLIPS: Injury report: Martavius Neloms had a concussion; Josh Clemons, hamstring; Winston Guy, bruised ribs; and Mychal Bailey had a bruised forearm. X‑rays were negative.

For five minutes in the game we looked like a pretty good football team, and then the things that we had been doing in the past started showing up, turnovers, giving short fields, three short fields and turnovers ‑‑ actually two short fields on turnovers and another turnover for a touchdown to give them 28. We did a good job of getting the momentum back on our side right before the half and then coming out of halftime. We’ve been there before. We’ve been down before at half and got a chance to get the momentum back right before the half, and we get the ball back and we move the ball ‑‑ we did move the football, we pinned them back and gave them a ‑‑ let them off the hook by giving up a big run.

But they are fighting. Our kids are fighting, scratching and clawing. We’re just not playing very smart. They’ll continue to fight. I believe in those guys, but we’ve got to get some things corrected, and this begins with me.

Any questions?

 Q. What do you think needs to be corrected?

COACH PHILLIPS: Well, we’ve got to take care of the football. We’ve got to understand field position. You can’t give many teams a short field and survive, but you definitely can’t give a team like we just faced a short field and survive, and you definitely can’t give it to them three straight times in the first quarter.

 Q. Did your kids lose confidence?

COACH PHILLIPS: Well, I don’t think they lose confidence because of the way they played. I think they played hard. I think it gets infectious sometimes when a mistake gets made, and then another one comes and another one comes. But when you lose confidence, I think you start to see lows, you start to see guys strain. I think our guys were definitely straining trying to make plays, and we saw that by the end of the half. The end of the half we caused a turnover, offense punches it in, and then they have a chance. If you lose confidence right at the end of the half when there’s a minute and eight, the other team scores on you. But our team continued to fight, and we caused a turnover to get out of the half and got the momentum back on our side, and come out at half, and like I said, gave them the big drive for the 99‑yard touchdown.

But I don’t think our guys lost confidence.

Continue reading ‘Transcript of Joker Phillips’ post-Florida press conference’