Kentucky's 2016 Football Schedule

Kentucky will be playing seven home games next season. The Wildcats will take on Southern Mississippi to open the season on September 3rd and finish off the year at Louisville on November 26th.

In between Kentucky will face the usual annual opponents in addition to hosting New Mexico State on September 17th and Austin Peay on November 19th.

Kentucky will also head to Tuscaloosa to face Alabama on October 1st.

KENTUCKY
Sept. 3 SOUTHERN MISS
Sept. 10 at Florida
Sept. 17 NEW MEXICO STATE
Sept. 24 SOUTH CAROLINA
Oct. 1 at Alabama
Oct. 8 VANDERBILT
Oct. 15 Open date
Oct. 22 MISSISSIPPI STATE
Oct. 29 at Missouri
Nov. 5 GEORGIA
Nov. 12 at Tennessee
Nov. 19 AUSTIN PEAY
Nov. 26 at Louisville

Kentucky Football 2015: Consistently Inconsistent

Mark Stoops has to have his team make routine plays

Kentucky football is a program that has shown flashes of rising to the next level of college football.

By next level, I mean going from a perennial "wait 'til next year" team to a team that you can depend on making a minor bowl every season. But they still haven't reached that point yet. There are still steps to take to get to that level.

As you can imagine, Mark Stoops and his staff know that better than anybody else.

The Wildcats level of talent has risen to the highest level since the Rich Brooks bowl seasons. Arguably, this group is more talented, especially in various spots. But there have been coaching mistakes, youthful mistakes and just plain bad decisions that have kept this team from being at worst 6-1.

A dropped pass here and there. A missed tackle on a few particular plays. A bad throw. A few missed blocks.

Those routine plays - or layups as the ESPN commentators said earlier in the year - have to be executed.

Here's something scary. Kentucky could also just as easily be 0-7. Every game Kentucky has played this season, the opponent has remained close or defeated the Wildcats. It goes to show how thin the Wildcats' margin for error is this year.

Kentucky has their standouts and quality players on both sides of the ball. And many of those players have stepped up at various times this year to make big plays, but in order to be the team Kentucky wants to be, they have to be more consistent.

The biggest targets for criticism for Kentucky have been players like Patrick Towles, the quarterback.  He's the most visible person on the team and he touches the ball on every play.  He's an easy target.  Despite his inconsistencies, "Patty Ice" isn't the biggest issue.

Kentucky's offensive line has done little to protect the redshirt junior.  There have been problems with the running backs picking up blocks. When they have given him time, more often than not, he's been able to deliver on most of his passes, especially of late.

Conversely, there have been multiple dropped passes by Kentucky wide receivers. There have been some overthrown passes, passes thrown behind the receivers and passes thrown to the defense.

Inconsistencies.

Kentucky's defense has been inconsistent as well.  The defensive line has struggled to get any push against the opponents' o-line. The linebackers have made bad reads in many instances giving up extra yardage when they should be tackles for loss or for no gain.  And the defensive backs, while improved, have been burned over and over because of the impossible task of guarding wide outs for five, six and seven seconds.

They also have to find a way to generate a pass rush without blitzing multiple players from the back seven on every down.  That will solve so many problems for this defense, especially for the defensive backs who are being abused game after game.

These problems aren't new. They aren't even new for this season. As it turns out, Kentucky's two SEC wins have been two of the most disappointing teams in the SEC. Missouri lost at Vanderbilt and is in bad shape going down the stretch.  South Carolina's issues have been well-documented.

Kentucky also looked great early against Louisiana-Lafayette and let them back into the game, being forced to mount a game winning drive at the end.  Kentucky also was taken into overtime against Eastern Kentucky where without some late game heroics from Dorian Baker, Kentucky loses to their in-state neighbor.

The clues have been evident from week one. And while there has been some progress, Kentucky is still suffering from many of the same afflictions that they dealt with in early September.

That's not to say that Kentucky can't overcome and win the last five games of their schedule. They can beat every team left, but they will have to play at a much higher level and become more... consistent.

Best of the Bluegrass: October 23, 2015

Bowling Green's Jamale Carothers

Joquise Buford - Sr. - RB - Lexington (KY.)  Henry Clay High - Senior running back Joquise Buford had a big game, rushing 29 times for 179 yards and two touchdowns in the Blue Devils' victory.

Johan Williams - Sr. - RB - Madison County (KY.) Central - Williams had 12 carries for 190 yards and two touchdowns in his team's win Friday night.

Des'jahvanni Miles - Sr. - QB - Murray High - Miles carried the ball only 9 times, but picked up 177 yards and two touchdowns in the win.

Steven "Shorty" Cager - So. - ATH - Hopkinsville High - Shorty Cager had an enormous game, rushing five times for 112 yards a two touchdowns.  He also caught three balls for 22 yards and another score.  He accounted for 260 all-purpose yards in the game.

Quinton Baker - Sr. - RB - Ashland (KY.) Blazer - Quinton Baker scored his team's loan touchdown on an 80-yard run Friday night.  He rushed 25 times for 176 yards.

Jamale Carothers - Jr. - RB - Bowling Green - Carothers scored three touchdowns for the Purples in their district clinching victory.  He had 147 yards rushing in the contest.

Tavin Graves - Sr. - RB - North Hardin - Tavin Graves rushed 25 times for 104 yards and a touchdown.  He also caught nine passes for 58 yards in the game.

Asher commits to Louisville

Leslie County (KY.) OL Blake Asher is the newest member of the Louisville Cardinal football program.  The 6-foot-4, 300-pound senior was offered the chance to be a part of Bobby Petrino's program and jumped all over it.

Blake Asher announced his intentions earlier this week to become a Louisville Cardinal shortly after receiving a preferred walk-on offer.

Asher has been enthralled by the Louisville program for months and with the opportunity to play there looming, he made his decision.

"It feels great (to be a Cardinal)," said Asher. "I've waited for this my whole life."

After making multiple visits to Louisville, Asher felt very comfortable with the coaching staff.

"I love everything about the program.  I just knew it was the place for me from the first time I visited there," he said.

There was another big thing that stood out about Asher's opportunity at Louisville.

"My favorite part is getting a chance to be coached by one of the best coaches in the game," he finished.

Asher joins Kentuckians Rodjay Burns, Keion Wakefield, Derek Dorsey and Austin Johnson in the 2016 recruiting class.

Around the State: News and Notes 10/23/15

While much talk yearly centers on the Trinity vs. Saint Xavier rivalry, DuPont Manual and Male are no slouches when it comes to being archrivals.  Tonight, as both teams sit in the top ten in the state, they had 13,001 attend their game. That's the largest crowd in the state this season.

Announced crowd of 13,001 makes this the largest attended high school football game in the State this season. JCPS PROUD...

— MALE HS Athletics (@MaleBulldogs) October 24, 2015

The home standing Crimsons sit at 7-1, while Male is 8-0.

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In case you haven't heard, Marshall commit Quinton Baker is planning an official visit to Mississippi State in December. According to Scout.com's Steve Robertson Baker hasn't received an offer from Dan Mullen's squad yet. That could change if an official visit is in the works.

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Woodford County (KY.) four-star center Drake Jackson was presented with his US Army All-American Bowl Jersey today at his high school. Jackson, a UK commit, has long been the top rated player in the state. The senior has been a standout at every combine and camp he's attended, adding offers from dozens of high profile programs.

Drake Jackson is officially an Army All-American. pic.twitter.com/WdgqrUWP47

— Steve Moss (@smosswkyt) October 23, 2015

Introducing: Woodford Lankford

Woodford Lankford

Several colleges have been maintaining contact with Lexington (KY.) Catholic lineman Woodford Lankford.  The junior talked about his recruitment and about his game.

Woodford Lankford, 6-foot-4, 270-pounds, has been in touch with several schools and camped with others this summer before his junior year started out.

“The schools that have been looking at me the most have been Kentucky, Western Kentucky, Miami (OH.), Cincinnati and Toledo,” Lankford said.  “Vanderbilt, Marshall, Troy and Indiana have also looked at me.”

Lankford has also been to a couple of schools and may be visiting another one this weekend.

“So far I’ve been able to visit games this year at Miami, Western Kentucky, and Kentucky. I’m planning to try to see Cincinnati on October 25th and hopefully see Toledo,” he continued.

Lankford feels that offers may not be far off from a few of those schools.

“Right now I feel like I’m on the verge of being offered by Miami and Western Kentucky.  Both schools have been giving a great amount of attention, especially when I visited for games.  Kentucky is also a likely offer I think. They seem to just be waiting to see how I grow and continue to improve,” Lankford continued.

So what kind of player is Lankford and what is drawing all of these schools to see him?

 “I would consider my biggest strengths to be my technique and footwork,” Lankford. “I’ve spent many hours working extra on ladder drills building up my foot speed and placement.

“Each camp I went to coaches commented on my technique work from drills and one-on-ones. They were saying my kick-step and my posture looked great,” he finished.

Pre-season SEC Basketball Selections

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 21, 2015

Media Picks Kentucky To Win 2016 SEC Men’s Basketball Championship
Birmingham, Ala. – Kentucky was predicted to win the 2016 Southeastern Conference men’s basketball championship in voting by a select panel of both SEC and national media members.
The Wildcats are the overall preseason favorite for the 11th time since the 1998-99 season.

LSU freshman Ben Simmons was the choice of the media for SEC Men’s Basketball Player of the Year. Simmons becomes just the second freshman chosen as preseason player of the year by the media, joining Kentucky’s Julius Randle in 2013-14. Florida’s Dorrian Finney-Smith, Kentucky’s Tyler Ulis, Texas A&M’s Danuel House and Vanderbilt’s Damian Jones also received votes in the Player of the Year voting.

House, Jones, Simmons and Ulis were each All-SEC First Team selections along with Kentucky’s Skal Labissiere and Ole Miss’s Stefan Moody.

Points were compiled on a 14-13-12-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. Each media member also voted for a five-player All-SEC Team. Ties were not broken.

The 2015-16 campaign begins November 13, with conference play set to begin January 2. The 2016 SEC Tournament will be March 9-13 at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn.

First Team All-SEC
Danuel House – Texas A&M, G, 6-7, 212, Sr., Fresno, Texas
Damian Jones – Vanderbilt, C, 7-0, 245, Jr., Baton Rouge, La.
Skal Labissiere – Kentucky, F, 6-11, 225, Fr., Port-au-Prince, Haiti
Stefan Moody – Ole Miss, G, 5-10, 179, Sr., Kissimmee, Fla.
Ben Simmons – LSU, F, 6-10, 225, Fr., Melbourne, Australia
Tyler Ulis – Kentucky, G, 5-9, 160, So., Lima, Ohio

Second Team All-SEC
Dorian Finney-Smith – Florida, F, 6-8, 220, Sr., Portsmouth, Va.
Malik Newman – Mississippi State, G, 6-3, 178, Fr., Jackson, Miss.
Charles Mann – Georgia, G, 6-5, 215, Sr., Alpharetta, Ga.
lex Poythress – Kentucky, F, 6-8, 230, Sr., Clarksville, Tenn.
Tim Quarterman – LSU, G, 6-6, 190, Jr., Savannah, Ga.
Alex Caruso – Texas A&M, G, 6-5, 186, Sr., College Station, Texas

SEC Player of the Year: Ben Simmons, LSU


Preseason Media Poll Pts
1. Kentucky 406
2. Vanderbilt 357
3. Texas A&M 344
4. LSU 333
5. Georgia 266
6. Florida 258
7. South Carolina 204
8. Mississippi State 203
9. Ole Miss 184
10. Auburn 168
11. Arkansas 118
12. Tennessee 86
13. Alabama 85
14. Missouri 33