[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8Gs2EqcIRw&hl=en&fs=1]

27-2.

Just let that sink in for a minute, people. 27-2. Doesn’t it just sound swell? It’s as if Kentucky gave Louisville the safety out of sympathy. “Well, we at least want to make it look like you earned a score, so let’s call a play action pass when we’re inside our own 5. There you go.” I know Louisville is a shell of its former self, but I don’t care. You could say the same thing about Kentucky after losing so many guys to the NFL. By the way, I want to offer congratulations to Wesley Woodyard for making the cut on the Denver Broncos and to Keenan Burton for being named a starter for the St. Louis Rams. That’s just awesome, guys. But back to this game, considering how much Kentucky lost, I might actually be more impressed with this year’s win than I was with last year’s win.

I want to start with the offense. People will say the offense was terrible, and that’s fine. That’s their right. I’ll say that the offense wasn’t one that can win a lot of games in the SEC, but I also think that the playcalling was different than what we’re used to seeing from Joker Phillips. When Phillips took over for Ron Hudson, there was one game left on the schedule – Tennessee. Kentucky didn’t win that game, but Joker took a lot of chances on offense at that game with Shane Boyd at quarterback. I think Mike Hartline has a higher ceiling than Boyd.

Fans want quarterbacks to be Superman all the time Andre Woodson was Superman in last year’s Louisville game. Mike Hartline was Batman. Batman isn’t as flashy. His superpowers aren’t as flashy. He’s just as efficient, and his movies are better. All Batman does is get the job done, and that’s what Mike Hartline did. Mike just managed the game as well as you can ask a guy starting his first college game in a relatively hostile environment with 107-degree heat on the field. You could count on one hand the number of bad passes Mike threw. One was an overthrown ball to TC Drake that had a good chance of being a touchdown. There were also several drops by the receivers, but I think when Aaron Boyd comes back from mono and Kyrus Lanxter gets over his wrist injury, this will improve. None of the receivers made any catastrophic mistakes. They ran solid routes, and to Louisville’s credit, the coverage was much better than last year.

The running game was probably the biggest disappointment of the day – or was it? I know the statistics don’t look good, but I honestly think that Coach Brooks and Coach Phillips saw an opportunity after Ashton Cobb scored on a fumble recovery. They realized that on this day, the defense wasn’t going to let Kentucky lose, so the gameplan got a lot more conservative. I can imagine people getting frustrated at Phillips for continuing to run right at Adrian Grady and Earl Heyman (the two best Louisville defenders), but it was done with a purpose. That purpose was to wear out the Louisville defense. As time progressed, they were able to turn the corner on Louisville with Locke and Smith whenever they ran to the outside. Had Louisville been able to do anything against the Kentucky defense, I think Kentucky would have called more outside running plays. Going up the gut wasn’t working for any purpose other than attrition. I do wish that Dixon and Locke hadn’t gotten happy feet so many times on those runs, but I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt and attribute it to first game jitters. The line did seem to struggle, but there were a couple of first time starters, so it isn’t something that’s impossible to fix.

The real story of the game was how defense and special teams dominated. The Kentucky front seven was as dominant as I’ve seen since they destroyed Dave Ragone back in 2002. Louisville couldn’t get anything going. The linemen didn’t hit Cantwell as much as when Ragone got destroyed, but they did deliver some shots. The secondary was extremely active against the pass. Cantwell has absolutely zero touch on his throw, but he did have Josh Chichester at 6’8”, which is enough of a height advantage to create a mismatch against anybody. It didn’t matter, because David Jones locked up Chichester all day long. Trevard Lindley was his usual awesome self. He didn’t get many balls thrown his way, which is really the mark of a lockdown corner. Every single defender on the team wrapped up when they had to make a tackle one on one. All three linebackers laid some lumber. Micah Johnson stopping Brock Bolen on 4th down was like two tanks colliding. On special teams, the Cats used the feet of Tim Masthay and Ryan Tydlacka to dominate field position. Louisville couldn’t get off a decent return all game long, especially when Masthay was booming most of his kickoffs into the endzone. Lones Seiber made both of his chip shots, so I can’t complain much about that Matt Roark got his fingertip on a field goal attempt when it was 0-0. With the way the offense struggled, who knows how things would have turned out if Louisville had drawn first blood with that FG?

The big star of the game was Myron Pryor. I haven’t seen a game like that from a Kentucky defensive lineman since Dewayne Robertson single-handedly beat Indiana back in 2000. I understand why Louisville never doubled him because they focused more on Jeremy Jarmon – a good strategy against the Myron Pryor from 2007, but this isn’t 2007. Pryor burned Eric Wood on the line more often than not, and Wood’s one of the best centers in the country. He forced the first fumble that led to the Cobb touchdown. He made the push on the line that allowed Johnson to make his 4th down stop. He tipped a couple passes at the line. He returned a fumble for a touchdown (a picture of him outrunning Wood to the endzone is my current desktop background). Credit Johnny Williams for making the hit on Cantwell and jarring the ball loose on that play as well, but Myron was the man yesterday. If he stays healthy, he could very well be all-SEC.

The “bend but don’t break” defense of the Mike Archer years is dead. Steve Brown is in charge now, and his guys are attacking. That is an SEC defense, folks. And it will win some more games for the good guys, just like it did yesterday.

27-2.

I’m Seth Stogsdill, wishing a happy Labor Day to everybody and a happy Rosh Hashanah to Louisville fans. I know it’s a few weeks away, but Louisville will be the last thing on my mind then. Enjoy the death spiral, Cards.

With bad news hitting the fan on the very first day players returned to campus, it’s time to forget the past and look towards the future. That’s right, who will replace Paul Warford and Christian Johnson. And if something changes between 11 p.m. last night and by the time media day activites starts.. I’m sorry.

Lucky for you though, I will be attending media day for the newspaper. Onto our replacements in order of the likelihood that the players will start in that position.

Corner:
1. David Jones
The post-spring depth chart has Warford in a virtual tie with senior David Jones. Jones stat line in 2007: 11 games played, 11 tackles, 1 pass breakup.

2. Robbie McAtee/Shomari Moore
Listed as Trevard Lindley’s backup, the senior could switch to the other side of the field. Moore is listed at third on the depth chart behind Lindley, but played in all 13 games last year. McAtee 2007 stats: six games, 11 tackles, 1 pbu. Moore 2007 stats: 13 games, 20 tackles, 1 tfl, 1 INT, 2 pbu.

3. Randall Burden
The redshirt freshman is third on the depth chart behind Warford/Jones out of spring camp. But the kid has shown flashes of talent. Probably will end up being the nickel or dime corner.

4. E.J. Adams
This is a long shot, but Adams originally came in as corner and played well last year before injuries. Now a WR due to lack of good depth at that position, it’s not a long shot to see Adams switching back if the freshman wideouts step up.

5. E.J. Fields
Freshman could crack the field, but this is an even longer shot to start.

Guard:
1. Zipp Duncan
Johnson was listed as the starting left guard post spring practice, but Duncan came in and took Johnson’s job last year during fall camp. Duncan would probably have challenged Johnson again and could have won out again. Almost a sure pick to start at left guard.

2. Stuart Hines
The redshirt freshman is expected to challenge Jess Beets for the right guard slot, but could slide over and challenge Duncan if needed.

3. Any freshman/career backup.
After the top two, the replacements could come anywhere. Dustin Luck or Michael Williams are veterans who could shoot up the depth chart. Or incoming freshman like Dave Ulinski, Matt Smith or Chandler Burden could contribute.

The Warford problem is minor, as the corner position has some depth. But Johnson’s latest mishap, in a series of them, could hurt the depth along the o-line. Anyway, off to the media day, will have updates later.