Nuggets

*I've commented before http://ukfootballfan.blogspot.com/2008/09/unrest.html about the attitude Rich Brooks seems to have towards the team's fans. It bears mention again. I have an ongoing problem with this. Last week he mockingly said that the Arkansas game was "very very very important", like it wasn't. Look, if you want to act like your team is going to win every game for the rest of the year, that is your prerogative as a football coach. If you need your team to take that as gospel (and as a good football coach maybe you should), then you can pretend that one game is no more important than another. But don't make fun of your fan base for not swallowing the bs. He doesn't honestly expect the fans to believe the Cats have the same chance of getting their fifth win at Florida as they do against Arkansas. Its the same with this; if you have two quarterbacks, and one is winning games but the team clearly plays better behind the other guy, just say, "I'm going to go with the guy that has us at 5-2". Don't mock people with a difference of opinion. Rich Brooks is the best football coach we've had in a long time. He's earned the right to have a certain ego, and he has certainly earned the right for people to put trust in his judgment. I just wish he'd rein all this back a bit. Its counterproductive.

*I actually did something I never do last night, which was to check out some message boards on UK football. I try to avoid this because I want to come up with my own angles and also because I don't like reporting that isn't based on fact. That said, here are a couple things I feel like passing on. Whether they are true is not something I can personally vouch for. Since I am not a real journalist, I can do this. First, after the interception with five minutes to go, Cobb and Hartline talked on the sidelines briefly, then Hartline called the entire offense over, without coaches, and huddled the team on the sideline. What he might have said is anyone's guess. Also Micah Johnson apparently came off the field with his leg dragging behind him in the fourth quarter. Trainers tried to cut his shoe off, and he would not let anyone touch him because he wasn't going to quit playing. Johnson reportedly finished the game while barely able to walk.

*This led to the best comment I read. A thread started with the premise that Johnson shouldn't play against Florida to avoid further injury and be ready for Mississippi State (recall I said the same thing, for about the same reasons, before the Alabama game). A responder said, in essence, "if you think that Micah shouldn't play, I suggest you go tell him yourself. Let me know how that goes for you." Johnson is one of the unsung stories on the team this year. When healthy, he's been an absolute beast, and every bit the player he was supposed to be coming out of high school. Plus the kid is a warrior.

*I posted this on John Clay's blog recently when talking about the Cobb-Hartline quarterback situation, but I think it bears repeating here:

I will say this. For a guy who has taken so much abuse this year, Hartline sure has stepped up when it mattered. When we needed a TD to save an embarrassment against MTSU, he marched us down the field and got it done. Against Alabama, he threw his best pass of the night when it looked like all hope was lost. This week, same thing, times two. If he, or maybe it is our entire offense, could play like this all the time, all critics would be silenced.

*I do think this is a better team with Hartline taking most of the snaps at QB. I'd still like to see Cobb used for more than a drive or two especially when things get stagnant. Even though Hartline is usually not the problem, there are times when things just need to go in another direction. The staff could also exchange them within the same drive every once in a while, which we did on at least one occasion against South Carolina, but not at all against Arkansas.

*It would be literally impossible for a college freshman to handle this situation with more class than Randall Cobb has.

*We are 24 1/2 point underdogs at Florida this weekend. That seems very high to me. I realize we haven't played an offense like Florida's all year. Yet 24 1/2 points is more than we have given up in any one game. All year.

*This is the time of year when I start thinking about where the Cats might go to a bowl. Actually, I think about this year 'round, but now is when the situation crystallizes a bit. Nowadays, I am put in the sometimes uncomfortable position of rooting against SEC teams in their non conference games. Sometimes in the conference games I'll root for an outcome, then realize a week later that the script has flipped, and I should have hoped for the opposite. Non conference games are great because this never happens. This weekend offers three. On Thursday, Auburn goes to West Virginia in a game it should lose. Saturday, Vandy gets a visit from Duke, which is back to earth at 3-3 after starting 3-1. Vandy should win. Truthfully, the Commodores are one team I have a hard time rooting against, but from a record and geographic standpoint, its the outcome that could impact UK the most. Middle Tennessee visits Mississippi State in an upset special. This would stick an absolute fork in MSU's season right before we arrive there next week.

*WLEX reported last night that Myron Pryor will miss the Florida game and that none of our starting linebackers practiced yesterday. Damn Vegas and their smart oddsmakers.

*Marcus McClinton sealed the game with his fourth interception of the year Saturday, taking the team lead over Trevard Lindley. Marcus has a ways to go to catch Jerry Claiborne, who set the UK single season record with a whopping 9 in 1949.