UK Football: Bowl Eligible

Back in early September watching the L'ville game on ESPN I remember yelling (almost crying) at the tv because we were getting our butts whooped, and I remember yelling out some really bad things not suited for the blogosphere or this blog for that matter. I was expressing emotions to the effect of like ‘ it's the same deal every year ’, and, ‘ We can't run, so we pass, and when we pass, we can't throw past the first down marker ’.

That Sunday night, if you would have told me that Rich Brooks would lead this team to their current 7-4 record, bowl eligible, and would knock off teams like Ole Miss (play respectfully at Florida), Miss St, Central Michigan, upsetting Georgia just two weeks ago then clinching their seventh(correction: sixth) win by beating Vandy, I probably would have given you a breathalizer test.

LSU spanked us, South Carolina squeaked by, and really Florida didn't convincingly beat us like they've been accustomed to in the past. Two of those three were winnable … this could be a 9-2 *(or 8-2) Wildcat football program. I really wasn't even expecting more than maybe one or two conference wins and maybe the same outside the conference, but this tells you the hold Rich Brooks has on his players now to come back fighting after the opening season loss on the road. Andre Woodson and Keenan Burton are both near the top of the SEC leader boards for their positions and they both should be back as Seniors next year, in fact most of the players on this year's team should be back next year. Somewhere at some point during their schedule this year, Kentucky's football program matured, improved, despite where they lie overall statistically as a team right now - I just can't pinpoint the week (or practice) it happened. I mean it's nice around Kentucky football when your QB is recognized as the National Player of the Week after tearing up the stat columns and setting career highs leading Kentucky to a 12 point home win for their 6th win of the season and clinching bowl eligibility for the first time in years.

And when your (Rich Brook's) program records its first major conference upset (vs Georgia) and are now bowl eligible, you begin to have that feeling that maybe Kentucky football is beginning its upside. And with Hoops season underway, people have a right to smile really big around Lexington right now.

Below: An Inside Look At The Rare Mayhem at Commonwealth - Mission: SEC Football

Other Links

• YouTube: Let's Go Boys, Whooo!!! - Interesting pre-game vid vs Georgia
• one fan's capture of the downing of the goalpost after beating Georgia

⊗ Late Correction: *Kentucky is actually 6-4 with two games left - I mistakenly counted a JV game as an extra win