Welcome to the Big Blue and Siderday. Gabriel with you on a Friday edition. We are wrapping up the week open week in fact, is the Wildcats rest and recuperat and get ready for Vanderbilt next week. And every time I think about the Vanderbilt series, I think of Rich Brooks standing in what's I don't know what they call it now, but back then it was the Wildcat Then it may still be. It's where they had all the
news conferences and things like that. There's a separate room for that now in the new facility, But back then, we go to the Wildcat Den every week and listen to whatever the coach was. And at that point, Rich Brooks was going into the Vanderbilt game, and he was always really great with wisdom like this. He said, you know, and I'm paraphrasing, he said, he said, this is a
game that we're supposed to win every year. And at the time that he looked at the series numbers, it was exactly five hundred and if memory serves, it was something like eighty one eighty one and four, I mean, split right down the middle. Both teams had had winning streaks and losing streaks. Obviously, but Brooks talked kind of Riley Riley with a w about just how ironic it was that everybody on the Kentucky side expects Vandy to be just a shlub every year and to be a
walkover win or just a win period. And as I've pointed out many times, a buddy of mine went to Vandy and he said, they feel the same way about Kentucky, at least they used to back when he was in school. And for many, many years, you get that schedule, you circle the wins that you believe you're going to get on every schedule, and people would always circle Vandy, and in the south of the border, they would always circle Kentucky.
But when you think about it, for how many years did we circle the Mississippi schools, both of them as maybe not a win, but a chance to win, a pretty good chance given the you know, the ups and downs of those program. And now you just saw how difficult it is to beat on miss But not impossible. Mississippi State has been a real problem for the Wildcats through the past several years. Not impossible. There have been some big wins over the Bulldog, but that's just the
nature of Southeastern Conference. Football, and Kentucky will have to play its best to beat Vanderbilt. Now that might mean beat Vanderbilt handily, but we've seen Vandy give teams problems, pull an upset or two, and throw a scare into
a really good Missouri team. So Wildcats have an extra week to rest up and get ready for the Commodores, who, by the way, have their hands full tomorrow they play Alabama, So they will come into Kentucky either beat up and disheartened or ready to get another win after getting pounded by Alabama. And there's of course that chance that they'll pull off an upset come in full of themselves. Either way, I think they're going to be beat up because Vandy
just doesn't have the depth of in Alabama. But that's a four fifteen start tomorrow Eastern Time. There is action involving the Wildcats all week in long. Women's tennis team is in Virginia even as we speak. Men's soccer tonight at South Carolina, women's soccer tonight at Alabama. Rifle team takes on Morehead tomorrow here at home, and the baseball team has an exhibition game on Sunday up at Presco Park in Mason. Ohio with Wright State, so we'll get maybe an early look. I might go to that one
at the baseball Wildcats. But another big volleyball match, the Wildcats hosting Missouri on Sunday thirteenth. Frank Cats coming up a big win over those Oklahoma Sooners. I know we don't talk a lot of baseball here on the big Blue side, or many of you have kind of lost your way when it comes to baseball, and I'm not as passionate about big league baseball as I used to be college baseball, you bet, but after that last strike, I was like, eh, you know whatever. But yesterday's Mets
Brewers game literally won for the books. The Brewers were leading it two to nothing. This is a really good Brewers team won ninety three games. And the Mets aren't bad, but they've struggled for a while, barely got in the postseason, and now they're rolling. They went at four to two with four runs in the ninth inning, And what's so amazing about this? And I guess the word amazing follows them.
It's the amazing Mets.
They did it in a situation that historically it has been next to them possible in just the fourth winner take all game and postseed in history that was scoreless after six there have been one hundred and thirty one such games. There've only been like three other times when a team has come from behind after a scoreless game to win it. The last time it happened was in twenty sixteen Giants Mets. It happened in nineteen ninety one
the World Series Braves and Twins. And the first time it happened was in Game seven my Cardinals losing to the Tigers. Mickey Lolitch beating Bob Gibson. That's how rare this victory was for the Mets. Pete Alonso comes up down to nothing, hits a three run homer. Amazing tenth to go ahead home run in the ninth inning or later of a winner take all game in post season history. But it was the first of those to come when the player's team was trailing. All the other times it
was tied up, So I did not see it. I was not watching, But everybody you did saw a real slice of history, and that's pretty cool. One other note for your teams that were trailing entering the ninth inning in a winner take all postseason game seven and one hundred and five down by multiple runs entering the ninth inning two and eighty two. So the Mets are in rare company. If you're a Mets fan, congrats to you.
If you're a Brewers fan, you have every right to be bitterly disappointed if you had Kirk Cousins in your fantasy league, and I can't imagine why you might.
Maybe taking a flyer on him.
Maybe it is your backup, maybe you started him last night. But what a game he had last night in a win for the Falcons over Billy Rutledge's Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who led for most of the game and let it get away. Atlanta wins at thirty six thirty at home in overtime, and Cousins did what fans hoped he would do when they paid him one hundred and eighty million dollars. Now, one game does not justify that contract, but all he did last night passed for five hundred and nine yards,
first time he's ever top five hundred. His personal invest had been for sixty. That's a Falcons record, as you might expect, for passing yards in a game. Broke the record set by Matt Ryan. Matty Ice threw for five hundred and three in twenty sixteen. He was looking on because he had a brand new red blazer. He was inducted at halftime into the Falcons Ring of Honor. A cousin throws a touchdown pass in overtime that gives his team to win a huge win conference win for the Falcons.
And you know, one of the things that this game featured was Kyle Pitts, the tight end eighty eight yards, a guy who played at Florida and was just a dominant player in the SEC. But it is not yet, and I don't know if he ever will really find consistency in the NFL because he's not a blocking tight end per se, which means you can't run to his side of the field, and he's not a fast enough receiver to be able to beat cornerbacks. So while I really thought he'd be a great NFL player, at least
very good, it just hasn't worked out so far. But he had a big game last night, but then again, everybody on the offensive side of the ball had a big game for both teams, really entertaining. And the guy who caught the touchdown pass, Caderyl Hodge, is a backup receiver mostly a special teams guy, but Drake london I had a big game as a receiver for the Falcons. He took a wicked hit the play before and had
to leave the game. They put in Hodge. He runs the skinny post and he beats a cornerback thanks to the perfect throw by Cousins, and makes a break for the end zone. It was very similar to the Trey Harris touchdown that put Ole miss ahead of Kentucky, although Kentucky's corner wasn't as tight as the Bucks corner was on Hodge, but Kirk Cousins threw him open. Hodge made a nice grab and then outraced everybody to the end zone. A simple five yard hook actually not a post, but
a hook, turns into the winning touchdown. Play great game and a great game for Kirk Cousins. Bengals played the Steelers Sunday and Joe Burrow was talking about it at his weekly news conference. He said he knows that possessions will be precious because of the Pittsburgh likes to control the football, and Burrow set a pretty high standard for himself.
You gotta be aggressive at the gate. You can't let the game come to you. Because your possessions are gonna be so limited. I'm gonna have to play a damn near perfect. That's how I'm preparing. So it's an exciting opportunity and.
A here's a win for the Bengals, who are one in three after the win over the Carolina Panthers. It's not confirmed yet or at least as we tape this, but Terry frank ConA the next manager of the Cincinnati Reds.
That story kind of leaked out last night coming out of retirement, and he agrees to deal with the team one year to the day after he retired after twenty three years as a major league manager, had some health issues, but he left the Cleveland Guardians, who he had managed for eleven years, won nearly fifty five percent of his games. He won two World Series with the Red Sox, including that campaign No. Four that snapped an eighty six year title drought. And now he's got some young talent up
with the Reds. This is a great, great hire by Cincinnati. And you know what, if these kids can't get behind Tito Francona and play for him, get rid of them. Don't get rid of the manager, get rid of them.
And a WNBA.
No surprise, Caitlin Clark is the WNBA Rookie of the Year. Maybe the only surprise it wasn't unanimous. Angel Reives got one vote, but Clark gives the Indiana Fever its second straight Rookie of the Year. Leah Boston, the former South Carolina Star, won it last year, so that's quite a foundation for that team. Don't know who they're going to draft this year, but they want a bunch more games, so they're not going to be near the top of the draft, but Caitlin Clark and Aliah Boston not a
bad place to start. Clark ended up averaging nineteen points in the league best a eight and a half assists per game, and obviously helped the WNBA set attendance records. Mainstream attention controversy. They say any publicity is good publicity. I don't necessarily believe that in this case, but certainly big picture, as they like to say, from ten thousand feet, Yeah, she got it done. There's no question about that. And I supported at the time not putting her on the
Olympic team because she wasn't playing well enough. That seemed a light of fire under her because remember they got off to a one and eight start, and she wasn't doing wonderful things the way she ended up doing it. Every now and then she would, but she just wasn't playing well enough, and everybody said, oh, you're missing the opportunity to promote the game. You weren't going to get
that much more attention. Well maybe you would have any Olympics, but you would have gotten a lot worse attention if you don't.
Win the goal medal.
And Caitlin Clark would have helped them, but not nearly as much as she would have playing the way she did down the stretch. So Clark told the media she believes she had a solid year but not a great year, but said, I'm just scratching the surface right now, and if she is just scratching the surface, it's going to be scary. And by the way, her first ten games after the Olympic break, she averaged nearly twenty five points
and nine and a half assists. In Indiana went eight and two during that stretch, So that kind of makes my point. Back to baseball for just a minute. This is baseball mixed in with high entertainment. The Savannah Bananas, the guys who put on a show while they're playing real baseball. I have announced their travel schedule. They're going to play close to here at Great American Ballpark. So that's your chance, and it's to see them June thirteenth
and fourteenth. And I recommended I've seen them on TV. But former Kentucky pitcher Alex Degan spent a summer playing for them and said.
He had a lot of fun.
They asked him to come back, but he said, ah, that wasn't really my thing.
He goes.
He said, I'm not much of a dancer, but they are fun and they really really put in a lot of time and effort to make it quite a show. So middle of June, going up Cincinnati. Up next, we'll hear from Mark Stoops his football team getting a little bit of R and R then back to work, and he said they looked pretty good. We're back in just a minute here on the Big Boon Sider six point thirty WLAP Welcome back to the Big Blon Sider. Coming
up in hour and number two. In fact, at the top of the hour, we're going to take you back to Oxford and relive the highlights. The radio call, Tom Leach and Jeff Piicoro as Kentucky knocked.
Off Ole Miss. I know a lot of you watch on.
TV and some of you have trouble sinking it up if you even try to your radio. It's not impossible if you do it through your phone because there's a delay on both ends. But you just got to find that happy medium. But again, it's not impossible depending on how you get your TV feed.
And we're hearing.
From more and more people who are able to do that to sink things up. And there are a few places nationwide, a few schools that enable you to do that. In the stadium, they'll sell you a gizmo that allows you to listen to the home radio network. And we've talked about it a lot. I'm not sure why we haven't done it yet with a UK network. I know they do it at Alabama. There is a cost concern,
but it's not impossible. And with the multitude of ways people listen and watch and things like that, it's almost impossible anymore. Well, you just can't go back to the old days where you just turn the TV down and turn on your radio. You just can't be done. So anyhow, what we're doing is bringing the mountain to Muhammet if you will, if you didn't have a chance to listen to the radio call, you're not gonna want to miss this because Tom and Jeff were in rare form because
it was a rare win, wasn't it. And even though there weren't a lot of points scored, there were so many big plays. That's what happens in a game like that. Every game has big plays, unless it's just a festival of punts. But these teams went back and forth at each other. Both teams made big plays.
In the end.
It was Ole Miss that made the dumb plays a turnover near turnover, you know, the fumble that wasn't because of the flag, and the fumble in the first play of the game on the kickoff that was reversed and properly so. But remember now, the fumble that Kentucky recovered deep in its own territory. Ole Miss was driving and the ball came out right at the end of the play, and Kentucky's players were quite monstrative, weren't they when they
grabbed the football. And there was enough time to get that review underway, and it took a little while.
Shouldn't have taken that long.
I went back and rewatched the game quite frankly, uh and the Wildcats got the turnover. More than anything, it was all miss penalties that really crippled the Rebels, gave the Kentucky defense such an advantage. Now, the defense played really well, one of the best I've ever seen. Given the fact that Jackson Dart is one of the best quarterbacks in the country, some think he is the best quarterback in the SEC. Now this is before Jalen Milroe ran all over Georgia. But Jackson Dart has got a future.
In the NFL.
And if you don't think a guy like that can play at the next level, I'm not saying he's this good. Look at Jaden Daniels. He's a guy who transferred from Southern colg just like Jackson Dart went to LSU, and now he's off to a record setting start in his NFL career. I'll come back to that in a few minutes. So we all know how important this win was for the Wildcats, and just as important so I said earlier.
To get some rest, Mark Stoops talked about that at a news conference actually on Wednesday, didn't have his Monday press conference. At his Monday radio show, but on open weeks, the only access weed the media get is to the head coach.
Generally in the middle of the week.
And you know, I did get a chance to talk to JJ Weaver earlier in the week. That was a special situation because JJ has been named to the All State Good Works Team. But Soops told us about what the week was like, and most importantly, in a week like this, you get reps in practice for the guys who ordinarily don't get a lot of them because you're resting your starf and it's a great way to build depth by folding in the young guys.
Monday, we worked some of the guys that hadn't gotten as many snaps as the ones. So we worked quite a few guys on Monday that hadn't had as many snaps, and they got good work. Gave our guys yesterday off and today, had a good physical day today, and we'll have a good practice tomorrow and then we're trying to get ahead for Vandy and also just work on ourselves, work on the areas that we felt like we needed improvement, and just trying to get better.
One of those young guys we mentioned was Cutter Bowley Steep said he got forty or fifty reps in practice. There's only so much time, and so you've got to work the ones and then if you get much time the twos. It's the people further down the depth chart who just have to make the most of their time.
And you might remember.
Reading recently Tom Brady talked about when he was a fifth team quarterback at Michigan and was thinking about a transfer, but he talked to one of the staff members at Michigan who told him, look, you might get one or two reps one or two in practice as the fifth team quarterback, but he said, you got to make that count. Make that the best one or two reps that the coaches are going to see that day. Give it everything you got, no matter how long you're out there. And
that's what he did. You know who else with a fifth team quarterback, Bill Ransdell when he first got to Kentucky and just kept grinding and working and ended up rewriting the UK record books, and those records stood until Tim Couch stepped foot on campus.
Up next more with Mark Stoops.
A little bit later on, Derek Terry talked to UK Baseball and at the beginning of hour number two. It's the highlight melt as the Wildcats beat Ole Miss, and you'll hear it right here on six point thirty WLAP Welcome back to the Big Blue Cider. At the top of the hour, we will relive the radio highlights of Kentucky's Old Miss victory the radio call from Tom Leach
and Jeff Bicoro. I mentioned Mark Stoop's talking to us this week, and you may have seen or heard this one, but I was not aware that Stuope's got a report card basically on based on analytics. And I've talked before about how I do like analytics. I do agree they are valuable, but it seems like analytics to me are
less of a predictor and more of a reactor. It tells you what has happened in the past, and some people believe in and people smarter than I can tell you that it can act as something of a predictor. There's a reason things have happened in the past, and it gives you every reason to think it.
May happen again that way.
But as Stoop's mentioned Leach a while back, one of those coaching mentors told him, you know you have to lean on analytics, but you also have to lean on your gut, which is what Stoops did in the Old Miss game when he went for it on fourth down. Now, going for it and throwing deep, those are two different things. But as I've mentioned before, many people will always second guess him about the Georgia game. And of course it's easy now because they lost. So now you can say, oh,
I should have gone forward on fourth down. Well, yeah, because what he did didn't work. But at the time it was the right move I thought, because I said to myself, he's got to keep it here. This is four down territory. I'm thinking he has got to manage this as though it's fourth down territory, four down territory rather and unfortunately they throw the ball on second down, it goes incomplete. Now you're behind the change and you know what happened after that. To me, second down was
where they failed in that possession. But I did not think he definitely had a choice. But I thought the best choice was to punk the ball because what had happened in the past, the most recent past, in other words, earlier in that game, was the Kentucky defense had been able to stop Georgia. The Kentucky offense was not able to throw on fourth and long or third and long or second and longer.
Whatever.
Predictable pass plays did not work against Georgia, not so much against the Ole miss Mississippi's defense not quite as good as Georgia's, still had its way at times with Brock Vandergriff. But go back and look as I did over and over at the buryon Brown play.
He threw it in rhythm.
Vandergriff dropped back, set all the while reading his defense and threw deep to barryon Brown, who had single coverage. You're going to hear those highlights coming up in just a few minutes. And obviously it worked. They took it in for the touchdown, you know the rest, and Stoop said when he got his report card back, you get pretty high marks.
Yeah, I was happy with going forward on fourth down. But as I said in press today, I think it was. But you know, I get an analytics report card, if you will, each and every week that that we belonged to and I get information from and it verified it. It Actually I didn't know if it would or wouldn't. I went with my gut and I told you my reason. My reason was I didn't want to get led out and we needed a touchdown again, two completely different scenarios.
And you know, field position in three is a little different than being down four or or had three more you know seven. You know I'm no mathematician, but I mean you need a touchdown, right, So I felt like the condensed space was the right thing to do, and my report card told me I was correct.
Of course, almost immediately after that win, a lot of people said, see, he should have gone forward on fourth
down against Georgia, but a stoops. You just heard him say, Completely different situation, completely different spots on the field, The clock was different, the opponent obviously was different, but the level of defensive prowess as I mentioned, different between Georgia and Old Miss. And I know I sound like I'm towing the company line, but I'm being honest with you, as I'm coaching right along with you guys watching that game against Georgia, and I think we might have even
talked about it during a time out during a commercial break, Tom Leach and Jeff ofcor and I basically agreed among ourselves this is four down territory, right, but that means you gotta pick up you got a positive yardage on each play to give yourself a shot on fourth down. So anyway worked out at Ole Miss and whatever focused the Wildcats used against Georgia, then against Ohio and now against Old Miss.
It's got to become a regular thing.
And you know what, the Vandy game is going to be a pretty good indication as to whether or not it is or not, because it'll be coming off an open date, obviously taking on a team they're supposed to.
Beat up next.
Derek Terry at matt Katz Central here on six thirty wlap Welcome back to the Big Blue and sider I mentioned earlier that the Kentucky Baseball Wildcats have a scrimmage coming up on Sunday against Wright State. They've been scrimmaging against one another, obviously, but here's a better opportunity for Nick Manngeon and his staff to look and see what
they have. And of course it was this time last year when they began to look at all the parts of the team, the guys who came back from the year prior and all the new faces, and they had lost a lot of personnel, but they realized they had a chance to be something special and I'm not talking
about just the coaches, but the players as well. They told us this during the season, and you know what, they had told us that the season prior, you know that team that won the regional but then lost in the Super Regional down at LSU.
But when we asked them about being.
Contenders, they said, we knew back in the fall that we had a chance to be pretty good. They said the exact same thing last year, and lo and behold, they make the College World Series. But there might have been more movement this year in the offseason than ever before with the Wildcats thirty new faces.
But I've mentioned in many times.
To talk with Nick Manjeon about it, and Keith Madison as well. We talked about it last night here in the garage. Player movement in baseball has been common for years. One of the reasons was the rule, the redshirt rule, where you had to sit out if you transferred as a football or basketball player, did not apply to baseball. Ultimately, they changed that rule and it did. Lo and behold,
here comes the portal along with nil. And so now the player movement in baseball is greater than it's ever been before.
They have changed the.
Scholarship rule, and schools can give out far more scholarship money now than they ever did, So it's going to be interesting to see how that affects the game. Because back in the day, if you were playing for a partial scholarship, say it, you know, twenty five thirty forty percent Scollie and you played well, another team could say indirectly,
you know, they couldn't tamper, but they did. But another team could let it be known, hey, we've got seventy five or eighty percent or even a full ride for you if you transfer. Some kids couldn't afford not to transfer, walk ons who would get just a little bit of
Scholly money with transfer. So it's not new, but I think it's probably happening more now with the portal, as I said, with the nil money, and earlier this week I was sitting for Tom Leach and I talked with Derek Terry, who used to cover the Wildcats for the Cat's Balls, now has his own will say called bat Cats Central, and we talked about the fact that this kind of stuff has gone on for a long time and it's having a profound effect.
They have, Absolutely they have, and if you were to go out there this fall to watch the team play, You're absolutely gonna have to have a roster in on hands and hope that they have some numbers on the back because it took me about two times to the lineup the other day to kind of figure out who everybody was.
Yeah, and you don't.
Cover this pretty close, so dietdn't to know everybody a little bit. I had a downtat Sunday though, once they got through the order a couple of times. So, yes, it is a much different looking team this uh, this spring.
It will be you're talking about the scrimmage the Wildcats had on a Sunday afternoon.
What can you tell us about what you saw?
First of all, in terms of style of plays, are going to be the same, which was a little bit of everything last year. There was the small ball, there was the power and as always, defensive pitching.
Yeah, so the big thing and they've probably done this for a little while now, but they have what are called aggressive out so you know, in this kind of controlled format of a scrimmage and encourages runners to maybe take some chances to more or less get adjusted to Kentucky style play on the basis, so you'll see guys getting picked off the or a lot of pickoff throws, guys that are getting thrown out stealing and they're allowed to go back to the base after you give one
of those as a base runner. And so there they were definitely working on that.
A couple bunths.
There's a really good sack bunt that Carson Hanson, transfer from Milwaukee hat I wrote about it my newsletter. Patrick Carrera, a senior, was playing third base, came in.
Made a really nice play on the run.
That was I thought, maybe the cleanest example of good baseball because this was the first scrimmage on Sunday, so it was not you know, you can imagine if you want to watch, think of it like a first football scrimmage in the spring or something like that.
To be real, Chris.
Probably In terms of the pitchers, I thought Ethan Walker. I've seen him throw twice now. I was out there last Sunday as well. He's a transfer from Longwood, which is where Hunter Gillham from a couple of years ago came from. He he's looked really good. He's a left handed pitcher. He's around ninety one ninety two, a good curveball.
He had a clean inning at the top. I think gave up one hit in his second inning, but he I thought he probably threw the best out of everybody, and for other guys, I mean it was a day to make adjustments. Layton Harris a freshman. I think he's got a lot of potential and I think it'd be a good growth opportunity for him, because you know, he had some guys squared him up pretty good the other day.
But he'll bounce back from that.
I think he's in terms of the young guys that I've seen, it's been him and then Bradley Ferrell, another freshman who's coming off Tommy John surgery. They both have some pretty good stuff. One nineties Ferrel can run it up. I think he topped out at ninety four last Sunday.
Wow.
But positionally, I'll tell you someone who I liked was and we saw him something last year. But Ethan Handle. I bet Ethan Handle had a really good day. He got a hit off a Harris in his first at bat, a good line drive into westfield. And then James McCoy the right shoulder from last year, he's pitched something.
He was pitching the final inning and Handle hit a home run.
To dead center.
It was easily the hardest hit ball the day.
For that.
So overall the position guys, I think, uh, still getting to know them.
They're they're young.
I mean Tyler Bell shortstop, Aidan Markin was playing second.
Both those guys are freshman. Kyus garget is just a sophomore.
So the middle Enfield's pretty young outside Luke Lawrence, who's a red shirt junior. He transferred in from Illinois State. So overall, I think it's a it's a good group to follow. We'll see how it kind of develops. But positionally, I think they definitely have some potential and I could see them leaning a little bit younger this year than in years past.
Tyler Bell is, of course the youngster, passed up potentially pretty good money to come to Kentucky. He was drafted really high. Were you able to see much of him in terms of his defense and why he is rated so highly?
Yeah, you know, really natural actions is what the scouts would I would say, Yeah, he has played shortstop, he played short stuff the whole time. He's a switch hitter as well, so he got in a bat from the right side and the left side. I want to say he drew a walk off a Robert Hoag and I believe the city faced first at bat. I'll tell you a cool moment that happened. Dick was he and I could tell it just from watching up in the stands. He got thrown out stealing by Honestly, I don't know
how to say the kid's name. If it's Pellets here or it's the transfer from Kansas State, he's from Canada. I don't know if I'm bushering his last name. He's a very good defensive catcher though, and he picked.
Him off first.
He threw down behind him and they got him. So that was the aggressive out. So Bell gets is down the bases and he was he was leaning way too much. They didn't throw over. I think he probably would have got picked off. It was just obviously he was stealing though, and he got thrown out really no problem. And when he got back to the dugout, Devin Burks he didn't bat the other day. I believe he's doing with a little minor injury.
Should be back soon.
Burks was really coaching them ups over in the dugout. So that's just that experience from a fifth year guy who and Bell's various aptives as he would expect from a freshman. But I thought that kind of showed, you know, these are very competitive scrimmages once they get out there.
But to have the older guy in there and kind of kind of showing him what he was doing wrong, because that was I mean, it was probably like I said, for me up in the stands, and you know it was I don't think he would have got back to the first day, said the pitcher thrown over. But yeah, he looked good. And I tell you, Aiden Larkin to someone who's is really I think impressed the coaches. He's had really good at bats too, from what I've seen from him, made a nice flighting play, and he was
one of those guys that committed fairly late. I mean, I think he committed summer right before his senior year, which is is fairly late baseball for a for a power five program. And he might be a guy who's you know, maybe ends up being a still.
Can you tell me anything about the uh, I don't know the identity of this team or what you're gonna It's gonna be so young, and yet they they got to learn quickly.
They've got a pretty good mix of veterans.
But I felt like the identity of the team last year was sort of personified by Nolan McCarthy and he left, and you think.
You and I talked about this on my show. That was a little bit of a surprise.
And so you know, you've got you've got Devin Booker, You've got or Devin Booker.
You've got a couple of the the veterans back. But I do wonder where all that's gonna come from, you know what I mean.
I do think they want to keep, generally speaking, the same kind of emphasis that they've had in the past. So I mentioned the base running, they want to remain aggressive. There really weren't a ton of butts the other day. But then also they did this thing where you know, Dicky cover these games, they're a saying like we don't move right in the box, like they don't get.
Out of the way of pitches.
So they had a couple of guys the other day who didn't move in the box and those were automatic outs. So I think that emphasis on really kind of keeping the same identity that they've had. But to your point, I mean, I could honestly see a lineup this year at various points where I mean Burks is maybe the only guy who who's really played any kind of meaningful
baseball for Kentucky. Now, I think other guys like Kindled and Garget and maybe like Eli Small and the Outsilod Griff and Camera and those kinds of guys that are all true sophomores, could still work their way back in there.
But I do think that this fall is is really it's gonna be kind of learning, learning how they play here in Kentucky, and maybe a little crash course hut there and a couple of those guys that were in the box that got out of the way of the pitch, and I will say, I mean it was it wasn't a great day for the pitcher, but again I mean it's it's early fall, yeah. And then the arm two that I saw the other day. If you really think about the guys that are going to be likely a
part of this team, I'm not sure how many. Probably Cole Hentral transfer from Richmond. He'll be in there, a few batters, walk a couple, and then I mentioned Hogan and Nathan Walker. I think those are the three that through the other day that pretty much without a doubt or are going to play some kind of decent size role for this team.
That's Derek Terry Batcats Central. If you would like to subscribe, that's the website, batcatcentral dot com. Might not be a bad idea given the fact that Kentucky's got a lot coming back from last year some key elements from last year's team lost a lot of position players, but has talent coming back and knows what it takes now to make a run at a third consecutive regional. And of course they would love to host once again a super Regional.
How much fun was that last year when Oregon State came in with one of the best you got ended up being the number one pick in the draft. But Kentucky Proud Park was jammed and the weather cooperated and everybody had a ball and watch Kentucky knockoff Oregon State and win its way to its first College World Series. So if you want to follow backhead Central is a
pretty good place to start. But my man Aaron Gershan of The Cat's Pause does a great job covering UK baseball, as does my man Jeff Drummond of Cats Illustrated, who covers the team and takes really great pictures as well. So if you're like UK Baseball, you get a lot of options. We'll come back with our number two, including a look back at a big week here.
On the Big Blue Insider, Heroes, fools and Flakes, and we will.
Relive the highlights of uk ole Miss. That's after the news break here on six thirty WLAP.
Welcome back to the Big Bluinsider.
I remember two of our program on the friday of one of Kentucky's two bye weeks, and Wildcats got a chance to revel in their victory over Ole Miss. When you think about bye weeks, they often come at a good time in terms of getting players back from minor nagging injuries.
Will they be ready for the following week. There's nothing like.
Rest and the ability to just lay out and heal, and that's going to be the case with some of the Wildcats, some not so much, but we'll talk about that in the upcoming week.
Still, bye weeks coaches like to say preseason.
I'm not crazy about them. If we're playing well, I'd like to keep playing. But really, you got to think this comes at a good time for Mark Stoops because coming off that disappointing loss, to Georgia and the terrible set back to South Carolina. They did what they had to do against Ohiou, but then what a lift to pull off that upset wind over Mississippi down in Oxford. So now they get a chance to relax a little bit. They're back on schedule, relax in a good way, you know.
Not let it take anything for granted, but think about what got them there to that win overall Miss. It was the same qualities that got them to the win over Georgia as I mentioned earlier. So not a bad time for a bye week and not a bad time for us to.
Look back on it and relive the highlights.
From the UK Sports Network, Tom Leach and Jeff Picoro called it last Saturday. Here's the highlight melt of UK and Ole Miss.
Famed novelist John Grisham is an old Miss Lost graduates, so he's likely rooting for the undefeated Rebels in this matchup with Kentucky, but his books frequently follow a plotline that would serve the Wildcats well against number six Ole Miss, with underdogs overcoming seemingly insurmountable odds to win the day. Good Afternoon from Von Hemingway Stadium on the campus of the University of Mississippi and Oxford. I'm Tom Lynch, along with the former Wildcat wide out Jeff Pikoro Dick Gabriel.
Down on the signe lines. Ross move's on the football. It is high, but it's not gonna make the end zone. Data slapes over the left fields into the left mash.
Mark at the two hit stream wild good Willie Ron Regas got handed the ball.
Pupil players are saying, I do. He got absolutely Willy Ron Regaez driv the booba at the seventeen yard line. Yes, sir, that's the ruling on the field recovery by Kentucky after the hit by Rod Regaez. What a way to start if it holds up.
By goodness, he got absolutely rocked.
The problem is he got hit so hard he fell straight down the ball that's laying on his chest. He just rolls off, watching on the scoreboards of them.
No trouble.
Then to be first down over there from foe and.
You drink before the rebels dart with a plate faith. Now he's pressured, moves up into the pocket, throws down the middle of line open. He's got Harris and he is going to get closer to the touchdown. No, he's down at the one yard line. First in gold to go or ole Miss at the one and I'll perish straight ahead.
He got down at that is just four defense right there, you're walking to the line of his privage.
Nobody was even ready for Kentucky and ole Miss just walked into the inso.
Vandergrip on a keeper, heads off to the right, gets across the thirty, breaks a tackle across the twenty five, still going and knocked out of bounds over on the far side at the twenty two yard line. It's eleven yards and another first down for Kentucky. Cabin into the game now. As Rock gets a brellier after that run fake by whim Sad, he goes straight ahead, breaks a couple of tackles, gets inside the fifteen and has a first down to the eleven yard line. Rainer twenty seven yarders.
It's gonna be spotted at the old Miss seventeen yard line. I'm trying to get Kentucky on the board. It's good. I'm thirteen left to play here. At the opening quarter, each team scores on its opening drive, but it's Old Miss seven in Kentucky three on the UK sports Edward Dart and empty backfield heading the football and he's out of his sacks.
Nice if top Kentucky was playing when we call it cover seven there five hunder and two team and there was no place for Dart to throw when he stepped up as she's swallowing him up.
That brings the first quarter to an end. It's seven three rebels, third and seventh Kentucky showing let's off the edges. They bring six. Dart in trouble, dancing around and he sacked ia back of the forty one yard line. Dion Walker and Jamon Thomas Johnson drop him for a loss of five. Bill first out for Kentucky. Vandergrid sliding left on the option, makes the pitch to Sumo. Karby's got room up the far side. He has the first down forced out of bounds out at the thirty one yard
line after a game of fourteen yards. That's a new look and Kentucky makes you work. Dart play fake. He is throwing deep up the near sideline and it's broken up at the Kentucky forty yard line by Waller and Bryan. They were both there going step for step with Juice Wells in South Carolina.
Transfer and there you see they you know, they take that deep shine again all the way down to the forty yard line where that ball came down, but no pressure on dark.
Sander Grip bakes it to Sumo Carnbay quick throw into the middle. He's got key. First down into ole Miss territory at the Rebels forty nine yard line.
He picked up sixteen boy really like dad.
He knows going over the middle he's gonna get clocked, but man, he has gotten some guts to do that. He comes right into the teeth of the defense, finds it opening and rock double clunches and puts it on the money to.
Whiteouts right, one tight end each way for Vandergrid. That's coming up the middle. Plaything. Vandergrid's setting deep fires into the middle of the family. He's got key inside the ole Miss forty pull down close to the thirty five yard line on the Rebels twenty four yard game.
Turning on the title again. He gets inside the corner. A beautiful move to the post.
Second down five the ole Miss fifteen two tight ends right, two whiteouts left hand off. Sumo Karba bounces it out left he's got space at the tent, cuts back right and drives his way down close to the five yard line. First down. Maybe that'll be first in goal to go after a ten yard run by Demi Sumo Carnbay.
But great blocking on the outside by Day Key could in hell, but he did it.
He stayed in front of his vand beautifully done. He loved to get zeven here instead of three number.
Vander Graft fires into the middle, broke.
It up black Hunter the hell pass interpers.
They were trying to get Key in the middle of the en zone, right under the gold Boats. And they're gonna call holding first down automatic first down either way. Seven penalties forty eight yards today whistled against Ole miss one for ten for Kentucky. Vandergrift play Fath retreating, throwing it to.
The back of the end zone, touch toouchdowncer tasting, Ky tracking the back line of the zone and Vandergriff just floaded it out there to.
Him and Keith bridged down and snatched it with two hands. The Wildcats are in front, twenty said. Play in the half trips to the left, one White out right, Darthy Su're coming again.
He shiding.
Oxen done got him. Yep, big fella got a little ticked off. He's just said, you won't call it. I'll just go get it. He did. Boy, loss of six back to the twenty ole miss out of time aus. That's it. Kentucky is going to take the lead into the locker room in halftime on the home field of the number sixteen of the country, the Wildcats ten, the old miss Rebels seven and inspired first thirty minutes for Kentucky. Nick Gabriel is gonna catch up with coach Mark Stutz.
Coach, I gotta think you love the pace of this game. You've really controlled it.
We have controlled the pace of the game and both sides. Defense has to get stopped. We've been disruptive, we've covered well. As we talked about all week, the pace of play early got us and then we settled right in and offensively, it really kept us in the game controlling it. Obviously we knew we had to score there, but you know, so it's really important to get in the end zone. We got to continue to play aggressive. I went for a couple of those fourth downs and uh, you know, it's worked out.
So you know, so far, so good.
A big, big half here.
Kind of a physical game you like, isn't it it is?
I think that's the one thing that we have to keep up. Our guys are playing really physical offensively. We're getting some dirty, tough runs. Three four yard runs, you know. Two three four yard runs are are good because we gotta we gotta keep them off balance. And then and as you can see, our game is then you got to play action pass drop back pass. We struggle, but if we could run it and be physical, then the play action sets up well.
Coach, thank you, and the Wildcats take a ten to seven lead into the locker room here in Oxford. Two minutes gone in this third quarter for you. Now for Kentucky and off the Paris straight ahead breaks away, got a big game into Kentucky territory to the forty nine yard line, Jeff. They headed for a game of a yard or two.
Yeah, they had a right line his primage, but he just ran through two armed tackles.
Jackson, Dart Hump Bake rights. He is gonna run and left and he is in trouble. He's gonna be hit, dropped for a loss, Walker Dumas, Johnson time Bryan not fooled. They drop in for a loss of three fourth and six. Try to tie the game with nine fifty four to play. Here in the third quarter, suns back under the clouds now here in Oxford. It's that wave up high and it's good, and the game is tied. Old mits ten and Kentucky ten. Vandergriff the receivers each way, fakes left, throws, rights,
complete the key. Thirty five forty breaks through a tackle up the far sideline, out of bounds, up at the Kentucky forty six yard line, twenty one yard game. They give it to Wilcox running left, got an alley across the fifty forty five, runs over a tackler, knocks it older defender back, goes inside the forty to the rebels thirty seven yard line. Donnery finally made the tackle on him. A game of seventeen, so it'll be a forty eight
yard field goal attempt. Poor rainer. I don't pull this back to the left a little bit, he said already from twenty seven today on you a leg. It's good. Thirteen in a row. Kentucky retakes the lead with six thirty one to play in the third. Kentucky thirteen pull miss ten on the UK Sports Network fourth and seven, two receivers each Way or Dart coming down to the end of the third quarter, Blitz coming, Dart throws it into the middle and his puck for the first down,
and it's a lot more. Harris running through the middle of the defense cuts Leck. You'll go in for the touchdown. Kentucky brought everybody on all Outlitz. Ole Miss picks it up. Harris on a deep slant, makes the catch.
And I don't know that.
Anybody ever touched a forty seven yard touchdown pass on fourth and seven.
Well, when you give it up like that, you've got to.
Get on your guy. And he was wide open, streaking right through the middle of the field of post pattern if you will skinny pose at once they picked up the Polintz. Dart was able to pat it and then fire it right to him. And and that kid when he gets in the open field, you can forget about it.
Ten seconds to play the third quarter, and Ole Miss goes back in front here at Oscar seventeen to thirteen on a forty eight yard touchdown pass on fourth and seven. So fourth and ams from its own nineteen Mark Stewkes pushing the chips to the center of the table the four oh four to play, trailing seventeen thirteen. They don't make it, o missus and Minimum starts in field goal range. Vanderhrypt drops let's coming. He's throwing it up the far sideline and it's good.
Brown at the thirty four he stands, yeah.
It comes back across the ear side of the thirty ten to twenty down of the.
Seventeen yard line of Old Miss wanna throw.
Vandergriff dropped it in and right into the hands of Brown streaking down the left side.
There's the chunk play you were looking for. And Ivy is down back in the fifteen yard line. He started to run up the field and he just fell down. He's gonna give the team a blow. But Kentucky has it inside the red zone.
Now wow.
He tiptoed the sidelines top stadium bounds and got himself an extra ten or twelve yards.
Sixty two yards on the completion to Baryon Brown. As the Cats are back in the red zone first and ten, Kentucky just inside the left hash mark at the Old Miss seventeen yard line. They give it the Sumo Carbay bouncing that left. He's got room fifteen ten carrys a tackler for a first down to the six yard line. Wimst now the quarterbacks. He woke Carnvay to his left. Wimsit on a keeper running left at the five drops
his shoulder gap so the two bubble of football. It go into the end zone, touchdown.
Kentucky. On the recovery of the enzoe.
Trying to see who got it, Cattis Josh Cattis recover the ball. It popped down of Whimsit at the two. It went right to Canis in the end zone. Kentucky twenty oh Miss seventeen with two twenty five to play.
In the game.
Here in Oxford, Mississippi dart set Steve stunted up front Ole miss kicks it up. He scrambles off to the right, throws it deep into the middle.
Of the field like and good damn where time.
Cay Grace carn Christen story, Christen's story got lost?
What are you doing?
Makes the cat at the Kentucky thirty four yard line. You got Kayden Davis, a senior. The ball's gonna be spotted just shy of the thirty nine yard line of Kentucky.
Just get big boys, We'll call this a forty.
Nine yard field goal attempt off the right Hashmark Davis is a right footed kicker, so we have to pull this back to the left a little bit to try and tie the game with fifty three seconds left, a little bit of a low staff. They get it down, kicks on the.
Way, No, not hold, only.
Forty eight seconds to play. An old mess comes up empty. Yes, how about that the sidelines fd in. Mark stops in his Kentucky Wildcats have shot the comics Football World hit it Go Bubba, a miracle in the Magnolia State. We're Kentucky Wildcats twenty the Old Miss Rebels seventeen.
That is the way it sounded. Tom Leach and Jeppichor I jumped in there every now.
And then as the Wildcats knocked off the Old Miss Rebels and ran their record three and two. So they'll get a chance to just sit back, put their feed up, and start watching football. I think this is the beginning of a stretch for something like fifty five straight days with either a college or pro game on TV. So not a bad time to have the opportunity to sit
back and relax. And as Tom mentioned off the top, John Grisham and Ole Miss grad, an Ole Miss fan, and of course he has written so many books that involve mysteries. And it's probably still a mystery to Rebel fans how they lost that game. It's no mystery to Kentucky fans because they've seen games like that get away and finally, finally one went the way of the Wildcats. When we come back, we'll take a look around the Commonwealth.
There is college football this week. A little bit later on, we'll take a look back at a big week here on the Big blullon Sider six thirty WLAP Welcome back Dick Gabriel with you on a Friday edition of The Big Blue Insider. And ordinarily we talk about this as being the eve of game day, but as we know, it's an open day tomorrow. But there is college football around the bluegrad at Center College at his homecoming at Joe McDaniel Field at Andy Fryes Stadium as the Colonels
take on Trinity College out of San Antonio. Center College coming off a tough one on the road to loss at Hampton Sydney thirty eight to thirty four, first loss of the season for the Colonels after season opening wins over Hanover and Maryville. Morehead State takes on the fighting Rob Bromley's of Butler up in Indianapolis. That's right, Butler University gave us Rob Bromley and we were glad it did.
The Eagles right now are two and two with wins over Kentucky Christian and just last week knocked up Valparizo at home, but gave up a ton of points at number eight Montana up in Missoula, losing that one fifty nine to two, and then lost a couple of weeks ago to EKU by a final of forty two to thirteen.
Louisville has a big one.
This is an acc game and the Cardinals need a win after falling at Notre Dame last week up in South and the Cards turned it over way too many times. Irish took full advantage in the thirty one to twenty four win over u L. So the Cards play host to SMU at l and N Federal Credit Union Stadium used to be the big Slice Papa John's. And this is a bit of a flashback game for me because when I was in Dallas the two seasons I was
down in Dallas, SMU twice played Louisville. The first one came at Cardinals Stadium, and of course the second one came at Texas Stadium and Irving. That's where SMU used to play its home games, which was a terrible move because even if they got a good crowd, they wouldn't fill it, so it looked like, you know, there wasn't as much interest in SMU football as there really was.
But SMU is a small school.
They did have quite a fan following in Dallas when they were you know, cheating their butts off and heading for the death penalty, but winning a lot of games. But playing in Texas Stadium was something they did because at one point they had an athletics director wanted to mirror everything the Cowboys did. So instead of playing in a good, solid, kind of quaint stadium on campus and making it look like it was a big ticket, they
played at Texas Stadium. But anyhow, that first year nineteen eighty three, they came to U of L, and Cardinals Stadium was so decrepit by then, even by then, and I warned the broadcast crew, specifically the playbook play man Brad Sham, who's now the long time legendary voice of the Dallas Cowboys. I said, look, you're going to have to walk a catwalk to get to the press box, which hangs from the roof the overhang over the field. And if you've ever been to the old Cardinal Stadium,
you know what I'm saying. And I said, you'll feel it swaying. Even if it's not that windy, you will feel it swaying. And it's going to be so cramped that I just wonder how all of you guys producer, engineer, playbook, play color and two spotters, how are they going to fit in there? And they barely did, but they got it done. Oh by the way, Statman too and SMU came away with the win. It's first time these teams have played since the early eighties. Couple of other teams
with buys this weekend. Georgetown College is off this week, coming off and win over Reinhardt out of Georgia. The Tiger's next play Faulkner on Saturday, October twelfth at Toyota Stadium.
That is homecoming.
E KU is opened this week as well, coming off win over Robert Morris, and then there are back to back road trips coming up at Southern Utah, all the way out at Cedar City, Utah, and Abilene Christian in Abilene, Texas before homecoming pops up on October twenty sixth at Roy Kids Stadium against Utah Tech. So Wal Wells happy to have an open date prior to a couple of rough road games.
You look at those next three and there there are challenges that each of them present, and uh, but you know it's it's a whole lot. Winning is living and so to be coming around here and whether smile on your face and three and zero at home in the last three games is something that's fun to do. And we've got to continue to enjoy that filing and earn that fimil that's e k.
U head coach Walt Wells will come back and take a look at the week that was a little bit later on Heroes, Fools and Flakes as we wrap up the week, you're on six thirty.
Telling you.
That was the week.
Over let it go, that was the week that was.
It started way up FLUK and he's.
Playing in all.
Time to take a look at the week that was, and it was another big one here on the Big Blue Insider, going back to the first of the week when we heard of the passing of the legendary Pete Rose. Like him or not, he was one of the greatest players in the history of the game. And even today there's a story in the New York Post written by a columnist who just harped on nothing but the negatives
about Pete Rose. But my man Doug Flynn was in the garage with us just last night, he and the rest of the Chain gang, Darren Hedrick and Keith Madison, and we talked a linked about Pete and Doug talked about the Pete Rose that nobody really got to see, and he talked about how frustrated he got, and Doug still gets with media when it comes to his friend. But we started this particular part of the discussion with a funny story that we encountered a few years ago
when we were doing the minor league games. One of those teams was managed by Pete Junior. And you told a story about Pete Junior calling Dad when he was in a lull or I think he used the S word of slump and asked for advice.
Yeah, Pete, you know, he picked up the fellows his dad. Man, I'm struggling won for eighteen, and he says, what I do? PE said, how do I know? I've never been in a he said, called Davy, Davy. He'll tell you how to get out of it. Let me tell you one little quick please. So seventy five, seventy six, we win seventy You got to have three years in the big leagues to move outside of where the team stays during spring training. If not, you stay at the team hotel
where the media and everybody stays. So seventy seven January, my sister disappears. Dick Wagner, the general manager. I call him up and say, Dick, I want to live away from all the stuff. I got questions going on. We got investigations, Da da da da dah, I said, And I want my parents to come down, and I don't want them to be around on the media people because we're getting phone calls daily. What do you think that just because you want to break the rules, you got to have three years.
You know that?
And I said, I know that, But I said this, I thought these circumstances, it would you would understand.
He says no.
He says, the rules are rules, and you got aby by him.
I said, okay, I quit. Wow.
I hang up the phone. So I'm sitting there thinking what did you just do? So an hour goes by, the phone rings. It's Pete and he's laughing. He said, did you quit? I said yeah, I said, Pete, we got two World Series in two years. Is the only place I think goes down from here. And he said, you're not quitting. I said, well, he said, I already know the story. He said, I'm staying at the King Arthur's n right down from the ballpark. He said, I got a room for you, and I got a room
for your mom and dad. It won't cost you nothing.
Wow.
And I went there, and that probably had a little bit to do why I got traded because Dick Wagner.
Was, yeah, you know, but Pete, well, he's a clown who broke up the Reds.
Here's a clown.
I agree with you. He's a clown.
He treated people rude, he treated people mean. He only used me. There's some other people talk differently about him. I don't know him being any different.
Well, that was it.
That was it was Yeah, So that did it right there. But so Pete did that, And there was all kinds of stuff. If you went to his house, like I started collecting autographs, which I never did before, and all of sudden I thought I'd do it. He said, here he throws his rookie cards and start off with this one.
Wow wow.
Or he'd give you a pair. I got a big pair of those big Porsche sunglasses that he used to wear. I've never worn them. I mean, cover your whole head. I can't pull it off, but I still. He just he gave people shoes. I just got a letter guy the other day, his son got blown up in Iraq. Pete found out about it, picked up the phone and talked to him from an hour and stuff like that. The media just, you'll do it, but most of our media won't cover that. And I'm so sick of them
burying him over the stuff now. I mean, for forty years they've been getting on him. The same people are getting on him that Pete would give an interview with that no one else would ever talk to. But people give an interview when loser draw you do it, and they kisses Reary in for that, and then as soon as he got in trouble they've been burying him ever since.
Then.
He's not wrong.
The problem is Doug was and is privy to so many of the great things that Rose did off the radar.
You know, we always heard about, of course.
The gambling, and he did not hide the fact that he would date younger women and then ran around on his wives.
And things like that.
But the great things he did, as I said, that nobody knew about. Probably out of number the instances that we did hear about, you just never got a chance to find out.
Thankfully, Doug Flynn is sharing stories like that.
Obviously, we talked about the Wildcats and there went over all miss and I had a chance to talk to the linebacker JJ Weaver about what this defense has accomplished this year.
Tell me about what life has been like since pulling off that upset man, It's wonderful. You know, we needed that big wan.
We lost in South Carolina.
That hurt us.
You know, we was in a Dolphier Geordia, you know, and then Dolphier old men.
So we got it.
You know, we we almost there, which is to keep batting, batting every other week. You know, our next our next opponent is Vending Beild, and we're not gonna take Vending Beild like it's another SEC opponent. You know, SEC have the one of the best conference in the nation, so we gotta look forward to keep fighting, chopping chopping wood every year.
It's becoming I think perhaps the identity of this Kentucky team and people across the country now are seeing just how good your defense is.
What is it like to be a part of that, man, you know, I mean.
For six years and I tell the guy, this is one of the best defense I've been in in a UK. You know, the brothers is tight. You know we battle every day. You know, we we argue like brothers, you know, so it's once you argue each other. You know, he got my back off the field, So.
Man, I love it.
Ain't gonna lie love it. You know, I know they got my back. So I can go to war with these with these guys. You know, I know they're gonna stand on all ten for I mean, I'm gonna stay all ten for them. So it's a I love this team, this defense, I know. I know we got the chance to upset a lot of teams this year.
We got a chance to talk to JJ because he has been named to the All State Good Works Team and therefore is one of eleven players in the running for the Danny Wirfeld Trophy, which is given to the college football player each year who exemplifies great character both.
On and off the field.
Courtney Love wanted as a Kentucky Wildcat back in twenty fifteen. I spoke with John Clay, the Harrow Leader, longtime columnist, formerly a beat writer for the Haro Leader when it came to UK football and basketball, and John admitted, and I had to admit to myself that when ole Miss took a late lead and then started making plays moving down the field in the last couple of minutes of this game, I braced myself for another miserable finish. And John admitted he did too.
Yeah, I mean when they complete with ole Miss, you know, because he goes up but twenty to seventeen and all Miss complete that long pass. First of all, you think, well, they're going to go ahead and take it in for a score. And then when they wind up for the field goal. But I will admit I thought that, you know, I didn't think it was a sure thing of forty eight yarder. I know Mark stoops at afterwards that he
turned to Brad White and said, would do one. Now I think kntheckya was kind of do one in that game, and you know, obviously to play the game has to be the fourth down call where they throw the sixty three yard bomb. Not only did they went for it, And listen to Mark after the game, I thought he had pretty sound reasoning that even if they didn't make it on the fourth down, he thought the defense was
playing well. They could hold him to a field goal, you know, and would still be you know, we then get the ball back and me when then range of doing something, but you know, but not just to go for it on fourth down, but to you know, air it out and go for the big play, go for the big strike. And obviously a great pass by Brock Vandergriff and an even better catch to put himself in a position to make the catch by Barryon Brown, who really, up until this point had been the dang Key Show.
Dang Key had been you know, back to back one hundred yard games, and Baryon hadn't quite had the impact so far that we thought maybe he would have. In fact, Danes said after the game that he kept that he kept telling barry On your time's coming, Your time's coming, and it certainly did you know did on that play. I think that play will go down, especially if Kentucky
goes on to have a good season. I think that play, that fourth down play will go down in Kentucky is one of the more significant plays in Kentucky football history.
I will tell you that when they went for it.
I always talk about second guessing, and you know, it's all well and good if you make that decision prior to the play. And I remember thinking, you know, they pretty much have to go for it here. I didn't think that the feed and cement thing would work.
They weren't going to draw him off side. But I also heard that Barrion Brown's route was not the first option on that Rock draft figure they'd go over the middle to Dane Key again. But he draws the double team. That's what's amazing.
John is very impunishment the last year and a halfy in double team and they go single coverage and they burned or didn't they.
Yeah, they got the look they wanted. And Rock said after the game, when we talked to Brock, Mandy Griff, you know about take us through that play. So you know we got single coverage, we got single on Barion and we thought maybe we could get that, but you know, we weren't sure how they would play it when they plays the owner man and with they single up on barry On, which they did, and uh, you know, obviously yeah, and I think, you know, obviously Baryon made great play
and Brock for a heck of a ball. And but you know, I'm really impressed with the growth that Brock has made from the opener till now.
Uh.
The kid obviously has the tools. He was a five star quarterback coming out of high school. A little shaky at first, but I mean, you know, that's South Carolina game. That was his first SEC start. If you look back at every quarterback, they you know, have starts like that, especially you know in their first year as a starter. I looked back last year Jaylen Milroe at Alabama, he got Ben Stepford, they lost to Texas. Saban didn't even
play him in the South Florida game. Then he came back, had a heck of a year and you saw what he did against Georgia on Saturday night. But I think brought in his toughness. I mean, he just kid takes a gear down there on the field. You see the hits he takes and he just pops back up, and you know, that's got to earn a lot of respect from his teammates. And I think we're really seeing him grow and boy, you know, really optimistic about what he can do.
The rest of the season.
I also spoke with former Wildcat Van Hiles, who makes the media rounds.
Now.
I think I started him on this path, but he was doing such a great job breaking down Kentucky video on social media and now he's on everybody's radio shows and podcasts and things like that.
But I went back and talked to Van a little bit.
He's a former d back himself, about the way the Old Miss defensive backs gambled so much against the Wildcats and ultimately when you look at the Baryon Brown play, it.
Cost them the game.
Well, I'm gonna be honest, if if it's a if you put the gamble word on them, they gambled pretty much eighty percent of the game. They put those those they put their corners on an island the entire game. But that's also why they could play the tackle style defense they're playing those. I'm gonna say this, give I'm gonna give so much credit omens defense because I was like, I'm not sure what they are, but that front seven is.
We have played three really good fronts having defenses to start to see it because those guys are flying around.
They're legit, aren't they?
Yeah, they are. They are really a really good defense. And now I understand why why their fans saw them being a potential national champion because they bought. They bought a great defense with the nil.
But that said, Kentucky grinds out these long drives time, but on more than one occasion, and force that defense to stay on the field for fifteen plays at a time.
Man, that was huge, wasn't it.
That was that was the calling card. And I'm gonna say this because I know that they keep getting hopped up on that old line. Since the Southern and since South Carolina game has start to jail a little bit every week, they have played a little bit better and they are not going against cupcake defenses. They've played, like I said, I'm gonna say, the three of the best
defenses in the conference. They have played really tough defense and they're folling away to put together enough consecutive plays in a row to keep the ball moving down the field and progressive they're also not getting enough credit.
That was the week that was here on the Big Bling Sider, Heroes, Fools and Flags. Next here on six thirty WLAB.
That was the week, Let it Go.
That was the week.
Welcome back to the Big Blue Insider. Final segment of our shows. We wrap up the week with Heroes, Fools and Flakes and.
Our hero tonight.
Well, we're gonna go back to Kentucky football, naturally with the Wildcats coming off that upset win at Ole Miss, and they did it the only way, really, the only chance they had was to slow down Old Miss dramatically, keep the Old Miss offense off the field by grinding out long drives. But when the Rebels were on the field offensively, they had to shut them down and they did that. So a tip of the cap to Brad White and all the guys on the defensive side of the football, because Kentucky.
Now ranks among the top teams in the country in almost every major defensive category.
Sixth in total defense, eleventh and rush defense, fifteenth in scoring defense, and number twenty one in pass defense. We knew going into the season Kentucky would be good on defense. We knew of the of the three aset to the game that would be the best. I don't know that anybody saw this coming, and admittedly it's rather early in the season, but think about it, We're five games in now, We're almost at the halfway point of this college football season.
So what a job that Brad White, the defensive staff, and the players on that side of the ball have done for the Wildcats. Our full tonight is Matthew Sluka. He is the former quarterback at Nevada Las Vegas, and I don't mean him any ill will, but he and anybody else who might be thinking about walking the same path might want to take a good look at what's
happening with you NLV. Because of course, as you know, he announced prior to the last Saturday's game he was done, So I'm not getting all the money I was supposed to get, so I'm not going to play anymore.
And what did the Rebels do? Well?
They turned around and beat Fresno State fifty nine to fourteen without him, and this week made their first ever appearance in the AP College Football Poll. They're tied with A and M at number twenty five, and in fact, this includes those years that UNLV had a quarterback by the name of Randall Cunningham. Now, they elevated their football program to Division One.
Back in nineteen seventy eight. Cunningham wrapped up his career at.
UNLV in nineteen eighty four, so he was the first really great player they ever had.
But up until now, UNLV had never won four straight games to open a season.
They play Syracuse tonight with a good chance at making it five straight because they played Syracuse out in the desert and our flake tonight were going back to that Mets Brewers game, the one that saw New York come from behind in the ninth inning and the winner take all game and eliminate Milwaukee.
A really good Milwaukee team. But the Mets are hot. Now. We told you as well about Pete Alonzo's home run in the ninth inning. You know you're going to get your home it's best shot when it comes to the bullpen. So for Milwaukee, you knew.
He was gonna have to face a reliever named Devin Williams, who has maybe the nastiest change up in the game. This season, Williams threw that pitch, his signature pitch, one hundred and seventy six times in the regular season and never.
Allowed a home run.
Guess what Alonso hit when he left the yard. That's right, he hit a Devin Williams change up. And here's the thing about changeup, even if you know they're coming, if it's thrown properly the way Devin Williams usually throws his, there's so much movement and your timing is off. But Alonzo got it and sent it out of the yard for a three run homer. You're led to the Mets win. That's pretty flaky.
That's going to do it. Thanks so much to all my guests this week.
Have a great Saturday, enjoyed college football all over the country.
That's it. Good night from the garage, MI, sir official.
Let me ask you something. Six of you missed a play like that.
Six the ball jumped out of as soon as we make count down, hopefull you were told about you being a field now logic, say
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