ITT We Follow Potential 2015 Coaching Candidate Week 4

[Consigliere]

How about Ole Miss v Memphis? Ole Miss -10.5.

 

[Dingaan1828]

Interesting game to watch this Thursday: Auburn (-2) vs. Kentucky @ 7:00 p.m. ET on ESPN

Coming into this season, I was interested in seeing how Mark Stoops would do before forming a firm opinion about him as a potential candidate. Stoops has Kentucky off to a 4-1 start with victories over South Carolina & Missouri, a five-point loss to UF that looks more impressive after how the Gators dismantled Ole Miss, and surprisingly close one-score victories over Louisiana-Lafayette & Eastern Kentucky.

UK is set to enter the toughest stretch of their schedule (vs. AUB, @ MSST, vs. TEN, @ UGA) starting Thursday against Auburn. Stoops took over a Kentucky program that went 2-10 in 2012 (before his arrival). After going 2-10 in his first season (2013) and 5-7 in his second year, it appears that Stoops has UK on the verge of making another significant leap. If Stoops can win two of these next four SEC games, there's a chance for Kentucky to have their first nine-win season since 1984.

Tom Herman's team televised again this Friday: Houston (-17.5) at Tulane @ 9:00 p.m. ET on ESPNU

Herman, who has Houston ranked in the AP Top 25 for the first time since the end of the 2011 season, is off to a great start at Houston. Dual-threat QB Greg Ward is one of the most efficient, dynamic players in the entire country. Tulane shouldn't be a big test for them, but Herman's style of play is certainly worth watching for those who aren't as familiar with him. Terrific young offensive mind.

Houston should butcher Tulane. Tulane sucks hard.

 

[NVA CANE]

Interesting game to watch this Thursday: Auburn (-2) vs. Kentucky @ 7:00 p.m. ET on ESPN

Coming into this season, I was interested in seeing how Mark Stoops would do before forming a firm opinion about him as a potential candidate. Stoops has Kentucky off to a 4-1 start with victories over South Carolina & Missouri, a five-point loss to UF that looks more impressive after how the Gators dismantled Ole Miss, and surprisingly close one-score victories over Louisiana-Lafayette & Eastern Kentucky.

UK is set to enter the toughest stretch of their schedule (vs. AUB, @ MSST, vs. TEN, @ UGA) starting Thursday against Auburn. Stoops took over a Kentucky program that went 2-10 in 2012 (before his arrival). After going 2-10 in his first season (2013) and 5-7 in his second year, it appears that Stoops has UK on the verge of making another significant leap. If Stoops can win two of these next four SEC games, there's a chance for Kentucky to have their first nine-win season since 1984.

Tom Herman's team televised again this Friday: Houston (-17.5) at Tulane @ 9:00 p.m. ET on ESPNU

Herman, who has Houston ranked in the AP Top 25 for the first time since the end of the 2011 season, is off to a great start at Houston. Dual-threat QB Greg Ward is one of the most efficient, dynamic players in the entire country. Tulane shouldn't be a big test for them, but Herman's style of play is certainly worth watching for those who aren't as familiar with him. Terrific young offensive mind.

Houston should butcher Tulane. Tulane sucks hard.

Auburn is terrible but this should be a win for Kentucky.

 

[01Canes]

Interesting game to watch this Thursday: Auburn (-2) vs. Kentucky @ 7:00 p.m. ET on ESPN

Coming into this season, I was interested in seeing how Mark Stoops would do before forming a firm opinion about him as a potential candidate. Stoops has Kentucky off to a 4-1 start with victories over South Carolina & Missouri, a five-point loss to UF that looks more impressive after how the Gators dismantled Ole Miss, and surprisingly close one-score victories over Louisiana-Lafayette & Eastern Kentucky.

UK is set to enter the toughest stretch of their schedule (vs. AUB, @ MSST, vs. TEN, @ UGA) starting Thursday against Auburn. Stoops took over a Kentucky program that went 2-10 in 2012 (before his arrival). After going 2-10 in his first season (2013) and 5-7 in his second year, it appears that Stoops has UK on the verge of making another significant leap. If Stoops can win two of these next four SEC games, there's a chance for Kentucky to have their first nine-win season since 1984.

Tom Herman's team televised again this Friday: Houston (-17.5) at Tulane @ 9:00 p.m. ET on ESPNU

Herman, who has Houston ranked in the AP Top 25 for the first time since the end of the 2011 season, is off to a great start at Houston. Dual-threat QB Greg Ward is one of the most efficient, dynamic players in the entire country. Tulane shouldn't be a big test for them, but Herman's style of play is certainly worth watching for those who aren't as familiar with him. Terrific young offensive mind.

Houston should butcher Tulane. Tulane sucks hard.

Auburn is terrible but this should be a win for Kentucky.

I agree. Stoops is doing a really nice job at UK. Hard to overlook, though, that there were rumors last offseason they were interested in bringing in James Coley to be their OC.

If Stoops would keep Coley, that'd be a dealbreaker for him as a candidate, IMO. We need a total cleansing of the coaching and strength & conditioning staffs.

 

[Notsince1985]

Interesting game to watch this Thursday: Auburn (-2) vs. Kentucky @ 7:00 p.m. ET on ESPN

Coming into this season, I was interested in seeing how Mark Stoops would do before forming a firm opinion about him as a potential candidate. Stoops has Kentucky off to a 4-1 start with victories over South Carolina & Missouri, a five-point loss to UF that looks more impressive after how the Gators dismantled Ole Miss, and surprisingly close one-score victories over Louisiana-Lafayette & Eastern Kentucky.

UK is set to enter the toughest stretch of their schedule (vs. AUB, @ MSST, vs. TEN, @ UGA) starting Thursday against Auburn. Stoops took over a Kentucky program that went 2-10 in 2012 (before his arrival). After going 2-10 in his first season (2013) and 5-7 in his second year, it appears that Stoops has UK on the verge of making another significant leap. If Stoops can win two of these next four SEC games, there's a chance for Kentucky to have their first nine-win season since 1984.

Tom Herman's team televised again this Friday: Houston (-17.5) at Tulane @ 9:00 p.m. ET on ESPNU

Herman, who has Houston ranked in the AP Top 25 for the first time since the end of the 2011 season, is off to a great start at Houston. Dual-threat QB Greg Ward is one of the most efficient, dynamic players in the entire country. Tulane shouldn't be a big test for them, but Herman's style of play is certainly worth watching for those who aren't as familiar with him. Terrific young offensive mind.

Houston should butcher Tulane. Tulane sucks hard.

As a Tulane alum, I agree. Tulane did go into Houston and beat Houston last year, but Houston wins this one by 60. Tulane's QB is out with a concussion, and the backup is Kirby Freeman-esqe.

 

[01Canes]

Really don't like what I'm seeing from Stoops' Kentucky defense early tonight. They've allowed 150 yards and 2 TDs in roughly 10 minutes to start the game. Auburn's currently driving in UK territory, but just got pushed behind the chains on a holding call.

 

[NVA CANE]

Really don't like what I'm seeing from Stoops' Kentucky defense early tonight. They've allowed 150 yards and 2 TDs in roughly 10 minutes to start the game. Auburn's currently driving in UK territory, but just got pushed behind the chains on a holding call.

Yeah. I expected better. Will see how they play as the game goes on but I'm not impressed thus far

 

[01Canes]

Wouldn't blame anyone who was keeping their mind open about Mark Stoops if they're highly skeptical of him after that first half against Auburn.

On 3rd & 11 at Kentucky's 34-yard line with :11 left in the first half, UK's defense blew a coverage and Tony Stevens was wide open. His arm hit out of bounds first to take away a potential touchdown, but the defense on that play was alarmingly bad. Stoops, a defensive specialist, saw his defense give up 297 yards, 23 points (including two red zone field goals on bend but don't break drives), and 8-of-11 third down conversions in that first half.

This stat also sounds way too familiar...

[TWEET]654818481762791424[/TWEET]

 

[The Franchise]

Never bought the Mark Stooge hype. If he wins 8 games everyone will flip out and call him a genius, but they don't even realize that Rich Brooks and Guy Morris did the same thing at Kentucky.

 

[Notsince1985]

Stoops pass defense looks like Golden and Dorito's

 

[Consigliere]

Never bought the Mark Stooge hype. If he wins 8 games everyone will flip out and call him a genius, but they don't even realize that Rich Brooks and Guy Morris did the same thing at Kentucky.

Also 4 of those 8 games would be against the following: ULL, EKU, ULM, Tenn-Martin, Ohio, Miami (OH) and Alabama State. 7 of the 11 wins in his career are against this trash.

 

[01Canes]

Never bought the Mark Stooge hype. If he wins 8 games everyone will flip out and call him a genius, but they don't even realize that Rich Brooks and Guy Morris did the same thing at Kentucky.

Even if he does end up getting to 8 wins, it's also tough to overlook that they only beat Louisiana-Lafeyette and Eastern Kentucky by just 7 points. He's done a nice job there, but the more I see the more skeptical I'm becoming. That first half was terrible.

 

[The Franchise]

Never bought the Mark Stooge hype. If he wins 8 games everyone will flip out and call him a genius, but they don't even realize that Rich Brooks and Guy Morris did the same thing at Kentucky.

Even if he does end up getting to 8 wins, it's also tough to overlook that they only beat Louisiana-Lafeyette and Eastern Kentucky by just 7 points. He's done a nice job there, but the more I see the more skeptical I'm becoming. That first half was terrible.

I don't think he's done all that well at Kentucky. Didn't he win 5 games last year and lose his last 7 straight or something in humiliating fashion? He's basically beaten a bunch of really bad teams and lost to everyone else. He's recruited pretty well, but that's meaningless if you can't win games.

 

[SA Cane]

Franchise

Who are 3 guys u would like to see at Miami

 

[01Canes]

UK freshman CB Chris Westry, just one of countless in-state DBs our current staff should have recruited, just made a nice pass breakup on third down to force a punt. He struggled in the first half, which you'd expect from a freshman corner, but that was a nicely timed break on the ball.

Never bought the Mark Stooge hype. If he wins 8 games everyone will flip out and call him a genius, but they don't even realize that Rich Brooks and Guy Morris did the same thing at Kentucky.

Even if he does end up getting to 8 wins, it's also tough to overlook that they only beat Louisiana-Lafeyette and Eastern Kentucky by just 7 points. He's done a nice job there, but the more I see the more skeptical I'm becoming. That first half was terrible.

I don't think he's done all that well at Kentucky. Didn't he win 5 games last year and lose his last 7 straight or something in humiliating fashion? He's basically beaten a bunch of really bad teams and lost to everyone else. He's recruited pretty well, but that's meaningless if you can't win games.

Pretty much. They won 5 of their first 6, including wins over UT Martin, Ohio, Vanderbilt (went 3-9 last year), and Louisiana-Monroe. They lost their last 6 games.

 

[01Canes]

Stoops' team has bounced back to start the second half. The defense has forced punts on back-to-back drives and UK has cut Auburn's lead to 23-20.

 

[DiegoCane]

You have to understand where this UK team came from, ask any UK fan where the talent level was.

Didn't see the 1st half which I guess was bad but 2nd half has been good/great on both sides. Offense has missed 2 big plays that could have been TDs.

And I have said it before but week to week results aren't very important to me, if Herman and Fuente lose this week it doesn't change my opinion of them.

 

[01Canes]

You have to understand where this UK team came from, ask any UK fan where the talent level was.

Didn't see the 1st half which I guess was bad but 2nd half has been good/great on both sides. Offense has missed 2 big plays that could have been TDs.

The difference between the first half and second half has been night and day defensively. Their offense has had no trouble moving the ball in either half, but they've blown opportunities to score TDs in the red zone.

 

[NVA CANE]

Wouldn't blame anyone who was keeping their mind open about Mark Stoops if they're highly skeptical of him after that first half against Auburn.

On 3rd & 11 at Kentucky's 34-yard line with :11 left in the first half, UK's defense blew a coverage and Tony Stevens was wide open. His arm hit out of bounds first to take away a potential touchdown, but the defense on that play was alarmingly bad. Stoops, a defensive specialist, saw his defense give up 297 yards, 23 points (including two red zone field goals on bend but don't break drives), and 8-of-11 third down conversions in that first half.

This stat also sounds way too familiar...

[TWEET]654818481762791424[/TWEET]

That's a damning stat. Stoop's success might be lots of smoke and mirrors not sure. He's no golden that's for sure. I think he can get us 10 win seasons consistently. But I don't know that he gets us over the hump.

 

[01Canes]

Did anyone else watch the end of that game? Kentucky's defense, needing a stop to get the ball back down 3, gave up one first down but eventually forced a 4th & 1. They spent their third and final timeout. Coming out of the timeout, there was total personnel disarray from Kentucky. Players kept running on and off the field as Auburn was lining up to punt. UK only had 8 players on the field when the ball was snapped, but Auburn punted it anyway.

Inexcusable chaos. That can't happen.

Edit: Here's a gif and a stillshot of what happened: