Brock Vandagriff Settles In, Beat South Carolina Like You're Supposed To

[Music] back to the right Whit low fake to him Whit low rolling right on a keeper up across the 15 Cuts left to the 20 L the room at the 30 headed to the near sideline one man to beat makes the move at Midfield coming to the near side at the 30 he's at the 20 he's at the 10 touchd Kentucky here we are another episode of leave in Kentucky got Aaron gersan from the cats paws my name is Vinnie Hardy and got Jaylen Whit low be back try to do a recap episode after the game Saturday so y'all y'all keep your eyes peeled for that um the game Saturday should end a little bit more normal it was a little late for a recap episode yeah we tapped out on that man I I messaged you in our group and uh 10:05 is that the latest off you've ever covered yeah no doubt no doubt about it latest I'm trying to think it was probably the latest sporting event I've ever covered wow I mean I know they do like the club hockey games at midnight but yeah you know never been to any of those uh There Was You know the baseball game against uh Oregon state was a 905 first pitch but that was planned and not delayed so yeah no I can't think of anything else man it was uh it was wild uh never covered actually that was the first game I've covered with any sort of delay on the football side so hopefully it's a oneandone situation but you know that's obviously could happen there are a lot of games across the country affected including uh South Carolina's uh that we'll get into a little bit later um but Kentucky got the got the brunt of it of course with the you know the two hour 10-minute delay whatever it was and then you know five minutes into the third quarter another one and they finally just called the damn thing so it was a crazy memorable long every adjective near the word long night you can imagine but uh productive one for Kentucky when they were on the field and uh you know we'll break it down and get ready for this next one here that'll be the complete opposite from a weather perspective it's supposed to be 71 and sunny and Lexington Sunday or Saturday rather so uh doesn't get much better than that yeah for sure um Matt Mitchell the guy does ACC uh roll call of course he did his first week one yeah skits and he worked in Kentucky in the weather of course and you know that was that was we gave him plenty of material for that you know yeah it was just and you know I I do want to def say that the folks at UK what else are they supposed to do like they're just following protocol I know fans were pissed off about the whole not opening the gate situation but they're just being told what to do they're at the mercy at the SEC to an extent as well so uh at a certain point of time I'm not sure exactly where when that clock starts but UK stops getting control and it goes to the conference so um you know not much they could have done not much anyone could have done uh the updates that fans were complaining they didn't get enough of we weren't getting anything either so we were all in the same boat it was a very unusual unusual set of circumstances something we're not obviously used to at all and uh you know it was a weird night a lot of people worked late nights uh shout out to the uh shuttle driver who shuttled back media and workers there she said she was going to be driving till 4:00 a.m. um that's a crazy crazy night I got home around two um I know others you know on our on our beat got home around three so just just a wild night that uh I hope I never have to experience again but in you know looking back on it uh years from now it'll be a cool story to tell yeah yeah I was I was actually at a had a friend of ours had had a graduation party and I'm thinking okay I'm going end up missing some of the game and then you know the the delay end up pushing back so far that we got home and didn't miss anything yeah watching you on Twitter I'm watching Athletics on Twitter updates and you know they're warming up and they're not oh projected for 850 and then oh 905 all of that and so I'm retweeting stuff and then you know people were replying to me this is a joke people had the people at the game had no idea what's going on and I'm like it is it's it is what it is it's not anybody's fault no it was no one's fault no one's at all people got their phones and of course the phones might not work you know at Comm at well at Kroger field as good yeah service is never good but it it is it was what it was you know was just one of those things and Louisville was supposed to get a lot of this weather but it ended up being you know lexingon you know we saw the whole Drew deer versus the weather guy right battle oh my God yeah L was supposed to get a lot of this weather and they didn't and we did so I don't know yeah that happens and uh look you rather be you don't want to tap in any game obviously it would have been uh really cool and I saw you put the video out something I was talking about we were talking about last week about getting some of the young guys some snaps and you know Mark Stoops talked about how he was the you know the one thing he hated from that game is that uh they couldn't get some of the Young Bucks more snaps they really they were I mean uh the defense that was about to come in uh remember they called the game when Kentucky was about to kick off after the touchdown to Dingle in the third quarter and they had a lot of young young guys on defense that were that were about to go in gerod Smith uh nir Addison were two top of my head I know for a fact were were kind of on that sideline weding to get in there so that didn't happen unfortunately obviously wanted to get you know snaps for um for Gavin weat snaps for cutter Bley uh the offense was clicking and then you were able to kind of you would have been able to get out of there keep some guys fresh for next week and you're still able to keep some guys fresh uh for next week but at the same time uh just just you left meat on the bone but that's not your fault it was just a just a bizarre night that no one can control and you know now you get ready to play your first normal football game uh Saturday in a game that I'll mean pretty much everything to this season honestly yeah and that's the first that's the first thing I basically thought of when the game got called and I'm I was you know at that point you call it it's 31 nothing it's it's midnight or whatever you call it the game is in hand but my first thought went to because you you nailed it you talked about getting guys depth you know death guys some run and in the past that's hurt them because they haven't been able to do that yeah and you look you look at Tennessee and you see Nico just playing the first half and all the rest is just garbage time for all this and we were in position for that and I think uh think Jay's guy got in there for for Tennessee right got some more yeah yeah and so Tu is in position to do that and then the weather it just messes it up yeah you know yeah unfortunate obviously and uh we'll see what uh you know we'll see what type of what type of damage they could do on Saturday um and then you know again when they play Ohio in a couple weeks hopefully get some of those guys some work but uh it is what it is uh obviously the most important thing was to get the win and they did that uh you know pretty convincingly so yeah you move on to to a massive one that's it oh as always we're streaming live on YouTube you know subscribe to believeing KY podcast on YouTube uh follow us on Twitter at believe in Kentucky subscribe to Apple podcast leave a comment if you like the show put a little comment put the little five stars in there that helps the podcast grow all that stuff helps out we appreciate if you just just take a couple seconds and do that if you like had a good comment from Sammy and and we uh agree wholeheartedly great for the time that they had um everybody wanted to see the offense everybody wanted to see the quarterback Brock Vandergriff in my opinion he kind of knocked some rust off hadn't played a lot you what 21 attempts in his career Saturday and so he in the first quarter he had a full day in the first quarter he threw a touchdown threw a pick took five or six shots and I was like man this dude he's had a game in 10 minutes you know yeah he's a he's a tough son of a gun that guy um I mean I think second play from SC image he he ended up taking off taking a pretty big hit getting some yards so look you obviously you'll have to strike that balance as the season goes on between when to take the hits and when not but it is also a very good sign that that guy is completely Fearless that guy is going to do whatever it takes for the team I mean on third down when you have a chance to get in the end zone you know that's that's when you want to have those that's when you take those shots when the game's on line obviously um you know he had one of those big runs on third down so uh I thought look outside of two throws which were the one that obviously a pick it just seemed like he's kind of staring down y one receiver I forgot who the receiver was off top of my head I think it might have been gamori but I'd have to go back and watch it again um just you know defense right his eyes tipped It Up made a play and then you know dropped pick six there either late in the first quarter early in the second quarter that obviously can't happen and against an SEC team against most actually against almost anyone you know that ball that Ball's getting house got lucky that you know that ball was dropped by the DB there for sou the Miss so um but other than that man like there was a a whole lot to like uh from Brock you know taking shots uh both physically and you know I loved the aggressiveness in the third quarter when they had three straight shot plays Miss on the first draw a pi on the second get a 46 y to jamori on the third uh absolute oh sorry about that absolutely loved loved love that um thought he made some really nice throws on the Run uh hitting guys on the sideline uh there was one strike to Dane key that went for 21 that he took a shot stayed up and and executed the throw so uh there was a there was a ton of like from them uh from him I thought the offense as a whole the receivers uh I thought were excellent honestly uh running game was better than I expected um which is a really good sign but you know that is going to be the one to watch again on Saturday because the if there is a strength to South Carolina uh their run their defensive front is very very solid they're two Edge rushers Canard and uh Dylan Stewart can can wreak havoc and they did so week one so uh it's gonna be interesting to see how the running backs do uh here in week two but um I thought they impressed exceeded expectations and offensively man uh way more to like than not like uh absolutely they were a lot more snaps taken with 15 20 seconds left on the play clock yeah um yeah they had a headset issue in the first that's why they wasted that timeout I want to say it was either before the first or second play from Skirmish but you know that's a week one Kink so uh it is what it is but you're right they absolutely did do a better job of getting plays off and Brock that early in the game too he get they had a free Blitzer come to his right and was down around his ankles he kind of kicked him off and just missed a pass to Macklin and you know still was able to get you know a lot of strength on that ball and and just missed him going to the sideline and initially you look at it you think God he's about to get clobbered and he's able to step up and just kind of do a little shimmy and still get a good throw so that was and he's only gonna get better you know he's only more reps and and and you know you know Bush and and the fellas are going to help him clean up staring down and you know he probably didn't even realize it he probably thought he was doing anything right and just you know locked in and you know those little things you know kind of get refined as they go forward with yeah those those things will get cleaned up and uh again first career start there's going to be it's not going to be perfect it'd be crazy if it were perfect so you know you know all in all uh really good from Brock Vander Griffin and the offensive line I thought you know were there were a couple plays in here and there more so I think in the Run game where they could have been better but this was definitely an improved offensive line from what we've seen the last two years in the opener um no sacks Allowed no pre-step penalties I think the only penalty on the offensive line was the an eligible man downfield I think was uh miny who got so you know not nothing you know no discipline issues with the offensive line uh no Holdings no um you know no pre- snap like I said no sacks allowed they allowed maybe two pits off top my head so uh I was uh I was very very impressed with those guys especially uh you know I thought I thought Jager Burton played a really good game I know there was when I asked Mark STS about that on on Monday he uh downplayed it a little bit but I thought that was one of the better games especially in pass protection that jagers played um you know the rest of the guys were solid as well I think maybe the one guy you want to see a little more from Jaylen farmer but s similar to Brock first career start so um you know he'll get better with time as well so I was uh that was probably honestly and we'll flip to the defense in the second that was probably the most encouraging sign of all I mean I think Brock we all felt pretty good about he probably did exactly I would say he was probably as advertised if not a little better uh the receivers were as advertised if not a little better running backs were really good you know really good start but I think the biggest thing for sure was that the offensive line uh started the season off on a strong note when it should hasn't done the last two years and you mentioned discipline issues there was instances where where Southern Miss was trying to I think kind of bait him into some stuff trying to have a little off the FI after the play extracurricular type stuff and they you know it got chippy you can feel it getting chippy and they still everybody's for the most part you know still kept their cool you know yeah it's that fine line having an edge and being stupid and losing your mind and hurting your team and and they kind of walked that line really well for game one to me yeah yeah exactly I thought they were extraordinarily disciplined I know there was a skirmish when Kentucky I think they were on I think they were on offense and uh yeah yeah they were because they ended up kicking field goal right after and you know they everyone kept their cool there I think the only stupid quote unquote penalty of the whole game you know from Kentucky side was a uh JJ Weaver roughing the passer which I honestly didn't even see um the camera was pulling up he was I mean was yeah I didn't even I didn't even see it on tape honestly the TV cop at least I didn't uh they didn't really show it he kind of pulled up you saw him I mean I mean if you're going to get it he could have got his money worth and really cheap shoted him didn't he kind of took a step pulled up was kind of in mid tackle trying to brace the dude's fall everything he could to avoid and I'm not being a homer about it I mean it was just it was one of those things like I mean and you you understand the rule you watch in place and but he wasn't intending to hurt the guy at all it was just I guess the letter of the law maybe it was but oh man if and it you know it was weird too because you got the all 22 because they took the cameraman off the field with the light yeah that was wild that was a little bit weird through the first quarter quarter and a half or so but yeah that was there's a lot worse rof the passer calls that you can get you know yeah no it's uh you know it's part part of it so nothing you know again I thought overall clean game uh Mark s said the same thing clean game all the way around you know defensively just to kind of wrap up this game before we get into the the big one here on Saturday um I thought JQ Hardaway played really solid that was really encouraging you know first guy to kind of get a crack at starting across from Maxwell Harrison and uh he he played a good game and I think the guy they really want to be that guy to be honest with you is J Waller Jr uh on the first initial ever availability report he's questionable for this one he did not he did not suit up uh last weekend uh he was in pads today when they were practice I caught that at the tail end um you know while those guys were finishing up and we were getting ready for you know some interviews today so that's a good sign but um uh so that was encouraging um I think the safey had a little bit of an off night I think a lot of the big plays you can kind turn and look into what some some misplays on their end um that's probably the one area you want to see a little bit more from next week but uh defensive line was just as advertised I mean five rushing yards is a is an insane number uh JJ Weaver gets on Tron Ripka guy that we've talked about a lot over the years guy that this coaching staff is so high on um has his sack has a sack in the in week one and then Deion Walker what's crazy is he he wasn't even on the stat sheet um but but if you go and watch the the interception that D Dumas Johnson had look who's wrecking havoc on that and um is the free rusher that forced Braker to get that ball out it's big number zero so you know he got in the mix khil Saunders looked good and then the guy that caught my eye on defense man was Alex Safari uh that guy was all over the freaking place and you know you're going to see him they only had 36 defensive snaps he played 11 um they're going to line him up a little bit more in the Box this year uh he'll still play some safety for him but he had two tackles for loss and he just the twitchiness the speed at his size I mean you know you see why they're in love with that kid and have been his whole tenure here and um I was uh super super impressed with Alex far number three I mean that is the guy for me outside of uh he was probably my outside of probably Johnson just given the pick giv the quarter back Curry uh probably my defensive MVP in that game I just thought he was he was fantastic so uh really good start for this defense anytime you put up a goose egg you can't complain too much they got to clean up some of those third Downs that killed them early and luckily they were able to they were able to you know avoid anything more happening there uh from a points perspective but uh great great start for this defense and you know they're they should be able to take care of business this week uh before you know their biggest test yet you know coming up against Georgia a week from Saturday yeah yeah those couple third and Longs got them early and then they kind of start tightening it up you know as the game progressed and then the one time South Carolina I mean Southern Miss rather was really knocking at the door you know djck tips the pass gets the pick and and you know that was their only legit threat you know no doubt for sure um but yeah man it's you know um heading into South Carolina you you talked about it you saw it offensively they should not scare you and no you gotta make old boy uncomfortable you know you talk about our new quarterback they got a new quarterback too and it's his first road start and it it should feel like that you know I uh I fussed and ran it and raid you know about my Cowboys because yeah Jordan love has been in the league a while but this his first year as a starter this his first road playoff game and he looked like a 12year vet because he picked the Cowboys apart you can't have that with sellers this weekend you gotta make him feel uncomfortable yeah no doubt about it look sellers is a guy that is a red shirt freshman who you know made some plays with his feet last week he had one really good deep ball that was dropped uh by Jared Brown the receiver uh but other than that man he even said I was listening to his press conference from this week that he played a little timid and if he's playing timid at home against the Old Dominion with this Kentucky front you got to make him play play timid again and that you know that that's easier said than done I mean look there at week one to week two jump uh we one week one to week two growth is usually pretty substantial uh even if even in this situation where you're going to conference play but you know this is a guy again you're like you said first Career Road start first career conf start for him uh didn't play great against Old Dominion I'm not sure exactly where his confidence is going to be going into this one and then you look at South Carolina I mean their receiver room is just not up to par for what it should be in the SEC like they are starting a two they're starting a a e f a group of five transfer from Coastal Carolina and Jared Brown they're starting a rard freshman who barely played last year or true freshman I'm sorry that didn't obviously was fresh into high school and then a registered freshman from Florida State who barely played last year and then you know they have guys like Nick Harbor who is a highly recruited guy in high school but you know he hasn't been able to do much yet at this next level uh a lot of young guys that receiver you know losing anytime you lose Xavier Legette your your room is bound to take a step back but it's like they they are they do not have an SEC wide receiving room and or wide receiver room and then tight end you know you have some guys in there Josh Simon's been around a while ready hunt transfer from uh from allall State a guy we were actually talking about a lot this time last year and then he didn't end up playing at all uh last season didn't play against Kentucky he was all matte guy in 22 so you know you got to be aware of those two guys Southern M tight end KY Heath who's transfer from M misk had the the big 34 yard play on Third and 18 so obviously you know gota gotta shut down the tight ends in the past game but that wide receiver room is a is a mess and then that running back you know rocket Sanders is a you know household name in the SEC but he only averaged about three yards per pop last week so uh this run look we know how good kuy's defensive line is how good the front seven is uh they just got to play to the to their capabilities and they should have a they should be able to win this or they should be able to handle business and and make sellers uncomfortable but um they got to go out and execute it uh you know and then South Carolina last year very similar to 2022 Kentucky where they couldn't block anyone uh injuries did play a big role in that but you look at their offensive line this year you know they gave up four sacks last week they're starting a true not a red shirt a true freshman at left tackle uh in the SEC which uh you know not easy spot for that kid you know six7 but he's 300 pounds kind of reminds me from a body standpoint of of Malachi wood at Kentucky you know who came in at 68 283 now he's up to 320 and is the backup left tackle but um they are you know I think they have a red shirt freshman at right tackle and then the guys inside are veterans but they're not you know they're not great players so uh this on it's a huge mismatch on paper uh ky's defensive front seven against South Carolina and that should help them you know do like what you said uh make sellers uncomfortable and keep them playing timid yeah and I mean Dion ate last year against them I I saw your Tweet about what they're guys and they're G to try to block him and they're gonna get their hands on him and he's big and all this and then put up the numbers he you know he by himself he stuffed the stat sheet so it should be more of the same uh across the board yeah yeah he he man held I mean obviously you want to come out with the win and that game was the most frustrating game of that entire season last year um but man Dion Walker just just ate him up last and kuy's defensive front ate him up all last season they just uh they couldn't get points on the board and you know the secondary couldn't hold up on a couple third and Longs and that was the difference let them hang around and we talked about this a couple weeks ago I think leading up to week zero that South Carolina was on upset alert and they should have lost Saturday you know we we've seen Old Dominion beat Virginia Tech a couple times Ian and Vanderbilt said hold our beer for that and two fumbles inside their own what red zone is is they they literally GI W 14 of South Carolina's 23 points they game winning touchdown yeah I mean the game-winning touchdown they are gonna lose I mean look they I'm G to go look at the drive sheet right now but I know that yes it was 19 to6 Old Dominion when and you get give credit it was a great play by Dylan Stewart the true freshman egg rusher uh strip sack Carolina I think they recovered at the six and then they you know they punched in and that ended up being the winning score but then you know I'm going to go back and look real quick to see I think Old Dominion went three and out quick South Carolina had to punt again and then um you know they got the stop with a pick I'm gonna go pull it up right now but yeah I mean look this was a game that old Dom minion you know give him credit obviously probably you know played up to the competition but at the same time man like South Carolina yeah so they scored a touchdown the that game winning the go-ahead touchdown was with 611 ODU punts Carolina gets the ball back goes three and out only gets three yards on that drive and then ODU drove down to just a little bit before Midfield when they threw the game losing pick so yeah I mean look Carolina you're right they it was gift draft for them uh their other touchdown Drive was a three yeah it was a three- yard touch so they literally didn't have a touchdown drive all game that's insane I didn't even realize that so they didn't ear they didn't earn anything they only had 288 yards of total offense the wide receivers played terribly I mean yeah look this is not a good offense but you don't you got to give credit to their defense it's it is a we saw it last year at the end of the season they started off uh the year they through the first nine games of the year they allowed 31 points per game the last three games vanderbelt Kentucky and um clemon they allowed 12 per game and that's that's pretty damn good so um and it's mostly the same guys I mean there's not much different I I know the Kyle Canard the one uh who had a huge game last week is a transfer from Georgia Tech but outside of Canard it's uh you know and Stewart's a true freshman but the whole secondary deu Smith Nick Eman Mory whatever his name is uh jayon Kilgore like these guys are all they've been there Debo Williams they've been playing against the same guys for years so you know there's an understanding of what their personnel is and uh it's going to be really interesting to see how kuy's front and Run game holds up because you know that'll be the big question mark but there's no reason in my opinion that kuy's defense at home against this offense should allow more than 14 points Max I at Max like unless they do like you said what Old Dominion did in the gift rep and field position there's just there is no excuse uh for Kentucky to give up more than 14 in my opinion unless a bunch of guys go down injured or something like there there's the South Carolina offense is on paper one of the worst I've seen and I think they'll their fans will tell you that I think their media members will tell you that uh there's a reason every like every not that it means everything but every Power Ranking I see uh from the SEC you know National guys local Guys South Carolina guys you know they have South Carolina last right now and it's because that offense is just it's not good enough I mean we saw Vander how much their offense look better because they have appr they've got brought in a proven quarterback and it it's worked week one uh Florida played like crap but we know they have a lot more Talent on offense than South Carolina does so um you're facing the worst offense in the SEC and you feel like you have an elite defense you bet you're gonna have the home crowd behind you you better you better step up to the plate and do your job that's it um is U let's see will Cox is listed as was he question probable prob okay yeah so yeah probably just a ding who knows exactly what happened there uh try look we'll try to get explanations from Mark St the one thing with the availability reports uh I was talking to someone within UK's program on Monday that all they have to do is list their designation like they could be suspended uh and be out it doesn't mean they're injured necessarily that's why they're calling it availability report it's kind of to protect them so uh it could look he could have gotten he probably got nicked up a little bit is my yes he got nicked up either in practice or in the game uh there against Southern Miss same with kesan silver who's probable um Josh ctis they held that I like I said they probably would they he suited up but he didn't play at all um last week I think they were just you know they they were trying to protect him and DJ Waller didn't suit it up at all but he's been practicing this week and then you know the guys who were out were all known no surprise with the guys out those are all guys with long-term injuries yeah and then Brandon white backup receiver doesn't play much anyway has been hurt since camp and then Devin Smith the true freshman's the guy who's probably in a red shirt anyway I know he was he was banged up uh during Camp as well so uh there weren't any you know I saw people kind of like oh my God 12 guys on the inry report not literally not one you know we didn't know that will Cox and silver were nicked up but that's that's what you're going to get with this report now like you're learn those type of things just like you do in the NFL when Tom Brady used to have a bruise on his finger they had to put it on the injury report so it's not a it's really not a big deal uh they should be everyone that everyone that um played last week and then hopefully get DJ Waller back uh otherwise there's unless something happens with the new injury reports that come out Thursday and Friday and then Saturday n before kick there's nothing nothing to hold your breath about yeah because the only one I out out of all those that caught my eye was Will C I'm like all right running back here we go right yeah you can't yeah you can't lose another one yeah you can't lose another one but probable is uh the 75% to 90 I think it's 79 to 99% that they're gonna play so okay uh I I wouldn't be too worried about that I think they just have to report yeah good stuff good stuff so yeah um you you know for those that look they ought to Kentucky ought to cover that what the the 10 they ought to they ought to handle that if they hold them to 14 like we think they should and you know that would mean South Carolina's defense is on the field a lot and then you maybe it's a little bit of tough sledding in the first quarter and a half or two and then you kind of wear them down and you can get some points on the board and you pull away and then you make it the you know 2810 type of game or something like that I don't 24 to 133 I don't whatever but you know yeah I I I think it'll probably be in that ballpark I look I think Kentucky has the talent to go out there and stomp them out I really do but Carolina usually gets up for this game and we all know the Beamer Stoops history there's no point in in revisiting it we know we know that we know what it is and uh they don't like each other they'll never admit it publicly that's fine they don't like each other uh this you you know this has been a rivalry for a while even honestly before you know Beamer got to South Carolina I mean there a lot of close games between Stoops and Spurrier at the end of at the end of uh spurrier's time there mus champ and Stoops at a lot of battles uh and then you know Beamer and him you know things got personal and whatever you know this is always a this is always a game both teams get their schedules and circle because they feel like they should win it um and it should be one of their SEC wins and they should be able to you know get a momentum boost and go from there so uh both teams are going to come in confident there's no doubt about it but uh Kentucky top the bottom is the better football team I I don't think anyone even in in Colombia would tell you otherwise um they just got to go out and execute which is something that they failed to do in some of these games in recent years and that's why they haven't had the exact Seasons they've wanted so if they go out they execute they take care of business on the defense side of the ball do enough on the offense side of the all uh they're going to win this game pretty easily but uh again Carolina's going to come in with their hair on fire and they're going to give him a fight yeah yeah and so that's basically where we are and you know Kentucky allowed Beamer to pop off by not taking care of business when they've been better than them the past couple years and that's why you you talk about the sunglasses and then you don't win then you got to take your medicine so that's that's what's had to happen there um so nothing to do but go out and beat him like you're supposed to like you you you broke it down so well that you're better been better just go be better we talked about it when we made our win loss predictions if you beat the team you're supposed to beat you got eight wins right there you're in position to knock off one of the four teams that are better than you so just go go do it care business all you got yeah no yeah that's all that's all no but easier said than dumb but yeah no there's no doubt about it and look we've talked about it at nauseum this off season but it's true this game we we'll make a break this season there's no doubt about it I not that look they're not going to give up if this if they lose this game right they're gonna keep fighting they're they're gonna they'll give George all they've got I don't know if they'll show up in the scoreboard or not they'll you know they they they'll battle Old Miss they're not this you know Mark Stoops team's one thing he's very good at is even in years that are they don't go as planned like they did last year and two years ago like they they they fight they don't really lay over and and die I mean the you know they obviously beat Louisville at the end of both seasons South Carolina last year they played hard they just simply didn't execute Alabama they played hard they were simply outclassed uh and then the year before that um I'm trying to think they lost to Vandy and then after Vandy they played Georgia pretty damn well yeah and then they beat Louisville so uh I I mean look that's one thing you got to give stops credit for in 2019 they started two and three they had to play a receiver at quarterback they finished the year six and two so you know every time you know their backs are against the wall they fight if they lose this game they're gonna keep fighting but the SE they're just not gonna even if they keep fighting with that loss they're not gonna have the season they want because then you're probably you're probably staring two and three in the face uh giving Georgia next week and only miss in two weeks uh vanderbelt all of a sudden it's like man they they look pretty good week one like they're going to they and they always come you always know they bring it in Lexington usually when Kentucky goes to Nashville uh they steamroll them but when they come up here I mean 2018 uh kuy's I'd say best or second best season the Stoops era however you want to rank it between that 21 uh 14-7 game here in Koger field dog fight covered that one yeah we were all like what is going on right and then 2020 the co year uh Vandy didn't win a football game that year that was a three-point game uh the game here last time they came here they won so you know that's G to be a tougher game than you want it to be who knows what Florida's gonna be playing for at that point they might hey they might have the interim coach boost that's just to ask you we'll get yeah we'll get to that in a second but and we know Auburn's already a flip game so like this game just changes the whole trajectory of the season I think you win this game that path to eight is there uh you feel like at worst you're going to finish seven and five if you lose this game you're starting to stare five- seven six and six hopefully not worse than that in the face so um just massive man they they've got to win this game it's as as close to a must- win on September 6th as it or September 7th whatever the day kickoff is uh as it can get I mean they if they want to have the season they want to have uh they better beat these guys oh kick them while they're down it's just it was like you said it wouldn't syn the battleship but it would it would be very very deflating if they lose to South Carolina because then it's Georgia oh yeah it it would take so much steam out of out of the sales if you fool around and let South Carolina come in and get you again it'd be three straight to them and then you know you'll be staring at one and two going into the Ohio game more than likely and it's just you know all optimism all the Goodwill all the you know the talent upgrades this good receiver room this good offense this it was just it was just DM the bright night man it'd be so oh just be a dark CL it would be it would yeah exactly that's why this is a and it's at home man you're gonna have you're gonna have 65 plus behind you uh there it's Prime Time SEC opener for the whole league like yeah CH look if they win this game you know look I don't think they're gonna be Georgia next week but you're probably gonna have uh college game day here given what the Slate is and you know some of the you know the fact that it's a ABC game and all that so uh it's I think it's already a guarantee that if I'm not mistaken that foul or hyp Street and and row you know the a crew are going to be here for that game so um it's just it's massive on so many so many freaking levels and uh you can't screw it up you just you can't screw it up you can already see and that's where the and that's the hardest that might be the hardest part of it too like they they know they're not they're not oblivious they know they gotta go in this game and all the you mentioned you know possibly game day coming if you beat South Carolina you're undefeated they're undefeated story lines right themselves Brock and pop face their old team you know George two Georgia guys face their old you know so yeah that's storyline yeah look it's is it gonna go kuy's way probably not but yeah the story lines are there there's no doubt yeah for sure college sports cast Brad Harvey and everybody over there this is the game you have to win at home absolutely in home games to bad to average SEC teams is not an option that's no no you know it's not beat the team you're supposed to beat man it's that's that simple it's that simple um you were already mentioned Billy Napier and Florida and that schedule is a monster and you know Miami went in there and just had their way and then he's taking shots at the fans which is never a good look and will he even be around when Kentucky has a chance to beat them for what fourth year in a row if that's the case will Billy even be there H I don't know if he's I don't know man I mean look the the game was bad we all know that I mean you got to give credit to Miami too I think they look better than anyone thought they were going to be but I think the thing one you know they come out and just look there are so many plays where you go look and they're just they gave up man there was one I think it was a pick and one of the offensive line and just stopped chasing chasing back the DB uh it was just it was bad and then the comment that Billy Napier made on Monday about Florida San people in sanal Florida texting tweeting from their Bas first of all they don't have basements in the State of Florida Billy um that's one thing you should probably should probably understand where you're living first of all but uh no but like just dumb any look Mark Stoops learned his lesson last year you don't pick a fight with the fans it's stupid it it's it's only going to get you bad PR it's only going to make the fans more pissed off than they are already you just it's a no no it's like rule number one yeah and uh you know Napier screwed that up and look he's on the he's on a hot seat obviously he has a massive buyout I think it's $26 million they're G to give him every chance they're GNA give him a couple chances I think to get this thing turn around they have a uh Ferman this week and then you know a big one at A&M uh or yeah I think it's at A&M and then at Mississippi State like those are two huge games if they look State can we not State's GNA score points this year with Jeff Levy if they were to start one and four one and three or even one and four if they lose at home to UCF uh I I think he's gone after a one and three or one and four start um if they go three in if they go two and three in those games and they or they play pretty well you know we'll see but um I think the stars are kind of aligning to uh the stars are kind of aligning for an interim coach to be on the sidelines when they play against Kentucky and that that's more dangerous honestly if you're Kentucky you hope Florida is like is fighting and Billy Napier's the head coach because those interim coach booths are usually pretty real that teams play up teams play up because they usually it's a position coach or coordinator that the the players are pretty attached to and they go out and give it all they got as we saw you know A&M played really hard at the end of last season uh for Elijah Robinson Mississippi State played better for their interim head coach um after they left let ournet go so uh alurn with Cadillac was in there oh yeah they played their asses off so that's just how it goes um so if you're Kentucky you probably want to avoid that to be honest yeah it' be nice to see him just on life support with Billy still there that I think that's the best case scenario yeah so we shall see we shall see man and you know I was we did our you know predictions I put Florida State as a playoff team that was one of my so did I oh my goodness I felt good about it too and whoa uh yeah uh wow yeah they're a mess man I I actually it's kind of hard to believe how bad it is I mean I guess anytime I guess that's the one risk in the portal area in the port portal area portal era is when you build that thing mostly through the um portal instead of through high school um you know the Buy in from guys isn't the same they're you know just guys who don't play for the back of the uniform they're playing for a check or they're playing to get to the league like uh that is one danger of it and you know Louisville did a really good job with it last year their group clearly bought in you give them credit for that uh we didn't you know we haven't seen that from Florida state yet um you know they's still 10 games they're uh you know they're chances to uh make the playoff are probably dead given who they lost to but absolutely uh just just a pretty stunning result uh to see a team that was you know arguably stubbed from the college football playoff go from from that status to to dead in week two uh week one actually not even week two so it's just it's a shame for that program I feel bad for that fan base honestly but you know it's a it's a tough sport it's a tougher sport than ever there's be more parody and you give credit to both Georgia Tech and Boston College for what they were able to do um and it looks like the ACC is going to come down to probably Miami Louisville and maybe Clemson I I I I look I think people are overreacting a little bit to what you know look Clemson's clearly not what they were three four years ago when they were in the champ in The Natty race every year but I don't think they're as bad as how they played against Georgia I think Georgia is just that freaking good um so I I think it'll probably go down to Louisville Miami and and uh and Clemson in that conference but man you you got to be impressed with Miami uh especially cam Ward like that that didn't look just like Florida stunk that looked like Miami making a point like Hey we're uh we're pretty damn good we we invested a lot of money in this football team and we're bought in and uh that was an impressive impressive showing they were probably the team in the country that that impressed me the most of anyone last Saturday outside of just Georgia doing what they always do yeah yeah it's always got stories up at the cats.com you already mentioned Alex afar is your guy you got a story about that yeah stud 247sports.com and Z children's talked today too about how you know he can looking forward to being used kind of you know getting the blitz when he can you know a lot of Versatility dropping into coverage and U he seemed to be real excited about the way he's being used too yeah look there's a lot of Versatility on this defense starts with those two guys and that's super important to have so um they just have a lot of weapons all over this defense you know it starts up front but when you know afari chers can can do multiple different things um they have different types of bodies in that cornerback room they have the big long guys like hard away and um and and Waller they have the smaller faster guys like dun and and Nicholls who can get up on you so um you know there's a lot to like about this defense and they got to go show it though this Saturday because uh they could quickly change our opinions on that if they struggle uh against this just subpar South Carolina offense yeah for sure for sure and last thing man we wrap it up we got one less guy on the beat man C tuer from who been doing his things thing prior to that at the Cur journal for several years he was I think he hit lexingon right when Kentucky was winning the title in 2012 or somewhere near there cover Virginia Tech before that speaking of them we already talked about them too you know struggling with losing to Vanderbilt but he left blackburg and lexingon and uh the coverage is gonna be gonna be a loss you know with because he brought a lot of coverage especially the basketball side and and know his last article about Willie col Stein and all his things he had to persevere through it was was really cool to see when we lot familiar and how he kind of why he wasn't on the NBA Squad anymore and it was yeah how he nearly could have died easily and it was a really really cool story and Willie reached out and was grateful to Kyle and um stepping away from journalism and and it's understandable he got twin seven year olds and his wife got a lot of health problems and yeah nights and weekends are freed up and you know so wish him all the best as he moves to a new opportunity man yeah no doubt I have a ton of respect for Kyle I mean he's uh as good of a writer honestly as you're going to read um you know there are definitely things just like athletes will say you you re you you watch guys and you try to mimic what they're doing and uh you know there's definitely things from Kyle just reading his work over the years and you know he's he's I've had some conversations with him just him mentoring me on some certain things over the years and through some situations that you know has a more experienced reporter he's passed off to me so you know I have a ton of respect for Kyle he was you know just awesome on this beat you know he he kicked our butts honestly um you know with some of the stories he was able to write and uh some of the news he was able to get out there so uh ton you know happy for him that he's going to get more time with the family he already has a new gig um I forget exactly what it was off the top of my head but happy quickly you know landed somewhere he's excited to be at um excited for him to have more time with the twins more time with the wife and uh you know that's a that's a guy who busted his ass doing what he did um you know he's commuting from Nashville and still coming to say about half the games and uh obviously you know working through you know not just Kentucky but toward the end you know they had him doing more National work with college basketball and he did a good job covering the final four I think he did stuff on NC State I want to say focus more on NC State than anyone uh in the final four this year I know he did a big story on St Peters you know he followed them after they beat Kentucky so you know you're talking about a really good riter right there really good dude and uh you know we'll miss having him on the beat but uh you know happy for him uh as he moves on to to bigger and better things hopefully yeah for sure for sure well we appreciate you on the beat look forward to what you come out with uh the rest of the week and play bypl as you tweet from the Press Box Saturday 3:30 not 10:05 Sunny so yeah not 10:05 not 10:05 keep saying that yeah for sure sure so everybody check Aaron out at the catch paw uh be back next Wednesday with agent another episode hope to have a little recap episode with Jaylen Wednesday I mean sorry Saturday after the game you know 7 7:30ish more normal when when the game should end and hopefully we'll be talking about a win over South Carolina do subscribe and follow and you know keep up with us on all the platforms got the link tree you go to believe in Kentucky on Twitter go to link tree and Instagram and Twitter and Facebook and all the platforms follow Aaron at A99 um and real quick but who your Giants open up with Sunday the Giants they play Minnesota Sam darnold return to metti Stadium where he saw ghost so look look I don't I do like say this I'll give my Bri I was having this conversation with my buddy Michael EPS over at F Fox 56 shout out to him um I do like how they built the roster I think it's finally coming together where they have a really good defensive line I mean Dexter Lawrence gon Tibido Brian Burns that's a pretty great stable of pass rushers um I I like where they're at at linebacker offensively the receiver room led by Malik neighbors Ju Dale obviously a guy we all love around here um Jaylen hayatt guy maybe we don't love as much around here but is a guy who's going to make an impact in the NFL started to last year already uh darus Slayton who's been there a while uh really like the offensive Line's a lot better you know they're probably you know assuming Daniel Jones this isn't it's not going to work out for him you know they're probably a quarterback away and then a couple pieces in the secondary away from being where they need to be to compete you know with the best in the and in the best in the NF but I don't think it's going to happen this year but with that said I'd be pretty disappointed if they don't beat Minnesota and Sam darnold Sunday uh they should they should win that football game and they should honestly probably win next week against Washington who even despite all through all these awful years the Giants have had of late they've one thing they've done consistently is kick Washington's ass so hopefully that'll continue and uh you know hopefully they can have a 22 like season and surprise some folks but uh we'll see Jerry's Jerry's very much out on that and uh I know your your Cowboys are playing Cleveland so that might be that might be a uh with th those two defenses both being really good that might be a a low scoring one down there yeah it's up there um got CD kind of acclimating back into the offense um way we off these contracts Dak might be playing for y'all next year I've seen that stuff he's not look he ain't coming here he'll be back he'll be back we yeah we'll see we love to do that 11th Hour you know last second type stuff and we'll see if he see what happens but uh you know it's we Jerry was all in after the loss of the Packers already mentioned Jordan love slicing them up all in and then did nothing in fre agency and just so I don't know he was a weird off season for Dallas for sure and do they is Bland out too is that what about six eight weeks foot injury so yeah that that's a blow you getting digs back off a knee and then you lose Bland So you you're just not able to have mean that was one of the coolest look obviously not a cowboy guy by any mean what he was able to do last year was one of the cooler stores there is you know five or six pick sixes whatever it was yeah yeah he was he was the Cowboys as Maxwell Harrison basically last year oh my God but like more yeah it's just yeah just insane so we'll add in our Rants and Rumblings and fussing about our NFL Squad now to see there's usually a lot of that for both of us yeah yeah that's how we do so y'all expect that to be mixed in to the Kentucky talk we bring you each and every week so until next time man appreciate you AG appreciate everybody listening appreciate y'all commenting but another episode of Believe in Kentucky for Aon this is Vinnie see y'all next time on the believe in Kentucky podcast brought to you by I believe podcast Network