I'm really glad all the prelims are over, and now we can get to the main event. Being 3 & 0 beats the heck out of any alternative, but ask yourself how good these Cats really are.
How impressive was this latest win over a bad Akron team that lost to Gardner Webb last week? Well, let's take a close look at it.
Leading 3 - 0 with 9 and a half minutes left in the first quarter, the Cats couldn't gain 10 yards in four downs after taking possession with great field position at the fifty yard line. Akron took over, and their best receiver, Jeremy LaFrance, dropped a sure touchdown pass in the open field that would have given this motley crew from Ohio a 7 to 3 lead.
When Kentucky got the ball back, how did they respond to their good fortune. Chris Matthews dropped a pass, a holding penalty wiped out a long pass play from Hartline to Cobb, and that was followed by a false start and an incomplete pass.
At that point, another Akron receiver got past his UK defender in the open field and would have had another sure touchdown if his quarterback hadn't overthrown him badly. Let's be realistic. At that very momemt, Kentucky should have been losing to a bad Akron team 14 to 3.
On the Cats' next possession, they went for it on 4th and 1 from the Akron 29 yard line, but another of the dreaded false starts forced a field goal attempt.
Coach Joker went ballistic and called time-out to read his players the riot act,
but the immediate result was a missed field goal.
A pass interference call against Randall Burden gave Akron a 1st and 10 at the Kentucky 18 yard line, and when the visiting Zips had to settle for a game tying field goal, instead of 3 - 3, the score should have been Akron 17, Kentucky 3 if Akron hadn't botched those two sure touchdown passes.
Uk faced a 3rd and 12 situation on their next possession and promptly got a holding penalty, making them 0 for 5 on third down conversions midway through the second quarter.
A McIntosh field goal finally gave UK its first lead at 6 to 3, but remember, Kentucky should have been losing at that juncture 17 to 6, not to Florida or South Carolina or any number of other good SEC teams but to a bad Akron team.
Mike Hartline continued to throw the ball well, but even when his 13 yard TD pass to Randall Cobb gave the Cats a 13 to 3 lead with just over four minutes left in the half, UK should still have been losing to a bad Akron team 17 - 13.
Kentucky's terrific turtle, Moncell Allen, limped off the field with an injured hamstring after the ensuing kick-off, but when UK got the ball again, Hartline managed the clock beautifully and kept the Cats on the march toward another score. But again, be realistic. We should all take note that after 29 minutes of football against a bad Akron team, UK should have still been losing by 4 points.
From that point on, Kentucky got one great run after another from Derrick Locke and outscored the Zips 34 to 7. They'll take what looks like momentum into next week's game with the Gators, but is it false momentum.
And how concerned should we be that the Cats might be going to Gainesville without their best blocker?
With DeQuin Evans and Collins Ukwu both playing better at defensive end and Danny Trevathan developing into a standout linebacker, Florida shouldn't find it easy to score on Saturday. As long as UK has two offensive stars as good as Cobb and Locke, and as long as Hartline continues to play almost flawless football, the Cats have a chance to beat just about anybody.
Still, it's hard to get too confident after those 29 minutes of struggle against a bad Akron team.
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