I don’t fear South Carolina this season. I don’t fear any SEC team this season, and I’ll tell you why. This team is a classic, old school SEC team that relies on physical football and dominating defense to get the job done. When was the last UK team that prided itself on defense? The 2002 team that went 7-5 but couldn’t bowl because of probation liked to dish out hard hits, but they still gave up a lot of points. I’m not familiar enough with the Jerry Claiborne teams from the 80s that went to consecutive bowls. I do know the 1977 team was particularly vicious, so I guess I have to go back that far to come up with what I feel is a sure thing.
For this reason, I think this team’s ceiling is the highest of any UK team of my lifetime. This is not a guarantee that Kentucky will win “x” number of games the rest of the way. It’s just a statement that many national pundits have repeated after the Alabama game. This team can hang with anybody in the conference because of its defense. In trying to come up with a comparative example, the best I could do was the Mississippi State teams from the late 90s. Those guys were absolutely scary on defense for a number of reasons. For one thing, they recruited well and put a bunch of guys in the NFL, Greg Favors, Eric Brown, Fred Smoot and Walt Harris to name a few. Secondly, they ran a gimmick, but ran it well enough to enjoy a period of sustained success before teams figured out. Coordinator Joe Lee Dunn used a 4-2-5 setup and blitzed hard on every single play. It was vicious, but it worked. I think they won the division a couple of times and pulled off plenty of upsets along the way. But on offense, those MSU teams weren’t good at all. They didn’t have to be very good because that defense created turnovers and got them in great field position so often, plus they had good special teams. This UK team is a lot like those teams, except I think they’re a hair better on offense.
In big time football, defense, special teams and field position rule the day. Let’s use Monday’s NFL game as another example because it’s fresh on my mind (Actually, I haven’t come off the high of victory yet). Minnesota had no business being in the game against New Orleans. The Saints outgained them something fierce and had two punt return touchdowns. Why Minnesota kept punting to Reggie Bush after the first TD is beyond me, but I digress. Minnesota stayed in the game because they forced four turnovers and shortened the field for their usually inept offense. Plus, Ryan Longwell didn’t shank any field goals, while Martin Gramatica aimed one towards the Gulf of Mexico and had another one that was blocked and returned for a touchdown. Defense and special teams won the Vikings that game, and they will win a game for Kentucky when all looks lost.
Now, let’s look at South Carolina. One of the biggest weaknesses of the team so far has been the play of their offensive line. Saturday should feel like Christmas morning for the UK front seven after having to go up against the awesome running attack of Alabama. The Cocks don’t have a running back as powerful and explosive as Glen Coffee, and they don’t even come close on the offensive line. This means that the defense should have a great day and force a lot of 3-and-outs. Once again, it will come down to defense, field position and special teams – just the way it’s meant to be in the SEC. I’ve never been a fan of predictions, but I will make one for this game: The defense will be a non-offensive score. Both teams have excellent returners and defenses. Both offenses have been awful this year. Something has to give.
I’ll go into more details tomorrow with “Make My Day.”
I’m Seth Stogsdill, and you have no idea how hard it is to write a column that features South Carolina without making one of those jokes.