Never to early to go out on a limb

With a little over two months left till the football season starts its time to talk about what sort of season the Cats will have this year.

Starting off the season with Miami of Ohio 2-10 last year should give the Cats an easy win although the hiring of Notre Dame offensive coordinator Mike Haywood as head coach should put a little spunk in the Redhawks offense. Haywood has worked as an assistant at Texas, LSU, Ball State, Ohio, Army and Minnesota and in 2005, he was named NCAA Division I-A assistant coach of the year by the American Football Coaches Association. Kentucky 1-0.

Louisville 5-7 last year should be another win but this is a rivalry game. With Hunter Cantwell’s back up Matt Simms transferring Louisville has no experience at quarterback making it a little more difficult for Louisville to come away with win. Kentucky 2-0.

The third game of the season brings Florida 13-1 to Lexington. The best we can realistically hope for is that the Gators stomp Tennessee the week before and the Cats play the Gators much better than they did last year. A good game could be a launching board for a great season. Kentucky 2-1.

Alabama 12-2 last year is the next visitor to Lexington. Last year with one or two breaks the Cats could have beaten the Tide. Having them in Lexington and without an experienced quarterback they can be beaten. If Mike Hartline can connect with our receivers and couple of defensive stops go our way and this could be a big upset. Kentucky 2-2.

OK the Really Ole Ball Coach thinks he’s finally found his quarter back at South Carolina 7-6 last year. The Cats are due to win this game. Kentucky 3-2.

Auburn 5-7 last year had a problem the Cats use to have. According to Gene Chizik “Depth is an issue at this point, and I think that’s glaring”. Their offense also stinks so this is close but another winnable game. Kentucky 4-2.

We then get Louisiana Monroe 4-8 last year at home. The Warhawks beat Alabama in 2007 but wont beat the Cats in Lexington. This will be the game where a freshman quarterback gets a decent amount of playing time. Kentucky 5-2.

Mississippi State 4-8 last year doesn’t come to Lexington and win. Kentucky 6-2.

Eastern Kentucky 8-4 won the OVC last year but don’t look to match up with the Cats although they might play them better than people expect. Kentucky 7-2.

Vanderbilt 7-6 came into Lexington and beat the Cats. Mackenzi Adams is a good quarterback and running back Jared Hawkins should be much improved as a senior. This game is a toss up but I think injuries will be starting to plague the Cats by this time of the season. Kentucky 7-3.

Georgia 10-3 last year will be a tough game for the Cats. If they can go thru the season without as many injuries as last year they should beat the Cats. Kentucky 7-4.

The final game of the season is against Tennessee 5-7 last year. With Lane Kiffin bringing the Vols to Lexington the Cats welcome him to Kentucky. I’m gonna get out on my limb and say the Cats win with Morgan Newton running for a touchdown and tossing a touchdown to Cobb with little time left in the game. Kentucky 8-4.

Darius Miller, “2Pat” send Vols Packing – UK WINS 77 – 58!

It must be the fact that Scotty Hopson was in the building; the reason that Darius Miller chose to have his best game as a Wildcat. For the basketball junkies out there, you might remember that Darius had 41 points the last time these two young warriors met as high school seniors, and solidified his choice, in my mind anyway, for Mr. Basketball in the state of Kentucky.

With Bruce Pearl letting his assistant make the substitutions, he had ample time to work out his defenses on Jodie Meeks. Jodie was “face guarded”, and “double teamed”, most of the game and had only 4 points at the half. But, “a funny thing happened on the way to the forum”. Not only was Patrick Patterson back, he was back with a vengeance. He looked like a man that had been sitting out a couple of games to tell you the truth.

With 2Pat and Miller leading the charge, UK came out like a “house ablaze” playing stifling defense all over the court today. Indeed, the hated VOLS were down 13-0 with 11:55 to go in the first half!

UK looked like a totally different team today than the one that had just played some 4 SCORE and 6 hours Earlier…..hmmm. The difference? Could it be that Perry Stevenson is to 2Pat, what Scotty Pippen was to Michael? It seems to be true. Perry, not the greatest post up player himself, looked great shooting jumpers off feeds. He is being used well in that regard, therefore, “Viva la Difference”.

Could it also be that the rest of the TeAm decided that they needed to score some points? And score they did, with the aforementioned Miller scoring 17 points, a career high, on 6of6 shooting, and feeding his big post man to the tune of six assists! 2Pat had 19 points, but more importantly, showed that he was B-A-C-K. Suffering what appears to be no “ill effects” from his ankle problem, he had more than one emphatic dunk. Even A.J. played aggressive on the offensive end, showing his Kevin McHale “up and under”, repertoire to Wayne Chism drawing free tosses both times….It was a great day and a great time for a great game by UK.

Could it be that this team is now starting to mature, and MiGhT be one of those “UNRANKED” teams outside the Top Twenty Five, that gives the ranked ones fits at tourney time?..?..? Seth Davis and his cohort selected Arizona, and Fl St., respectively. Did they forget UK?

UT 28- UK 10

So there you have it. Another year, another UT victory. It is the streak that will not go away. The game this year wasn’t about UK or UT anyway, anyone that watched could see it was the goodbye Phil Fulmer show. It was the story book ending for him and UK was more than happy to play the victory cigar pansy.

I have to say that I have been hard on Fulmer. I probably will continue to be. After all, he has more wins against UK than any single coach. But today I’ll take a moment and commend Fulmer for mostly being about what I think college sports should be about and that is loyalty. Yes he is the biggest tattle tale in all the world while being one of the dirtiest there is. But he is UT. He played there, he assistant coached there and he head coached there. He would still be there if they would have him. I feel strongly that UT is the only high profile place that would have him and he knows it, but that is mildly beside the point today. So I congratulate him on his stay at UT and all those wins over UK. Now don’t let the door hit you in the hum d hum on the way out.

As for UK; That was the most uninspired effort I have seen in a long time all the way around, but especially on offense. It got to a point that everyone in the world knew UK was going to run another draw. Draws are great when the other team isn’t expecting them. I guess the same can be said for any play. All year long the talk has been of the QB position. All year long I have said that is the last position that should have had any talk. The lack of execution at ever position other than QB is the very reason UK had to ditch its pro style offense for.. well… that. While I HATE the triple option, and I despise the full time multi threat QB, there is one thing I HATE and DESPISE more. And that is a team that loses its path and veers in another direction simply because the players fail to execute. Mike Hartline came in and gave UK a boost. When that was Cobb, the “Cobbies” were very quick to say, “see”. So it would be very easy for “Harlinies” to do the same, right? No it would not. Just because he came in and gave UK a spark by providing something UT wasn’t prepared for doesn’t mean it’s time to go back to Hartline. Not for that reason anyway. I think UK should go back to him simply because that is what UK’s offense is supposed to be about. The players, coaches, trainers and water boys ALL need to rededicate themselves to what UK is about. I love Cobb to death but he simply is not a pocket passer. And its been proven over and over and over that one guy can not win a game by himself. The QB needs help and lots of it no matter who it is and the next four weeks would be the perfect time for all to go about doing just that.

As for UT, We’ll get em next year.

Croom resigns at Miss St

From ESPN

JACKSON, Miss. — Sylvester Croom resigned from Mississippi State on Saturday, five years after becoming the Southeastern Conference’s first black head football coach.

Croom announced the decision after meeting with athletic director Greg Byrne. It came less than 24 hours after an embarrassing 45-0 loss to No. 25 Mississippi in the most lopsided Egg Bowl in 37 years.
Croom and Doom

Mississippi State coach Sylvester Croom resigned Saturday, a day after his team lost 45-0 at Ole Miss, the Rebels’ second-biggest win ever in the rivalry. Croom was 21-38 in five seasons and lost eight-plus games in four of his five years. The major problem was offense. It simply never got better under Croom.

Mississippi State Offense
Under Croom, FBS Ranks Total Scoring
2008 105th 113th
2007 113th 96th
2006 103th 97th
2005 113th 113th
2004 107th T-114th

Croom, who took over the team while it was under NCAA sanctions, won 2007 SEC coach of the year honors after leading the Bulldogs to an 8-5 finish and the Liberty Bowl. He signed a contract extension in the offseason that paid him $1.7 million this year.

But he came under immediate pressure from fans after a season-opening loss to Louisiana Tech of the Western Athletic Conference, and the heat only intensified as the offensively inept Bulldogs stumbled to a 4-8 finish.

The coach was 21-38 overall. He did not immediately return a phone message left by The Associated Press.

“Five years ago, Mississippi State gave me the unprecedented opportunity to be a head football coach in the Southeastern Conference and to build a program based upon a strong foundation,” Croom said in a statement.

“We have tried to build a program the right way that can compete for conference championships. I believe the foundation has been set for those goals to be reached under the leadership of someone else, and it was my decision to resign.”

Byrne was scheduled to meet with reporters later Saturday afternoon.

Calls for Croom to make changes to his coaching staff and run-first offensive philosophy dogged the Bulldogs. The team continued to have trouble at quarterback and Croom switched starters midway through the season.

A source familiar with Croom’s situation at Mississippi State told ESPN.com’s Pat Forde that the breaking point was not a refusal on Croom’s part to make staff changes; an important issue was the continuing ineptitude of the Bulldogs’ offense under Croom. In five years, Mississippi State has never ranked in the NCAA top 100 in total offense.

The Bulldogs were 11th in the SEC in scoring offense (16.6 points per game) and 10th in total offense (297.7 yards per game) through 11 games and lost badly at Georgia Tech (38-7) and Tennessee (34-3). Yet some optimism remained that Mississippi State could salvage a bit of pride and its promising recruiting class after a 31-28 win over Arkansas last week and with a good game against the revitalized Rebels.

Croom even got a vote of confidence from incoming Mississippi State president Mark Keenum.

But Mississippi State was outmatched from the start and looked poorly prepared against Ole Miss. The quarterbacks were hit hard on nine of their first 10 pass attempts as the Rebels put together a school-record 11 sacks and set another mark by holding the Bulldogs to minus-51 yards rushing.

Croom seemed stunned after the game.

“They came in here with the idea they were going to beat us bad, and they did from start to finish,” Croom said. “I don’t know why what happened today occurred. I’m sorry to say that it’s an absolute mystery to me.”

Byrne, a new hire who’s been on the job less than a year, wouldn’t comment on the speculation surrounding the football team during the season but said Saturday that a possible resignation was discussed in the morning meeting.

“We discussed the football program and many topics were addressed, including resignation,” Byrne said in a statement. “I want to thank Coach Croom for the leadership he has provided our football program over the last five years.”

While Croom wasn’t able to squeeze many wins out of his tenure, there’s little question he improved a Mississippi State program that was at its lowest ebb. The Bulldogs were hit with major sanctions following rules violations under previous coach Jackie Sherrill and had won just three games a season between 2001-03.

Hired Dec. 1, 2003, the Bear Bryant disciple who had been an all-American center at Alabama and an NFL assistant for 17 seasons inherited a team low on talent. Heavy sanctions and the SEC’s lowest budget made the challenge even steeper.

“We couldn’t even get recruits to visit campus,” Croom said this week while talking about his early recruiting efforts.

But Croom upgraded the talent enough that the Bulldogs were competitive in the nation’s toughest conference and they earned their first winning season since 2000 last year, capping it with a 10-3 win over Central Florida in the Liberty Bowl.

He also was having success off the field, drawing commitments from several top recruits, including a quarterback.

A spokesman said players would not be available Saturday, but some defended Croom following Friday’s loss.

“I think it is unfair,” wide receiver Delmon Robinson said of the criticism. “When it’s man-to-man coverage, it’s the receiver against the [defensive back]. If the receiver doesn’t win, it’s not the coach’s fault that he didn’t win. It’s all about the players. We’ve got to win and we’ve got to go out there and execute coach’s plays.”

It was the second straight season an embarrassing loss in the Egg Bowl led to a coaching change. Coach Ed Orgeron was fired a day after the Rebels collapsed in a 17-14 loss. Ole Miss led 14-0 going into the fourth quarter, but Orgeron went for it on fourth down at midfield. The Bulldogs stopped the play, went on to score and finished with 17 unanswered points in the fourth quarter.

Byrne said Croom’s assistants remain under contract and will work until a new coach is hired. He told Forde that Mississippi State’s search for a successor begins immediately and will be national in scope. He declined to discuss any specific potential candidates but said he wanted a “passionate leader who is capable of helping us win in the SEC. We have a lot of talent here in this state, and a very supportive fan base. We can win here.”

Among the coaches Mississippi State might target to replace Croom are Oklahoma defensive coordinator Brent Venables, East Carolina coach Skip Holtz and TCU coach Gary Patterson.

“Looking forward I plan to work closely with athletic director Greg Byrne to move quickly, but with due deliberation, to find a new head football coach with high energy and a commitment to compete for championships and bowl opportunities in the best conference in America,” Keenum said.

There likely will be several candidates for a coveted SEC job, but Mississippi State’s new coach shouldn’t get comfortable. There have been coaching changes at five of six SEC West schools in the past five years, with only Tommy Tuberville at Auburn lasting through that time. And even he’s facing criticism in a losing season.

The Rebels’ new coach, Houston Nutt, had been at Arkansas for 10 years before resigning after last season and moving to Ole Miss. But he believes tenures like that could be a thing of the past because fans and boosters have little patience for losing.

“It’s sad, but it doesn’t surprise me,” Nutt said. “It’s the way of the world in college football right now.”

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3733168

Tennessee picks new coach

By BETH RUCKER, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 1 minute ago

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP)—Tennessee and Lane Kiffin have reached a tentative agreement with the former Oakland Raiders coach to lead the Volunteers, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press on Friday.

A formal announcement was expected early next week, said the person, who requested anonymity because the deal had not been finalized.

Kiffin, 33, replaces Phillip Fulmer, who was forced out after 17 seasons as Vols coach. Fulmer won a national championship in 1998 but had two losing seasons in the last five years, including a 4-7 mark this year.

Tennessee athletic department spokeswoman Tiffany Carpenter declined to comment on Kiffin because Fulmer had not finished his season. Athletic director Mike Hamilton did not return a phone message seeking comment.

The Vols (3-7, 2-5 Southeastern Conference) host Kentucky (6-5, 2-5) on Saturday night in what has been dubbed “Phillip Fulmer appreciation day.”
The Knoxville News Sentinel first reported the deal.

Kiffin was the youngest coach in the NFL’s modern history when hired to lead the Raiders in January 2007 at age 31.

The son of longtime NFL defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin had a rocky relationship with Oakland owner Al Davis, who fired him Sept. 30 for what he said was insubordination. Kiffin had a 5-15 record with the Raiders.

He’s since filed a grievance with the NFL to claim salary he maintains he’s owed by the team.

Kiffin spent seven seasons as an assistant at Southern California under coach Pete Carroll, including two as recruiting and offensive coordinator.

He was a backup quarterback at Fresno State, where he began his coaching career as a quarterbacks coach. He also spent two seasons as offensive line coach at Colorado State.

Tennessee announced on Nov. 3 that the 58-year-old Fulmer would not be back next season. He has a 151-52 record as coach.

Fulmer signed a new seven-year contract in the summer which was worth $2.4 million this season. He will receive $6 million as a buyout of the contract, payable over a 48-month period.

Terms of Kiffin’s deal were not available.

Tennessee Titans coach Jeff Fisher had not heard the reports Friday. But he called Kiffin an excellent coach who was involved with recruiting while at Southern California and said he got to know Kiffin some during his time coaching Oakland in the NFL.

“He went into a very, very difficult situation there in Oakland. I thought he handled things professionally. He certainly had that team moving in the right direction in the opinion of his peers, including me, and didn’t get a chance to finish it. I think he’ll be a great college coach,” Fisher said.

John Cohen resigns as UK baseball coach

Five days after a season-ending loss to Michigan in NCAA Baseball Regional play, John Cohen has resigned as University of Kentucky coach. Gary Henderson, associate head coach and pitching coach under Cohen, will be the successor. Mitch Barnhart, UK’s athletics director, made the announcement during a Friday afternoon press conference. Cohen is leaving to take another job – presumably with his alma mater, Mississippi State.

Barnhart told the Herald-Leader only two days earlier that he anticipated that Cohen would be his coach next season. A soon-to-be-built stadium and a raise in salary were among the incentives that Barnhart thought would keep Cohen with the Wildcats.

In six years at UK, Cohen compiled a record of 175-112-1, leading the Wildcats to their first Southeastern Conference championship and twice taking the Cats to NCAA regionals, finishing each time with a school-record 44 victories.

Cohen came to UK after two years as an assistant at Florida. Before that, he was head coach at Northwestern State for four years, going 146-84.

His overall record as a head coach is 321-196-1 over 10 years.