Whoosh, drop. Whoosh, drop.
Don't look around. That's not a leaky faucet you hear, but the sound of the Kentucky receiving corps. More wide open passes fell to the ground in the first quarter than should in an entire game.
I counted at least five, and that's five too many. Kentucky coach Rich Brooks promised a smaller bunch of receivers to accompany Dickie Lyons Jr. with some sort of decency, but it didn't show against Western Kentucky last Saturday even in a 41-3 win.
The Wildcats (4-0) will need to catch the easy ones when they head to Alabama next weekend, including the one off the hands of a Kentucky receiver and into the arms of his Hilltopper counterpart. Mike Hartine's first interception of the season looked like an intentional tip drill, not another dropped pass.
- B/R Ticket Guide
Receivers were near, but not at the top of the list of Kentucky's offensive faults. Although they stacked up 41 on Western, it's still Western, and the second worst team on their cupcake non-conference slate. My apologies to Norfolk State.
Team speed was the key to the Kentucky victory, something Western will acquire as they fully transition to the FBS. But a bright spot? Try kicker Tanner Siewert of Henderson County, KY, punching in an unlikely 50 yarder late in the second quarter.
Wasn't Kentucky having kicking issues? They must have misfired on that recruitment.
Another misfire was Western Kentucky's spread offense. The same scheme that Middle Tennessee State frightened Kentucky with a few weeks ago had zero effectiveness this time around. The Topper offense was just lame, racking up an almighty 157 yards.
Draw plays from returning starter KJ Black to running back to running back Bobby Rainey looked like they were going in slow motion. But it could have been the sheer speed of the Wildcat defense. Those guys are for real.
Swarming to the ball and holding Western Kentucky to only three points gives Kentucky the top scoring defense in the nation.
Smash, bang, pop, clang. Yes, that's the sound of Kentucky's defense.
Or it could have been the Big Red team buses starting up just a bit early. Three money games down, and only one to go for Western Kentucky. Maybe they'll put the scare in Virginia Tech we've all been waiting to see.
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