Moral Victory?

     Who says there's no such thing as a moral victory.  UK fans just witnessed one.  At halftime of this CamFest at Commonwealth, it appeared  The Cats were so overmatched by Auburn that they would surely lose by at least 3 touchdowns.  Instead they clearly outplayed the unbeaten visitors in the second half and lost by 3 points.
     Now the bad news.  It looked like this was Kentucky's game plan in the first half: Try to shut down Auburn's running backs and make Cam Newton beat us.  Well, duh.  The Heisman Trophy candidate at quarterback is tough enough to stop when you're concentrating only on him, and UK defenders seemed to be avoiding him like the plague in the game's first 30 minutes.
     When Ronnie Snead did get in position to tackle the enormous QB on one play, Newton stiff armed him out of the way like a charging elephant might dispose of a pesky chihuahua.  Newton's four first half touchdowns came with remarkable ease.  He never seemed to be running full speed, but the Cats still couldn't catch him. 
     With Auburn on top 14 to 7 early, it did appear that UK was about to run Newton out of bounds for no gain when he suddenly lauched an off balance passed that sailed perfectly into the hands of Tony Burns at the Cat's 9 yard line. 
     Super Man Cam then ran through a ridiculously large hole for yet another Auburn score.  Not long thereafter, he made a 35 yard trot to the UK 5 yard line, and seconds later there was nobody within 5 yards of Newton when he waltzed into the end zone for his 4th TD of the night.  Everybody in Commonwealth stadium had to be pondering the same question I was a that point.  How can a quarterback that big be that hard to find?  His team scored every time they got the football in the first half.
     Mike Hartline meanwhile was completing everything he threw at that juncture.  However, after successive completions to Derrick Locke and Randall Cobb, Locke fumbled on a running play, giving UK its 6th turnover in the last 2 and a half games.  It's really hard to win when you present that many gifts to the opposition.
     With the World Equestrian Games going on nearby, Kentucky kept looking a gift horse in the mouth.  Twice the Cats missed golden opportunities to recover Auburn fumbles.  If the officials had ruled that Randall Burden had maintained possession as he rolled out of bounds with the last of those fumbles, I'm absolutely convinced Kentucky would have converted the turnover into a game winning touchdown of their own.
     Sadly though, the Cats continue to waste great performances from their terrific trio of Cobb, Locke and Hartline.  Yes, I just used the word terrific in the same sentence with the name Hartline, and you better believe he earned it.  It's time for all of us to give the guy his due.  He beat out two very talented young guns for the job as UK"s QB, and now it's pretty clear how he did it.
Locke and Cobb meanwhile are far and away the best kick-return duo in the country, and Cobb now has my vote as the best all purpose player in America.
     Offensive co-ordinator Randy Sanders seems to have figured out that Kentucky is far more effective when Cobb gets more touches out the Wildcat formation.  The play on which Cobb started running left out of that formation and then threw back across the field to Jordan Aumiller in the end zone was the kind of creative call by Coach Sanders that UK needs more of.
     They'll need imagination and execution to beat South Carolina this week.
All the Big Blue Kool-Ade drinkers who predicted 9 or 10 wins for the Cats this season overlooked the fact that Auburn and South Carolina are both much better football teams than they were last year.  Both managed to recruit impact players who have made a huge difference.
     Randall Cobb though can be the biggest difference maker next Saturday, and I have a hunch that the little man with the big heart is not going to let his team lose another heartbreaker.