KSR - KSR Postgame UK FB at Florida 10/20/24

Episode Date: October 20, 2024

Matt and Billy recap the Cats' 48-20 loss at Florida.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Welcome, everyone. It is the local toy dealers KSR postgame show. The cats get absolutely blown out tonight in Gainesville, 48 to 20. And embarrassing loss after a number of wins against Florida in a row, this one is pretty bad. 859-280-2287. We'll open up the phones. I originally was going to have Ryan do this one tonight, but then after I saw how bad we lost, I felt like I needed to come on. I think sometimes in seasons, but also in sort of tenures of coaches, you get games that feel kind of important and I thought the Vandy game last week felt important and I think this one kind of

does too. You know, there was obviously a chance they could lose this game and I don't think the game was as lopsided at the final score showcases, but it also wasn't a game that we should have won. And it was a game that I think illustrates kind of the drop in performance of the program. I mean, over the years, over the last few years, Kentucky has really kind of owned Florida. We've sort of, and even in the one or two games we've lost, I mean, I think you can make an argument going back to the last seven years when we played Florida that really except one game, we were the better team probably six of the seven times. I think we won maybe four of them. Tonight, that wasn't the case. And Florida is not particularly better.

I mean, well, they are better than they've been the last two years. but they're not good. And yet they kind of out-physicaled us and were just kind of completely manhandled us for a lot of the game. I mean, how many games are you going to see in your life where a quarterback completes, what, seven passes, Billy? Is that how many passes he completed?

Seven for 14, 259 yards. Yeah, seven passes for 259 yards. I mean, that means you gave up big play after big play, which is the one thing that a Brad White defense really doesn't do. I mean, that's one of the strengths, and that was not the case. I think even coming into this game,

we were one of the best teams in the country at not giving up big plays, and they got absolutely crushed with big plays all night. We could break down the myriad of things that went wrong. But ultimately, I think there's a bigger picture discussion to be had, which is kind of a state of the program. I mean, there are five games left in the season. You play your two biggest rivals in Tennessee and Louisville,

you play two teams that will be in the top 10 in Tennessee and Texas. You play an Auburn team next week that I think is probably the second worst team in the conference. And if you lose, then you're the second worst team in the conference. I only think Mississippi State is worse. So, I mean, this is really a huge step back for a program at a time in kind of college football where I don't think you can have a step back. You know, in the new NIL world, this is a major time of transition. I think in two years, there's going to be a new set of rules for NIL.

And I think it's going to kind of freeze programs in time. Maybe sometime we'll talk about that later in the year. But I do think these next couple years are very important for a football program, and we're kind of hitting a downslide at the worst time. And, you know, I don't know what you do. I mean, I listened to Mark Stoop's last week and this week on the postgame show, and it's pretty clear, man. One thing I like about him, he's pretty up front, and he doesn't have answers. I mean, he kind of acknowledges that.

Last week, he sounded completely baffled, and this week he kind of sounded defeated to me. And I don't know, man, it's hard to see how this gets a lot better. I think best case scenario for the season now is six and six. I think a more likely scenario is probably five and seven. I'm now to the point I think maybe we beat Auburn, maybe we beat Louisville, we'll beat Murray. But I mean, you can have a this could be a four-win team. You know, a four-win team after what, seven, eight years in a row of making bowl games. You don't get that extra practice.

you know, you probably see a roster overhaul after the season. We've been pretty fortunate here at Kentucky to kind of, even during this transfer portal era, really keep our rosters intact, more so than almost any program in the country. I kind of don't think that's going to happen at the end of the year. And I don't know. It just feels like a thing that has really taken a major step back. and you know online people are are already talking about how there has to be a coaching change and you know if you uh if you listen to this show over the years you know i say that that's like

not something that i think you really talk about until the year's over because they got to keep playing regardless but it is hard to see kind of how this gets better in the short term i mean almost kind of no matter what happens in these last five games it just feels like the program is a very stagnant and heading backwards place. And it is highlighted today because you have now played in the last two weeks programs that you've kind of owned during the prime of the Mark Stoops era. And you lost them both, one of them at home, and you got kind of demolished tonight. And I don't know how that gets better in the short term.

I really don't. A lot of the same problems we've seen occurred, not as many penalties. but, you know, bizarre play calling, inability to convert third and short situations, giving up third and long on defense. It didn't really matter, but once again, terrible clock management at the end of the first half, you know, it's just the same stuff. So it's hard to see how any of it really gets better. And the longer I've been doing this, the less, I, I've been doing this, the less, I,

I say a lot. I think KSR is a reflection of the fan's opinion. It's not necessarily a driver. Well, the fan base is a lot more negative than it's been. And part of it is a victim of Stoop's success. You know, there's a lot of young fans out there who don't remember the Kentucky that a lot of you listening to, which is when we were terrible. But because they've grown up accustomed to success, I mean, They believe this program is in its lowest point.

And whether that's true or not, that's what they believe. And it just feels like a program that is losing support at a time that there's probably more excitement around the basketball program than any time since pre-COVID. So it is going to be natural for people to just sort of walk away a little bit from football. You know, we play Auburn next week. Normally that would be a huge game, Auburn at night. Well, I think it'll be a fine crowd, but I don't think it's going to be a great one. And then I think the Murray State game, it might be friends and family at that game. I mean, there might not be anybody there for that one.

And then Louisville, of course, the final one probably will have an okay crowd. But like it just doesn't feel like this fan base is going to be excited for the rest of this season. And I just don't know where we go from here. I think, you know, I've said over and over, Mark Stoops is not going to be fired, and that's just not going to happen. And, like, there will be people who make that argument, and they can make it all they want. It's perfectly fine position to have, but it's not grounded in reality of what the situation will be. But I do wonder if at some point there's going to be a decision that, like, this just isn't what even Stoops wants to do. because it just doesn't feel like the same program it was even two years ago in a lot of ways.

859-280-2287. Normally, you know, when we do these late night ones, people are driving home. Obviously, this was a road game. So if you're awake right now, you really care. So I want to hear what the people who really care think about the game, but also the program. I mean, this game sucked. By the way, Billy, has there ever been? worse production from a camera and game standpoint than the SEC Network's production?

They must have been drunk. I don't know what the camera guys were doing. The third quarter honestly could have been like a high school football stream. I mean, it was the worst thing I've ever seen. And I still don't know on that one play, how did we get a first down? I thought it was like fourth and two. And we just had a first down. and I still don't know what happened there at the end of the third quarter. Yeah, not only that, there was a score for Florida in the third quarter,

which I'm not sure he ever broke the line on that play. Well, that was a ref's call, but part of why it couldn't be overturned is it looked like they were shooting it from an iPhone 4, and they didn't even have an angle of the play. It was just a bizarrely terribly produced game, and our performance pretty much matched it in negativity. So 859-280-2287. For those of you that are up at 1245 at night,

we'll take your calls. Cats with embarrassing lost to go to 3 and 4 in the conference. This is the local toy dealers, KSR, post-game show. Welcome back. It is the local toy dealers, KSR post-game show. I'm looking at the text machine and at Twitter, 772-754. Some comments that a few people have made that I just have a quick comments on.

person writes, Matt, what do you think is the biggest problem that the staff and the program has right now? I think it's that our last two quarterbacks have it been great. I actually don't think that's the problem. I don't think our last two quarterbacks. I mean, I don't think Devin Leary was great. I'm not sure that Brock Van dergraf's great either. But to me, it's the offensive line. I think the inability in the last couple years to recruit and develop really good offensive linemen

is the biggest problem the programs have. because if you look at the years we were good, the offensive line was really good. And I don't know how many guys we had drafted five or six in the last five or six years before these two previous. But they were like five or six, seven guys drafted, and I think we'd only had like three or four offensive linemen drafted in the history of the school.

And it's just been a huge regression. And if you had a great quarterback, maybe you get by that, but we don't have a great one. But I don't really think the quarterbacks have been the problem. I think the problem to me is a lot more on the offensive line. One person writes, Matt, do you think it all goes back to pony up? Well, I don't think the problems with the program are him saying pony up, but I think Mark Stoop's one of his best qualities was he knew how to relate to our fan base

and he knew how to talk to him. And in the end of the Cala Perry era, whereas Cal kind of drifted from understanding it, It felt like Stoop still did. And I just think that pony up comment was so tone deaf. Just so tone deaf. And it sort of made fans question him in a way that I don't think happened before that. It was just, it was tone, especially when he said it, and then we lost Missouri the next week, et cetera. Another person along those lines says, Matt, do you think it's NIL has hurt this team?

The players care more about the NIL than the team. Well, no. let's say that's true. You still got to get around it. I mean, these other teams are winning. Like, that's my thing to all these coaches. You know, if every team stunk, that would be different. Indiana 7 and O with a new coach, right?

He's found a way to work the NIL stuff to make it work for him. So if you can't do it, then you can't coach. Like, you can complain all you want about the system, but the system is the system. It's going to change in the next two or three years, and it's not going to look like it does now. I think it'll be a lot more regulated. But you know what? If you don't want to do it,

it's like I said with Tony Biddy, you don't have to do it. Somebody else will do it. But other schools are navigating it. So, no, I don't think N.I.L. is the problem. I mean, Barry and Brown was crying on the sideline after the game. You think he doesn't care? I think he cares.

But you got to, you can't whine. And as they say, there's no whining in the yacht, man. You're making $9.1 million a year. You've got to figure out how to navigate this system. All right, who's up first, Billy? Jimmy. Jimmy, what's up, Jimmy?

Hey, Matt. I just wanted to say, man, I was looking so forward to this team this year with the wide receiver room and the quarterbacks and all the good running backs and obviously a good defense. Like, I'm 40 years home, and I remember going to Commonwealth when there was no one there and we absolutely sucked. But that being said, I've had some wars with my buddies over the last two years. I think Stoops peaked about two years ago, just to be real with you.

And I just, I don't understand. Do your buddies, when you say you've had wars with your buddies, do they agree with you or disagree with you? They agreed with me in the long run of things, just to be real. I think he probably peaked as well. I mean, look, there's no doubt that it's gotten worse. What's frustrating to me about this, and I don't know if you disagree, but like when we were going 25 years ago or 20 years ago and looking awful, we had no talent.

We had no talent, right? Like now there is talent on this team, you know, and that I think is what frustrates people. Absolutely. Absolutely, Matt. And one last thing on the buyout. And this has been my question. It was my understanding on the contract that was it six, seven wins, bowl games. My question is, I understand in the beginning why that added more time and more money

onto the contract. Why didn't they ever up that? Okay. Well, you have to go back to. I mean, it's sort of like, again, I feel like we're having similar conversations to win. Calgary. You have to go back to when these contracts were revised and redone. I mean, Stoops, we won 10 games two years or three years ago, right?

And I think that's when the contract was redone. And Stoops had a lot of leverage then, man. I mean, he had a lot of leverage. He had just won 10 games. If you go back to after the season where we won 10 will's first year, we had then won 10 games in two of the last four years, right? So for Kentucky, that's crazy. So if Mark Stoops' agent says, I want more money and I want this,

what is Mitch Marnhart going to do? He has to do it, you know? So I don't, you're right, but I think the addition of years and stuff, probably they had to do that too. because what if after that next 10-win season, he leaves and goes to a similar Kentucky-type program? Not A&M, but like somebody on our scale, our fan base would be furious.

Absolutely. I get that. It's kind of similar to the Calgary thing. Like, are you really going to let John Calgary walk? Were you going to really let a guy who won 10 games to the last four years walk? I just think it's tough. It is. It's very tough.

I appreciate it. I appreciate it. Thanks. Yeah. I mean, I understand how tough that contract looks today, but it was a different situation then. And I just, we just have to, I think we just have to remember that. Who's next? Keith is next.

Keith, go ahead, Keith. All right, Keith. Matt, excuse me, man. I don't want to be all negative. I got two points. One's about the game. ones about the program. We had two goal line plays that went against us, right?

You mean one, when we got stopped and then when they scored and who knows if they scored or not, is that what you mean? Exactly. And those could be two game changers right there. They could. They could. We have a first down on the one guard line. We stop a touchdown.

You're exactly right. I mean, those two plays go differently. Look, if this game would finish 3420, I'm with you. But it didn't. You know what I mean? And so while those plays frustrate me, they're not going to be my excuse for a 48 to 20 game. I get that.

But a lot of things can happen when you don't score a touchdown versus do or give it up a touchdown versus not. That's true. That's true. That's true. But I guess what I would say is, you know, Yes, I agree with that. But remember, let's just put all that aside.

It's 3420. We're driving. We get inside the 30, and we run four of the worst plays I've ever seen, including an attempt of a sweep with Barry and Brown on third down, and we throw it on a fourth and six. We throw it one yard, five yards behind the line of scrimmage. At some point, when we do stuff like that, I can't get too worried about whether or not that guy was in or not.

I mean, I didn't think he was in at all watching it live. There is a picture, a still-framed picture that a photographer took from one of the Florida sites, and he's in on that one. Now, I don't know if his knee had been down before or not. It's a still-framed picture, but, you know, it does exist. 100%. And now I go to my, to my less negative, is I feel like Stoops is Tony Bennett. he is he hates the he hates what football is right now he is writing out the contract i wonder if

yeah i don't if that's the case and i don't think that's implausible by the way he doesn't seem happy to me right now i think it's i especially hear it i don't know about you when he talks to tom leach after the games if that's what it is then he needs to not do it after this year i mean I don't know that's what it is, but if it is. Because don't you agree with me, man? Like, if you can't do this, then you can't do it, you know? Right, but. I mean, the system is not going to change.

$9 million a year. You're not going to walk away from $9 million a year, though. I will say this about him, though. I don't think he's going to be a dude who just stays here just to take the check. I think if he doesn't feel, remember, you know, he had, he had his father died. He might for a while. He might for a while. He might for a while.

Maybe. Maybe. We'll see. I mean, I hope not. Because I don't think that's good for anybody. Us or him. I want to believe that, too. I want to believe that too.

But you put yourself in the same time. Would you walk away from now? That's a fair question. Fair question. Fair question. I appreciate to call. It's hard to just say, because there's a really good chance that if he goes somewhere else now after this, he ain't getting the money he'd get here.

he's probably missed that time, right? That A&M job last? Yeah, I mean, that ain't, well, the A&M job was different, though. I mean, he's not going to get offered a, he's not getting offered an A&M kind of thing. No. Now, if he were to quit here, I do believe somebody would hire him. I believe a good, like, a school like Kentucky would hire him. But I bet they wouldn't pay him $9 million.

He'd probably make $4 or $5 million. So, you know, it is what it is. Who's next? Ethan. Ethan. What's up, Ethan? Hey, Matt. So I've got a comment and a question here.

So I would just like to point out that the potential best win in the Mark Stoops era is what's now ranked 18th Ole Miss. I don't think that's the best win in the Mark Stub. I don't think that's the best one of the March Stub. I personally don't either. I think we be pinned up. We beat Penn State and Citrus Bowl. We beat Louisville that year with Lamar, with him coming off the Hizman on their home field. That Florida team we beat in 2018, finished 10 and 3.

I mean, I don't, look, if Old Miss finishes 11 and it finishes 10 and 2 makes the playoff, then maybe they are. But he's had good wins. He maybe hasn't had the signature beat the number one team in the country, but he's had good wins. and I agree. And just to add on that, I don't know if you realize that Penn State was 17 at the time, too.

But like I say, I think it was the Florida first win them. They were 17 after we beat them. But remember, if you go back and look at that game, and there was a 12-team playoff that year, there's a really good chance that the two teams that would have been fighting for the final birth were us in Penn State. They probably would have picked Penn State, so we then beat them.

But so, I mean, those are good wins. They're not, maybe not world beater, but they're good. Right. And I've got a question here for you. So I'm just thinking long term, whether it's football, baseball, basketball, soccer, whatever. Is it something that can be put in a coach's contract that, say, after their first two years as head coach, if they fall below 500, their buyout could go down? It can. Is that the thing that's ever happened before?

I mean, it can, but they've got to agree to it. Right, right. What coach is going to agree to that, especially one that's had success. I mean, you know, it's like the conversation. Nine million. It's like the, but, but, but what Mark Stoops would probably say is, I'll go somewhere else that offers me nine million and doesn't have that in it. Right.

Right. I mean, it's ultimately all contract negotiation is just leverage. And the reality is when Stoops renegotiated his contract and then. six years ago when Cal renegotiated his, they had all the leverage. It's not he didn't have any leverage. But at that point, you're kind of betting on yourself. So they may offer, you know, a million more. Say he'd get offered 10 million if he accepts, you know, that you're not going to lose.

It's easy to say now. It's easy to say now when we just lost to Florida. But remember, I mean, are you old enough to remember when Guy Morris walked away from here to go to Baylor? Do you remember that? I'm 27. Okay, so Guy Morris many years ago and other people would know this situation better than me. But Guy Morris was coming off a decent year, left here to go coach Baylor because we wouldn't pay him enough. RAD got crushed for that.

Well, I don't think you can do that coming off a 10-win season. Right. And I just have one last little question for you. Do you say if it wasn't 40 million, do you think there is a number? Do you think if it was 10 million? He's smiling like at Orderon, headed to the beach tomorrow? I don't know. It depends on how the season would end, to be honest with you.

I appreciate the call. I mean, I think Mitch really appreciates Mark a lot, and I think there's other stuff at play. I mean, a lot of it we've talked about on the show. Most of the football donors were cultivated by stoops. You know, if you were to get rid of. rid of him and they didn't want that. You'd have to start over again.

I mean, there's a lot. There's a lot to it. It's not just so simple as just write a check. But 10 million is different than 40 million. But I also think it'll depend on how the season is. There's a big difference between finish with four wins and finishing with six. So I think we've got to wait and see what happens. Who's next?

Lance. Lance. Lance. Go ahead, Lance. Yeah, Matt, there's, I mean, there's all kinds of things that say, including Stix's contract. but one thing I want to hit on is tell me why in what world does an offensive coordinator bring in a quarterback that everybody knows is either going to run or hand the ball off on a crucial third and six in the third quarter. Yeah, I didn't like that either.

I didn't like that either. I don't under, I didn't understand. First of all, it felt like to me this was the best passing game Brock had had. So I didn't understand it's a third and sixth passing situation. Let the dude pass, right? And then you're exactly right. I mean, Gavin is not going to throw. And then I still don't understand what our fascination

with trying to get Barry on on the outside. We haven't been able to do that all year. Like, yeah, I'm with you. I didn't understand that play called all. Nobody did. And I just don't understand. It just goes back. It seems like the game planning, I don't know,

it just nobody's in sync, it seems like to me. I agree with that. It feels like, you know what, there are people that know a lot more about football than you or I that could break down the specifics. But I think what you just said, that it doesn't feel like we're in sync is totally valid. Exactly. Yeah. And that's all I have. All right.

I appreciate it. 859-280-2287. Let's do one more before we take a break. Who's next? Joe. Joe. Go ahead, Joe. Yeah, thank you, Matt.

I'm going to try one of your points before to show start. here and everything about the time management. Matt, I mean, Varian Brown gave us life. This guy goes 99 yards on a kickoff. Now, earlier, Coach Deuce blew a timeout. He wanted to argue with the referees, and we lost a timeout. But, Matt, we still had two timeouts, and he does not take that last timeout. He lets about 15 seconds run off the clock. Now, Matt, hell Mary had a buzzer, a field go the buzzer would be in huge of this game if we could have got the ball back but but here's what i don't understand he let 20 seconds run off and then call time out so like if you're going to let it

run out just let it run out i who i don't think i think they make decisions at the end of these halves just completely on the fly and everybody's like wait a minute maybe we should try okay 20 seconds later they call time out i'm with you that i don't even care what bothers me about their time management is not even that they choose differently than I would. It's that their decisions have made no logical sense. No. Matt, I'm 72. I've been around for a long time and I've watched a lot of UK football.

But this time management with this head coach, Mark Suft, I just don't understand it. It's like, it's like, well, we'll be okay in the second half. Well, well, you don't have points on the field. You have points on the field. He let 20 seconds. But what I don't get is he let 20 seconds run off and then called timeout. Like, I don't. That's three, that's three plays or maybe even four if you play it, right?

So that's what I just don't understand. I'm all for the guy. I love UK football, but by gosh, you cannot, you cannot win college football nowadays by giving up the leap points and not going for it. And that's the part I don't understand about him. Thanks a lot. Totally agree with you. Appreciate the call.

859-2-80-22-87. I accept that like if there are two choices to be made and there's a case for both that someone else may choose differently than I do. But what I want is to have a coach or anyone in leadership who even if they choose differently than me, at least the decision is logically done. What I don't understand about stoops at the end. of these halves is it seems like not only does he always choose differently than what I would have done, but he doesn't even execute his plan logically.

And I don't get that. And it has to be because there's no one figuring out in those moments what to do. 859-28027. We will take a break. Take your calls at the local toy dealers, KSR post-game show. Welcome back. It is the local toy dealers KSR post-game show. 859-2-80-22-8.

87. One person writes, this is Bryce, says, Matt, we didn't win 10 games three years ago. Mark Stoops wasn't worried enough about his program and those games got vacated. Yeah, I mean, you can blame a lot of stuff on Mark Stoops. I don't think it's Mark Stub's responsibility to make sure Chris Rodriguez fills out his time cards on his off-campus job. You know, I mean, I don't put that on Mark Stoops. So, and also, the concept of vacated games in 2004, and I love to make them fun of Louisville for it as much as anybody, but the concept seems a little antiquated with what college sports is now.

But if that bothers you, then that's fine. Who's up next? Let's go to Matt. Matt, what's up, Matt? Hey, let me talk. Obviously, Mark Stoops, he can't be fired, and I don't think he deserves to be fired. he can't fire your all-time winning as coach after one disappointing season.

He deserves the opportunity to write the ship if he wants to. I sort of agree with that for the most part. I do, well, first of all, I mean, again, the theoretical talk of firing, like you said, is dumb. I don't know that anybody deserves to keep your job forever. But what I, here's what I worry of. about, though. I just think there are these times in college sports, if you look historically, where the whole genre shifts as to what it is. And we are in one of those times right now. In two or three years, college sports will look completely different than it looks now,

and that'll be what it looks like for the next 25 years. And I worry that we are heading into that transition maybe at the lowest point we've been in 15 years, and it's the worst time to have it. And so that's why the timing worries me so much. Does that make sense? Yeah, I think it does. I just think we have reached higher highs. I'm 31 years old. We have reached higher highs under Mark Stubes than we have in the rest of my life.

We went through, I mean, obviously probation years and Rich Brook years and Joker Phillips years. We've reached higher highs under Mark Stubes with a couple, 10 and 3 seasons. I just think if we can finish this year six and six, beat Auburn, Murray, Louisville, get a bowl game. We're good. If we don't, I think it might be time for Stoops. I don't disagree with you there. I think six and six and four and eight are two really different things.

I really do. Just in just terms of overall vibes and all that. I appreciate the call. Let me give an example of what I'm talking about just in terms of like. his like shifts in college athletics like 10 years ago when conferences were starting to align as like mega powers that was the wrong time to not be good there are teams like Missouri that are in the SEC because their football program wasn't that bad and adding them at that time made sense like I don't know if Louisville's in the ACC when they got in the ACC if it wasn't for the fact

fact that Rick Petino actually had that basketball program competitive and Bobby Petrino and Charlie Strong had the football program competitive. If their programs had been where they were two or three years ago during realignment, they may be like Memphis and left out. So I think we're in one of those shifts right now in college football. We are moving more towards a semi-professional model. And I just think this is the worst time you could be bad. Because I think everything's about to change, and it'd be real nice to be one of the programs doing well when that change occurs. But how is this possible?

I mean, this was Stoops' most talented roster to date. I don't know. I mean, I think at its core, our offensive line stinks. Yeah. I really believe that's a huge part of it. I mean, all these other things are important and their problems, and the defense, you know, the secondary took a step back today. I mean, there's a lot of little things you can say.

But in its core, our offensive line is terrible. And that causes problems with everything else. Is the jury still out on Bush Hamden? Or have we seen enough bad play calls within the five-year-old? I think it's not been great. But I also think he's hampered by the fact that things we took for granted, like running it on third and one and knowing we were going to get the first down, we can't do with this group.

You know? He can't do it. Launch the jet sweep into the sun. We have to play these tight ends and that because we can't block and then we have less receivers downfield, which give us fewer opposites. You know, there's a, so I don't think he's like blown me away, but I also think he's limited by the fact that our offensive line is not good. And it's probably the worst it's been since Stoop's first or second year.

Who's next? Doing good. Doing good. What's up? Guys, I wish I was doing good. tonight, but I'm not. Yeah. I just,

a lot of things you could say, but I just want to, you know, throw it out there that Coach Stoops is the absolutely best coach we could have had for our program for the last several years. Fully support him 100%. What do you guys think that we could do from a team standpoint to, like,

make us overcome like the obstacles in front of us. You mean how do we beat Louisville and Auburn? Really, that's what we're talking about, right? Yes, absolutely. I mean, I think we certainly have. That's the only chance we have. That's the only, I agree. I think we, I think, I think,

the only chance we have to, you know, to arrive our season right now. We have the players to beat to win those two games, right? I mean, I think we have the talent to do that. but I think they've got to clean up mistakes. I will say to you, I don't think you're going to see some dramatic shift. I mean, I don't think you can say, for instance, take this guy out, put this guy in.

I don't know that there is any of that. I mean, I really don't. You are what you are at this point. So they just got to go win. They got to go play better. I mean, we could have beaten Georgia. We could have beaten Vandy. We didn't, right?

So now we just. You're killing me. Well, we could have. I mean, I don't think I, you know, I know. I mean, the South Carolina game. Sorry, I'm not trying to talk to you. I think that kills me and everybody else in the fan base. We could have done those things.

And now we are basically, we are locked into two games for the year to determine what we're going to end up. And that, oh, my gosh. I appreciate the call. all doing good. I would say, you know, now, somebody could also say, well, we could have lost the Ole Miss. So, I mean, you know, there's, you could do that all day. You are what your record is. But they can beat Auburn and Louisville.

They also can lose to Auburn and Louisville. So, you know, I thought, I thought we'd win tonight. And instead, we lost by 28. So I'm kind of done predicting. I have no idea what's going to happen next week. But you may, I think there's, let's say you win next week. you're going to come into that game against Louisville where I think the fan base's perception of Mark Stoops, Billy,

could come down to that game. It kind of did that last year. Oh, it definitely did last year. But I don't think people last year were like, we've got to make a change if they had lost to Louis. We still would have made a bowl game. You know what I mean? Like you still would have.

You might get there this year. And honestly, if you lose last week, you're probably already there. or she should be lose next week to all of it. Who's next? Nate is next. Nate, what's up, Nate? Yeah, man, I got a point in the question. First point.

This is the first time in the stoop's there. I'm sitting next to my girlfriend. I'm taking her to her first UK game. We live in Texas. We're taking her into her first UK game next week. She's sitting here wearing a Duke basketball shirt. And I thought to myself watching this, I can't wait for basketball season.

This is the first time of the same. Stoops era. I was watching that game, and I thought to myself, please let basketball season come. No, I mean, it's a good thing. In some ways, it's probably a good thing for Stoops that basketball starts Wednesday because it will divert some attention. My question, Matt, is in the Stoops era, we've only had one top seven finish in the SEC and points per game in total offense, and that came from an offensive coordinator who's leading the top five offense in the NFL right now. So with that being said is, if this gets any worse, granted, like, stoots isn't getting fired. You're right about that. But where is the push to say, hey, let's go grab that guy in New Orleans who's a top. But what does that mean? I mean, when people, when I continue to come back to, what does that mean when you say, where's the push? What would you like people to do? I mean, there's nothing anyone can do. Like, nobody can force that to happen, even if you think that's the right thing to do. Like, tweet, you know, I think there's people who think if they tweet. You know, I think there's people who think if they tweet.

eat really hard that that will happen. Like, the money is the money. So it's going to be, I mean, I don't care if we finish four and eight. It's going to be Mark Stoops' decision whether or not he's here next year. You know what I mean? Oh, he hung up.

Okay. I mean, it's just, like, people wrote me after the game and they go, Matt, when are you going to say what needs to be said? And, like, first of all, I don't know that it needs to be said that he's gone yet. I'm not sure that I'll even think that at the end of the year. But even if I thought that, it's not going to change anything. Mark Stoops is going to decide whether he's the coach next year.

That's just the fact. So, you know, that's what makes it a little bit depressing because I don't really know that there's anything. There's no pressure that can be put, really. As weird as that sounds. Let's do one more, and then we'll take a break. Who's next? Jordan.

Jordan. What's up, George? Hey, Matt. I just wonder who is in Mark Stoop's ear when he's hiring an offensive coordinator because Bush-Handman is awful, and we're starting to see that. I don't know that I totally agree. I don't know that I totally agree with that. I mean, I don't know that he's, I don't think he's done great.

But, you know, we thought, me included, we thought Shannon Dawson was on. I understand that. I understand that. But I also think we have the worst offense. line in the SEC. But we thought Shannon Dawson was awful. And he's now the offensive coordinator for a team that's going to make the playoff in Miami. You know, there were people that were ready to get rid of Liam Cohen last year. And now he's orchestrating the Tampa Bay offense that's top five in the NFL. Eddie Grand, we all were ready for Eddie Graham.

But Eddie Grand was good. We just didn't like the style. But Eddie Grann's arguably our best team was with Eddie Grant, the team that beat Penn State in the Citrus Bowl. So I think at some point that's on Stoops. Like we can only point to these offensive coordinators so long. I don't feel like Bush Handman is a fit for what we have at quarterback right now, though. Well, maybe, but Bush Hamden beat Old Miss on the road. Bush Hamden played Georgia who just went and whipped Texas. Bush Hamden played them to a one-point game.

Our defense was a big part of it, but our offense control, we couldn't get in the end zone, but we controlled the ball. I think we didn't we have the ball for 40 minutes of that game? So I appreciate the call. I'm just saying I'm not saying Bush Hamden's great, but you know, I feel like I've done a lot of these shows over the years where people were like, well, Neil Brown's not what we thought he was. Man, Shannon Dawson is this.

and Eddie Grant is ancient in the way he calls things. Liam Cohen, second time around, is not as good as the first time around. I mean, at some point, like, it can't always be their fault. No, you're making sense. It was just fourth and five, and you throw the ball behind the line of square. That was a terrible call. I was going to tear my hair out. That was a terrible call.

But, I don't know. I don't know that I'm ready to say he doesn't know what he's doing. But that way, I agree. I thought that was a terrible call. Let's take a break. We'll do final. segment, 859-2-80-2-807. This is the local toy dealers, KSR Post-Game Show.

Welcome back. It is the local toy dealers, KSR Post-Game Show. I enjoy talking to Billy over the last few weeks about his voting in the president. I always talk about I don't know an undecided voter. You're the one, right? Like, you're the guy. The one, all these candidates for Trump and Harris are chasing after you, Billy. You're the one.

You're the only person I know who is undecided. A big decision coming up this. November. Maybe they should send more of those texts my way. Instead of sending it to you. But like, I don't know another person who is undecided but you. And so I'm got so when I hear people talk about the undecided voter, I just picture Billy R. Sports as the, you are the face of the undecided voter. 859-2807. All right. Who's up next?

Let's go to Josh. Josh. Go ahead, Josh. First time, long time. Who are? What's up? I just wanted to talk about when's that. Like, I don't get it while we put him in there just to run the ball. You basically take up half of our offense at that point. It's gone.

Like passing offense is gone. So every defense in the country knows blitz that play, he's not going to throw it. Yeah. I think that's a fair point. I also don't understand why at the end they didn't play him instead of cutter. Bowley. Like, what a terrible situation to put Cutter Bowley in, by the way, for his first game down 21 at Florida.

Like, and he throws a pick six, the first play. Like, if you want, if you want Gavin Wims it to throw, why not do it then to give him some run? I didn't really understand that either. Yeah, they let him throw the ball in the, I can't remember the team we played, but the team we beat bad. They let him throw the ball on that one, and he threw dimes. Yeah.

But they just won't let him throw the ball any other. the time. Yeah, I mean, they need to, because you're right. He'll be more effective. I also don't understand, though, it feels like when he has a third and one or a fourth and one, he always gets it, right? So why did we have two third and fourth and ones where we ran a quarterback sneak with Brock? Like, if he's going to, why don't we keep letting him do it until he doesn't get it, you know? I don't know. I mean, I'm not the one made to make the decisions, but I appreciate the call. Derek says, Matt, I can tell you pressure we could put on UK. What if Crogerfield looked like it did when Joker played

or played Vandy? I mean, I think that would definitely be a statement. Still a different situation, though. Joker was making $2 million. Joker had like one year left on his contract. So I think the school owed him $2 million. Not the same. I mean, it's a big difference.

Who's up next? Andrew. Andrew. What's up, Andrew? Hey, can you hear me? Yes. Okay, a few things. First, one thing that Bush does that drives me crazy is his personnel grouping are so bad. So we were down two scores there in the second half, and he's constantly

running new people out. So what that was doing was allowing Florida to so. We needed every second we could get. You're down multiple scores. So he's like changing Willie and Josh Caddus constantly, which I personally don't think there's much of a difference between any of our tied end. but that was allowing so much time off because Florida was just walking players onto the field. And so we just constant time being run off. Second, on fourth and 11, your season's on the line. No Daneke, no Bayon Brown. Are you serious?

Yeah, I didn't get. I think you are exactly right about the personnel groupings, okay? Because not only that, you know, the best drive we had, I think, was when, was to start the second half when we ran up-tempo the whole time, right, coming out of half-time. And when you change those personnel groupings, you can't go up-tempo because you're right. They let them sub. And I could see some of Florida's coaches just walking those dudes on the feet. Of course they, and that's what they should do.

So, like, our best drive of the game was the one where we ran up-tempo, and that was, I think, the only time we did it. And then you're exactly right. On the fourth, and I appreciate the call on the fourth down. To have neither brown nor Dane Keene makes negative sense to me. I cannot believe on two fourth downs. We targeted a player that has one reception on the year. Both of them. That's, I don't get that either.

Let's do four more, and we'll call it a night. Who's next? Dog. Dog. How are you, dog? Hey, I'm doing good, man. Well, I appreciate everything y'all do for UK sports. I'm a long-time ticket holder.

I also contribute to the NIL. Yes. And I'm really hurting right now. Let me ask you a question, dog, on the NIL thing. Because, like, when you make the decision to contribute on the NIL, does, like, do you look at this and say, I'm less likely to do that next year? I'm really kind of curious with people who do that. What the success or failure of the team, what it will lead you to do in the future? Right now, I'm disgusted.

You know, that may change here in a few more weeks or a month or next year. But right now, I just don't think we're getting an investment on our quarterback. We're paying him like over $900,000. $1,000, and it's just not, we need a quarterback. And our office coordinator is out of his league, and we're just hurting right now. Yeah. Well, I appreciate it, dog, and thank you for the, for the. That's my opinion.

No, I understand. Well, you're entitled to it. And thank you for the kind words there, too. I do, you know, the new age of college sports. is what it is and I think it is more, in my personal opinion, more fair than what it was before. With that said, nothing in life is free. And in exchange for players getting money that I would argue they deserve, the expectation of how they're looked at is going to be different.

If you're going to be paid like a pro, people are going to, judge you like a pro. And I think it's going to be fascinating to see when people are giving money to pay players like a pro if they don't get that performance, will they keep doing that? I think programs all over the country are dealing with this and we are going to be one of those this year. Three more. Who's next?

Brandon. Brandon. Go ahead, Brandon. Yes, sir. How are you all doing tonight? I'm doing good. Well, what I'm calling in to say is that I don't, Mark Stoops, it feels like he's living in the shadow of his bigger brother, Bob Stoops.

He's trying to chase that. And he's just not ever going to match it. Why do you say that? I mean, what does Mark Stoops having a bad season have to do with his brother? Well, I mean, it's not necessarily that. I mean, but it's just like, you know, I mean, you got a bigger brother that does better than you. But in the first half, we ran four straight plays. It might be that his big brother being successful is what drove him to have the success he has now.

Yeah, but in the first half, we ran four straight plays on the one yard line right up the gut. And every single one of them got stopped instead of running an RPO play and trying to, fake it and fake a run and throw a flat run when you could have you could have done that and faked out the defense when they knew what was coming. He's so predictable as a coach. Well, I mean, I don't disagree with the play calling. This is now back to back. And I appreciate to call back to back games where we've been right at the goal line and get zero points. So, I mean, that's a disaster.

think that has anything to do with his brother. But, yeah, I mean, we've been inside the five now, two straight games, and come away with zero points, and you're not going to win like that. You're just not going to win. Two more. Who's next? Joe. Joe, go ahead, Joe.

Hey, Matt. I'm just, I know he's a great guy, a great kid, but I'm just curious why Jagger Burton continues to start. I mean, it looks like to me he has, you know, at least a penalty or whips a block every game. And every time we put in Dylan Ray, I mean, he's not an elite blocker, but he does his job. And so I just, I don't, I mean, I think their answer to that question would be they don't feel like anyone's better.

The one position where I think that argument is tough is exactly what you said. I mean, what we have seen of Dylan Ray has been seemingly pretty serviceable and so you might say, well, why don't you try it? I will say, though, and I don't know, you may have played offensive line or something. I don't consider myself a great judge of interior offensive line play. I think I, you know, can judge tackles a little bit because you see it, but I don't, I don't know. So I don't watch Jagger play by play to be able to say, to be honest with you. Yeah.

And that was what I used to rely on Freddie. for that. Freddy was the dude who would break down interior offensive line play for us. It's hard for me to say. Yeah. And then, you know, my second question is, I mean, I know you have some inside information, but can Gavin Wimset just not throw the ball? Or like, I don't understand why he's not given more of an opportunity. I don't think they, again, and I think this goes back to the Rutgers days and just kind of the way he played there. I don't think they necessarily. necessarily feel like his decision-making in the passing game is all that great.

Now, can he throw it down the field a little bit? Of course. And it feels like to me, I mean, he seems like he does a pretty good job at figuring out on the read option, like what to do. So throwing into where he also had an option to pass to me doesn't seem like it'd be the worst thing in the world. I mean, why not give him a chance? I mean, we're giving Brock the time with the experience.

So why not Kid Gabon? Yeah, I'm with you. I'm with you. I feel like if you're going to trust him enough to run the ball inside the 10, which is a pretty serious time of a game, then you should trust him enough to throw a pass during the game. So I agree with him. I appreciate the call.

Let's do one more and we'll call it a night. Who's next? Poor cutter bolly being put in that situation. I don't understand that. Like, I feel like that's a terrible situation to put the kid in. I mean, you want to get cutter bowie reps, do it against Murray State in a few weeks. Like, I don't understand that. And now he's 0 for six in his first game and he throws it in pick six.

Like, I just, wouldn't that have been a perfect time to see how Gavin throws the ball? I mean, that feels like I don't, I didn't get that. I really didn't. But who's next? All right. Final caller, Jake. Jake, go ahead, Jake. Hey, Matt.

No, I was just, I was on my way home from the game. I went to the game tonight. And right before the 4th or 11 that you were talking about, it was weird. So there was a TV timeout. Mark Stoops was completely away from the offense by himself. Not sure what he was doing, but he wasn't talking to any of the players, none of the other coaches, just standing over there by himself. But as I was driving home, I was just thinking,

I was like at the top of Mark Stoops era at Kentucky, we finished second in what was the SEC East. This season, if we were to, finish in what would be the SEC East, we'd be last. So that's the progression that we had gone under the Marksudes era. And I don't see it getting any better. And at this point, if we don't make a change, the conversations definitely need to be getting started.

Thanks, Matt. Have a great night. Go, Kat. I think that's fair. I mean, you do have to remember that when he got here, we were last in the SEC's. and I hadn't really thought about it like you're saying it, but you're right. There's a very good chance we finished last in the SEC East this time.

So, you know, life comes full circle. And in some ways, I think about the basically back-to-back plays with Barry and Brown, where he lets a ball go through his hands, which leads to a near pick six, and then immediately on the next play runs a 99-yard touchdown back. Like, that's the Barry and Brown experience. And unfortunately, it's kind of been the Kentucky football experience this year. But the problem is we're not getting enough 99-yard kick returns.

We're having way too many drop through the hands for the other team to run it back. And that's unfortunate. But it is where we are. And I think next week, I really do believe, I think next week is a game that it's not going to win everybody back over, but if you lose that game to Auburn, and we go into a stretch from Vandy, Florida, Auburn, where we thought we could win all three and play Tennessee

in a game that would be one of the most important in UK in years, if instead we lose all three, and we're guaranteed pretty much a losing record and no bowl game, that's going to be hard to come back from. Thank you all very much for, staying up and listening. The numbers of this show at 1.45 in the morning show this program. People around it still really care about this thing and hopefully it gets turned around. I will see you all Monday morning. If you're up tomorrow, come listen to me on ESPN.

I don't know who's playing tomorrow, Billy, so I got to figure that out. We'll see you. This has been the local toy dealers, KSR, post-game show. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an acapella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter.

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