Joker: “We didn’t play clean”
October 24th, 2009 | 
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Kentucky quarterback Morgan Newton (12) looks for a receiver as Louisiana-Monroe linebacker Theo Smith tries to drag him down during the first half Saturday. (AP Photo/Ed Reinke)
By LARRY VAUGHT
Even though Kentucky won, Joker Phillips and two of his key players knew the Wildcats didn’t have the overall offensive performance they wanted.
Kentucky beat Louisiana-Monroe 36-13 here Saturday, but the Cats had only 330 total yards, lost three turnovers and were just 4-for-11 on third-down conversions.
“We didn’t play clean. We had miscues in communication that we didn’t have last week. We were sloppy and that’s upsetting because we wanted to build on last week (when UK won at Auburn) and we didn’t,” said Phillips, UK’s head coach of the offense. “We took a step back.
“We have got to sustain drives, and we didn’t. We made way too many mistakes. We only had 119 yards in the second half and that’s unacceptable.”
Freshman quarterback Morgan Newton started his second straight game in place of injured Mike Hartline. He was 3-for-6 passing for 17 yards and ran three times for nine yards. However, he threw an interception when he was hit as he released the ball and it floated directly to a defender.
Junior Will Fidler was 8-for-13 passing for 82 yards and one score and ran twice for 18 yards. However, he also made a poor throw that was intercepted and lost a fumble after his second run.
“I am not pleased with it,” UK head coach Rich Brooks said of his team’s quarterback play. “We threw two picks and a fumble. Again, we need more production from that position.
“We did some things better. We did complete some passes and moved the chains. We had a lot of different guys get touches on the football and catches, but overall our passing game is not where it needs to be. Our quarterbacks have to continue to develop. You can’t turn the ball over.”
Newton understands.
Kentucky quarterback Will Fidler readies a pass during the first half against Louisiana-Monroe in Lexington Saturday. (AP Photo/Ed Reinke)
“I have to play better and have to get better,” Newton said. “Between Will and I and Randall (Cobb) obviously we just have to keep fighting. I think we were able to do it last game, but we have to get better,” Newton said. “I’m a tough critic on myself so I think there are a lot of things I can work on. I’m a young guy, but I need to continue to make plays.”
Fidler said he underthrew the pass to Chris Matthews that was intercepted and felt the team’s overall play did drop coming off the 21-14 win at Auburn.
“The intensity level went down and we made some mistakes, but everyone did a lot of good things, too,” Fidler said. “With the exception of my first series, I felt like I was more comfortable. I did overthrow a couple of balls, but I felt more comfortable than last week.”
Brooks said Fidler has had a propensity for being up and down in his career.
“That has been what we have seen. He will do some really good things and then throw one and we wonder why would he do that. The fumble the guy just ripped it out of his hand. You have to protect the football better and get both hands over it,” Brooks said.
“He did a really good job on the quarterback draw and made nice plays. We can’t turn the football over hardly at all and expect to win and we can’t have our quarterback position turn it over three times. We need to have a better understanding of how important that football is and continue to improve and make plays.”
Brooks then decided to “lecture” about Newton’s play.
“Everybody assumes because a guy is a highly touted recruit that he can step in and be an instant star and savior. It is really hard,” Brooks said. “Morgan continues to do some good things and some of the things he did tonight were better than last week.
“We have to be more efficient with football and make reads quicker and deliver the ball where it is supposed to be. What we are going to see is a continuation of using both of those guys and mixing in the wildcat (with Cobb).
“We are trying to win football games. I wish it were easier and somebody would go out and complete every pass and do all the right things but it does not work that way. We are doing the best we can in trying to utilize our players the best we can. I am sure there are people who disagree, but that is life.”
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11 Responses to “Joker: “We didn’t play clean””
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I’m really thankful that Rich Brooks and Joker Phillips are our coaches… I know their success at Kentucky has included some peaks and valleys, but dangit… they just seem to know the game, and always strive to improve.
Great to get a Win! But… those UK players on both sides of the ball were flatter than pancakes the 2nd part of the second quarter and the entire third quarter. It appears the worst thing that happened to them was score the first 21 points of the game so easily. If they sit down on their accomplishment next week, they could be in for a heap of trouble against Miss St. My advice: Get well, guys, and play with a purpose the whole game. Go Cats! BTW, Larry, really appreciate your blog articles and perspective.
RefMike you should know since you follow the Cats so well that they did indeed go flat — and so did the crowd. But you almost had to expect it. Don’t think it will be a problem against State.
And Jim the coaches have done an amazing job turning the program back around.
[...] Larry Vaught of the Danville Advocate-Messenger reports that Joker Phillips was not happy with UK’s play. [...]
I think that UK spent to much time trying to work on stuff. In doing so they lost momentum and allowed ULM to gain confidence and belief in themselves. I also think that the two qb’s are trying to hard not to make mistakes. For that reason they are hesitant to throw the ball resulting in some bad plays. They need to stop worrying about mistakes and just make plays IMO.
We now have the depth to get beat in almost all catagories and still beat a team like ULM(A mid-major battling to win their conference title is not a pushover). Three years ago those 3 turnovers and no starting middle linebacker & QB would have spelled defeat. We can thank the coaches for that. The total talent that we now have may still be behind the top SEC teams but it is MILES ahead of 6 years ago. That’s what you call recruiting. All in all a good win. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK. GO BLUE OR STAY HOME.
I totally agree with UKFMLY. Practice is to work on things, games are for executing them. And this definitely ain’t your slightly older brother’s UK team. I give the team a pass on this game. They did what they needed to win and probably couldn’t help a little letdown after last week. Let’s just hope that this game is the exception and the Auburn game was the rule. Let’s also hope that Newton and Fidler have the same amnesia all good quarterbacks have and forget this performance, continue to improve and don’t become hesitant to do what they know they can do. BRING ON STATE!!! GO BIG BLUE!!!!
Great point about the talent. It is not Florida, but it is much, much better. this is the right attitude to take guys. Be a little disappointed, but enjoy the win and expect better next week.
Good point Larry… when was the last time we were so disappointed after a football win?
I can’t remember. I guess it is good that the expectations are getting high, but have to be realistic, too
Every once in awhile, I see a performance that catches my attention. My hat is off to the young quarterback from ULM, Cody Wells. Seldom have I ever seen anyone take the hits that he took while hanging in there. He made play after play while taking punishment that would make most QB’s skittish.
You are right John. He was amazing. He took so many hits and just kept delivering good passes. You had to be impressed