Orange and Blue Hue » It’s Kentucky Week: Time to Drop the Gauntlet

It’s Kentucky Week: Time to Drop the Gauntlet

Usually, Sunday’s a day of quiet reflection for Y.T. But with the Gators spending this weekend chilling in Gainesville while chaos theory reigned in the BCS picture, I’m more than amped up about our upcoming game against Kentucky. We’re cranking a day early here at the Hue.

Let’s get this out of the way right from the start: For years I’ve rooted for Kentucky to beat anyone and everyone they played on the gridiron, Gators obviously excluded. And I absolutely love the UK story in 2007. Here you have a program which stood resolutely behind its head coach while he got the Wildcats’ affairs in order — which as everyone knows, doesn’t happen overnight for perennial SEC doormats, if it happens at all — and has started winning big-time football games. I love everything about Andre Woodson and Kentucky’s tip-of-the-spear attack in the running game, Raphael Little and his frosh couterpart Derrick Locke. Even the Wildcat O-line looked tough against LSU. And I completely dig how Kentucky’s defense has, somewhat inexplicably, answered the call to play tough and stand strong both with their front seven and their secondary, after a 2006 campaign which showcased them as the SEC’s worst D.

Ain’t your grandaddy’s Wildcats. Not by a longshot. Yo, Cat fans: feel the ‘total respect’ vibe emanating from O&B Hue. Okay?

Now: this is the point at which I’m supposed to start discussing how tough this game is going to be for the Gators, how improved the Wildcats are, how they’re coming off a huge win over a team we didn’t beat and how our boys have lost two in a row. That the game is in Lexington instead of the Swamp, that Kentucky has a ton of mojo and might even be favored to beat our mighty Gators, blah blah blah.

This is what I think of that kind of talk.

Here’s the real deal, my friends. The Gators are going to whip the pants off of the Wildcats. It will be a win. A big win. I’m so confident with this prediction that I am willing to make the following guarantee:

“I, Gatorpilot, hereby guarantee the Gators will beat Kentucky on October 20th, 2007. If they fail to do this, the masthead image on this site (above) will change to reflect total UK ownership and include this slogan: ‘Gatorpilot is a blubbering idiot.’ This image will remain for the following week, or until Florida wins another game.”

Place your bets. Put your money down. Bet the mortgage on this. The Gators will win.

I can hear what you’re thinking, Kentucky fans: “How can he say such a thing? What a jackass! We just beat LSU, and they didn’t! We’re ranked higher! They have two losses, we have one!”

There’s an entire swarm of reasons why, my friends. Here we go:

1) The Gators lost two games in the final seconds. Both should have been victories. Florida should be preparing to defend its national title right now. Instead, it’s gunning for the Sugar Bowl. And now, with 2 SEC losses, Florida can afford to lose no ‘mo if they want to hit that objective. This is a hungry, mean-spirited crew right now.

2) Kentucky’s been beaten and bruised by LSU while Florida’s been resting and simmering in a broiling broth of vitriol ever since that last-minute touchdown in the bayou eight days ago. Someone’s got to pay. And you know who’s conveniently awaiting the wrath of the Gators? Kentucky.

3) The Wildcats haven’t beaten Florida since 1986. And to add insult to injury, that lone loss was preceded by a 6-in-a-row streak dating back to 1980. That’s right; Kentucky’s won a single game in twenty-seven freaking years against Florida. And that win was twenty-one years ago, dog.

4) Urban Meyer is 10-0 in his last 10 games after a bye week. That includes his entire tenures at both Florida and Utah. I don’t know what it is or how he does it; but somehow, when you send your football team home with Meyer for an extra week of practice and preparation, the effect is akin to injecting the Incredible Hulk with a cocktail of PCP, steroids, and Jolt Cola. The Gators will be unstoppable.

Execution will be perfect. It will be a showcase of elite level football power.

The last time Meyer had an extra week or more to prepare for his opponent? December, 2006. Result: 41-14 demolition of Ohio State.

Am I making myself clear?

No?

Fine. Here’s an illustrated version of what’s going to happen to Kentucky:

and…

Get the picture?

Ahem. Now that my color’s fading and I’m starting to calm down again, an objective perusal of both rosters shows that Florida enjoys a net advantage at nearly every position on both sides of the ball. You could argue quarterback; I’d call that one a wash. You could argue tailback; but I think Kestahn Moore has shown he’s ready to be a big-time college running back. O-line? We controlled the line of scrimmage against LSU all night. Defense? Love our linebackers and our corners are starting to really come on. Major Wright at free safety is one or two games from putting it all together for good (and you could argue that he’s already done that when you look at his massive hits and incredible speed.)

We’ll get more into the nitty gritty this week. But for now, I’m dropping the gauntlet. I’ve never felt more sure of a Florida victory. Some will call it trash talking. I’m calling it the frigging gospel. I encourage Cat fans to say I’m wrong. But if you do, be man enough to visit the Hue again after the Gators run all over your Cats.

I like Kentucky football. But I almost feel sorry for them right now, knowing what’s ahead.

KENTUCKY! THE GATORS ARE COMING. AND WE ARE BRINGING HELL WITH US!

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[…] jonathantu wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerpt4) Urban Meyer is 10-0 in his last 10 games after a bye week. That includes his entire tenures at both Florida and Utah. I don’t know what it is or how he does it; but somehow, when you send your football team home with Meyer for an … […]

If this college football season has taught us anything, it has been that tradition means hardly anything, and history means plenty — for the underdogs.

If anything, your third point — Florida has historically dominated UK — should be cause for concern. UK came out fired up and ready to play because of the past. This Wildcat team knocked a chip off their shoulders that was labeled “49-0 and Bluegrass Miracle”. The next chip reads, “one win in 27 years”.

If anything, this game will be a test for the Wildcat reserves. We had a lot of folks limping off the field on Saturday. We were already without 3 of our high-impact starters. But this isn’t the same Kentucky that plays you close for 3 quarters and then lets the game slip away in the 4th. We have talent waiting in the wings; not as much as Florida, but talent nonetheless.

I see where you Florida guys gain your strength; you look at how LSU was beaten down and — through your hued glasses — credit the Gators for putting LSU in the spot to lose. However, the LSU folks don’t want to admit they were physically drained. Les Miles said his team was ready to play this week. He also said he was “surprised” at how well UK moved the ball. Its probably a combo of both; Florida played physically but Kentucky met the challenge in the trenches and all over the field.

Will it be enough? All I know is that I know nothing. Logic — the history and the tradition of almost being okay at football — doesn’t apply to this year. Down is up, up is down, its October and the ball is not orange and does not bounces on a hardwood floor.

This is not just a decent football team with some silly “Believe” ad campaign. This is a team that plays higher-ranked teams and finds a way to win. I’ve said it before, I’ll say it here: Make no mistake, it’s not football we’re after, this is a reckoning.

So bring your Hell. In Pace Requiescat.

—

Now that we’ve got the pompous fan posturing out of the way, let’s have more fun with Tombstone quotes!

Micah Johnson: Where is Andre?
Stevie Jackson: Down by the creek, walking on water.

—

By the way, you’re still coming to LexVegas, right Gatorpilot?

If anything, I should proofread my posts a little better so I don’t repeat the same lead-in phrase. :)

I see a disturbing trend from the past two UF/LSU games- the winner loses the next weekend. The Tigers/Gators games over the last two years have been some of the most physical, emotional and hardest-hitting games I can remember, and both teams leave the field bruised, battered and in need of significant recovery time. Florida had a break this year, and LSU did not- the the Tigers appeared to pay the price for it.

LSU in Lexington did not look liek the team that beat Florida the week before. Instead, they looked slower, more tentative, and three of their defensive starts had to leave the game because of injuries.

Surely two games over two years does not a scientifically significant conclusion make, but I’ll be curious to see if the trend continues in 2008…

This game is going to be epic, but I get the feeling you’re right. Very right.

I can’t help but think of the Tennesee game here. Our boys proved that they could play up to standards in Death Valley at night… surely Commonwealth Stadium will be a bit easier than that.

I think the two things that will most combine to a huge Gator win is the emotion/physical drain LSU put on Kentucky and the aforementioned “Hulk effect” Urban has on teams that get more than one week to prepare.

And when we win, it’ll certainly add MORE confusion to an already topsy-turvy season.

Florida has a net advantage at nearly every position? Is that supposed to scare us? We’ve prevailed against dominating runningbacks(arkansas), dominating quarterbacks(brohm), dominating offenses(uofl, at the time) and dominating defenses(lsu); while you might have the paper stacked to your favor, you’re going against a Kentucky Team that, as you said, hasn’t won in so long, that they have something to prove.

Judging by the unlucky streak they’ve already broken, I’d suggest clinging to the memories of last years championship. It’ll be the only arguement Urban Meyer has in justifying why he should keep his job after UK rolls over the Gators.

Paralyzer: thank you for adding your comment. Please promise me that, win or lose, you’ll check in with us after the game.

I don’t know about EVERY position. UK has a pretty darn good stable of running backs. I think I’d trade Moore for Little, Dixon or Smith.

From the looks of things, you might want to add D. Locke to that wishlist of Runningbacks.

Oh, and don’t worry Gatorpilot; of course I’ll check back in after we win (or lose)—I’ll man up if I’m wrong. Adversely, I will probably declare myself to be impeccably intelligent if we win, though I’m sure you’d visit ASoB in the same fashion.

I don’t think wild horses could keep GP away from ASoB, win or lose. ;)

That’s okay. I went ahead and left him a comment over there; something along the lines of how Kentucky is establishing itself to be a killer of Heisman Dreams.

Thanks for the love Gatorpilot…..seems to me I read something almost exactly like this in an LSU blog last week……or was it Sportscenter……for some reason it escapes me now…lol…looking forward to “Tail”gating W/Gators in Lexington….I’m trying to remember, what is it you season gator meat with when grilling???

First off, welcome to Lexington, Gators. We are really looking forward to this game. It has been circled on my calendar all year.

To your points:

1. Gators can afford no more losses — true and undisputed.

2. Kentucky’s beaten and bruised — Actually, we were beaten and bruised going into the LSU game. We hopefully will get back several missing starters for Florida. And I really think that we did most of the bruising — I saw several LSU players de-cleated by the Wildcats, who played perhaps the most physical game all year by any SEC team.

3. Kentucky has a long losing streak against Florida — Didn’t matter against Louisville and LSU, even though the streaks were shorter. Streaks mean shite, and you know it. If you beat us, that won’t be why.

4. Urban Meyer’s record after a bye week — Solid reason for UK to be concerned. We know the Gators will be ready, but this team doesn’t really know what it’s like to take an opponent lightly. How could we? We are even underdogs in our own stadium when we are ranked higher than our opponent in every poll.

So you think you’ll win. Big deal. If you didn’t I’d accuse you of being born yesterday. Kentucky is going to come after the Gators, and we are going to try our level best to beat them. We may fail, but then again, we may not.

Bring it with you, Gators, or we will send you home as a matching handbag, belt and pair of cowboy boots.

You’d have had to be smokin’ some serious kentucky bluegrass to say we had a serious chance to win the lsu game.

Keep it respectable. Put in a better effort than the South Carolina game. Don’t embarass the university. Those were our goals. Our fans’ goals, that is.

The players apparently have different goals.

I smell another “Oh. My. Goodness!” from Mr. Verne Lundquist next week.

Gatorpilot) You mentioned heading to Lex for the big game & wanted to know where to go/what to do…
Take a couple of days & enjoy the beauty of KY! If you can manage a couple of days, go to Keeneland- the Fall meet is going on & its so much fun. You can wear jeans there, but more people dress up then down. Its so much fun betting on the ponies, tailgating (yes, at the horse races), and enjoying some cocktails (be sure to drink some Makers Mark or Woodford Reserve bourbon)! Do not miss Keeneland, if you have an extra day! Races start at 1, end around 6 & its closed on Mon & Tues. The Kentucky Horsepark is also quite nice.

Restaurants: My favorites– Malones (steak)/Sals Italian Chophouse (Tates Creek); Murrays or Bellinis (downtown) are also highly recommended.

For Pubfare) Head to Harry’s– you cannot beat this place! Get the mini burgers (or any of the “mini” sandwiches). This is the bar next to Sal’s on Tates Creek or inside Malone’s out near I75 across from Hamburg shopping area.

Near campus– go to Two Keys Tavern (good food, tons of TVs…) area–some good bars near there. For pizza, go to Pazzos (lots of good beers to choose from). These are all on South Lime (Limestone St).

Bars) head to Cheapside– there’s a variety within a couple of blocks. Harveys, Cheapside, Redmon’s.

Have fun & welcome to Lexington- home of the Kentucky Wildcats! Known for its fast women & beautiful horses! ha ha

From one who lives in Big Blue Nation, thanks for the props! And kudos to your bold prediction that Florida will win. That may very well be the case. Of course, Louisville, Arkansas, and LSU fans were all saying the same thing before the game as well. Ask them how they feel about this year’s UK gridiron group now. Surprise!!!

I hope that every team continues overlooking the Cats, all the way to the SEC Championship Game!

Good luck to you on Saturday!

You know who you sound like with that blog post? LSU fans on Saturday. I heard this multiple times while tailgating: “Yeah, but you’re still Kentucky.” So by all means, please keep doubting us. This one will feel even better than LSU. Get over yourself, Florida is not as good as you’re making them out to be.

God I hope the UK coaches get a hold of this entry! this is USDA Prime locker room material. I hope UF gets owned physically. I don’t even care if UF wins. I just want Kentucky to be physical.

Go Dawgs!

Great post. This is my first visit, but I will be back. Back to hopefully see your redesigned banner after the Cats exercise yet another ghost — the ghost of “close but not quite” against the Gators. Bring it on!

Here is the problem with your analysis: Kentucky understands that this game will be just as tough, if not tougher, than the lsu game. While I do admit Tebow scares the crap out of me, im confident enough that this game will not be a blowout. i believe the cats will be prepared, you better hope the gators are.

I would like to critique some of your analysis. First, how can you compare the running backs. Rafael Little is 2nd in the SEC and we were all the way to our 4th string in the LSU game and we had over 100yards rushing by our rb’s. UF had about 75yds. Advantage: UK.
Defensively, LSU rushed for about the same amount of yards and had similar total yards, but LSU did it against UK in 3 overtimes, plus UF had 0 sacks and UK had 3. Not ot mention the leading tackler in the SEC and potential ALl-American is Woodyard from UK and Freshman All-American and (Soph.) All-SEC/All-American? who is one of the tops in the SEC in defensive takeaways (Lindley)Advantage: UK.
As for the offensive line UK held LSU without a sack for the 1st time all year and Andre Woodson is known for having lead feet. LSU had 2 sacks against a much more mobile Tebow. Advantage: UK.
I am not, by giving this evidence, suggesting that we will definitely beat UF. We are missing at least 4 starters and we certainly don’t have as much depth as UF, but to guarantee a win by UF is asinine. First, you’re favored by 7 points. If you want to go out on a limb bet the spread and secondly everyone keeps underestimating this team. They are playing with a chip on their shoulder and they do believe…as do I.
That’s why I’ll be setting my alarm for 4am to wake up and listen to the game in Tokyo. I hope it is as good as the UK vs.LSU game win or lose.

I think you UK fans are missing something if you think that UF is taking UK lightly. UF was off last week and watching UK stand toe-to-toe with LSU - which just beat UF the week before. UK is for real and everybody knows it. But let’s remember one minor detail when comparing the common opponent…UK played LSU at home, while UF had to travel to Baton Rouge and play a night game. We still stood toe-to-toe and came pretty close to prevailing. I think that fact means that UF an UK are pretty evenly matched given UK’s home field advantage this week.

Both teams will be ready, although I do say I much prefer being the team coming off a BYE week than the one coming off an emotional and physically draining upset of the #1 team in the nation.

One more point - what is up with the folding goal posts at UK? The UK fans DESERVED the chance to tear down those posts and parade them through the streets after beating LSU. That was a tad disappointing.

Let’s go.

Well, they protect the goal posts because (I believe) they are just as expensive as the SEC fine for fans rushing the field. I thought they were around $25K apiece. I could be wrong about that.

I do believe both teams will be ready. I hope its a bigger battle than UF-LSU and LSU-UK. I want good play and fair penalty calling. That way, there can be NO excuses for either team.

This UK team is going to find its place in college football history on Saturday. They’re either going to be a “just good in SEC, great UK team” or a “great in SEC, unforgettable UK team”.

I don’t know why I had two The’s in my name. I assure you that we learned all the proper English around here.

I hope that the goal post thing is more about safety and less about saving a few bucks during the celebration of the biggest win in school history.

If they wanted to protect the fans from the goalpost, they’d have enough security to keep the fans from rushing the field. Though I wonder if that’s entirely possible.

Also, I really hope the Kentucky fans don’t rush the field this week if we win. Winning over you guys would be awesome and everything, but then Tennessee will feel awful if we don’t rush the field for them too.

[…] But yeah: there’s tension. Why? Unlike Kentucky, against whom I felt totally confident predicting a win, I never feel that way about the ‘Dawgs. […]

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