UK Footbaw: Inside the Numbers

 

Alright, so everyone knows UK football is currently #8 in both college polls.  Pretty much everyone knows what Andre’ Woodson’s stats look like.  What most people haven’t seen is what the team overall looks like. 

Granted people know the Cats have been steamrolling opponents, but there is a lot more to football games than the final score.  Maybe Notre Dame fans wouldn’t agree, but if you look inside the numbers on UK’s games this far this season a few key things jump out at you.  Follow along with the more to see some of the Cats’ more impressive turn arounds this year.

The first thing to point out is old Steve Brown has been doing his job this year.  Last year UK had one of the worst defenses in the country.  This year, the old D-Coordinator has been turning things around a bit.

Looking at the overall stats shows that UK is giving up 22 points a game.  That isn’t bad for a team that gave up over 29 a game.  More importantly are the adjustments that Brown is making.  He can really make some changes at the half and get his team ready to play that second half.

The first half for the Cats defense this year has been giving up 13.6 points on average.  The second half; however, is a different story.  Opponents only roll up 8.4 points in the second half on Stevie’s D this year.  More impressive?  UK has pitched a shutout twice in the 4th quarter and only given up more than a touchdown once in the final period (9 to Arkansas in Fayetteville).

I’m not sure what Brown’s doing in the 2nd half, but he has proven he can make adjustments.  That is just one of the many reasons that this team isn’t just a normal old UK team.  They don’t lay down at the end.  They turn it over to Arkansas for a touchdown, a safety, and a kick return?  Big deal.  We’ll go out and shut them down in the third quarter.  Then shut them down in the fourth even after those demoralizing plays. 

It also doesn’t hurt when your offense averages 38.2 ppg.  It’s a bit more distributed with 18.2 in the first half and 20 in the second half.  That consistency means the CATS outscore their opponents by an average of 16.2 each game and in every quarter save the second for the year.  Oh and the second quarter they average a terrible -0.2 ppg. 

To bring it all home, this year’s team is different in every respect from past UK teams.  They bring home a huge in-state game against U of L (sending them into a free-fall).  Walk right into Fayetteville with a pissed-off Hogs team and beat them despite several back-breaking plays.  Take care of the teams they should in convincing fashion?  Yes sir.  It just remains to be seen if they’ll walk into Spurrierville this week and put up the same kind of performance.  If they do that this writing staff will seriously be impressed.  And damn the stats at that point because Spurrier’s ass will have finally lost to the University of Kentucky.