By LARRY VAUGHT
Kentucky wore black uniforms for the first time. Kentucky successfully faked a punt for the first time this season and picked up a first down on its opening series. The Wildcats forced two turnovers deep in Mississippi State territory.
And the bottom line? More of the same.
Mississippi State overcame its early mistakes with a physical defense and at times an overpowering offense that wore out Kentucky 28-16 here Saturday night.
The Wildcats are 3-5 after losing for the fifth time in six games  and 0-4 in Southeastern Conference play where they have been outscored 165-36.
All the pregame hype about the black uniforms didn’t help. The Wildcats still could not make enough plays on offense even when Danny Trevathan, who had a monster game (17 tackles, one interception) forced a fumble at the State 20 and Ridge Wilson forced another at the State 18. Each time on fourth down, coach Joker Phillips elected to take the field goal. Either he’s that conservative or he knows his offense can’t be trusted to pick up a first down on a key play. Take your pick.
Mississippi State was 0-4 in SEC play coming into the game, but by halftime the Bulldogs had 271 yards and 21 points despite alternating quarterbacks. The Bulldogs had also knocked starting quarterback Morgan Newton out with ankle and shoulder injuries and punished backup Maxwell Smith on almost every play. “I’ve taken hits before, but not like that,†said Smith.
But if there is a silver lining in a loss, it was Smith. The freshman who was battered around in relief efforts against LSU and South Carolina, played with remarkable poise. He was 26-for-33 passing for 174 yards and led three impressive second-half drives. By comparison, Newton had 23 completions for 194 yards in UK’s last four games.
“I hate to say this, but he has as much arm strength as anybody I’ve coached,†UK offensive coordinator Randy Sanders, who coached Peyton Manning at Tennessee, said.
Phillips readily admitted Smith played himself into a chance to compete for a starting spot if Newton is healthy enough to play next week.
“He played outstanding. He took some big hits, picked himself up off the ground and came back in and made other big throws. I am proud of him,†Phillips said. “He is one of those guys who is a freshman and went in there and competed.â€Â
Trailing 28-9 and faced with a fourth and sixth at the State 19-yard line to open the fourth quarter, Phillips finally chose not to kick a field goal  and got a first down on a diving catch by Brian Adams at the 8. Two plays later, Jonathan George powered over on a 4-yard run to make it 28-16.
Smith took a huge shot on UK’s final drive that got to the Mississippi State 8 before he overthrew LaRod King in the end zone. But just the toughness he showed to stay in the game along with the poise he had  he was sacked three times  and the way he got the ball out of his hands made the offense look much, much better.
“We are comfortable with him in the game,†UK center Matt Smith said. “We didn’t worry about that.â€Â
But UK didn’t win because it couldn’t put the ball in the end zone in the red zone and gave up three 80-yard touchdown drives and one 65-yard drive. That’s 305 yards on four drives and more than offset the three turnovers UK forced.
“It was feast or famine, especially in the first half,†UK defensive coordinator Rick Minter said. “You just can’t give up 21 first-half points on long drives like we did knowing our offense has had to fight for every point it can get. That’s on us.â€Â
And it left Phillips pondering why even with a 3-0 edge in turnovers  UK was 6-0 under him when winning the turnover battle  that the Cats lost.
“Defensively when you have three turnovers created and no turnovers offensively that usually equals a win,†Phillips said. “But it’s simple. We gave up too many big plays. It’s hard for people to drive 80 yards on anyone, and we gave up three of them.
“Offensively, we had chance for short fields with the turnovers the defense gave us and we only got six points. We have got to find some way to put the ball in the end zone.â€Â
He’s right, but at least based on what happened here Saturday night, putting the ball back in Smith’s hands for the next game against Mississippi could certainly enhance the chances of that happening and UK maybe winning a SEC game.
12 Responses to Black uniforms don’t prevent loss for Kentucky, but Maxwell Smith shows he can help at QB
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I think Max Smith has to start the rest of the season. He seems to get rid of the ball quicker and his arm strength is good. It appears he has good chemistry with Roark. He will make mistakes but he def looks more comfortable than MN considering how many blitzes came at him.
As Joker said when the unis were debuted this week, a jersey or uniform has yet to make a tackle; it’s the man inside. Those guys are the same guys they were last week, but I have to say I was encouraged by what I saw last night. Roark had a “career game,” does that mean he caught more passes than in the rest of his career combined? I almost think so. And Smith didn’t look like a veteran, but I think the beating he took a few weeks ago made him stronger this week. That and knowing the buck stopped with him, maybe. So MS gets to go home and say the same things Cats fans have said all week, “Well, we had a week off and were playing an inferior team, so it looked better than it was.” BBN gets to say, “Hey, maybe we’re not THAT horrible, but what the heck happened to our defense?”
The defense we saw last night is the same defense we saw against WKU and CMU, but MSU finished those deep passes that the other two teams could not finish.
When I think about the QB situation, and it is very frustrating as a fan because all we heard from Joker all summer was how much Newton had improved, etc. That raises serious questions about Joker’s ability to evaluate talent.
As for Roarke, and the other receivers, the QB must be delivering a ball that the receivers can consistently complete the play. I don’t know about any of the rest of you, or the receivers, but from my perspective, I never know where he will throw it, or how hard he will deliver it. Too high, to the right, to the left, too short, like a bullet, …
People have been placing a disproportionate share of the passing game woes this season on these receivers, but I think last night we saw a different picture of things, at least for one game, with one new QB playing enough series upon which to base a judgment.
In Smith last night, I saw a QB, learning to play the game at the speed of an SEC game. I saw a QB that had a relatively steep learning curve, perhaps as a matter of his own survival, but such is life for a UK QB in the SEC it seems. In Newton, all this season, and last, I have seen a QB that is slow footed, small handed, making rushed and poor decisions. He also has been fighting for his own survival in games, but rather than finding the solutions, he has been getting hammered.
And, last but not least in the minds of many, those awful black uniforms. How did that work out? I suppose one might argue that UK would have lost this game by 24 instead of 12 without them. Oh well, such are the musings of the …
Well, I was going to put a name there, but I will leave it alone for now.
I actually liked the unis. It seemed to give the players a little swag. Albeit, the swag didn’t work, but if it made them feel better, I’m all for using them at times. I for one was impressed with how quickly Max Smith settled in and actually looked like a quarterback. His passes were quick and sharp. We know Morgan Newton isn’t getting it done, so let’s take our chances on Smith. Honestly folks, it can’t get much worse. Or, can it?
Larry, you misquoted Randy Sanders. He said Max Smith has more arm talent, not arm strength, than any QB he’s ever coached.
I’ll have to see Joker start anyone over Saul – oops I meant to say Morgan – before I’ll believe it.
To quote Joker ” we have to find a way to get it in the endzone” . Let’s start at this stage of the season by any time we are inside the red zone go for a touchdown or first down on fourth down. We have one of the best FG kickers in the conference no doubt BUT we need touchdowns and for the defense to give us a chance and we settle for FG at this point in the season–I ask what would Les Miles do? Yes Larry Joker is very conservative using Tenn game last year as example. The players seem to like the black unies, and since the game coaching will keep them from tasting victory, reward them for their hard work with “their choice” when it comes to game day unies.
In the past 4 games morgan newton threw for a combined 194 yards. Max Smith has thrown 174 yards after having to suddenly start. UK did move the ball much better under Max than Newton. It appears Max is more of a pocket passer, which fits the Sanders Mold of QB’s. Our 2nd string QB and our 3rd string RB are the ones making plays. They clearly have talent so I am confused about why the coaching staff took this long to figure it out. Newton lost out to Hartline last year and I think its time for him to give the freshman the reigns. I def think with more coaching and in the off season, Max will get way better.
Can’t believe folks make such an issue over the black uniforms when the team is so bad.The defense has’nt improved significantly over last year,and in most instances is worse,special teams specifically the return team is horrible,and the offensive line is just plain bad ,consistently getting whipped .For this team tp win another game this season will absolutely take a miracle,and i am hoping a miracle occurs at Tennessee.
Hopefully Maxwell will finish the season at QB as he plays like the real mc’coy.
Maxwell Smith should take every snap for the rest of this season. Newton is a Junior that has regressed since his freshmen year. It’s time to move on without Newton. Play Smith, the freshmen and try to build something positive for next year. The best thing we could do would be to fire Joker and his staff and hire Mike Leach but Mitch isn’t going to let this happen. Oh well next year will be as bad or worse with Joker at the helm. UK fans had better get used to this year’s record unless we can schedule more Division II teams or terrible Division I teams.
Redpup, the quickest way to get a new coach is to get a new AD.
when all else fails and you become desperate you try new uniforms, and poof magically your better. The linemen probably look thinner in the mirror, but this is what kind of non sense you get when your plan has run out of steam and energy. Whats next tony robbins, or maybe a fun filled trip to disney world to ease the players mind, enough already. Uk has beaten , what 3 pukey out of conference teams and 0 in the S.E.C. . Gimmicks don’t work against legit football schools. IS the kool ade still flowing now like after the jacksonville state game? Jacksonville state, what conference are they even in? Bad.
At the game it seemed the intensity pretty much went away with MS first touchdown. Maybe the players were reading something we didn’t. I miss seeing or hearing that one player on our team that “RISES” up to rally the team much the way Cobb did last year. He hated losing. We all hate it but we don’t have that one loud voice to call the team out. I hope someone “RISES” to that position next year. All in all we didn’t do too awful with a second string QB and third and fourth string RB’s. I love you guys and will always bleed BLUE. Don’t ever quit- GO CATS! ! !