Wildcat Whip with Tom Leach, Jeff Piecoro & Dick Gabriel pre Vandy

Wildcat Whip with Tom Leach, Jeff Piecoro & Dick Gabriel

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to the Wildcat Whip.

Speaker 2 (00:04):
James a little slow, Tom let Jeff picorrel on sound
effect today and you were truly did Gabriel here to
talk Kentucky football? The Wildcats taken on Vanderbilt. Let's talk
Cats and Commodores. And this was Kentucky series for a while.
But it's been that way. It goes back and forth.
Sometimes it's every other year. Two years ago, Maxwell Harriston
makes a national name for himself, gets the attention of

(00:27):
a lot of NFL scouts.

Speaker 1 (00:29):
Look where he is now with two pick sixes.

Speaker 2 (00:31):
But the last couple or released last year was Diego Pavia.

Speaker 1 (00:35):
As it has been.

Speaker 2 (00:37):
Quite a bit so now they go back down to Nashville,
Tom and according to the injury list, there are six
defensive backs on that list as possibly not being a
not all of them starters. Of course, this defense, which
is held up so well, is really bruised and battered.

Speaker 3 (00:54):
And you get to go up against Diego Pavia.

Speaker 4 (00:56):
Yeah, they got to chase all around the yard and
who was just a creative playmaker of and the offense
it's it's really clicking. So uh imagine this conversation I'm
about to start here having happened back in September.

Speaker 3 (01:09):
The Kentucky offense, they have to win this game for them. Wow,
how about that?

Speaker 5 (01:14):
Yeah, it's not just it's not just the sixth defensive back.
So Alex Safari to me, and Khalil Saunders because he
was playing. So what both those guys, man, we're playing
so good and if if if either or both don't play,
that's to me, that's a big hit because Saunders was
getting real good penetration and Afari's that guy, a little
bit lighter, but he's the one that could could catch

(01:36):
Pavia before it be the spy. I'd rainer in him both.
So Brad White's defense is like Djenga right now.

Speaker 4 (01:42):
Yeah, yeah, just keep pulling stuff out and see what
it's gonna collapse And it's holding up.

Speaker 1 (01:46):
Great, Yeah, it really is. But you mentioned Saunders came
out late. Land.

Speaker 2 (01:50):
Isn't an ironic that against the team everybody knew, with
all due respect to Tennessee Tech, they would beat, and
yet injuries piled up in that game, you know, and
now you're going to a Vandy team that has more
than Pavia. We have heard Stoops talk about it, We
heard Brad White talk about.

Speaker 1 (02:06):
It this week.

Speaker 2 (02:07):
They actually throw the ball better now than they did
last year, and they still run the ball.

Speaker 3 (02:11):
Well, they've always done that.

Speaker 4 (02:13):
I think probably we've all this time of year ago
we're sitting there thinking that's a neat story Bandy and
up in Indiana. Uh, but it probably gonna be a
one year wonder for both and Hoosier sort of tearing
it up, and Bandy's not too far out of the
playoff itself.

Speaker 5 (02:27):
Hey, do you know what made the difference at both spots?
It was one player quarterback at both spots, right, I mean,
Signetti pulls in a guy that nobody really heard of
and all of a sudden knows is there whatever his
day is the greatest quarterback you've ever seen.

Speaker 3 (02:42):
And Pavia comes in.

Speaker 1 (02:43):
What is he now?

Speaker 5 (02:44):
This is six years as a starter.

Speaker 3 (02:46):
I think it is maybe seventhing like the seventh. I
think he's actually because he's got a lawsuit.

Speaker 5 (02:52):
Yeah, trying to get But you know, I don't want
to say they do more with less, But Bandy didn't
spend a ton of money, but they spent it in
every one of their guys that they brought in. His hit, Yeah, right, everyone,
that's the key.

Speaker 2 (03:03):
Well, you know, and I'm not pushing back on your
notion because you're correct about the quarterbacks. But when you
go a little deeper and you guys do as you prepare,
you know, Vandy has not one, but two huge talented
tight ends. They've got good o line, they got d
Indiana's got a linebacker who's one of the best in
the country. I'm a voter, football writers voter. I've got

(03:26):
him on my All Star teams. So yeah, it's it's
more than just the QB. But without it, you're not
going anywhere. And to your point, Tom, that kind of
a lot of Kentucky's success when cover Bowdie stepped in.
I mean, that's an understatement, but he made it look
a little simple. But give Bush hand Down credit for
tweaking the offense and the receivers for running I don't know, Jeff,

(03:49):
if they're running better outs.

Speaker 1 (03:50):
But they're catching a lot more footballs.

Speaker 4 (03:52):
There is nothing you can't overestimate the power of things
like hope and momentum and confidence, and Kentucky's just oozing
all three of those. Since Cutter Bowley has started to emerge.

Speaker 5 (04:05):
Well, I think that there are certain quarterbacks that throw
we call a catchable ball. There are some guys that
you know, Jeff George, for instance, he could throw it
from here to CommonWell Stadium, you know, because he's got
a cannon for an arm, but he doesn't have the touch.
But this kid throws a ball, and the key to
it is he's always in the right place. When he's

(04:27):
hitting the back out of the back of that he's
moving up field, so he's catching at full speed. He
didn't he doesn't have to slow down, he doesn't have
to reach back. He throws it what we call a
catchable ball. And I just think that the confidence that
he has is just huge. Look at the difference between
his confidence and say, the confidence of a garrison on
the basketball team. It's just totally different right now.

Speaker 2 (04:49):
You know, you bring up a great point about Jeff George,
because he's a guy who if he didn't play play
for a team. He tried out for a team. Why armstrength?
People would try him out se that arm strength?

Speaker 1 (05:01):
Oh my god, we got to have this guy.

Speaker 2 (05:02):
And yet, as I understand it, not great in the
locker room, not a great huddle guy. Players just didn't
warm to him for whatever reason.

Speaker 1 (05:12):
I have no idea. I've just read that.

Speaker 2 (05:15):
But the opposite is true with cutter Bowl. You want
to call him a surfer dude or a golden retriever
or whatever. It's clear they like to rally behind him,
don't they.

Speaker 4 (05:23):
I think maybe he leads. I don't see I think he.
I see him, you know, talking to his teammates. So
maybe that's part of how he exerts his his leadership.

Speaker 1 (05:32):
Takes his old lineman to Malones every week.

Speaker 4 (05:35):
Well, doesn't seem to be a real, you know, raw,
raw in your face guy. I just think sometimes a
guy leads. Jared Lorenzen is like this. Jim McMahon was
like this.

Speaker 1 (05:46):
Bear.

Speaker 4 (05:47):
Of course, the run that cut her threat was throwing
shoulder into the defensive back was a little little Jim
McMahon in that.

Speaker 1 (05:53):
But the players loved it.

Speaker 3 (05:54):
But the thing, oh, they loved it absolutely.

Speaker 4 (05:56):
And the thing is they lead by their ability to
walk in the huddle and make everybody feel that, oh, wait,
we're better.

Speaker 3 (06:04):
Now we have a chance command the huddle.

Speaker 4 (06:07):
You know you talked about you know, Jared, you talk
about Jeff George. Jared could throw it through a wall.
He could also drop it in a buck, right he
You know, you if you have the ability to to
just make your team better. Everybody on the team knows that.
And it's like, okay, if you're even if you're a
defensive guy, Okay, I've got a chance. We don't have

(06:27):
to score for to help the team win. Now we
can just do our job. Because Cutters got the got
the rest of it covered.

Speaker 3 (06:34):
All those kinds of thoughts have to happen, I would think.

Speaker 2 (06:37):
And in the South Carolina game way, whoa was that five.

Speaker 1 (06:41):
Weeks ago whatever?

Speaker 2 (06:42):
Remember you guys spotted him barking at the steammates in
the huddle.

Speaker 1 (06:47):
Redshirt?

Speaker 2 (06:47):
Was that Georgia George the next red shirt freshman? Yeah,
you played with the guy named Bill Rams. Now who
wasn't afraid to do that either, No quarterback can be
afraid to do that at the right time.

Speaker 5 (06:58):
Well, the biggest thing when he when his lip was
split from the tip to his chin and he comes
back to the huddle and we're all looking at him, going, dude,
you gotta.

Speaker 3 (07:06):
Go get to the hospital.

Speaker 5 (07:08):
Man.

Speaker 3 (07:08):
Yeah, and he just basically, you know.

Speaker 2 (07:10):
Then somebody else he couldn't couldn't talk.

Speaker 5 (07:12):
Once they numbed it and put a couple of stitches
on the on the bench. But those are the guys
that you know, you always hear run through a brick
wall type of thing. And now this is a podcast,
so we can veer off a different angle. So I
just want to bring one thing up. You're talking about
Jared Lorenz and everything. If you have a chance, you
need to pull up the Kelsey's that the Kelsey's podcast
that they do the two brothers. Yeah, because they were

(07:33):
talking about big quarterbacks and then Jason was the center, right,
Jason brings up he goes, well, there's none bigger than
Jeft and he starts talking about him and then he goes,
do we have any video? And they put in the
play where he's getting tackled. He just throws it over
his shoulder and Travis goes. Travis was like, Mahomes, Mahomes

(07:54):
can't even do that. He's just do it like over
his head. And it was but they went on and
on and on and it was I.

Speaker 4 (08:00):
Think the best analysis of Cutter was just a simple
statement provided by his teammate Seth McGowan after the game
last week.

Speaker 3 (08:08):
That boy crazy.

Speaker 5 (08:10):
But when he lowered his shoulder, what he was talking about,
you don't do that, you know, most quarterbacks are just
gonna step out of bounce.

Speaker 2 (08:16):
I don't know if it was a play, but there
was a play during that game where Mark Stoops saw
something like that. It might have been that one where
he tried to suppress a grin. Well you could tell
it pleased him. But yeah, you you know, they all
they all kind of winced when when he put his
shoulder down, and we remembered that from the Will Levis
to you.

Speaker 1 (08:36):
Well, actually the one year he was allowed to run
when he plowed in the linebackers.

Speaker 2 (08:40):
But those are big guys still though shoulders are funny.

Speaker 1 (08:43):
We know about that.

Speaker 2 (08:45):
Getting back to Vanderbilt, more I think about that the
more I go back to that Texas game. And I've
thought about that Texas game so much because of how
it played out, and I firmly believe that they win
that game.

Speaker 1 (08:58):
There's not an ounce of.

Speaker 2 (09:00):
The consternation about Marx Stoops. That might be naive, but
I firmly believe they beat that brand. They beat those
longhorns off the helmets, and Kentucky fans did not have
the reaction they did.

Speaker 1 (09:12):
When the losing streak picked up momentum.

Speaker 2 (09:16):
But I remember Jeff and I were talking so much
about the stats in time of possession and how they
kept arch manning in the offense pinned to the sideline
by moving the chains. I firmly believe they need to
do that Saturday. I mean, you'd love to do it
every week, but this Saturday in particular.

Speaker 1 (09:36):
Right.

Speaker 4 (09:36):
Yeah, it's a good point because I think a Tennessee
offense time of possession is not as big a deal
because you could have the ball for ten minutes in
the first quarter and they can score twenty eight points
in their.

Speaker 3 (09:46):
Five Most teams aren't like that.

Speaker 4 (09:50):
So if you can keep especially in offense that's really
clicking like Vandy's, they can't wait to get out there.
So the more you can make them wait, the more
you frustrate them.

Speaker 5 (10:00):
I think, Tom, if we could go back to the
Auburn game and remember every time Auburn got the football,
they're at the twelve, they're the fifteen, right, they ran
inside the ten they were so they had to go
the length of the field every.

Speaker 3 (10:11):
Time, and that just wears you out. You know, if
they could do that again.

Speaker 5 (10:15):
The punting was fantastic, Uh, just the coverage was great.
Kentucky would get a couple firstnouncing flip the field and
Alburn just basically ran out of gas on the offense.

Speaker 3 (10:25):
Yeah, it's gonna be interesting, you know with a this
could be a weather game.

Speaker 4 (10:28):
Yeah. Last I saw yesterday, I think it was said
sixty five percent rain in Nashville. Somebody over at football
practication they said the supposedly, I haven't checked the national
forecast in great detail, but supposedly was supposed to move
out in the morning. So we'll see. But don't know
about when. I mean, this time of year, you can
get a lot of stuff. We've seen a lot of
unusual conditions for a Kentucky Vandy over the years because

(10:49):
of when the game's usually played, so that could be
a factor. But yeah, just as a football fan, I'm
just really I can't imagine I can't remember ever will
be anticipating at Kentucky Bandy matchup like I am this
one just a football fan because of the way the
two quarterbacks play it.

Speaker 2 (11:07):
Now, well, I think you have to go back to
the Dusty Bonner year as a starter, when the winner
of the game was going.

Speaker 1 (11:12):
To be Bowl Elis, Yeah, and the loser was not, and.

Speaker 2 (11:16):
Kentucky forced to late fumble and recovered it won the
game by what two points?

Speaker 3 (11:22):
Interesting?

Speaker 4 (11:23):
Also, yeah, you're right, it's nineteen seventeen. What's the crowd
going to be like? I talked to Andrew Ali Gretta
today as the voice of Vandy football, and he said
it is a sellout. Their new stadium is the renovated
stadium is completed. And you know, we always over the
years have seen it was never full, but there was

(11:43):
a sometimes over half the crowd was blue. I can't
imagine it's going to be like that on Saturday. But
how much Blue will get in?

Speaker 1 (11:50):
I was amazed, And Jeff you and I talked about this.

Speaker 2 (11:53):
When LSU played at Bandy Man Purple and Gold got in,
But since then, it seems like it's been eighty ninety
percent Bandy fans.

Speaker 5 (12:04):
If that's possible, It's gonna be really interesting the way
what they did with that Bowl, it's all the it's
more premium tickets and it's also the room for that
they get ready in and things like that.

Speaker 3 (12:13):
Yeah, like thirty capacity in. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (12:16):
So, but.

Speaker 5 (12:18):
For Vanderbilt, it's not as big as Western Kentucky's. But
that's a perfect size to that, you know, because that's
a pro city you know, and it's always has been
as opposed to Knoxville, where you put you could put
two hundred thousand if they would fill that when Tennessee's cooking.
You know.

Speaker 2 (12:33):
Let's get back to Kentucky's defensive personnel. And I mentioned
tight ends earlier, and I read and Brad White again
was talking about Stours how good he is, but how
good the kid on the other side is as well.

Speaker 1 (12:47):
That that concerns.

Speaker 2 (12:48):
Me as much as anything is Pavia.

Speaker 1 (12:51):
Uh, you know, got to keep him contained and all that.

Speaker 2 (12:53):
But the safety valve, it seems, is always a tight end,
and I'm really concerned about that for the Kentucky line,
you know what I mean.

Speaker 4 (13:01):
Yeah, And you got Afari potentially not righting there. We
don't know yet to think what was he questionable?

Speaker 5 (13:08):
I believe it's fifty to fifty him and him and
see that's the difference is they could run with him
Rainer and Alex if you don't if Alex doesn't play,
for instance, now you almost have to put another safety
because he's he's too fast for the other line backer.

Speaker 3 (13:26):
I don't know, I don't I just don't know.

Speaker 5 (13:28):
God for his top end, I haven't seen him you
run sideline ascidet they're.

Speaker 4 (13:32):
Just really really getting thin on on the back end.
It's just funny how it hits one particular side of
the mall. But yeah, that's that's part of what makes
this such an interesting matchup. You got that challenge for Kentucky.
You know what's Vandy's defense. I think it's been struggling
a little bit. Thirty eight second. Yeah, so in Kentucky's offense, surgy,

(13:53):
is that a matchup where Kentucky has a chance to
win that matchup?

Speaker 3 (13:57):
And I mean is this one of those the three game?

Speaker 5 (14:02):
Yeah, yes, yes, yes, because you know when you look
at them too, they have one guy that's a monster's
three hundred you know, he's like a Dan Walker, he's
three hundred and thirty pounds or whatever. But the rest
of them are manageable. For the rest of the offensive line,
they're the two eighties, two nineties, and they remember they
run a three. They run an odd front, so they
only have three guys with their hands down. But it's
gonna be interesting because Clark is a lot like stut

(14:25):
Mark is where Clark lee the coach.

Speaker 3 (14:27):
He's a defensive guy.

Speaker 5 (14:29):
So that's that's gonna be fun watching the way that
they kind of you can cover for a position, But
when you're covering for a position where that's the most
prolific player on the other team, right, that's what makes
it hard. Because if you say, I want to put
a safety over top of the tight end, so now
you get a linebacker in a safety behind him, now

(14:51):
you're leaving the other side open because that guy has
to stay over here, and so you almost have to
play zone on one side and man on the other
type deal.

Speaker 1 (14:59):
Clark Lee played in.

Speaker 2 (15:01):
He said, when I got here, I wanted to be
the savior.

Speaker 1 (15:05):
Of Vandy football.

Speaker 2 (15:06):
And then he realized just how big it challenged that
he thought he knew going in, like like all coaches.

Speaker 1 (15:12):
But little by little he's been getting it done. And Jeff,
as you.

Speaker 2 (15:15):
Mentioned, everybody it seems they brought in through the portal
has hit. You know, it doesn't always work out that way.
We found that out last year, didn't we I with
Kentucky football. But I think it's gonna be a typical
Vandy Kentucky game. And these two guys will call the
action from upstairs. I'll be down on the field, all right,
you ready, Jeff, yep? That's gonna do it for this

(15:36):
edition of the Wildcat Whip.

Speaker 1 (15:37):
Oh much better, and we'll see you next week.