Okay, so UK beat Mississippi St. 34-31. We're all happy that they got out of that one. The story of the game was Smith emerging as an option as running back. Andre Woodson turned in another solid performance, as did Dicky Lyons Jr. and Keenan Burton. The defense held the Bulldogs to ONLY 24 yards rushing! Unfortunately, they did let them throw the ball all over the field.

Here's the debate though:

With 4 games left (3 against SEC opponents), what games are winnable to you? There is one gimme game in Louisiana-Monroe, a game that would be a HUGE upset in Tennessee, and then the middle of the road games against Georgia and Vandy. I think Vandy is better than we all give them credit for, which in my mind only leaves Georgia. Georgia is the game standing between UK and their bowl game. Which again would make this week the biggest week in Rich Brooks' career. What do you think about all this? Which game does UK HAVE to win?

Hey everyone,

Chris Cross is on vacation this week so Mike and I were wondering what sorts of things you all would like us to talk about this week on the Sports Huddle.

What sorts of things have you all been dying to talk about but couldn't because Chris Cross would tell you to "get off his phone"

There will be lots of special guests this week to look forward to... And, you might even get to hear me on the show too.

Come hang out with us while we do the show this week:
Monday - The Grapevine (Tates Creek Center)
Tuesday - Downtown Studio
Wednesday - Jack Kain Ford (Versailles Rd.)
Thursday - The Ketch
Friday - Downtown Studio

Just when you thought things were looking up, a team like LSU comes and brings us back down to reality. I'm not surprised that UK lost this game; I'm just surprised the way it happened... 49-0

For those of you that want it spelled out (I know I don't), that means that UK let LSU score 7 touchdowns and they couldn't even score one themselves.

What happened to the improved offense this year?

The fact that UK couldn't even score a field goal let alone a touchdown is what disappoints me the most. The high flying offense only put up around a whopping 220 yards; 84 of which were taken back by penalties. So let's look at this for what it is. UK got beat by the better team. We knew it was going to happen, but no one thought it would happen like this.

What needs to be done in order for UK to be successful?

Is the defense not letting Kentucky get into the game, or is the offense that needs to come up with more drives to help the defense? Do you think that it's both sides fault?

What has to happen?

The Life of ESPN Sports Radio 1300's Operations Manager

Hey everyone,

I bet you're wondering where I've been lately and wondering why the blog has suffered. I know I apologize, but there's a lot to talk about now so I suppose I'll make up for it. I'll try and run you through the week as best as possible.

Monday

Went to Keeneland for the morning broadcast of "Live From the Backstretch" with Mike Penna and Pete Kules. This show is always fun because you get to run into a lot of people in the horse industry and you get to see the horses working out in the morning. I almost got a bunch of jockeys mad at me with my rolling equipment bag with all the remote stuff in it because the noise was getting the horses excited. Once I realized what I was doing, I picked the bag up instead of rolling it. Finished broadcast at 10am and rushed back to WLXG.

I then got ready for Brooks' Monday press conference. Here's the thing about this one that got me. It seemed as if the media focused more on the offense than the defense. Honestly, I think the defense has been what's hurt them the whole year. It seems to me that there are always a handful of guys that come to play on defense every game, but in order for them to win, they need to get everyone on the same boat. Sometimes, defense cannot be taught, coached, etc. Sometimes, defense comes down to pride and who has it. You need to take pride in what you do to wrap up and make the tackle, pride in what you do to take on the double team so that someone can make a tackle, and pride in what you do to cover the wide reciever that may be faster than you. It seemed to me that everyone was very concerned with the fact that Little is out for a month, etc. etc. I think the issue with the running game comes down to the simple fact that UK hasn't had a set offensive line all year. Although the injury bug hasn't been as bad as it was last year, it's affected key positions that don't always get all the press. The offensive line, in my honest opinion, is the most important part of the offense. Without a solid offensive line, there is no passing or running game. The biggest surprise to me on defense is the fact that they haven't been able to stop the run as good as we thought they would. Here's a front 7 that we thought was going to eat up the run in the preseason. However, the injury bug has plagued them in those key areas and now they're looking for more D Tackles and have had to move some offensive tackles to defense. By the way, if you're still in school and can play DT, talk to Coach.

Tuesday

Live from the Backstretch in the morning and Sports Huddle at night.

Wednesday

Live from the Backstretch in the morning, back to WLXG to book guests for the Sports Huddle and to make promos, and back to Keeneland for the feature race at night.

Thursday

Live from the Backstretch in the morning, booking and promos, Keeneland for the feature race at night.

On a side note. I love Keeneland. The changes that they made to the track in the off-season have been spectacular. The new tote boards are amazing. I think the coolest thing about going to Keeneland is where we do the broadcast from. There's a balcony in between Kurt Becker's announcer booth and Mike Bettaglia's office. I have to say that it has the best view of the track in the whole place. Also, after sitting in the booth while Kurt Becker does his call, I have to say that I am amazed at what he can do. For those of you that missed him being a guest on the Sports Huddle, this guy has 20 minutes before each race to memorize every horse so that he can do his call. It's amazing to watch him at work.

Friday

Live from the backstretch in the morning. I noticed that both Bob Baffert and Nick Zito made their appearances at Keeneland today. Back to WLXG for the Sports Huddle which turned into the decision to cover the baseball championship series. So, Mike Cameron and I decided to get some lunch. Then back to Keeneland for the feature race. I have to tell you there are some tense moments when you're trying to fit a race into 15 minutes and there's a horse that has an equipment delay the race before. We did get the race call in though.

Allright, here's the one you've all been waiting for. I fought through the Keeneland traffic after the races to get down to Rupp Arena for Big Blue Madness. Just so you all know, Tubby was sporting his new glasses in the press conference before. I was excited to see the freshmen though. I think they're going to have to get more playing time than we think. Here's how I see the breakdown going right now.

Morris: Needs 30 minutes (which means he has to stay out of foul trouble)

Bradley: 30-35 minutes

Crawford: 30-35 minutes

Perry: 30-35 minutes

Thomas/Carter/Woo: All sharing 30-35 minutes

The freshmen will probably pick up the slack. Look for Stevenson, Meeks, and Jasper to fill in the gaps in the minutes. A lot of this team is going to depend on whether or not Morris stays out of foul trouble. Thomas, Carter, and Woo may have to take fouls for Morris so that he can stay in the game. The simple fact of having Morris on the court means that teams have to watch for him in the post. If he's not in, teams can double team the outside players that need some good looks at the 3.

Saturday

Lexus Equine Forum in the morning from the Sales Pavillion at Keeneland. The coolest thing about this morning was seeing Kenny Mayne from ESPN out there.

This afternoon I will be returning to Keeneland for the broadcast of the stakes races (most notably the Queen Elizabeth II and the First Lady).

Tonight: Kentucky v. LSU. Hopefully there won't be anyone dressed up like a cow this year. If UK's defense can help out it's offense, look for Kentucky to have a shot in this one. I think they HAVE to win one of these games that people don't think they're going to. LSU is coming off of a loss last week, this may be the week for the Cats. I'm looking forward to seeing how Kentucky responds after losing one of those toss up games. We all know the games that they were supposed to win and lose, but last week was one of those "it could go either way" weeks. How they respond tonight could dictate the tone for the rest of the season.

For all of you betting out at Keeneland:

The new polytrack has taken the bias away from the speed horses. Look for horses that run well on turf and closers to run well on this surface. To be honest, it has been hard to handicap these races. A lot of 10-1, 14-1 horses have been getting in the money and messing up all my exotic bets. The good news for Keeneland though is that there have been full fields in these races. The Darley Alcibides had 14 horses in it! A lot of trainers/owners used last weekend as a prep for the Breeders Cup (Nov 4th at Churchill Downs). However, there are still quality horses going for the rest of the meet.

I'll check in again soon.

Where has everyone been lately? Are you all still alive out there?

SOUND OFF

Here's your chance to vent after the South Carolina game...

What did you think?

Meet South Carolina

Alright folks, here's the skinny on the Spurrier lead South Carolina Gamecocks

What's in a name anyway? It seems like South Carolina banks more on the "Spurrier" factor than anything else. "It's going to be tough to beat _____, they've got Spurrier" is what people tend say when they play Spurrier led teams. Here's the thing though: Spurrier DOES NOT play the game; he only coaches it. You could sit here and tell me all day that Spurrier is 152-47-2 lifetime and I'd say that's a great resume, but the players play. So now that we got the Spurrier factor out of the way, here's who to look for on South Carolina.

Offense:

QB - Well it's a toss up between Syvelle Newton (6'0" 210 Sr) and Blake Mitchell (6'3" 212 Jr). Mitchell started the first two games and Newton went 21 for 35 against Auburn and threw 5 TD passes against FAU. Right now, Newton's got the edge. Look for him to take snaps on Saturday for the Gamecocks.

RB - It's a mixture of 3 different people. Look for Mike Davis (5'9" 207 So), Cory Boyd (6'1". 201 Jr), and Taylor Rank (6'0" 206 RS Fr) to take turns with the running duties on Saturday.

WR - Sidney Rice (6-4" 202 So) leads the team with 360 yards recieving in the last 3 games. Besides him, Moe Brown (6'0" 173 FR), Kenny McKinely (5'11" 174) and Chris Hall (5'11" 186 Fr) will be the targets in the air. Kentucky's secondary has a shot to have a really good game on defense with this recieving crew.

The offensive line has been strong for South Carolina so far this season. Led by Eckerson, Coleman, White, Anderson, Meredith, and their tight end Pavlovic, the O-Line is going to be tough to crack. The linebackers HAVE to blitz that O-Line and create some chaos right at the line of scrimmage if UK is going to be strong on defense.

UK Key to the game: stay strong and take away the running game. Although they have a decent passing game, they'll hurt you on the ground.

Offense to come later....

Well, they did it. UK is now 3-2 overall (1-1 SEC). They're halfway to a bowl!

What did you all think of the game on Saturday?

More to come on this later today...