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| 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.
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