2024-08-29- KSR - Hour 1

Drew and Shannon are joined by Adam Luckett talking UK Football.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is Kentucky Sports Radio, present it by Stockton Mortgage.

Speaker 2 (00:03):
Now here's Matt Jones.

Speaker 3 (00:06):
Welcome into a new edition of Kentucky Sports Radio. I
am Drew Franklin. They had to call in the QB
three for a second day in a row, but that's
all right. We're gonna get through it just fine. As
Matt Jones is still in Bailey, Colorado at his Shakespeare
Shakespeare camp. Uh, he was gonna try to call in
and join us right away like he did yesterday, but
I think they're up early going over their Socrates and

(00:29):
doing whatever readings and devotions they're doing out there. But
we'll be just fine with We'll be fine with at him.
We got Adam Luckett joining us in the co host
seat next to me. I'm gonna do about two hours
of Kentucky football talk today with football on tonight, got
Thursday night games, then Kentucky's Kickoff just a little bit away.
Of course, Shannon the Dudes in the studio. He will
be chiming in throughout the show and taking your calls.
We want to hear from you on the Clark's Pumping

(00:51):
Shop phone line at eight five nine two eight h
two two eight seven. It's eight five nine too, ah
two two eight seven. You can call in with anything.
We'll we'll we'll answer, but we'd really like to take
your football questions today. Adam Luckett did a summer show
at Tyler Thompson sitting in with us, but there's a
lot going on and we only had about one or
two segments dedicated to his football knowledge. So if you

(01:12):
have anything for Adam, we'd love to hear you on
the Clark's Pumping Shop phone line. We also will pick
the Kentucky branded tweet of the day, the Don Franklin
Auto call of the day, and we'll have the Whiskey
Thief song of the day. If you want to send
Ryan some some good well wishes, get well wishes. It's
a vision glass text machine that he has is five
two seven three five three six eight zero. Ryan's still

(01:36):
a little bit under the weather. Shannon, you have a
pretty good update on the on the pre show. You
want to just run that back here and let everybody
know the latest on Ryan.

Speaker 2 (01:42):
Yeah, so Ryan's feeling better.

Speaker 1 (01:45):
As I said on the pre show, whenever you say
that somebody's sick, of course, everybody's mind always goes to
the worst case scenario, but we got the approval to
say on the air, what's going on with Ryan. He
just has a really bad case of vertigo, which means
every time he opens his eyes he's extremely dizzy. So
then when he does that, it leads to him being sick.

(02:06):
So he's just having to take some time off and
get some rest. But he's feeling better now. And uh,
they Ryan and his girlfriend both Windo say just thanks
to everybody for your well wishes, and they've had a
ton of messages from listeners out there, so I know
that means a lot to him.

Speaker 2 (02:21):
And he's getting better. So he'll be back with us soon.

Speaker 3 (02:23):
Yeah, I hope he's back soon. Had a little bit
of a fever, but they said today felt a little progress,
getting a little better. Maybe we'll have him tomorrow. Unlikely
we'll let him rest on up, but uh, whatever the case,
we hope he's back with us soon.

Speaker 4 (02:33):
Again.

Speaker 3 (02:33):
That's uh to text Ryan a little get well soon.
His text machine not the one Matt has, the one
from the summer a vision glasses five O two seven
three five three six eight zero. So reach out to Ryan.
You feel like that. We we missed him yesterday. We
missed him today, but like I said, we got luck
at here. Uh luck. It covers Kentucky football for KSR.
KSR Plus has the eleven Personnel podcast KSR Football Podcast.

(02:59):
I think they might even have him play on the
offensive line Saturday if they need him. Lucky you do
about all things UK football. So we're looking forward to
having you today.

Speaker 5 (03:06):
Yeah, it's good to be on with you, Drew. And
I just want to say, if Roy Williams can beat Vertigo,
there's no doubt Ryan Lemon can beat Vertigo. So we
have no doubts that Ryan's gonna bounce back strong from that.
And Drew, this weekend is one of my favorite weekends
of the year. Like college football for five straight days.
Two of my favorite days are the Sunday and Monday
when you can sit down and just watch a college
football game at night. It feels like you're drinking through

(03:27):
a fire hose a little bit because it's like I
cannot believe it's back. And we get a Kentucky game
night kickoff, We get to see the new lights. Weather
there's a little iffy right now. We'll see how that goes.
But the heat's gonna drop. It could be a beautiful
day if the weather cooperates and we could have a
day full of tail gaining and to start a season
that starts hot. Three SEC games in the first five weeks,
the huge Week two game when Shane Biember brings to

(03:49):
South Carolina team to Lexington. So we're gonna learn a
lot very quickly, and just excited to get to see
this team for the first time, really get to see
him for the first time, because even the spring game
was kind a little weird in.

Speaker 4 (04:01):
A spring game, right exactly.

Speaker 5 (04:02):
It's what I was gonna say, what even a real
spring game. We got to see a couple practices both
in the spring and in the fall, but really excited
to see this team with a lot of new parts
on offense and a lot of guys that we think
are dudes on defense.

Speaker 3 (04:15):
Yeah, it's a loaded schedule on Saturday. We even have
some games tonight. We'll probably run through that schedule later
in the show. I forgot to mention TJ Smith, our
guy personal injury lawyer. If you call TJ wasn't gonna
make them do shaow.

Speaker 2 (04:26):
They'll make them pay. Everybody knows that.

Speaker 4 (04:28):
Of course.

Speaker 3 (04:29):
Proud sponsor of KSR and one of the best tailgaters
you can find around Kroger Field. TJ knows how to
get fired up for the games. Former UK cheerleader, we
expect to see him out there. Speaking of getting out
to Kroger Field, I have a package from Country Boy
that was sitting here waiting for me. They gave me
two cases of the Country Light, their new premium quality beer,
and a hat. That means it's almost time for season

(04:50):
three of my tailgating show, Show Me Your Tense. I
want to make sure I say that love radio. Yeah,
So I'll be getting out there after the pregame show
on Saturday, going around hoping to find some of the
best tailgates. Let me know if you have a setup
you want me to come by and see and we'll
put you on our first episode pregame show Saturday at
three thirty three thirty to five thirty. If I'm not mistaken,

(05:12):
that would be at ks Bar and Grill. We're expecting
a fun day, so get over here at KOs Bar
to start. Before you start telgeting and get to the game.
The shuttle will be running from Lextran over here picking
up by Dairy Queen.

Speaker 4 (05:23):
You know the routine.

Speaker 3 (05:24):
If you're a fan of UK football, have done that
in the past, but as Luckett said, we're looking forward
to getting that started on Saturday. But before we get
into our football talk, I think we need to lead
off with a little tennis. Did you expect to come
in here and talk tennis?

Speaker 5 (05:36):
I did not. I didn't even know the US Open?
What's going on? Who happens? All locked in? It's you know,
it's locked in season for Adam. Look at like it's football, football,
football right now. I did not know tennis was going on.
And to be honest, Drew, I forgot Novak Djokovic was
still the guy.

Speaker 3 (05:52):
He's still hey guy. You know there's some that are
chasing him. We had Yanick Center winning Cincinnati recently, a
former Lexton Challenger winner. But yeah, Jokovic is on the
way down a little bit, but not last night. He
had a second round match at the US Open, which
Luckett just realized is happening and spotted in Novak Djokovic's
personal box right there with his coaches and family, with

(06:12):
none other than UK basketball coach Mark Pope. A bit
of a surprise as the camera panned over there to
show Djokovic's team, but there was Pope and his wife
Leanne sitting there in the second row at Arthur Ash
Stadium up in New York. You know, the man's busy enough.
He was just had a function in Louisville yesterday where
he was speaking. He of course has all his basketball
responsibilities where they're building houses and boating out in eastern Kentucky.

(06:36):
But he and Leanne made time to pop in the
US Open and they were sitting with the owner of
the Utah Jazz, Ryan Smith, probably the biggest BYU booster,
which is a new angle. The Popes and Smiths were
neighbors in Utah, close friends. There was a little bit
of scuttle butt that when Pope went to UK he
didn't necessarily love that. But last night, Lucky we saw
them sitting together catching in some tennis. What did you think,

(06:59):
as it is happening right now, and then Mark Pope
had time to sneak off to New York and watch
some Novak Djokovic.

Speaker 5 (07:06):
I think, for you want, Mark Pope's the face of
Kentucky basketball. He's the face of this big brand. I
don't think it's some bad thing that he's showing up
at big events right that he's hob nobbing with some
big time people.

Speaker 6 (07:19):
Uh.

Speaker 5 (07:19):
That was something that I thought John Caliperry brought to
the program that no coach really ever brought before. And
now that we're seeing Pope do that in a way,
I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing. I think
that's good overall for the brand that it's hey, this
guy is a big time but he's Kentucky's basketball coach
at the big at some big time events. So that
was that was definitely cool to see and I'm excited

(07:41):
to see how he kind of how they kind of
go to these football games, how they kind of embrace
the football games and they get out and tailgate with
some people, say hey, hello, what what what? When do
they bring them out to kind of recognize them during
the game. So I think for Pope it's just he's
he's the face of the of a big brand, and
seeing him out at events like this, I think is
cool and something you want from the leader of your program.

Speaker 3 (08:03):
Shaan, what do you think of Pope and Leanne being
a list celebrities at one of the biggest tournaments in
the world yesterday's second round, watching one of the top
players of the world.

Speaker 2 (08:12):
Yeah, unexpected.

Speaker 1 (08:13):
I didn't know that Pope was even a tennis player,
didn't know that he was friends with any tennis players.

Speaker 2 (08:19):
But yeah, I kind of agree with what you're saying, Adam.

Speaker 1 (08:21):
I mean, he's like basically taking what John Cali Perry
did so well, getting out there in the community and
just showing just showing up at random places, you know.

Speaker 2 (08:30):
And I agree with you.

Speaker 1 (08:31):
It is good for the brand when you can see,
you know, Mark Pope out there, whether it be a
tennis match or doing community service as they were doing
a couple of weeks ago. Just he is a busy man.
He seems like he is everywhere these days.

Speaker 3 (08:43):
Yeah, we keep seeing that energy there. They're big. They're
big New York people, which I respect. I love New
York myself, if I'm not mistaken. He and his wife
met New York. She was working for the David Letterman
Show and Pope was with the Indiana Pacers, but through
Louis Leanne's brother, they got set up and aster for
Letterman tickets. He later ended up playing for the Knicks,
and when he went to medical school that was also

(09:05):
in New York. So uh, they're big fans in New
York and then with the tennis connection they have, I
think they have a daughter that plays at BYU and
another playing tennis.

Speaker 4 (09:13):
Uh here in Lexington out of high school.

Speaker 3 (09:15):
So just two weeks ago there at the Cincinnati Open event,
it seems that the Pope family are huge tennis fans.

Speaker 5 (09:20):
Yeah, the mud That's something new and that's something I
think we're going to continue to learn. I like tennis,
what Mark Pope likes, what he what he's interests are,
And it definitely seems like tennis is a thing for
the Popes for sure.

Speaker 3 (09:31):
Matt and I might have to bring back the outer
Courts Tennis block we had for Tennis Channel back in
the day.

Speaker 5 (09:35):
Maybe we can get one on one Mark Pope versus
Matt Jones tennis.

Speaker 1 (09:38):
Let me ask you this, what would Matt Jones reaction
be if we saw Mark Pope at a pickleball match
at a pickleball court. Because we know Matt Jones hates pickleball.
What if Mark Pope embraces pickleball?

Speaker 3 (09:51):
What's Matt at this point? Matt can support anything pickleball.
He's committed to this role. He's all in on this bit.
I mean, I've I agree even on your second pickleball paddle.
You've been playing so much.

Speaker 1 (10:03):
I got the free T mobile pickleball paddle and I
hit it so hard it broke. So I've got to
go get some some upgrade pickleball paddles now.

Speaker 2 (10:09):
But yeah, Matt doesn't like pickleball.

Speaker 3 (10:12):
We do like some tennis though. In the US Opens.
It's cool to see him there. I was gonna say
this for little later, but since we're talking about Pope.
He and Pat Kelsey had a speaking engagement at the
Leadership Louisville Center's annual luncheon yesterday. He's too getting along
a lot. I don't know if I like that, Shannon.
They seem to I get it. You're both new at
your job. You're both in unique circumstances, and you don't
want to just come in here, you know, throwing punches.

(10:34):
But they're very buddy buddy, And yesterday Pat Kelsey even
paid him a little compliment. Talking about Pope, kind of
talked about what it was, how it was like building
a whole new team. He mentioned how no player that
he has right now has played for Kentucky, and only
one of them's played for him. So he was talking
about all that. Then when it went to Pat Kelsey.
Here's what he said. Obviously, with the rivalry, I've paid
very close to what Mark's done and what he's built.

(10:56):
He's under selling what he has. He's like Noah's Ark.
He's got two of everything. So Kelsey playing up Kentucky's roster.
And you know, I'm used to the Caliperi Patino ignoring
each other a little bit. Weren't spotted in the same
place at the same time. Look at what do you
make of these sharing a stage, and it seems like
they're complimenting, complimenting each other every chance they get a.

Speaker 5 (11:16):
Little coach speak there from Cincinnati Pat, you know, trying
to maybe beef up Mark Pope through through these words.
I think Drew they they're playing nice right now. That
won't last very long once you play some games, Once
we get some head to head recruiting battles, which we
haven't really gotten yet necessarily with Kentucky Louisville, once that
starts to happen, I think that'll that'll they'll start to

(11:38):
go other ways. Eventually. It's gonna be hard, I think,
especially when this rivalry gets up and cooking for them
to be super cordial like they could still like each other,
but I don't think, uh, it's gonna be a thing
where it's to Joeby and Denny where they're having a
radio show some sometime or a podcast. I think eventually
that's gonna break up. But right now everything's so new

(11:59):
and these are just getting settled in bot of their jobs.
But eventually the rivalry of that will take over.

Speaker 3 (12:05):
I believe Shan and I have a theory that Pope
keeps the grain to do all this because he likes
to get his picture taken next to Pat Kelsey.

Speaker 4 (12:12):
I think just.

Speaker 3 (12:12):
Every new photo is another reminder that it's big brother
versus little brother.

Speaker 1 (12:17):
Well, let's be real, let's call it what it is.
With all due respect to both coaches, especially Pope. What
we have for the first time is UK and U
of L basketball have a couple of dorks as their
head coach, and I want to see a dork fight.

Speaker 2 (12:29):
I want to see these two not like each other,
and I agree. I think it's gonna take maybe.

Speaker 1 (12:33):
A little bit of time eventually, but They're gonna hopefully
grow to not like each other. I'm not gonna say hate,
but we could say I guess sports hate right, it's
not real hate.

Speaker 2 (12:42):
It's not real life hate.

Speaker 1 (12:43):
Yeah, but I need somebody to talk some trash, you know,
make some headlines, some bulletin board material.

Speaker 2 (12:49):
I think eventually, over time these.

Speaker 1 (12:51):
Two will grow to dislike each other, at least, I hope.
So we need that for the rivalry, right, we hate
U of L. We don't want our coaches, you know,
breaking bread together a little weird for this rivalry.

Speaker 3 (13:01):
I agree, but I appreciate Pat Kelsey's compliment saying Pope
has two of everything that's exciting.

Speaker 4 (13:06):
We like the depth.

Speaker 3 (13:07):
Kelsey also mentioned he keeps getting stopped for selfies while
pumping gas. I like that he's getting stopped at the
gas station while we have getty images of Mark Pope
in the second row at the US Open, hanging with
big timers. So a little little difference in what they're
doing socially there too. We're gonna move on to our
football talk, though. Was that enough basketball had to get
I was gonna do zero basketball, and then you know,

(13:29):
late last night Pope popped up, so we had to
work with Mark.

Speaker 5 (13:31):
Pope's a big deal. He's a big deal right now,
very excited to get to that season and see what
the team like is like, it's gonna be different in
the potential era, but that's in November. We got football
season again, football terms, and then we can do both.
One thing that I don't like very much, Drew, is
that people act like you can't do both. You can
do both. There's a lot of people listening that are

(13:53):
in diehard NFL fans and they're still dial hard Kentucky
football fans. There's a lot of people listening that are
diehard Yankee fans that can do Tucky basketball at the
same time. We can do both. So don't don't ever
act like we can't do both. We can do both.
This fan base is big enough, we have the bandwidth
because we are crazy. We can do both.

Speaker 3 (14:10):
Just so it sounds like you didn't have enough bandwidth
for college football starting in the US Open. You just
not on your radar at all.

Speaker 5 (14:16):
Yeah, I can only do one single sport. I can
do golf, like locked into the Tour Championship this weekends.
But tennis is that's just not That's not an Adam
Luckett's woelhouse. Nothing against tennis. Don't really know much about it,
have watched it at some points for big matches like
I remember watching Serena and Venus going at it when
I was younger. But that's not that's definitely out of
my comfort zone a little bit. But the golf, I

(14:36):
can do the one individual sport and I get into
golf pretty big, so that that's my extra there.

Speaker 3 (14:41):
Well, we're gonna get into your comfort zone. That's why
you're here. We're not here to talk tennis. We're here
to talk football. Uh, if you like all football, you
got something tonight. But Kentucky is just two days away,
so we're really gonna focus on that again. Give Adam
lucky your questions on the Clark's Pumping Shop phone line
at eight five nine two eight zero two two eight seven.
Later in the show, we're gonna have Deon walk On
also talk a little football. That's a guy that knows

(15:02):
a bit too, so we're looking forward to having him on.
But thank you for listening so far. We'll be right
back after this break. Welcome back to Kentucky Sports Radio.
Drew Franklin here at KOs Bar and Grill with Adam Luckett.
We got Mario just steps away doing that stuff Mario
does making us look good taking video. I'm a little
concerned someone's breaking in the air duct right above our

(15:22):
head is shaking like a little mission impossible, someone climbing
through here. I know people are excited to get a
table Saturday for the pregame show.

Speaker 4 (15:31):
We don't need people to sounding in. What is going on?

Speaker 5 (15:33):
That sound you here is just Dean Walker rushing the patcher.

Speaker 4 (15:36):
Well, it's it's moving lights.

Speaker 3 (15:38):
It looks like we might be getting a new AC
unit installed on top of the building. So if they
want to make noise to get the airworking in here
by Saturday, we'll let them do what they gotta do.
But also, if you're here for a loud crash and
these lights land on my head, that you know what happened. Shannon,
you said we already have some phone calls. Let's just
get right to them because I want a lot of
people feeding luck at questions today so we can get
as much knowledge out of that big brain as possible.

Speaker 2 (16:00):
Up first, let's go to Mike.

Speaker 4 (16:02):
Mike, thanks for calling in. You've got a football quilling.

Speaker 7 (16:05):
Yes, I do.

Speaker 8 (16:06):
Well, a lot of people are making bear with me.
So if we're supposed to have one of the best
spectal team units that Mark Stoops has had, We definitely
have the best defensive line in front seven, including the
linebackers that we've ever had on paper, and maybe a

(16:27):
much deeper second secondary than we anticipated. And we've got
skill positions out the wazoo, including a.

Speaker 4 (16:34):
Five star quarterback.

Speaker 8 (16:36):
How in the world can we only predict seven and five?
I need more positivity.

Speaker 7 (16:42):
From Adam and Nick. Come on, guys, let's do this.

Speaker 9 (16:46):
Let's gope it through.

Speaker 3 (16:48):
I appreciate the call, and I really appreciate the juice.
We need more of that. I like your attitude. I
like your enthusiasm. I hope there's sixty thousand of you
at Krogerfield on Saturday. But to answer your question, luck At,
why do you hate you k football? And I think
they're not gonna win seven eight games?

Speaker 5 (17:02):
First of all, I love the energy that Mike. You
need to come down and be the wedgebuster on special teams,
like when Kentucky kicks off. You need to go down
there and just get the party started.

Speaker 3 (17:10):
Hold on, I wasn't gonna do this, but John FRANKLINO
call the day already before you answer.

Speaker 4 (17:14):
Yeah, that's the.

Speaker 5 (17:15):
Energy we need.

Speaker 3 (17:16):
On the Thursday before the first kickoff of the season.

Speaker 5 (17:18):
That's I'm ready for football, Dad Gummett, I love it.
Mike again, Drew, I think this season really comes down
to how does Kentucky operate in close games? They just
haven't been good in close games the last few years.
Does that change? We have to see that that change
you did, Brock vandergriff is a huge wildcard. Running backs
have been a position of strength. We don't know kind

(17:40):
of where that sits right now. That could go in
any direction. It feels like defense, yes, But again with
the defense, They're gonna play a lot of quarterbacks this year.
Carson Beck and Quinn Yours could come off the board.
Jackson Dark could set old in this program records this year.
They're gonna play some good quarterbacks in the toughest games
they play are away from home. Right Like George is

(18:01):
the best team they play, they get them at home,
but Texas Tennessee, and Tennessee's got the other quarterback that
could be special in that system. So yes, I do
think Kentucky's defense can be really good. But they're still
gonna have to score thirty points to win a lot
of games, and so can they go and do that.
That's something that it's been a struggle in the Mark
Stoops era. But if it comes together, I definitely think

(18:22):
we could get into November. And Kentucky's in that playoff conversation.
To me, that's like the ultimate goal. Can you get
to November with two losses? And then can you go
take your swings when you play Tennessee on the road
and when you play Texas on the road and when
you get liulvooe home. And if you do that and
some things bounce your way, then I definitely think there's
a scenario where you could possibly get into that nine
to three range. But I think you have to have

(18:42):
some bounces go your way.

Speaker 3 (18:44):
Let's have some bounces go our way. And we need
more of Mark Mark, right?

Speaker 4 (18:47):
That what it was? Mike, Mike, Mike, Yeah, we need
more of Mark and Mike.

Speaker 3 (18:50):
We need all the Marks. And Mike's fired up for
the game on Saturday. I hope our next caller they
can follow that. Maybe they've got some juice bottled up too.

Speaker 4 (18:57):
Who's up next?

Speaker 2 (18:57):
Sh all right, Dave? Go ahead? Dave's Dave.

Speaker 10 (19:00):
I don't know if I don't know if I've got
that much Jewish, But I got a couple of questions
for Adam my football concerns is seems like last year
every time the game was close or prevent defense sucked.
Concerned about that and then is he got any insights
on the offensive line this year? And by the way,

(19:23):
I was at an event this past week where Mark
Pope was at Hazard. Was pretty cool to see him
sit down with Johnny Cox and he did throw L's.

Speaker 11 (19:32):
Down for a bunch of photo opss.

Speaker 5 (19:35):
Love it understand the assignment one would say.

Speaker 3 (19:39):
Exactly before you go where you did you watch them?
Were you around they were building the houses or out boating.
We looked like they're all having a good time.

Speaker 11 (19:48):
I wasn't there, but they had an event in the
local park where they did some autograph signings and all
the players were available.

Speaker 5 (19:56):
I stood in line and had.

Speaker 11 (19:58):
Mark sign a couple of ninety six ch being chip
t shirts and been hanging in my closet for twenty
eight years, and I told him I would get the
players autographs when they hung the banner. So that was
he got a chuckle out of that.

Speaker 4 (20:12):
Oh, I like him.

Speaker 3 (20:13):
Well, we appreciate the inside, we appreciate the call holding
off on the player autographs. So they've got got a ring.
That's putting a little pressure on them.

Speaker 5 (20:20):
But that's the standard.

Speaker 6 (20:20):
Now.

Speaker 5 (20:21):
The standard is the stand.

Speaker 3 (20:22):
I don't want your autograph until you're in the rafters.
I like hearing Pope's just doing L's down even more
than we've seen.

Speaker 4 (20:28):
So that's good to hear.

Speaker 3 (20:28):
But his questions were about there defense, which come up
comes up a lot with Brad White and then the
offensive line, so you have the floor.

Speaker 6 (20:36):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (20:36):
I think like when this preseason like really started, like
in August, win fall camp begun and the coordinators and
Mark Stoops all talked. Both Stoops in White to me
they have heard some of these complaints and the criticism.
They both came out and say we have to be
more aggressive in certain situations on defense specifically and coverage

(20:57):
like so that is a change I think a little
bit schematically now, I think last year you have to
look back, they really didn't have anything proven yet, like
Hairston and Andrew Phillips ended up becoming NFL cornerbacks, but
no one was thinking that at this time last year.
That was a huge weakness. And then safety was supposed
to be a positional strength. Well, they had a couple

(21:18):
of injuries at safety Jalen Geiger and Jordan love it
Out both had to miss multiple games that forced ty
Bryant to play in a lot of big SEC games.
So I think they got in a situation where they
were just trying to protect their cornerbacks and they hit
some and they could not figure out cornerback too. They
had a revolving door there. I think entering this year,
they feel better and I think they're personnel wise, they're

(21:38):
gonna be able. I think they feel more comfortable playing
more kind of isolation coverage. And where you're really gonna
see that to me is on the in third downs,
because they both said they're down, they have to improve,
they've got to get better. Into me, that's where you're
gonna see them become more aggressive. So I do think
you're gonna see some more aggressive coverage from Kentucky. I
do think there's gonna be kind of a back and
forth between playing their zone typically in being able to

(22:01):
stop the run, and then getting more aggressive on third
downs and in certain situations. Now to the offensive line,
I think the floor has definitely been raised, and I
think they feel confident in that group. We just have
to see them go out and do it. And see
what the ceiling is.

Speaker 3 (22:15):
We're already getting deep with UK football talk. Drew Franklin,
Adam Luckett, Shannon the Dude. Give us a call after
this break. This is KSR.

Speaker 4 (22:23):
TJ.

Speaker 2 (22:23):
Smith, Personal injury attorney.

Speaker 4 (22:25):
Call TJ.

Speaker 2 (22:26):
He'll make them pay.

Speaker 1 (22:27):
Now more of Kentucky Sports Radio, present it by Stockton Mortgage.

Speaker 2 (22:30):
Here's Matt Jones.

Speaker 4 (22:33):
Welcome back to KSR.

Speaker 3 (22:34):
Drew Franklin filling in for Matt Jones and Ryan Lemon.
I have Adam Luckett here at KS bar and grill
with me. We also have the people on the roof
making lots of noise, but we're gonna let that slide
because they're getting the ac working. Mario is also here
and we're continuing to talk Kentucky football as we count
down to kick off on Saturday. We want to hear
from you with questions for Adam Luckett on the Clark's

(22:55):
Pumping Shop phone line. That's eight five nine two eight
to zero two two eight seven. If you are tailgating,
how about we talk about a little bit of our
friends at Red State Barbecue. They've been serving quality smoked
meats to central Kentucky and beyond for nearly fourteen years. Now,
seven days a week, you can enjoy their tender brisket,
fall off the bone, ribs, pulled pork, pulled chicken, and
of course they're one of a kind smoked and flash

(23:16):
fried wings. They also have specialties including their smoked half
chicken and smoked striploint. On Saturdays for game day and
on Sundays you can find their smoke prime rib for
your NFL party. Of course, don't forget the sides. Potatoes
law coast or potato salad coast law, baked beans, beer, cheese, grits,
corn pudding.

Speaker 4 (23:32):
They got it all.

Speaker 3 (23:33):
Red State's rich and creamy big shell mac and cheese
is my favorite. It's Red State Barbecue at four twenty
Georgetown Road. It's barbecue the way you want it.

Speaker 5 (23:42):
To be good.

Speaker 4 (23:43):
It's Kentucky football, gonna be good like it?

Speaker 5 (23:46):
I think so, I think, so, what are you here?

Speaker 4 (23:48):
I'm a son John Pumper. I admit it.

Speaker 3 (23:49):
Like when we play Georgia, I'm you know, I'm predicting
George is gonna win. But on that Friday, I'm absolutely
changing my mind because I can't help it. I get excited.
I look through blue tinted glasses, so instead of me
being mister optimist, what are some legitimate concerns you would say,
if the season's not gonna go well, what do you
foresee being the hiccups that held them back?

Speaker 5 (24:10):
Yeah? I would say, what's kind of limited the offense
last year? Lack of efficiency? Like they're gonna be able
to create explosives on offense, they're gonna be able to
get the ball to those receivers and they're gonna be
able to create big plays, but lack of efficiency. Can
they run the ball consistently when they get into the
teeth of the schedule or are they falling behind the chains? Defensively,

(24:33):
it's cornerback two and safety play is it's still a
little underwhelming, I think would be a concern. And then
you have Hairston. Do you have anybody outside of him?
And will teams be able to pick on whoever's playing
opposite to him? So that would be I think a
concern there, and that's how the season I think would
go wrong. And then a lot of these games drew
gonna be one possession close games in the fourth quarter,

(24:54):
you gotta go win them. I think Kentucky's recipe when
they're being at their best under Mark Stoops that's been
playing comproment heenary football. So that means efficiently moving the ball,
staying ahead of the chains, winning situationally on defense, and
then winning the field position battle like that is important.
And that's why you know, not many people love to
talk about the punter, but like what's going on with
that punter competition because you see kind of the raw

(25:18):
numbers Larells produce and you think he could be a
real weapon field position wise, Like starting an average field
position has been a real problem for Kentucky's defense lately.
It was a strength in twenty eighteen when Max Stuffy
was balling out, and that was part of the reason
the defense was so good is because offenses had to
drive seventy five eighty eighty five yards all the time
to score on them. It's been more fifty sixty yards

(25:41):
now and so they have to get back to that.
And if they're able to do that in all three phases,
play complimentary football. I think that's how you win a
lot of those close games. And so can all those
pieces come together, because there's just to me, there's some
little things in each phase. If you football, though switches up,
then you could have a really good FOOTB team if
all these switches are down, if only one or two

(26:02):
were down, then that's where I think you could get
into trouble.

Speaker 3 (26:05):
On Tuesday, I guess it was Max was in disbelief
over the punter situation. Weren't you hearing positive things out
of camp about Leros like everyone else?

Speaker 5 (26:14):
Out of the first scrimmage. One of the bigger talking
points was like this dude was we got the new
Glenn Pacalac, Like this guy is unbelievable, and then like
it was a big shock and a big stun that
he didn't win that job. I mean, so to me,
drew my hot like working hot. Take is I don't
think that competition is over. I wouldn't be surprised if
you see if Kentucky punts twice or three times on Saturday,

(26:36):
I think we'll probably see both of them. Maybe that's
kind of a battle that leaks into the season.

Speaker 3 (26:42):
Well, Steve Spurrier would love that were torn apart about
our punters before kickoff, but there's still a lot of
excitement around the team. Big news yesterday that season tickets,
where they sold forty eight hundred, set a new record.
That's six hundred more than last season. All the student
tickets are gone, which you think of UK football selling out,
haven't done that many times.

Speaker 5 (27:03):
Yeah, I think this offseason was a lot of expressing
frustrations for people kind of where we going, where we're headed.
But that's a sign to me that the fan base
is still very bought in and very excited to see
this football team and thinks this team can achieve some
special things. So to me, we kind of can get

(27:24):
lost in the sauce sometimes in the offseason, but to me,
I think there's a lot of optimism around this team
and people are excited. I think one about this defense
in two, I think the potential of this offense, and
if it hits, I think people think, wow, this can
be a really good season. And then I think the
home schedule helps. You get Auburn at home for the
first time in almost a decade. That's a big game.
You get Louisville home at the end of the season,

(27:45):
you get Beamer in town, you get Kirby smartintown back
to back in September. Like, the home schedule is very
very exciting, and I think that has people excited.

Speaker 3 (27:53):
Yeah, I think the schedule is great, even little things
like the extra fifteen minutes.

Speaker 4 (27:57):
I know that sounds dumb.

Speaker 3 (27:58):
This coming Saturday, instead of seven thirty game, the seven
forty five. Some fans can do damage with that extra
fifteen minutes.

Speaker 5 (28:05):
The Ohio game in week four we get the old
Jefferson Palette kickoff. You know, you get the twelve thirty
twelve forty five, so you don't have to get in
there right at eleven forty five. You can take your
time getting into the stadium. So even things like that
I definitely think helps. I don't think that was a
bad idea by the SEC.

Speaker 3 (28:24):
Yeah, for those forty one thousand season ticket holders and
everybody else that'll be there. You know, we talk a
lot of beer on this show. I mentioned I'll be
out there with Country Boy doing my show Me Your
Tenths video you can found on YouTube. We've obviously talked
a lot about the gravely brewing Kentucky Blue Light. I'm
looking at it right now, the nil beer that's helping
players make a little income as the fan base enjoys

(28:46):
the cold brew. And then two days ago, Bud Light
announced that once again we're one of twenty six schools
to have a special can I know that's not really new.
They had it last year, but we made the cut
again so you'll get to see the I guess they
call it the Team Space Pacific fan favorite cans this
season one with the UK football helmet on it.

Speaker 5 (29:04):
I know that was a big hit last year in
the games they had the aluminum bottles with the UK
logos on them that they sold in the big coolers.
You know, it's a big hit for the fans because
you know how long time ago, which was really two
years ago, you just had to pretend like this didn't exist.
But now everybody's embracing the new age. And to me,
I still have some cans I saved that had the

(29:24):
UK logo at home, and I think a lot of
people do that as well. We got it right there.
You see it right there, right when you walk in
kas Bar, the UK logo with the bud Light emblem
on that, and that's something else I think they get
excited about. And now we got the Kentucky what's Kentucky Light,
Kentucky Blue Light, Kentucky Blue Light KBL as well, so
and you get it all here at Kasbar. They've got

(29:46):
it all.

Speaker 4 (29:46):
Look at you. Known to promote kaos bar.

Speaker 3 (29:48):
If all the things that's happened in college sports in
the last few years, and it's been a lot, it
looks completely different. Seeing official sponsor of the Kentucky Wildcats
on a can of bud Light, I just my brain
never thought we'd get to that place, especially under the
current administration. But not only do we have a bud
Light can that says official sponsor, the fact that players
are getting money from beer. I mean that's we've had

(30:10):
a gambling the portal nil. The alcohol thing has kind
of surprised me the most.

Speaker 5 (30:16):
The legal gambling hitting at the same time that you
could sell beer was quite the shock to the system, like, oh,
we're really going all in now.

Speaker 3 (30:22):
You're busy with KSR these days on a game day,
but when you were able to enjoy yourself. What did
a tailgate look like for Adam Luckett? Were you having
a few of the bud Lights? Were you season ticket holder?

Speaker 5 (30:33):
Yeah?

Speaker 4 (30:33):
Are you you guy that? Do you set one up?

Speaker 3 (30:35):
Or do you wonder around walk us through the luck
At Saturday experience?

Speaker 5 (30:38):
We were season ticket holders really right when I got
out of college, so five six years before I started
doing maybe even longer than that. Started doing this full time.
Section two O four I believe was where we were
at had seats row twelve. Seats one and two I
believe were their seats.

Speaker 4 (30:54):
On the aisle.

Speaker 6 (30:55):
Nice.

Speaker 5 (30:55):
Yeah, I had to do the isle. That's my number one.
You gotta have the aisle. But yeah, we would have
we'd had tailgate. We meet up with people different. We
didn't have the same tailgate every year, but we had
people we would go to. Never had the parking pass,
but would meet up with people. We did the Cooper
thing for a long time, Drew right out of college.
We would go to Cooper. One of my friend's little
brothers went to school here still, so we would set
up a smat on Cooper. We did that for three

(31:16):
or four years. That was fun. And then yeah, I
just did an all day thing get here. You know,
night game would get here one o'clock or so. Day
games would still try to get here early to get
some tailgated at nine o'clock or so. We'll just go
all out. So definitely do miss that, but definitely like
the current set up week. You know, I definitely love
smashing some coffee and Drew Franklin at one a free coffee.

Speaker 3 (31:39):
Nothing like drinking four cups of coffee between seven and
ten and then going home trying to go to bed.
I love my job, wouldn't trade it. It keeps us very busy.
But I missed the all day tailgating. I get to
roam around to do that show, but even that's a
little bit of work. We tailgated for twenty four hours
before the Stevie Got Lose game. We got there the
Friday night before. I slept on the ground next to

(32:00):
Cooper and we would just woke up and kept going.

Speaker 5 (32:02):
Yeah, for me, it's gotten to point where it's not
like you get to do an hour or so, meet
up a friend's family, hang out, do the thing, and
then go. But when I went to the Grove, that
was hard walking to that stadium. I'm not gonna lie.
I'm very excited to get back there this year. That
was very hard. Even for a new game. You wouldn't
have known it. It was like being in Vegas was kind
of how I compared it to. You just don't know

(32:23):
what time. It is. Like you get out there and
the energy's up and everyone's having a good time, and
you're just, hey, it's not any who cares. We're having
a good time out here tailgating. Very excited to get
back there. I would highly recommend that for anyone looking
for a road trip. I know Austin is the big
popular one this year, but the Grove is a fun trip,
even for I think the noon games.

Speaker 3 (32:41):
The Grove is a different breed. I was there when
was it two years ago when the game was stolen
from us? But a friend of mine that went to
Old Miss and his wife is from the area. They
handled all of our tailgating in our rental house, so
I just kind of just show up what I owe.
You know, they had arranged everything. But my job that
morning was to carry the mums. They are so big

(33:01):
into their tailgating that we had lots of flowers that
we had to take. And I walked about a mile
and a half at seven am carrying moms, thinking what
the hell is going on here? Don't miss that I'm
carrying these flower pots down the street. But that's how
serious they take it. I think we had a chandelier, tablecloths.
It's a different experience. There are you going to Austin.
I'm going to Austin.

Speaker 5 (33:20):
I'll be there.

Speaker 3 (33:21):
I don't know their tailgating scene but I've heard good
things about the city and Rainy Street.

Speaker 5 (33:26):
I only know about three hundred people going. That number
keeps growing with each day, and that's just friends and
family at home. It seems like everyone who might go
to road game, it feels like they're going to Texas,
and so that's gonna be fun. I don't I've never
been to Austin, so I really don't know what I'm
getting into. I know the stadium's a behemoth, and that's
all we really know. I know the nightlife. Everyone talks

(33:49):
about how it's a fun place to go, So I'm
excited to not only do that, but do that with
a lot of Kentucky fans. That's gonna be really fun.
And it's November. We should get some good weather at
that time of year. So definitely excited to see what
all says.

Speaker 4 (34:00):
Very much.

Speaker 3 (34:01):
Looking forward to that very much. Looking forward to getting
back to your phone calls. I'm meant to do that
this segment, but we got to yapping about other things,
so we'll take a break here on KSR. When we
come back, we'll take more of your calls. Call us
at the on the Clark's Pumping Shop phone line at
eight five nine to two two eight seven if you
want to join the conversation with Adam Luckett. We're talking
about UK football all day as we're two days out
from opening kickoff.

Speaker 4 (34:21):
This is KSR.

Speaker 3 (34:26):
Welcome back to a football edition of Kentucky Sports Radio.
Drew Franklin with ksr's beat writer on football, Adam Luckett,
the man who knows more about UK football than UK
football itself. We have a full phone bank and we
have Dion Walker joining that phone bank soon, so I
want to go ahead and get through our callers.

Speaker 4 (34:44):
Who's up next?

Speaker 3 (34:44):
Shannon Le's going to Matthew. Matthew, thanks for calling in.

Speaker 7 (34:49):
Hey guys, thank you for taking my call. So just
a couple of things. One thing I found interesting a
bunch of Stallings today reposted a graphic on Twitter that
ranked the top one hundred offensive guards of the twenty
first century, and he was ranked at number eight in
the twenty first century for guards, and I just wanted

(35:11):
to ask what your guys' thoughts were on that, because
I didn't really start paying attention completely to Kentucky football
until that first year that Stoops made the bowl game
against Northwestern, and I remember him being really good but
seeing him top ten was just kind of shocking to me.
And also another thing I wanted to ask was what

(35:33):
your guys' record predictions were for UK football this year
and what to expect from the offense and more importantly
Brock vandergriff.

Speaker 3 (35:41):
All right, we appreciate the call, Adam. What do you
think about Bunchie being top ten?

Speaker 5 (35:45):
Yeah, I think if you go back to twenty eighteen,
Bunchie Stallings had that epic block against Florida that should
be a picture, honestly, should be probably in the football
facility somewhere, that pancake block he had, and he was
named a mid season All American I thought because of
that block, But he would end up being I think
a first team All American in twenty eighteen at guard.

(36:05):
So if you're just doing it about that, then yeah,
like he was one of the better guards in the country,
or at least seen as that back then. But that
is a little surprising that he was that high. And
then on again, we made our record predictions there ksr
in jury, We all went on record. I did the
boring seven to five, but that's what they've been in
the last two years. Schedule is tougher, and I think

(36:26):
there's enough unknowns likely if they don't have a great
record in close games, like I've mentioned that seven and
five scenes seems pretty likely. But I will say on
Brock Vandergriff, something he's done that I don't think has
really gotten talked about enough. Spring Game, he played well
both reports out of the scrimmages in the Fall Camp.
In Fall Camp in a game like setting, was like

(36:48):
he impressed, he played well. He was like, well, that
was pretty impressive. I think the coaches were impressed with
how he performed. That's not a bad sign. That he
keeps playing well in these game like settings is not
a bad sign. I think they're excited about how they
think he can perform and play on time within the
structure on the offense and get the ball to the
open receiver and then add an element with his legs

(37:09):
as a runner. I think they're very excited about what
he can bring to the offense, and so I have
a lot of optimism for what he can become. Now
we have to see him go out and do it.
But this is a guy who's got some tools and
some potential, and I've like what I've seen him from
an accuracy and timing standpoint, and the limited i've seen
him of how he's been able to play within the
structure of the offense. When you talk about an offense

(37:31):
that really needs to improve their efficiency, that's that's very good.
That's something you need. You just need like make the routine, routine,
hit the simple place, just hit the targets, move to football,
and keep the offense on the field and play that
possession of football, that the complimentary football that Kentucky wants
to play.

Speaker 3 (37:47):
I'm looking a bunch of his bio on UK's website.
First Team All America A byt AP and the Athletics
second Team by Sports Illustrated USA Today, Third Team by
Athlon SEC, Lineman of the Week twice, and first Team
All that you see just about all of them. Well,
I mean, that was a banner year by him. You know,
I don't have the knowledge to compare them against every
guard that's played the last decade, but I could see

(38:08):
why someone would consider him. Uh, Shannon, who's up next?

Speaker 2 (38:10):
Let's go to Tommy.

Speaker 3 (38:12):
Tommy, thanks for calling in. You got a football question.

Speaker 9 (38:17):
Not as much a question just to comment work.

Speaker 6 (38:20):
Obviously.

Speaker 9 (38:21):
Yeah, he very excited, obviously about the season, but I
think if the pessimists can be excited about the season
two and I think was you know, we talked about good,
great and fair seasons from nineteen three to eight and four,
seven and three, six and six. For the last four years,
we've you know, we've dropped. The game that we were
favored in twenty was Missouri twenty one, Mississippi State, twenty two, Vanderbilt,

(38:44):
and South Carolina and twenty three South Carolina. So you
win the games that were supposed to win, things look different.
And just wanted to see if y'all wanted to comment
on that and how we get over that hunt.

Speaker 4 (38:53):
We appreciate the call.

Speaker 3 (38:55):
They're gonna get over the hump in those games.

Speaker 5 (38:58):
Yeah, I think when you kind of look at the
Mark Stoop's era, like it's not it's unfair to say, oh,
he's only one topped into the games but in the SEC,
but he has one like out of conference, Like the
two Louisville wins were huge, like on the road, and
then beating Penn State was like one of the bigger
wins this program's history in that bowl game to kind
of cemit that ten win season, but that is the
next hump. Can he get that? Rich Brooks lusu win, Like,

(39:19):
can he get that one? George is gonna be tough,
But can you shock a top ten ole? Miss? Can
you shock a a Texas late in the season? Can
you play spoiler? I definitely think this team has the
talent to do it. And again, if Rock vander Griff
is delivering and looks like he's a player there at quarterback,
I think they'll have more than a puncher's chance in

(39:41):
this game. To me, the scenario how that happens is
either you sneak up them all Miss, or like vander
Griff hits another gear at the end of the year
in November, maybe you go down and kind of shock Texas,
which I think is gonna be hard because I think
Texas gonna be really good. But that is how that happens,
because I think the defense is gonna be good enough.
It's gonna keep them in most of these games. Just
can the offense score enough when they're going up against

(40:02):
some of these high hot teen offenses they're gonna see
can you get to thirty one points in a game
you might have to win thirty one to twenty eight?
Can you get to thirty five in the game. You're
gonna have to win thirty five to thirty one.

Speaker 3 (40:11):
Sans we'd get one more in or we kind of
too close to heartbreak. You do one more Let's do sure,
We'll go quick football, Freddy football, Freddy, you have a floor?

Speaker 6 (40:20):
Yeuys. I just want to tell the doubters out there,
it's time to start believing. Gerald Minsi's out here talking
in interviews about putting our offensive coordinator running back in
rushing for four hundred yards. Brad Watson interviews throwing out
John cal Perry references about it doesn't matter who's starting.
We're that good.

Speaker 8 (40:38):
It's October.

Speaker 6 (40:39):
It's Brocco Clock. Go cats, see y'all Saturday. Let's win
the football games. Ten and two is what the Freddies
are thinking.

Speaker 5 (40:46):
I'm glad to hear Brocco Clock is growing.

Speaker 4 (40:48):
There we go.

Speaker 3 (40:49):
That's a lucky nickname there. I appreciate more of that
juice too. Can we have a I'm just gonna do it?
That does our code at Don Franklin Auto Call today,
we would like to hear more football enthusiasm of the
Bronco Clock. You know some of the nicknames. You got
a favorite b October I know you're excited about that one.

Speaker 5 (41:07):
Brocktober could be fun. No beat Auburn, just wear everyone
wearing brock Tober shirts in the crowd, Bronco clock. I'm
sure we'll find some more along the way.

Speaker 3 (41:16):
Between the red hair and the belt clip and kind
of being a country boy himself, and the potential with
all these nicknames. If Brock has a good season, there's
there's more nil dollars to be made as things go on.

Speaker 5 (41:26):
I think, yeah, I think you're seeing him on a
few things right now, but definitely he could be a
guy that could He has upward mobility for sure. In
the Nile game.

Speaker 2 (41:35):
Coming up, Rock out with your brockout.

Speaker 4 (41:36):
You like that that one too.

Speaker 3 (41:38):
Coming up next, maybe the biggest NIL marketing player on
the team, Dion Walker, will join us here on Kentucky
Sports Radio. That's right after this break.