The Sports Xchange
NCAAF Team Report – Kentucky – INSIDE SLANT
Kentucky’s good effort can’t halt losing skid
One Saturday after a horrific showing against the Arkansas Razorbacks, the Kentucky Wildcats rebounded to give the Georgia Bulldogs a good fight before losing their sixth consecutive contest.
The Wildcats (1-7, 0-5) clinched a second consecutive losing campaign with the 29-24 loss despite producing one of their best efforts of the season.
The latest defeat also officially eliminates Kentucky from bowl consideration.
“It’s tough to take, but a lot of positives came out of this,” senior center Matt Smith said. “I think this team is finally understanding — a lot of these young guys especially — how they can play and how this team can come together.”
Third-year coach Joker Phillips is on the hot seat and didn’t want to buy into the contest representing any type of moral victory after the shellacking endured against Arkansas.
He knows the record is the bottom line, not how close the Wildcats played the Bulldogs.
“I don’t live in almost,'” Phillips said. “At the end of the year, you don’t say we almost won.’ The records say wins and losses. We come out here to try to win. We don’t come out here to try to almost win.”
The Wildcats will attempt to snap their losing skid when they visit Missouri on Oct. 27. It remains to be seen if the competitive contest against the Bulldogs will contain a carryover effect.
Either way, Kentucky players were more upbeat than they were after other recent defeats.
“We’re definitely not quitting,” true freshman quarterback Jalen Whitlow said. “Coming back next week with the same intensity, same everything — coming back next week to win a game.”
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NCAAF Team Report – Kentucky – NOTES, QUOTES
WHAT’S AHEAD: The Wildcats need to go 2-2 over their final four games to avoid a 10-loss season and win three games. Kentucky has a nonconference game against lower-level Samford mixed in to help with the quest of avoiding the first two-win season since a 2-9 mark in 2004.
–Senior QB Morgan Newton received a chance to contribute when true freshman starter Jalen Whitlow missed part of the Georgia game due to migraine headaches.
Newton, a former starter, passed for one touchdown and ran for another. The touchdown pass was his first since throwing two against Jacksonville State in October of last season.
“I just tried to help in whatever way I could,” Newton said.
Whitlow said he has a history of migraines and that his vision gets blurry when one hits.
“I just got one around halftime,” Whitlow said. “Just fight it off, just took some medicine.”
–The Wildcats ended a dubious skid by scoring on their first drive against Georgia. The 13-play, 84-yard excursion marked the first time Kentucky scored on its initial drive this season.
In fact, the Wildcats hadn’t scored a first-quarter touchdown since posting one against Tennessee late in the 2010 campaign.
“It was nice to start like we started,” offensive coordinator Randy Sanders said.
–Kentucky’s running game clicked with a season-best 206 yards against Georgia. The previous high was 185 against Kent State.
KEEP AN EYE ON: True freshman CB Fred Tiller has been receiving substantial playing time due to the injury situation. He had a season-high eight tackles in the loss to Georgia and has 21 on the season. Tiller will get a long look down the stretch of the campaign.
LOOKING GOOD: QB Jalen Whitlow was more relaxed during his time on the field against Georgia and completed 9-of-13 passes for 86 yards. RBs Jonathan George (87 yards) and Raymond Sanders (72 yards) both ran well as Kentucky’s running game looked far better than its current national ranking (100th at 119.3 per game). The Wildcats limited Georgia to 77 rushing yards, the first time Kentucky held an opponent under 100 this season. MLB Avery Williamson (13 tackles) continues to thrive while DE Taylor Wyndham and DT Donte Rumph each had 1.5 sacks.
STILL NEEDS WORK: Kentucky ranks 109th in scoring (19.3 points per game) and 113th in total offense (309.3) while using four different quarterbacks. Losing starter Maxwell Smith to a season-ending ankle injury continues to haunt the Wildcats. Georgia QB Aaron Murray passed for a career-best 427 yards and four touchdowns against a youthful secondary that has been hard hit by injuries. The Wildcats are 91st in pass defense, allowing 256.6 yards per game.
QUOTE TO NOTE: “It’s tough being a senior, knowing that I’m not going to make it to a bowl now in my final season but there’s still a lot to play for. We’re still trying to make some noise in the SEC with the games that we have left.” — Kentucky C Matt Smith, on the Wildcats being eliminated from bowl consideration.
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NCAAF Team Report – Kentucky – STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL
PLAYER NOTES:
–Junior RB Jonathan George ran well while churning out a career-best 87 yards. George’s previous high was 52 yards. He has rushed for 288 yards, second on the squad behind Raymond Sanders (396).
–Junior MLB Avery Williamson has five double-digit tackle outings after racking up 13 stops against Georgia. Williamson has a team-best 81 tackles and only an injury can derail him from notching a 100-tackle season.
–Junior DT Donte Rumph had 1.5 sacks against Georgia to boost his career total to four. Rumph has three sacks this season among 27 tackles.
ROSTER REPORT
–Senior CB/S Martavius Neloms (hamstring) has missed the past two games and his status will be updated early this week.
–Senior CB Cartier Rice aggravated a hip flexor injury during the loss to Georgia.
–Redshirt freshman G Zach West injured a shoulder during the Georgia game and returned later in the contest.
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