Let’s clarify a couple of things. As I said yesterday, the staff has already made two moves that made my day this week. They’re starting Randall Cobb at quarterback and Moncell Allen at running back. Eric Crawford did a better job arguing in favor of Cobb than anybody else could, so let me focus on Allen. I like Alfonso Smith, and I think there’s a place on this roster for Tony Dixon, but since Derrick Locke’s injury, I think Allen has played the best out of the remaining backs. I believe that conditioning has prevented him from getting more snaps, but all you have to do is watch him run to see why the coaches made him #1 this week. Allen is the only back who has shown the ability to fall forward on a consistent basis and pick up solid yardage after the initial hit. State has a physical defense, so Allen should work out just great. Here is the rest of the checklist for tomorrow.

* Hold Anthony Dixon to 3 YPC or less. Dixon torched UK last year, and even though there were several players injured at the time, I don’t think having those guys in there would have mattered much. Dixon is an absolute freight train, night and day from the Olympic sprinters of Florida. I do think that an offense like that of MSU is easier to defend than Florida (both in formations and personnel), but Dixon stands out for the Bulldogs. Stop him, and it leads to the next item.

* Make the Bulldogs beat you through the air. State has tall, lanky receivers, but they always have those guys. The ones that brutalized UK last year are gone, and I haven’t been particularly impressed with what little I’ve seen of their young replacements. MSU turned its season around after switching quarterbacks, but now Tyson Lee has been starting instead of last year’s starter, Wesley Carroll. Hopefully Kentucky’s defense will put the game in the hands of both Bulldog quarterbacks, just like they did to Casey Dick in the fourth quarter against Arkansas.

* Zero special teams blunders. But then again, maybe this is asking too much.

For what it’s worth, I do think that Kentucky could have solved some of its offensive woes with these personnel changes, but if not, I’ll gladly eat some crow – just not from the fans of the cowbell. I predict a close, physical victory in the 17-14 range. I don’t know why I’m predicting a UK victory with a score that hinges on a special teams play, but that’s just how I feel on this one.

I’m Seth Stogsdill, and this is shaping up to be an epic Saturday.

Happy Holloween to everyone.  I don’t have a lot of time this week so I’m going to trim down this post and just give my pick with a reason why.

KENTUCKY @ MISSISSIPPI STATE  2:30   PPV

PREDICTION: Kentucky 28, Mississippi State 10
Yeah, I picked the Cats to win convincingly. So what?  It’s not a Halloween scary joke or a prank.  I think the change at quarterback along with the receivers being fueled by Mike hartline’s comments will result in a winning formula this week in Starkville.

GEORGIA vs. FLORIDA  3:30  CBS

PREDICTION: Georgia 35, Florida 31
It’s the annual “World’s Largest Cocktail Party” meeting in Jacksonville and this year’s game is a huge one.  The winner keeps their hopes of a BCS Championship alive while the loser can kiss it goodbye.  I like the Gators in this one just because of the beatdown the Gators put on the Cats last week.  The game may come down to one big play at the end though.  We shall see.

ARKANSAS STATE @ ALABAMA  3:00

PREDICTION: ALABAMA 42, ARKANSAS STATE 7
This should be an easy win for the Tide as they continue rolling along to their matchup with LSU next week.  They can probably look ahead a little and still coast in this one.

TULSA @ ARKANSAS  2:00

PREDICTION: TULSA 31, ARKANSAS 14
The Golden Hurricane will go into Fayetteville and keep their BCS bowl hopes alive while they improve their record to 9-0.  I think their offense will be too much for the Hogs and the Hurricanes will get a road win.

AUBURN @ OLE MISS  12:30  Raycom

PREDICTION: Auburn 14, Ole Miss 10
Not sure what to think of this game.  I think Auburn will probably come out looking to get a much needed win after losing at West Virginia in their last game.  Ole Miss got a win last week against Arkansas so they should have a little momentum.  I think the extra days off from the Thursday night game will help Auburn get the W on Saturday.

TULANE @ LSU  8:00

PREDICTION: LSU 24, TULANE 7
Last week LSU lost to Georgia at home on national television.  I don’t think that will happen this week.  Tulane will see a dominating performance from the Bayou Bengals on Saturday night.  They won’t score a lot but they will control the game from the opening kick.

TENNESSEE @ SOUTH CAROLINA  7:00 ESPN2

PREDICTION: USC 24, TENNESSEE 17
I really wish I could pick both of these teams to lose but one of them has to win.  I tend to hate Vol orange more than gamecock maroon.  I think a 4-8 season may be possible for the Vols and how sweet would it be to give them that eighth loss and end the years of frustration. 

VANDERBILT will try to get the Duke loss out of their minds during this weekend as they are off.

Apologies for the tardiness, but I couldn’t log onto the site all day for whatever reason.

We lead off with a piece from Jeff Goodman that I actually want you to click. Goodman has been my nemesis for a while, but here he names his 20 impact freshmen of the 2009 college basketball season, and actually praises DeAndre Liggins. I actually praise Goodman for not including Chris Singleton on the list because he probably knows that under Leonard Hamilton, Singleton will only be as good four years from now as he is today.

Goodman – impact freshmen

Here’s just another example of how powerful the Big Blue Nation is. I went out of town this morning, but not before I saw a column by Bob McClellan of rivals.com that listed the top ten post players in college basketball. Here was the list when I left this morning.

1. Tyler Hansbrough (North Carolina)
2. Blake Griffin (Oklahoma)
3. Luke Harangody (Notre Dame)
4. Hasheem Thabeet (Connecticut)
5. Jon Brockman (Washington)
6. AJ Ogilvy (Vanderbilt)
7. Earl Clark (Louisville)
8. Damion James (Texas)
9. Dejuan Blair (Pittsburgh)
10. Jarvis Varnado (Mississippi State)

I know what you’re thinking: Where’s Patrick Patterson? Trust me, I was thinking it as well. Well, when I got back home, this is what the list looked like.

1. Hansbrough
2. Griffin
3. Harangody
4. Thabeet
5. PATRICK PATTERSON (KENTUCKY)
6. Brockman
7. Ogilvy
8. Clark
9. James
T-10. Blair
T-10. Varnado

Apparently while I was gone, Big Blue Nation got word of the oversight by McClellan and unleashed the hounds of hell on poor Bob. For what it’s worth, I’d put Patterson at #4 in front of Thabeet, but I can’t argue Patterson over the top three or the other way. I’m sure Bob just had a brain shart. Lord knows it’s happened to all of us before. Heck, I even left out Marcus Thornton of LSU in my top ten SEC players column.

Bobby Mac knows his role

In other news, the Coaches’ Poll is out. Let’s take a look.

1. North Carolina
2. Connecticut
3. Louisville
4. UCLA
5. Duke
6. Pittsburgh
7. Michigan State
8. Texas
9. Notre Dame
10. Purdue
11. Gonzaga (please)
12. Memphis
13. Tennessee
14. Oklahoma
15. Arizona State
16. Miami
17. Marquette
18. Georgetown
19. Florida
20. Davidson
21. USC
22. Wisconsin
23. Kansas
24. Wake Forest
25. Villanova
40. Kentucky

Here are my early assessments of the poll. The top four are just right, and so are Pittsburgh, Arizona State and Davidson. Duke, Texas and Tennessee are too high. Gonzaga is WAY too high, hence my insertion of (please). Villanova, Kansas and Georgetown are a little low for my taste. And of course, while I understand the placement of Kentucky based on last season, 40 is a joke. On Monday I’ll do a season preview to explain why I think it’s a joke.

Finally, with the system not letting me log on until late, I can at least inform you that my good friends over at Cats’ Pause have a nice little video on the front page of their site. For the first time since 1992, a practice was open to the public, and their cameras were there. Just open up a new tab and there you go.

Coach Gillispie says “get out.”

With the blue/white scrimmage on Saturday and more and more polls like these coming out every day, the greatest sport in the world is almost upon us. If the Big Dance is Christmas, then this week is like when Fayette Mall puts up its lights and decorations on November 1.

I’ll be back with an abbreviated “Make My Day” for tomorrow. It’s abbreviated because the staff has already made a couple decisions that have made my day.

I’m Seth Stogsdill, and I want more hoops.

The views I’m about to express are not necessarily those of anybody else but me, but they ought to be, and as a matter of fact, they probably are.

I am not here to defecate on Mike Hartline. I just want to scold him a bit for putting his foot in his mouth. I’ve never been a fan of calling out college players (at least ones that play for my team), but it’s okay to call them out when they say stupid things. It’s okay to get on Jamaal Magloire for saying that the UK basketball team was starting to show spurts of consistency. It’s okay to get on Winston Bennett for saying he had never had major knee surgery on any other part of his body. Just like those instances, I have no problem with getting on Mike Hartline for these comments regarding his benching for Saturday’s game against Mississippi State.

“I’m disappointed. It stinks,” Hartline said. “You don’t ever expect to win that starting job and then lose it because guys around you aren’t performing like they should. It’s disappointing but at the same time it’s what’s best for the team and I’m a team player.”

This quote may have been taken out of context, but even if it was, it was incredibly stupid to put these words in this order, Mike. Most people wouldn’t have a problem with this quote if you were doing your job to a satisfactory degree and the other guys weren’t. Michael Jordan used to call out his teammates all the time because that was what it took for the guys to man up and play to the level of Jordan’s expectations. However, Mike, you were benched because you were not playing well against SEC defenses, save for a wonderful four minutes against Arkansas (for which I thank both you and Randall Cobb).

I can make it look better on Hartline by saying that he was benched because Randall Cobb was doing Mike’s job better than Mike, even in fewer snaps. Yes, Mike – you do make a good point that the guys around you haven’t done their jobs to a satisfactory degree. I agree with that. But you have to help those guys out some. That means not checking out to the safety valve so often. That means stepping up in the pocket and making harder throws. That means not setting up your receivers to get crushed on hook and curl routes.

Now let’s delve into the semantics of the quote, and I really only want to focus on the last four words. “I’m a team player.” I’ve heard quotes from professional athletes where they express dismay at being benched or demoted or traded, but they always throw that “I’m a team player” disclaimer in there at the end. Here’s a news flash: ALL athletes in team sports should be team players, hence the term “team sports.” The ones that aren’t play for the New York Knicks. Saying “I’m a team player” after throwing your teammates under the bus is like somebody saying “I pretty much hate all gay people, but I’m not homophobic or anything like that.”

So, Mike Hartline, here is the test for you as a team player: step up your game. Prove the naysayers like me wrong. For all I know, this switch to Randall Cobb is not a permanent thing. It’s only an attempted temporary solution to the team’s offensive woes. Will Cobb make the receivers catch balls they dropped for Hartline? Nobody will know for sure until Saturday. For now, all the staff is doing is trying to get something to work on offense. If Cobb doesn’t work out, Mike, then the staff will probably go back to you. The next time you get out there on the field, make the coaches feel like jackasses for benching you. If Cobb does work out and UK does become bowl eligible, hang in there because this will probably be the last year Cobb plays QB. Make it tough for Morgan Newton or Ryan Mossakowski to take the starting job next season. Any of these things will help your team win, Mike. I already think that your comments to the media today are a huge step in the right direction, so for that, I’m happy for you.

That’s what being a team player is all about.

I’m Seth Stogsdill, and I’m just a guy on the internet. What do I know?

One thing I neglected to mention about last week’s Lute Olson piece was that some of the recruits who committed to Olson at Arizona are now going to reopen their recruitment now that the coach has stepped down in Tucson. The man pictured above is Solomon Hill.

RECRUIT PROFILE: Solomon Hill
Hometown: Los Angeles, CA
School: Fairfax HS
Height: 6’6”
Weight: 195
Minimal interest: Boston College, DePaul, Gonzaga, Kansas State, Michigan, Oregon State, San Diego, San Diego State, Texas, UNLV, Utah
Low interest: Arizona
Medium interest: Kentucky, Miami, USC, Washington, Washington State
Ranking: #28, Rivals 150, #3 SF, #13 ranking per Scout

Nothing is guaranteed here. There isn’t a whole lot of video on Hill, especially considering his high ranking, but I think I know why. Fairfax HS is the home of Renardo Sidney, a consensus top ten prospect who has Kentucky and a bunch of west coast schools on his list. Getting Sidney is pretty much a statistical impossibility, but Hill is definitely possible. Before you ask, I have considered how awesome a Sidney/Hill package deal would be, but I often wonder how cool it would be to win the lottery too.

According to every recruiting site I trust, The top three for Hill are Kentucky, Miami and USC. I have no idea where Coach Gillispie thinks he can find a scholarship, but then again, he’s a lot closer to the situation than I am. Kentucky has a top ten class for 2009 with the recent commitment of Daniel Orton to go along with Jon Hood and GJ Vilarino, but if somehow the staff could find a way to get Hill in there, it would probably be a top five class. Hill is an extremely versatile swingman, capable of playing three positions. He has the prototype body for the type of wing player Coach Gillispie has targeted.

I’m Seth Stogsdill, and yes, I heard what Mike Hartline said. Believe me, comeuppance is on the way.

The nation spoke and now we have a new leader.  No I’m not talking about the Presidential election.  I really don’t care about that as much as I care about the leader of our football team.  The nation I speak of, it’s the Big Blue Nation.  From his press conference yesterday, Rich Brooks has eased the minds, at least momentarily, of his followers with the announcement that freshman Randall Cobb will takeover the play-calling this week at Miss St.  Cobb will start the game at quarterback but from Brooks’ comments, it sounds like Mike Hartline will still see the field at some time during the game.  Basically, the roles of the past couple of weeks will be reversed for the guys at quarterback.  I think this decision may have been one that saved the season for this year’s Cats.  The team seemed to be going nowhere fast behind Hartline’s decisions and the fans had had enough.  I know Coach Brooks will probably say that the fans had nothing to do with his decision but I like to think that maybe we had a little something to do with it.  Regardless, the change has been made and I hope Randall can make the fans look like geniuses next week. 

In other news, the Georgia game on November 8th will be televised.  The only problem is we still do not know when or on what channel.  If Georgia wins their game against Florida this week in Jacksonville, then the game will be televised nationally on ESPN or ESPN2 at 8:00pm.  If the Dogs lose against the Gators, the game will be on Raycom starting at 12:30pm.  Being that it is a home game, I really don’t care which channel it’s on because I will be there but for the program I think it’s better for it to be on ESPN.  It’s a national game and I can’t remember the last time the Cats won a game televised on Raycom Sports.  The only bad thing about the ESPN game is that starting at 8:00 will mean the heavy coats and hand warmers will be in full use.

That is, at least, if you just caught today’s football press conference. Rich Brooks said today that Cobb was working with the first stringers this week and would start against Mississippi State. I don’t want to do any more debating on the issue, especially after I linked that Eric Crawford article in yesterday’s piece, but it seems like the coaches feel it’s worth a shot to make the change.

So, all of a sudden, Kentucky has a very good shot to beat Mississippi State in front of those unbearable cowbells and the pricks who wield them. Even though nothing good really came from the Florida game, Cobb actually looked decent out there. The numbers in the Crawford column back up that claim. Mississippi State doesn’t have the raw speed, size and athleticism that Florida does, but then again, who does? What the Bulldogs do have is a very good defense that has given conference teams fits. Remember the 3-2 slugfest against Auburn back from when I thought Auburn was good? State played amazing defense in that one and had they had any hint of a competent offense, the cowbells would have claimed their second ranked team of the year.

Yet, for whatever reason, I feel strangely confident about the ability of Kentucky to move the ball against MSU. I’m actually more concerned about the defense because of their injuries. MSU is a bit like the polar opposite of Arkansas. They’re extremely tough on defense and weak on offense. Tyson Lee and Wesley Carroll have shared duty at QB, but both have struggled. I do remember Anthony Dixon and Christian Ducre from last year’s game, though. Those were the biggest running backs the team faced last year, and the defense couldn’t tackle either one of them. I’m currently unaware of the status of Myron Pryor for Saturday, but UK needs him to take on those two trucks. I haven’t seen enough MSU on TV this year to make a proper assessment of the Bulldogs’ wide receivers, but at 6’3” and 6’4” respectively, Aubrey Bell and Brandon McRae at least look the part. I hope that UK can take advantage of their awesome defensive line because State has a relatively small offensive line, especially for that program. The heaviest starting lineman is 310 pounds, certainly no Pork Chop Womack. If Jarmon, Peters and the guys can overpower those guys and the linebackers can cover the backs on the screens (despite being huge, Dixon is great at catching the screen pass and making plays), then there’s only one worry left.

Of course, I’m talking about special teams. How long has it been since Kentucky went 60 minutes without a special teams blunder? I want to say Alabama, but my memory is a little fuzzy on that one. I know there weren’t any against Western Kentucky. Either way, that’s 3-4 games in a row with abysmal special teams play. I don’t have a solution to the problems. Tim Masthay has always been slow in getting off his punts, but it wasn’t like the two that blocked against Florida weren’t any slower than usual. All they can do is block better. And hopefully none of the return guys muff any this week.

Finally, and this might be my biggest concern, somebody has to step up and lead. I thought Dicky Lyons would be that guy, and he probably was if you listened to some of the Cobb interviews, but ne’s done for the year. Defense has plenty of leaders. They have leaders at every position, so when they’re healthy, they step up and make big plays. But where does the leadership come from on offense? Well, it may very well be Cobb now. If this true freshman can lead his team into a hostile and cowbell-filled environment and come away with a win, then Cobb might just make the transition from great to special, or even from special to transcendent. The last time UK lost a game by that kind of margin, it was 49-0 against LSU. The next week, they regrouped and won a tough one in Starkville. Let’s hope it happens again.

I’m Seth Stogsdill, and this post needs more cowbell.

I cannot remember a bigger week in Kentucky Football than the one we are approaching.  It’s do or die, literally.  In the past couple of years we’ve seen the program rise to levels that some fans, including myself had never seen in their lifetime.  Back-to-back bowl wins, a win over a number one team, a number 8 ranking nationally, and back-to-back wins over Louisville including holding them to 2 points on their home turf this year.   This week’s game decides where we go from here.  A win and the Cats are bowl elgible yet again, not to mention getting revenge on the Dogs from last year.  A loss and the Cats might as well pack it in because it means they couldn’t put the Florida loss behind them and the rest of the season will probably go the same way. 

Which brings me back to my opening statement.  This week will be the most pivotal in recent history for UK football.  If changes are made and guys focus on beating Miss St this week then all of the hard work of the past couple of years wasn’t for nothing.  If the team sulks and mopes around after getting their backsides stomped into the turf of The Swamp by the Gators on Saturday then it may be another long game in Starkville. 

Some of the keys to bouncing back are as follows:

1. Special Teams has to be fixed.  We cannot have guys going unblocked during punts and kicks and think it won’t hurt.  On punts, there are the same amount of guys blocking as there are attacking.  Match up and get the job done.  As for the field goal kicking, Sieber may be more accurate but he can’t kick the ball high enough half of the time to get it to the uprights.  His field goal that he did make on Saturday should have been blocked.  It went through the middle of two Gators blockers, not over them. 

2. Put the 58 point loss behind you.  There is no reason to think about last week’s game anymore.  It is over and done with.  Watch the video, see what went wrong and get it fixed.  These guys are capable of playing SEC football.  They showed it during the Alabama game. 

3. Let the key guys get healthy.  If they are not healthy, don’t play them.  I know a lot of the starters are probably more talented while injured than some of