Post by royalcrown on Dec 27, 2016 8:13:58 GMT -5
As Stoops continues to bring in (perceived) talent in wake of the strong finish to the regular season and upcoming Bowl appearance I find myself wavering on the hopeful-side of things for UK's football future. The overwhelming feeling is still couched in the cynical "yea, right" attitude that has be nurtured by years of irrelevance but there are warm ashes in that dead fire that could ignite.
The optimist says that UK (under Stoops) has had four consecutive strong recruiting classes and talent-built a base that can sustain success; the cynic rebuts with the fact that those "strong recruiting classes" are still at the bottom of the SEC recruiting ranks. The optimist says that a young UK team was relevant in the SEC East this year and that upward movement is realistic. The cynic says that UK was two field goals away from another losing season and a fan base yelling to (again) change coaches.
Personally, I believe that Stoops (along w/ Marrow and the new Offensive coaches) are a great fit for UK. Barnhart deserves some credit for sticking w/ Stoops and getting him assistants that can add to the effort. Is UK going to leapfrog into the SEC title conversation - I wouldn't say that is "laughable" but it's closer to that than "likely". What I do believe is that UK has reduced the talent gap that exists between them and the upper echelon in the SEC. At least the LSU's, 'Bama's and Tennessee's of the league know they can't just mail in performances and expect to win in Lexington; that's a significant achievement. From my perspective, the difference between UK and most of the better SEC teams is along the D-Line. If UK wants to take another step in being competitive they need a couple studs at the D-Tackles otherwise they're constantly trying to scheme their way through getting gashed on the ground.
Good luck to Stoops and Company on Saturday. Honestly, I don't know what to expect. A Georgia Tech rout wouldn't completely surprise me, nor would a UK victory. Either way, I'm glad Stoops weathered the storm in 2016 and is sailing into 2017 with the sky clearing and promising seas ahead.
The optimist says that UK (under Stoops) has had four consecutive strong recruiting classes and talent-built a base that can sustain success; the cynic rebuts with the fact that those "strong recruiting classes" are still at the bottom of the SEC recruiting ranks. The optimist says that a young UK team was relevant in the SEC East this year and that upward movement is realistic. The cynic says that UK was two field goals away from another losing season and a fan base yelling to (again) change coaches.
Personally, I believe that Stoops (along w/ Marrow and the new Offensive coaches) are a great fit for UK. Barnhart deserves some credit for sticking w/ Stoops and getting him assistants that can add to the effort. Is UK going to leapfrog into the SEC title conversation - I wouldn't say that is "laughable" but it's closer to that than "likely". What I do believe is that UK has reduced the talent gap that exists between them and the upper echelon in the SEC. At least the LSU's, 'Bama's and Tennessee's of the league know they can't just mail in performances and expect to win in Lexington; that's a significant achievement. From my perspective, the difference between UK and most of the better SEC teams is along the D-Line. If UK wants to take another step in being competitive they need a couple studs at the D-Tackles otherwise they're constantly trying to scheme their way through getting gashed on the ground.
Good luck to Stoops and Company on Saturday. Honestly, I don't know what to expect. A Georgia Tech rout wouldn't completely surprise me, nor would a UK victory. Either way, I'm glad Stoops weathered the storm in 2016 and is sailing into 2017 with the sky clearing and promising seas ahead.