Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This podcast of the Leach Report is presented by Boone's
Butcher Shop in Barnestown at one hundred Old Bloomfield Pike,
family owned and operated since nineteen forty six, with fresh
meat cut on site daily. Boons Butcher Shop. Good day, everybody.
It is the Leech Report. After a holiday break on
(00:21):
Monday for Labor Day, I hope it was an enjoyable
one for all of you guys, and we are back
at it today. A little schedule adjustment. The Monday Morning
Quarterback will be the Tuesday morning Quarterback edition of the show,
with Van Hiles joining us here shortly and eager to
get his take on all the elements that defined Kentucky
(00:42):
season opening, and went over Toledo look ahead of the
matchup with the Old Miss Rebels coming up on Saturday.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
That's the agenda for today.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
Wildcat News of the Day is the service of Giuseppees
of Lexington, and Monday is media day for Mark Stoops
the news conference at noon the radio show last night,
he said that he still believes in Zach Calzada at quarterback,
even after a rough opener in which Kentucky managed only
eighty five passing yards. He thought that Calsata was pressing,
(01:15):
and I think there's a lot of truth to that
because you look at how well he threw the ball.
On that opening drive, he dropped in a third and
seven pass to Macklin that was very well thrown ball
in between defenders. Then he threw the long pass down
the sideline where Hester went up and seemingly made a
fantastic catch, and then on review it was ruled out
(01:39):
of bounds, but still the ball was in a right
where it needed to be to give his guy a chance.
And then things got squarely. Katz had a run of
three consecutive possessions where you had an interception where there
was a blitzer that came clean into the face of
Calzada released the ball, think it got tipped and picked off.
(02:02):
And then the next series Kentucky gets a goal line stand,
but on the first play afterward he makes a bad
read and it leads to a safety. And then the
next series he gets him in on the plus side
of the field, hits Willie Rodriguez on a crossing route
(02:22):
and Willy runs I think it'll be in a twenty
three yard game, and then fumbles them all away at
the end of it. So three consecutive sour possessions. Therefore,
Kentucky and Calzada didn't seem like ever really threw the
ball as well after that. But adversity's going to happen.
Got to figure out a way to work through it,
(02:44):
not just him, but everybody on Saturday on the offensive side.
So that's the challenge for this week against obviously a
much better Ole Miss team which routed Georgia State in
its opener. Cole Kuberlick does his weekly team by team breakdowns.
He's the SEC network analyst and works with Tom Hart
Jordan Rodgers and always look forward to seeing those, and
(03:06):
you scroll down look for the team that you followed
and just get a little thumbnail sketch of his thoughts
on the game, because you know, he's a guy that
knows what he's looking at. And he said, the good
news is in summary, the good news is what I
saw the indicators, what I think they want to get
back to, and what they want to be. And I
think that pretty well sums it up. They want, first
(03:29):
and foremost, I think, to be a more physical team
on both sides of the ball, and they were on Saturday.
They want the kicking game to be solid. They obviously
have to throw the ball better. You don't have to
be a great passing team, but you have to be
better than they were on Saturday. So that will be
what I think everybody's focused on and what we'll be
talking about. A good bit with a Van when we
(03:49):
get started here a moment. Ole Miss is an early
ten and a half point favorite for the rematch from
last season, when Kentucky went on the road and beat
a sixth ranked ole Miss team. The last four games
in this series have been decided by a total margin
of ten points, so a lot of close games. Status
of Jamerion Wilcox remains unchanged, Stoops said yesterday at the
(04:10):
news conference. The violation of team rules that had Wilcox
out for the opener keeps him out for now. According
to coach Stoops, when we come back, we will check
in with Van Hiles and get his take on Kentucky's
win over Toledo and look ahead to the matchup with
ole Miss. It's Football Week in Lexington. The two hundred
(04:33):
and fiftieth celebration of the City of Lexington is underway
all year long and this week is football Week. So
here in Lexington, the big celebration is on. Gonna be
events each night with the presented by the Lex two
fifty Lex Commission and brain Box Marketing. There's gonna be
a chance to win tickets to the game. Saturday, we're
(04:55):
gonna have a showing of Friday Night Lights at the
Kentucky Theater. They're gonna be trivia Nights, and then they're
going to announce some various categories to celebrate the history
of football in Lexington. Today, you'll see a list of
the top ten high school coaches of all time in Lexington.
Later on in the week, the most memorable UK home
(05:17):
games of all time, and then later on the top
twenty five players of all time. They did this for
the sport of basketball back in the winter. Gonna come
right back and visit with Van Hiles. It's the Leech
Report and we're presented by Bobcat Enterprises.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
We'll be right back.
Speaker 1 (05:39):
It's the Leach Report. Neglected to Mension in our opening
segment of Wildcad News is presented by Giuseppes of Lexington
on Nicholasville Road, just out past Battle War.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
Make sure you get to open tables soon.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
Make a reservation for a special night out at Giuseppes
around a UK game or a trip to Keenland, or
just to celebrate a special occasion. Fantastic food, full wine
and bourbon selections and a really special ambience, especially if
you sit in the lounge area and enjoy that live
jazz music to accompany your meal at Jiseepi's of Lexington,
(06:13):
Kentucky and Ole, Miss coming up at three point thirty
Eastern on Saturday. After the Wildcats won their opener over
Toledo despite throwing for just eighty five yards, Here's what
Zach Calzada said after the game about the poor passing numbers.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
We just got to go back and watch the film.
Speaker 3 (06:31):
But you know, we were hitting really well in camp,
and you know, I think we just missed a couple
of those by fractions. I got to give them better passes,
give him a chance to go make a play. I mean,
the message to the team is simply, we.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
Got to get better. We will get better.
Speaker 3 (06:41):
So I'm excited to go back to practice with these
guys and see what we do next Saturday.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
We welcome in Van Hiles to the program for our
Shuffle being Coffee Monday Morning Quarterback edition of the Show
at V style seventeen to see his cutups.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
Each week on the game.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
Kind of we look for those like we look for
the Cole cuberlick comment I was talking about in the
opening segment, and Van will talk about Calzada the passing
game specifically at a minute, But first, just your overview
on what you saw Saturday.
Speaker 4 (07:10):
So that's that's tough. My My initial thoughts during the
game were not good at all. I think I felt
like the majority of the fan base, uh it was
it was uninspired product on the field offensively for us.
But then I watched, I sat back, got cleaned their
(07:33):
eyes and looked at it, and I just honestly believed
it was a situation of of players not being comfortable.
I guess primarily Zach with the operation and and everything
is fine Monday through Friday when you when you go
into practice, but how is everybody going to react on
game day playing against a new color jersey? And I
(07:56):
think that was an issue. And there were some things
that happened in the game that prevented us from getting
the rhythm. So then after I was like, well, there's
a lot of areas to improve on, and the great
thing about not playing your best is you get the
w So now we got a lot of film, a
lot of chance to correct things, and hopefully the biggest
(08:17):
improvement is used for week one of week two. I
hope that we improve as much as we have to
be successful this weekend.
Speaker 1 (08:26):
You know, I've made the comment in the opening segment
that it looked like Zach threw the ball really well
in that first drive and a couple of nice throws
to Macklin and Hester. Then they had the interception, they
had the safety, and then he hits Rodriguez for another
nice game, but it ends with a fumble, and from
(08:46):
that point on he never really threw the ball very well.
So it certainly jives with what Stoop said about pressing
or got in his head. Whatever you want to say.
You gotta fight through that because he's gonna be adversity
in this. But I don't know what what if you
were coaching him as a quarterback you've coached before, what
(09:07):
would you tell him?
Speaker 4 (09:09):
I would tell him to to rely and relax, rely
on the other teammates you have. I think he got
I don't know this. This is so I hate saying
this from a former player because you don't know and
and the narratives can get out and then they can
be a negative thing. I just think he pressed too much,
and I think the noise surrounding the facility after four
(09:33):
the next season and the execution of the offense last year,
I think he tried to be too perfect, and after
things didn't go well, I think he tried to get
even more perfect and instead of just playing a game
how he has played before. The guy has played many
snaps before, he has many reps, he started many games
like he just needs to rely on his experience and
(09:53):
not press. I think that he got that out of
his system, and I think next week he's gonna be
much better than you was this week.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
What did you see in the receivers, Because going in
when they unveil the depth chart for week one, you
had nine guys listed and a whole bunch of mores
So and everything Bush Hampden had said leading up to
the start of the season was that nobody had really
separated from the pack, and that certainly continued on Saturday.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
So what did you see if the of the wide receivers.
Speaker 4 (10:27):
I think that's exactly what you saw, is that there
was no one that for me, as a former quarterback.
Sometimes when things are not going well, you want to
have a guy that can make it easy for you,
that you trust is gonna always be open, regardless of
what the players call. And when you don't have that guy,
now you are searching. And I think that was the
(10:49):
case in this game when things didn't go well. He
was searching because the I al would say the best
receiver on the team with the tight ends, and sometimes
tight ends are not going to get as open as
you like because they in the middle of field. There's
a lot of congestion with linebackers and safeties in the
middle of field. When you have to rely on tiers,
sometimes it can be an issue. We need a guy
(11:09):
on the perimeter to be a guy that's dependable when
things are not going well, like we had one day
Robinson a few years ago.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
And the backs maybe could help out in that area
a little bit, right mcgallan, Daldell.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
They're supposed to be good pass catchers, and.
Speaker 4 (11:26):
There were situations where we could have gotten them the
ball last game. And that's why that's why film is great,
because now you can say, okay, man, I wish I
would have given them a chance because I kind of
pressed for shooting the ball, maybe that I didn't have
to pass and just dump it off to a guy
who could maybe get us two three yards. Because when
you stay ahead of the change, it makes it easy
(11:47):
for Bush Hampton to call the next play when it's
second and seventh and not second and ten.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
Chat with Van Hiles on our shuffle being coffee Monday morning,
Quarterback edition of The Leacher Report, and we'll take a
break back and continue this gosh in here from the
Clark's Pumping Shop studio. Return, refresh and refuel at Clark's.
Speaker 3 (12:06):
He said it before the game, he'll keep running the bay,
keep running the bay, Hit three, get four, hitting then
in the right place.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
And he finally just came how big? How big was
that hole?
Speaker 4 (12:15):
And how big did your eyes get when you saw
that open the spains?
Speaker 2 (12:18):
Oh yeah, it was a big odds How was b like?
Speaker 1 (12:21):
I gotta go? That was Dante Dowdell, the Nebraska transfer.
In two seasons of college football, he had scored thirteen
touchdowns and the longest run for any of those touchdowns
was thirteen yards, most of them single digit numbers, and
he broke off that one for seventy nine yards to
(12:41):
break the game open on Saturday. And if you go
to at V Style seventeen and you have seen the
reviews of our man Van Hiles, you know he sent
out an apology to Dante Dadell of sorts.
Speaker 4 (12:57):
Yeah, I'm I was unaware. I totally out of all
the things I saw from him on film, Like you said,
thirteen yards, I haven't seen that burst. I don't know
if if we need to credit ouse print the conditioning
program or what. Because I'm serious. When he broke the
line of scrimmage, it was a great call, great execution
(13:20):
of a play. Again, highlight the most important thing. It's
great execution of the play, because sometimes coach calls a
great play, they don't execute, it doesn't look good. It
was a great execution of the play. When he broke
the line of scrimmage, I said, he's gonna get ran down.
I said it. I'm about wow, it's a great play.
But he's gonna get ran down or we're gonna have
(13:41):
to snap the ball. I'm like, oh, we're gonna get
a field goal, We're gonna have to sell a for
a field goal, or we're gonna really get a touchdown
at this drive. And when he separated from the defensive backs,
and I don't care if you D one, D two,
D three. All defensive backs on all levels, the majority
of us can run. And when no one closed on
him at all, I'm like, man, I was not aware
(14:04):
you had Will's like that, Dante, I apologize.
Speaker 1 (14:08):
Yeah, I mean he was impressive. There was one of
the offensive linemen, I can't remember which one. Tony Neely
from Communications told us the story after the game, but
there's one of the offensive linemen said that Daldell runs
like he's angry at the ground. So it's great to
have that power, but if you've got a little burst
(14:29):
like that, it makes you a dangerous.
Speaker 4 (14:32):
Man that there are I mean, you go to the
recent things that people have recently heard of, like Derrek Ganry.
Derek Garry has that kind of ability. Is you are
hard to bring down because you're a big, paul strong,
massive young man, but then you can run away for people.
(14:53):
So as a defensive back, those are the worst ones
because when you come into tackle, I just know that
you're just not going to run over me and try
to truck me down the field When you can run
around me and buy me. That's a double ass sword
that we as DBS do not like at all.
Speaker 1 (15:11):
If you are looking at that game on Saturday, the
passing game is what generators became the biggest talking point.
But Kentucky did check a lot of boxes of things
I wanted to improve on. I wanted to develop an
identity for and you're being physical and running the ball
(15:32):
was right at the top of that list. And it
looks like they have two guys in Daldell and McGowan
that are going to be as good as advertised, and
an offensive line that is much improved.
Speaker 4 (15:43):
No doubt about it. And I don't think I know
that we could have seen a little bit more everything
at a AM I being maybe a better perception if
we didn't have three straight drives of not getting plays
out of it. When you have a drive or one
play and a driver or two plays where you have turnovers,
(16:04):
you are potentially leaving eight to ten or fifteen plays
out there on the field that can That is a
chance for the offensive coordinator to show what this offense
can do maybe in the runner in the past and
those and those three series back, those three turnovers in
a row was detrimental for this offense rhythm and we
never got back in that rhythm because, like you said earlier,
the first two drives, it was something that, Okay, I
(16:27):
see what we're doing, but then we got stalled in
those turnovers. Now you lose chances to progress and see
what this offense can be from not only from a
fans then, but from my office of coordinator standpoint. And
we cannot shoot ourselves in the footlight that this week
or we're gonna get ran out of the stadium.
Speaker 1 (16:45):
One thing they've got to do this week is when
they get somewhere around the forty, is to make sure
they get points out of those opportunities. They had the
one turnover with Rodriguez, the other drives installed a couple
of times they punted, and I know Stoops talked about
that on the radio show last night, that that's exactly
(17:07):
what they needed to do because they were, you know,
winning the field position battle. They can't Tiledo wasn't moving
the ball on their defense, So you don't want to
risk a guy kicking, sending him out there for his
first or second field goal of his career, and if
he misses, they get the ball to forty. Instead, they
were living inside their own fifteen or twenty yard line.
Speaker 4 (17:26):
Yeah, that's it is. It is a tough decision for
a coach when things are not going well for y'all offensively,
Do I chance it? Because all it takes on defense
and it's unfortunate light Just that's like on win on offense,
one bad play and it's a touchdown. And when your
defense is rolling, if you got one bad play, making
(17:48):
one bad play where it's a thirty yard game, but
now they're on the forty yard line and not only
minus ten. So I think that would for me as
a former player defensive player also play offense though, but
I think that's a smart decision when you only in
a one to two a possession game, is to keep
them on their side of feel as long as you can.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
We're chat with Van Hiles. It's our Shuffle being coffee
Monday morning quarterback edition of The Leacher Report. Our show's
presented each day by Bobcat Enterprises and they have four
locations around the state, so google them when you need
to buy or rent heavy equipment. That's where you need
to go. Bobcat Enterprises that take great care of you.
Speaker 2 (18:25):
We'll be right back.
Speaker 1 (18:31):
It's the Leacher Report and we come to you from
the Clark's Pumping Shop studio. Return Refresh and refuel at
Clark's Gori Switch s Gears Down, talk a little bit
about the defensive side of the ball with Van Hiles
and Van is with us for our shuffle being Coffee
Monday Morning Quarterback shows the Tuesday edition this week, and
we are going to hear here from linebacker Alex Safari,
(18:54):
who had a career high thirteen tackles. But in this
bite he's talking about one of his he mates that
impressed mister Hyles.
Speaker 2 (19:03):
No, Steven So did a great job today. You know
he could be a huge weapon.
Speaker 3 (19:07):
His get off and his motor his ridiculous and I
feel like he's going to help out our team in
a big way this year's him his pastor is along.
Speaker 1 (19:16):
So what do you think about steven Soul's opening gay performers,
Van Hiles.
Speaker 4 (19:23):
It's probably one of the best coming out parties that
we'll had since Grove Street Party and the Kick Out
a few years ago. Man, I'm I am so impressed,
And maybe I'm more impressed because I know things were said,
but I didn't hear any growing reviews about Steven So individually.
(19:46):
During fall camp, and what he showed on Saturday is
something we haven't seen in a long time, hits, and
it's not about the results for me, it's about his
effort and energy level. It never went down the entire
game and that's something that is a quality that is
going to help him get to the next level because
(20:09):
you cannot take plays off. You cannot take a play
or two for granted, and that guy did. He did
no wrong. He was great in past coverage. He was
a raw on on their old line. He caused force formbals,
he had sacks. What else can you do at that position?
He was unbelievably amazing.
Speaker 1 (20:31):
They list him as an outside linebacker six five, and
but when you see him lined up in those third
down pass rush packages, he's lined up like a defensive end.
Now he can drop out play pass coverage, which he
did once, but he is a terror for tackles and
in the same way, a little bit like an undersized Randall.
(20:54):
Cobb did things that between the tackles offensively, you wouldn't
think he'd be able to do Souls does things between
the tackles defensively, you wouldn't think he'd be able to
do it.
Speaker 4 (21:04):
That size Yeah, it's it's leverage. He plays to his strengths.
He is I'm not sure he's unorthodox, but his technique
is great for a guy who's undersize what he did now.
And I know I'm getting too excited about one game,
but this is not just one game. And that's what's
(21:26):
so great about this is he shows burst of that
last season and to see him continue that that progression
is why he plays so well. Man. It's something about
just having that energy in that motor that is so
great to see for players, is that no matter what happens,
(21:47):
he's gonna find a way to make an impact.
Speaker 1 (21:50):
I was impressed by the push they got in the
middle or defensive line. They seem to bother the quarterback
by getting into his face, and that's a big help
if you have the personnel to do that.
Speaker 4 (22:03):
And we heard a certain thing that coach Stuke said
that perked my ears up. Was they were twitchy and
they are great at the get off and when a
ball is snapped, there are a lot of times since
the offensive players knows the snap count, they have an
inherent advantage. It didn't look like that on Saturday. It
(22:23):
looked like we was in a huddle, and we knew
when they was gonna snap the ball because consistently, on
pass plays and running plays, we were on their side
of the line of scrimmage and creating a new line
of scrimmage on their side of the field consistently. And
when you could do that, it allows a linebacker like
an Alex Safari, like a Trevor Wallace in the past,
where when you're not the biggest and when you have
(22:45):
speed and quickness, it allows those old linemen to not
get up on the linebacker's feet and when they can
stay clean, you have a game like Alex had because
you're not successful a linebacker off the front four doing
their jobs.
Speaker 2 (22:58):
McKeith.
Speaker 1 (22:59):
Humphrey Grays got injured, had an ankle issue in the
some point in the first half, so he really was
not much of an impact guy in this game. Hopefully
he gets back next week because to what you're talking
about in our visit before the game and prepping for
our broadcast with Brad White, he said that Humphrey Grace
has an amazing first two steps off the ball and
(23:23):
cause his problems for tackles that way. The other thing
he said, and you'll get a kick out of this
from you know, playing at the high college level and
the NFL and coaching kids and things. He said, he
takes the best notes of anybody on the defense.
Speaker 4 (23:39):
Wow, that's that man. That's interesting, especially at this level
because I don't be honest with you, I didn't take
notes in college. I didn't take notes until I got
to the pros because I just thought I could remember everything.
So for him to do that now it shows. And
you know what, since you said that, it's interesting that
it showed. The product on the field. That defense on
(24:03):
Saturday was so business like. They played button up professionally.
They didn't take anything for granted for the most part,
and definitely the first three quarters, they were where they
were supposed to be when they are supposed to be there.
And when you do that, everybody handles their responsibility. That's
how you get a team in the first three quarters
(24:26):
with one hundred and some couple of yards because you
ramp down on your job and if a guy is
writing down everything the coaches tell them and how to improve,
that showed on Saturday.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
They're facing a much different level of challenge on Saturday
in Old miss who they play obviously very fast, score
a lot of points and Kentucky held them to seventeen
last year and did a tremendous job down at at Oxford.
So what did you see on Saturday in terms of
(24:59):
any area is where they need to improve or show
up before they face the Rebels.
Speaker 4 (25:04):
We definitely to show up on the back end. The
secondary has to play. It's just like last year we
had to shore up the back end before that game
and they played their best game of the season. They're
gonna have to do the same thing this year. The
only thing that's different this year is if that front
four can put that push and that pressure on a
first season starter in his first row game in SEC
(25:27):
if they can rattle him early, which is gonna be
hard because the kid is a very good quarterback. If
they can rattle him early, that gives us our best
chance to win because they have some talent on the
perimeter that's gonna be hard to harness and prevent them
from being successful on a lot of plays. We got
to prevent the deep, the explosive plays, the big plays.
(25:50):
We can do that like we did last year. We
can't frustrate them like we frustrated the New York Giants.
Speaker 2 (25:56):
Future quarterback yeah, Jackson Dark last season.
Speaker 1 (25:59):
That's right, quick break here, will come back, continue our
visit with Van Hiles. It's at V Style seventeen on
X and you can catch the locker also with Van
and his former teammate Anthony White and when and where
on that sixteen away from the top of the hour
(26:20):
Leach Reports presented each day by Bobcat Enterprises, and we
are chatting with Van Hiles at V Style seventeen on
X and then the locker Van that's on Wednesday nights.
You and your former Wildcat teammate Anthony White win and
Where for the.
Speaker 4 (26:36):
Lockers Wednesdays at nine pm Eastern Standard Time on all
social media platforms Twitter, YouTube. We are on the tickets
in the Fox sometimes so you can check that out.
It's a fun watch. I'm biased, but I think it's
a good time. You you get the perspective of two
(26:59):
former Okay football players like we were both in the
locker room chopping it up.
Speaker 1 (27:04):
There you go, and it's it is a great watch.
So check that out on Wednesday night at nine for
the breakdown on week one and looking ahead to the
matchup of Week two. One thing I got a kick
out of seeing was their short yardage package on Saturday,
they were four out of five when it was third
(27:25):
and three or less. And I'm not sure what they
define as third and short, maybe one third and one
third and two. Anyway, their SATs the team stats they
were four for four, so either way, very effective in
an area where they didn't do well last season. And
what they ran out there was their starting offensive line.
(27:45):
Then they'd bring in Malachi Wood and set him up
as the tight end on the left side at three
twenty eight. So you have a sixth offensive lineman as
a tight end. Right behind him a step off the
line is a Boyer at the two sixty five. Then
on the other side you have Willie Rodriguez at two
fifty two. Then you line up Catus as a full
(28:07):
back at two forty seven. Both of your running backs
are uh north of two hundred now they's two twenty seven.
So I did the math on this. It's thirty one
fifty three, one hundred and fifty pounds of football trying
to get a third and short situation. I like the
(28:27):
use of personnel there.
Speaker 4 (28:30):
That's hey, when you have them on the team, you
better use them, and is not That's the reason why
we got Bowyer. And the great thing about it is
for for that is you have Willy Rod, really Rod
on the back on the back end where the defense
has to respect that backs that have to respect the
potential of a waggle of some boot to him to
(28:50):
get those yards too. So those guys on the back
end came cannot just run across the line of scrimmers
and run across the ball to try to stop all
of that of energy on that left side. They someone's
got to stay home. So that's a great use of
the beefs that you have on your side of the ball.
Speaker 1 (29:08):
And with Willie and Cattis, I think those are the
two best pass receivers of the tight end group.
Speaker 2 (29:14):
But Boyer's better.
Speaker 1 (29:16):
Than what we were lived to believe on the scouting
report coming from Illinois. They just didn't use him. He
catches the ball well, so you'll see him, you know,
at some point I think make a big play or
two from that spot, and maybe it's gonna be like that,
you know ninety nineteen with James Whalen, where the tight
end will be the quarterback's best friend.
Speaker 4 (29:35):
It's gonna have to be at this point, I think
your best matchup problems for the opponent is Will Rodd
and potential Bowyer in the red zone. When you're at
that size and that big is a power forward posting
up on the block, you just throw it up, allow
him in good position and he can come down with
(29:55):
the ball. I think right now that the tight ends
after game one is probably the most consistent matchup problem,
and we kind of exploited that this week. I think
we can even do more with that. I think that
fumble by Will Rodd might have kind of stopped that
steam a little bit, But I think we should use
them and we can use them through a through through
(30:18):
our advantage for the rest of the season for sure.
Speaker 1 (30:22):
Yeah, it's about getting some favorable matchups. And you know,
you like those guys against linebackers. You will he in
particular looks like an NFL tight end, doesn't he.
Speaker 4 (30:33):
I like that matchup against safetyes in linebackers. He definitely
looks like the modern day, current NFL tight end. And
I would say this, and that's Catas looks like the
modern day h back. So put him in motion, get
him on, get him on some kickoff blocks. Then you
have Will Rod who's more of that. Travis Kelcey Kyle
(30:55):
fits type of tight end. We have it, we have
to use it. And I'll say this after week one,
when your tight ends have half of the receptions, it's
a good and a bad thing. It's good for them,
but then it's bad for those wide receivers who are
not getting more more targets and more catches.
Speaker 1 (31:13):
I think coming out of the first game, you have
to like the way they ran the ball, you like
the way they stop the run. Kicking games really solid.
We were talking about the field goals earlier. I think
probably in a game like this, you might be more
inclined to take that chance with a field goal, especially
(31:33):
since you got Colway a kick that he made that.
You know, if you're when you're playing Toledo, you're ahead
from the start, you don't think they can, you know,
score a lot of points on you, and so you
don't want to give them that really good field position
to help them out. Ole Miss is the kind of
team that can score from anywhere, and they're generally You
(31:57):
kind of go into the game, I think probably figuring
you're gonna have to be at least in the In
the mid twenties, Kentucky got got to win with twenty
points last year, but that's hard to do against the Rebels.
So I think you might be more inclined to take
a shot with a field goal from a longer range
in a game like this. But point is, you've got that,
so you've got a lot of boxes checked that you
(32:18):
wanted to have as the coach. Now you just have
to get the passing game short up exactly.
Speaker 4 (32:24):
And and it's unfortunate that that is the outlook because
as we talked about earlier, the first two drives, the
passing game looked pretty good. You're right, and I'll say
the first all the way to the to the winniw
Rodriguez fumble, the passing game looked really really I guess solid,
(32:45):
like it's something that we can depend on when we
need it. And unfortunately, after that things the wheels kind
of fell off. So hopefully we can build off of
the first three drives and instead of the last three drives,
because for some reason we lost a little bit of
all rhythm. So the great thing is that we can
always rely on the run game, and that's what we
did in the second half. I think we scored two
(33:07):
all the five drives.
Speaker 1 (33:09):
Yeah, and it looked like at one point where I
don't know whether it was Bush with this way or
whether the head coach just said run the damn ball,
because they had, you know, a couple of series where
they took some shots and didn't hear I think they
had a key drop and then they came back out
and they had a drive where it was like a
(33:30):
I think it was a thirteen play drive and there
were twelve runs.
Speaker 4 (33:32):
Yep, yes, yes, And you know, it's tough as a
play caller because you were playing the percentages and you're
also looking at the other side of feel and seeing
what can they potentially call on this play and to
run twelve times, I think they ran like eleven times
in a row, nine times in a row. To run
(33:54):
eleven times in a row, it's very difficult because eventually
different coordinators's going to load the box and for us
to it'll be successful. It harkens back to twenty nineteen
and Lamb Bolden. Everybody knew what the play was gonna be.
It was You knew it was gonna be a run,
but you couldn't stop it, and that drives to Leo
had no chance to stop in the.
Speaker 1 (34:12):
Run and the Kentucky surrendered no sacks and there were
four tackles for loss, but for a minus ten yards.
I went back and looked at last year they averaged
losing thirty six yards a game on tackles for loss,
not including the sacks. So you know, if you can
continue with that kind of you know, production in those
(34:33):
stats as an offensive line, that will be like the
offensive line huge.
Speaker 4 (34:39):
Yeah. And one of those plays was the Jets suite,
which their defensive player made an unbelievable player and that
was minus five So even the the rest of the
place were not You're talking about one yard or less average.
So they had a look. They had a great game,
and whatever we did this year, they fire off all
(34:59):
run play. It's like I haven't seen in a long time.
They were legitimately creating a new line of scrimmage. And
when you can do that on the old line, and
they're gonna have to do it this week, and they're
gonna have to continue to do it all season because
we're gonna have to rely on them a lot. If
they were able to do that, the great thing about
that is it also makes the past game easier because
now if you can get three four yards on first
(35:21):
down and second down the the that's the greatest thing
for the past game for not only for the court,
but also for the old line.
Speaker 1 (35:28):
Yeah, because you know the other guy has to respect
every time you run fake.
Speaker 2 (35:35):
You know you have to.
Speaker 1 (35:36):
You know that was certainly not the case last year
where they could have that kind of.
Speaker 2 (35:43):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (35:43):
Van, thank you as always. Well, we'll talk on get
back to Monday next week, but we will see you then.
Enjoy all the football. NFL starts on Thursday. Who's your
team the Bears?
Speaker 4 (35:55):
I am? I guess it would be the Bears. I'm
more of a player guy, all right, but yes, I
have to cheer for the team that gave me an opportunity.
So yes, I guess I'm gonna be at Bears.
Speaker 1 (36:07):
Yeah, well we're in the same boat there. I go
back to Gail Sayers, my first favorite player got me
on the Bears. So Bears and Bengals for me. Awesome, awesome, Van,
talk to you next week. Thank you, Thank you at
V Styles seventeen for Van Hiles's coming to us on
our shuffle being called a Monday morning quarterback edition of
The Leach Report Quick Break and right back for our
(36:30):
final second Can you believe it's already been four months
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made with Kentucky grown hemp. Corn Bread Hemp, This is
the Good Life. Kentucky Men's soccer and UCLA played to
a zero zero draw last night, so Kentucky now two
to zero to one on the season, and TCU hammered
North Carolina in Bill Belichick's debut with the Tar Heels
forty eight to fourteen. The stay Wildcat History is the
(37:35):
service of Kentucky road Show sports cards and memorabilia. They're
on Romedy Road at Lexington That at Roadshowcards dot Com.
Eight off Rupp the coaching legend full of Wildcats born
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and we encourage it to encourage you to make it
(37:56):
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You can order some product there and find out more
(38:16):
about the company and the commitment to excellence at Shufflebean Coffee.
That will do it for us. We will see you
tomorrow on the Leach Report, Presented by Bob Kat Enterprises
This podcast of the Leach Report is presented by Boone's
Butcher Shop in Barnestown at one hundred Old Bloomfield Pike,
family owned and operated since nineteen forty six, with fresh
meat cut on site daily. Boons Butcher Shop. Good day, everybody.
It is the Leech Report. After a holiday break on
(00:21):
Monday for Labor Day, I hope it was an enjoyable
one for all of you guys, and we are back
at it today. A little schedule adjustment. The Monday Morning
Quarterback will be the Tuesday morning Quarterback edition of the show,
with Van Hiles joining us here shortly and eager to
get his take on all the elements that defined Kentucky
(00:42):
season opening, and went over Toledo look ahead of the
matchup with the Old Miss Rebels coming up on Saturday.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
That's the agenda for today.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
Wildcat News of the Day is the service of Giuseppees
of Lexington, and Monday is media day for Mark Stoops
the news conference at noon the radio show last night,
he said that he still believes in Zach Calzada at quarterback,
even after a rough opener in which Kentucky managed only
eighty five passing yards. He thought that Calsata was pressing,
(01:15):
and I think there's a lot of truth to that
because you look at how well he threw the ball.
On that opening drive, he dropped in a third and
seven pass to Macklin that was very well thrown ball
in between defenders. Then he threw the long pass down
the sideline where Hester went up and seemingly made a
fantastic catch, and then on review it was ruled out
(01:39):
of bounds, but still the ball was in a right
where it needed to be to give his guy a chance.
And then things got squarely. Katz had a run of
three consecutive possessions where you had an interception where there
was a blitzer that came clean into the face of
Calzada released the ball, think it got tipped and picked off.
(02:02):
And then the next series Kentucky gets a goal line stand,
but on the first play afterward he makes a bad
read and it leads to a safety. And then the
next series he gets him in on the plus side
of the field, hits Willie Rodriguez on a crossing route
(02:22):
and Willy runs I think it'll be in a twenty
three yard game, and then fumbles them all away at
the end of it. So three consecutive sour possessions. Therefore,
Kentucky and Calzada didn't seem like ever really threw the
ball as well after that. But adversity's going to happen.
Got to figure out a way to work through it,
(02:44):
not just him, but everybody on Saturday on the offensive side.
So that's the challenge for this week against obviously a
much better Ole Miss team which routed Georgia State in
its opener. Cole Kuberlick does his weekly team by team breakdowns.
He's the SEC network analyst and works with Tom Hart
Jordan Rodgers and always look forward to seeing those, and
(03:06):
you scroll down look for the team that you followed
and just get a little thumbnail sketch of his thoughts
on the game, because you know, he's a guy that
knows what he's looking at. And he said, the good
news is in summary, the good news is what I
saw the indicators, what I think they want to get
back to, and what they want to be. And I
think that pretty well sums it up. They want, first
(03:29):
and foremost, I think, to be a more physical team
on both sides of the ball, and they were on Saturday.
They want the kicking game to be solid. They obviously
have to throw the ball better. You don't have to
be a great passing team, but you have to be
better than they were on Saturday. So that will be
what I think everybody's focused on and what we'll be
talking about. A good bit with a Van when we
(03:49):
get started here a moment. Ole Miss is an early
ten and a half point favorite for the rematch from
last season, when Kentucky went on the road and beat
a sixth ranked ole Miss team. The last four games
in this series have been decided by a total margin
of ten points, so a lot of close games. Status
of Jamerion Wilcox remains unchanged, Stoops said yesterday at the
(04:10):
news conference. The violation of team rules that had Wilcox
out for the opener keeps him out for now. According
to coach Stoops, when we come back, we will check
in with Van Hiles and get his take on Kentucky's
win over Toledo and look ahead to the matchup with
ole Miss. It's Football Week in Lexington. The two hundred
(04:33):
and fiftieth celebration of the City of Lexington is underway
all year long and this week is football Week. So
here in Lexington, the big celebration is on. Gonna be
events each night with the presented by the Lex two
fifty Lex Commission and brain Box Marketing. There's gonna be
a chance to win tickets to the game. Saturday, we're
(04:55):
gonna have a showing of Friday Night Lights at the
Kentucky Theater. They're gonna be trivia Nights, and then they're
going to announce some various categories to celebrate the history
of football in Lexington. Today, you'll see a list of
the top ten high school coaches of all time in Lexington.
Later on in the week, the most memorable UK home
(05:17):
games of all time, and then later on the top
twenty five players of all time. They did this for
the sport of basketball back in the winter. Gonna come
right back and visit with Van Hiles. It's the Leech
Report and we're presented by Bobcat Enterprises.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
We'll be right back.
Speaker 1 (05:39):
It's the Leach Report. Neglected to Mension in our opening
segment of Wildcad News is presented by Giuseppes of Lexington
on Nicholasville Road, just out past Battle War.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
Make sure you get to open tables soon.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
Make a reservation for a special night out at Giuseppes
around a UK game or a trip to Keenland, or
just to celebrate a special occasion. Fantastic food, full wine
and bourbon selections and a really special ambience, especially if
you sit in the lounge area and enjoy that live
jazz music to accompany your meal at Jiseepi's of Lexington,
(06:13):
Kentucky and Ole, Miss coming up at three point thirty
Eastern on Saturday. After the Wildcats won their opener over
Toledo despite throwing for just eighty five yards, Here's what
Zach Calzada said after the game about the poor passing numbers.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
We just got to go back and watch the film.
Speaker 3 (06:31):
But you know, we were hitting really well in camp,
and you know, I think we just missed a couple
of those by fractions. I got to give them better passes,
give him a chance to go make a play. I mean,
the message to the team is simply, we.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
Got to get better. We will get better.
Speaker 3 (06:41):
So I'm excited to go back to practice with these
guys and see what we do next Saturday.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
We welcome in Van Hiles to the program for our
Shuffle being Coffee Monday Morning Quarterback edition of the Show
at V style seventeen to see his cutups.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
Each week on the game.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
Kind of we look for those like we look for
the Cole cuberlick comment I was talking about in the
opening segment, and Van will talk about Calzada the passing
game specifically at a minute, But first, just your overview
on what you saw Saturday.
Speaker 4 (07:10):
So that's that's tough. My My initial thoughts during the
game were not good at all. I think I felt
like the majority of the fan base, uh it was
it was uninspired product on the field offensively for us.
But then I watched, I sat back, got cleaned their
(07:33):
eyes and looked at it, and I just honestly believed
it was a situation of of players not being comfortable.
I guess primarily Zach with the operation and and everything
is fine Monday through Friday when you when you go
into practice, but how is everybody going to react on
game day playing against a new color jersey? And I
(07:56):
think that was an issue. And there were some things
that happened in the game that prevented us from getting
the rhythm. So then after I was like, well, there's
a lot of areas to improve on, and the great
thing about not playing your best is you get the
w So now we got a lot of film, a
lot of chance to correct things, and hopefully the biggest
(08:17):
improvement is used for week one of week two. I
hope that we improve as much as we have to
be successful this weekend.
Speaker 1 (08:26):
You know, I've made the comment in the opening segment
that it looked like Zach threw the ball really well
in that first drive and a couple of nice throws
to Macklin and Hester. Then they had the interception, they
had the safety, and then he hits Rodriguez for another
nice game, but it ends with a fumble, and from
(08:46):
that point on he never really threw the ball very well.
So it certainly jives with what Stoop said about pressing
or got in his head. Whatever you want to say.
You gotta fight through that because he's gonna be adversity
in this. But I don't know what what if you
were coaching him as a quarterback you've coached before, what
(09:07):
would you tell him?
Speaker 4 (09:09):
I would tell him to to rely and relax, rely
on the other teammates you have. I think he got
I don't know this. This is so I hate saying
this from a former player because you don't know and
and the narratives can get out and then they can
be a negative thing. I just think he pressed too much,
and I think the noise surrounding the facility after four
(09:33):
the next season and the execution of the offense last year,
I think he tried to be too perfect, and after
things didn't go well, I think he tried to get
even more perfect and instead of just playing a game
how he has played before. The guy has played many
snaps before, he has many reps, he started many games
like he just needs to rely on his experience and
(09:53):
not press. I think that he got that out of
his system, and I think next week he's gonna be
much better than you was this week.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
What did you see in the receivers, Because going in
when they unveil the depth chart for week one, you
had nine guys listed and a whole bunch of mores
So and everything Bush Hampden had said leading up to
the start of the season was that nobody had really
separated from the pack, and that certainly continued on Saturday.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
So what did you see if the of the wide receivers.
Speaker 4 (10:27):
I think that's exactly what you saw, is that there
was no one that for me, as a former quarterback.
Sometimes when things are not going well, you want to
have a guy that can make it easy for you,
that you trust is gonna always be open, regardless of
what the players call. And when you don't have that guy,
now you are searching. And I think that was the
(10:49):
case in this game when things didn't go well. He
was searching because the I al would say the best
receiver on the team with the tight ends, and sometimes
tight ends are not going to get as open as
you like because they in the middle of field. There's
a lot of congestion with linebackers and safeties in the
middle of field. When you have to rely on tiers,
sometimes it can be an issue. We need a guy
(11:09):
on the perimeter to be a guy that's dependable when
things are not going well, like we had one day
Robinson a few years ago.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
And the backs maybe could help out in that area
a little bit, right mcgallan, Daldell.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
They're supposed to be good pass catchers, and.
Speaker 4 (11:26):
There were situations where we could have gotten them the
ball last game. And that's why that's why film is great,
because now you can say, okay, man, I wish I
would have given them a chance because I kind of
pressed for shooting the ball, maybe that I didn't have
to pass and just dump it off to a guy
who could maybe get us two three yards. Because when
you stay ahead of the change, it makes it easy
(11:47):
for Bush Hampton to call the next play when it's
second and seventh and not second and ten.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
Chat with Van Hiles on our shuffle being coffee Monday morning,
Quarterback edition of The Leacher Report, and we'll take a
break back and continue this gosh in here from the
Clark's Pumping Shop studio. Return, refresh and refuel at Clark's.
Speaker 3 (12:06):
He said it before the game, he'll keep running the bay,
keep running the bay, Hit three, get four, hitting then
in the right place.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
And he finally just came how big? How big was
that hole?
Speaker 4 (12:15):
And how big did your eyes get when you saw
that open the spains?
Speaker 2 (12:18):
Oh yeah, it was a big odds How was b like?
Speaker 1 (12:21):
I gotta go? That was Dante Dowdell, the Nebraska transfer.
In two seasons of college football, he had scored thirteen
touchdowns and the longest run for any of those touchdowns
was thirteen yards, most of them single digit numbers, and
he broke off that one for seventy nine yards to
(12:41):
break the game open on Saturday. And if you go
to at V Style seventeen and you have seen the
reviews of our man Van Hiles, you know he sent
out an apology to Dante Dadell of sorts.
Speaker 4 (12:57):
Yeah, I'm I was unaware. I totally out of all
the things I saw from him on film, Like you said,
thirteen yards, I haven't seen that burst. I don't know
if if we need to credit ouse print the conditioning
program or what. Because I'm serious. When he broke the
line of scrimmage, it was a great call, great execution
(13:20):
of a play. Again, highlight the most important thing. It's
great execution of the play, because sometimes coach calls a
great play, they don't execute, it doesn't look good. It
was a great execution of the play. When he broke
the line of scrimmage, I said, he's gonna get ran down.
I said it. I'm about wow, it's a great play.
But he's gonna get ran down or we're gonna have
(13:41):
to snap the ball. I'm like, oh, we're gonna get
a field goal, We're gonna have to sell a for
a field goal, or we're gonna really get a touchdown
at this drive. And when he separated from the defensive backs,
and I don't care if you D one, D two,
D three. All defensive backs on all levels, the majority
of us can run. And when no one closed on
him at all, I'm like, man, I was not aware
(14:04):
you had Will's like that, Dante, I apologize.
Speaker 1 (14:08):
Yeah, I mean he was impressive. There was one of
the offensive linemen, I can't remember which one. Tony Neely
from Communications told us the story after the game, but
there's one of the offensive linemen said that Daldell runs
like he's angry at the ground. So it's great to
have that power, but if you've got a little burst
(14:29):
like that, it makes you a dangerous.
Speaker 4 (14:32):
Man that there are I mean, you go to the
recent things that people have recently heard of, like Derrek Ganry.
Derek Garry has that kind of ability. Is you are
hard to bring down because you're a big, paul strong,
massive young man, but then you can run away for people.
(14:53):
So as a defensive back, those are the worst ones
because when you come into tackle, I just know that
you're just not going to run over me and try
to truck me down the field When you can run
around me and buy me. That's a double ass sword
that we as DBS do not like at all.
Speaker 1 (15:11):
If you are looking at that game on Saturday, the
passing game is what generators became the biggest talking point.
But Kentucky did check a lot of boxes of things
I wanted to improve on. I wanted to develop an
identity for and you're being physical and running the ball
(15:32):
was right at the top of that list. And it
looks like they have two guys in Daldell and McGowan
that are going to be as good as advertised, and
an offensive line that is much improved.
Speaker 4 (15:43):
No doubt about it. And I don't think I know
that we could have seen a little bit more everything
at a AM I being maybe a better perception if
we didn't have three straight drives of not getting plays
out of it. When you have a drive or one
play and a driver or two plays where you have turnovers,
(16:04):
you are potentially leaving eight to ten or fifteen plays
out there on the field that can That is a
chance for the offensive coordinator to show what this offense
can do maybe in the runner in the past and
those and those three series back, those three turnovers in
a row was detrimental for this offense rhythm and we
never got back in that rhythm because, like you said earlier,
the first two drives, it was something that, Okay, I
(16:27):
see what we're doing, but then we got stalled in
those turnovers. Now you lose chances to progress and see
what this offense can be from not only from a
fans then, but from my office of coordinator standpoint. And
we cannot shoot ourselves in the footlight that this week
or we're gonna get ran out of the stadium.
Speaker 1 (16:45):
One thing they've got to do this week is when
they get somewhere around the forty, is to make sure
they get points out of those opportunities. They had the
one turnover with Rodriguez, the other drives installed a couple
of times they punted, and I know Stoops talked about
that on the radio show last night, that that's exactly
(17:07):
what they needed to do because they were, you know,
winning the field position battle. They can't Tiledo wasn't moving
the ball on their defense, So you don't want to
risk a guy kicking, sending him out there for his
first or second field goal of his career, and if
he misses, they get the ball to forty. Instead, they
were living inside their own fifteen or twenty yard line.
Speaker 4 (17:26):
Yeah, that's it is. It is a tough decision for
a coach when things are not going well for y'all offensively,
Do I chance it? Because all it takes on defense
and it's unfortunate light Just that's like on win on offense,
one bad play and it's a touchdown. And when your
defense is rolling, if you got one bad play, making
(17:48):
one bad play where it's a thirty yard game, but
now they're on the forty yard line and not only
minus ten. So I think that would for me as
a former player defensive player also play offense though, but
I think that's a smart decision when you only in
a one to two a possession game, is to keep
them on their side of feel as long as you can.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
We're chat with Van Hiles. It's our Shuffle being coffee
Monday morning quarterback edition of The Leacher Report. Our show's
presented each day by Bobcat Enterprises and they have four
locations around the state, so google them when you need
to buy or rent heavy equipment. That's where you need
to go. Bobcat Enterprises that take great care of you.
Speaker 2 (18:25):
We'll be right back.
Speaker 1 (18:31):
It's the Leacher Report and we come to you from
the Clark's Pumping Shop studio. Return Refresh and refuel at
Clark's Gori Switch s Gears Down, talk a little bit
about the defensive side of the ball with Van Hiles
and Van is with us for our shuffle being Coffee
Monday Morning Quarterback shows the Tuesday edition this week, and
we are going to hear here from linebacker Alex Safari,
(18:54):
who had a career high thirteen tackles. But in this
bite he's talking about one of his he mates that
impressed mister Hyles.
Speaker 2 (19:03):
No, Steven So did a great job today. You know
he could be a huge weapon.
Speaker 3 (19:07):
His get off and his motor his ridiculous and I
feel like he's going to help out our team in
a big way this year's him his pastor is along.
Speaker 1 (19:16):
So what do you think about steven Soul's opening gay performers,
Van Hiles.
Speaker 4 (19:23):
It's probably one of the best coming out parties that
we'll had since Grove Street Party and the Kick Out
a few years ago. Man, I'm I am so impressed,
And maybe I'm more impressed because I know things were said,
but I didn't hear any growing reviews about Steven So individually.
(19:46):
During fall camp, and what he showed on Saturday is
something we haven't seen in a long time, hits, and
it's not about the results for me, it's about his
effort and energy level. It never went down the entire
game and that's something that is a quality that is
going to help him get to the next level because
(20:09):
you cannot take plays off. You cannot take a play
or two for granted, and that guy did. He did
no wrong. He was great in past coverage. He was
a raw on on their old line. He caused force formbals,
he had sacks. What else can you do at that position?
He was unbelievably amazing.
Speaker 1 (20:31):
They list him as an outside linebacker six five, and
but when you see him lined up in those third
down pass rush packages, he's lined up like a defensive end.
Now he can drop out play pass coverage, which he
did once, but he is a terror for tackles and
in the same way, a little bit like an undersized Randall.
(20:54):
Cobb did things that between the tackles offensively, you wouldn't
think he'd be able to do Souls does things between
the tackles defensively, you wouldn't think he'd be able to
do it.
Speaker 4 (21:04):
That size Yeah, it's it's leverage. He plays to his strengths.
He is I'm not sure he's unorthodox, but his technique
is great for a guy who's undersize what he did now.
And I know I'm getting too excited about one game,
but this is not just one game. And that's what's
(21:26):
so great about this is he shows burst of that
last season and to see him continue that that progression
is why he plays so well. Man. It's something about
just having that energy in that motor that is so
great to see for players, is that no matter what happens,
(21:47):
he's gonna find a way to make an impact.
Speaker 1 (21:50):
I was impressed by the push they got in the
middle or defensive line. They seem to bother the quarterback
by getting into his face, and that's a big help
if you have the personnel to do that.
Speaker 4 (22:03):
And we heard a certain thing that coach Stuke said
that perked my ears up. Was they were twitchy and
they are great at the get off and when a
ball is snapped, there are a lot of times since
the offensive players knows the snap count, they have an
inherent advantage. It didn't look like that on Saturday. It
(22:23):
looked like we was in a huddle, and we knew
when they was gonna snap the ball because consistently, on
pass plays and running plays, we were on their side
of the line of scrimmage and creating a new line
of scrimmage on their side of the field consistently. And
when you could do that, it allows a linebacker like
an Alex Safari, like a Trevor Wallace in the past,
where when you're not the biggest and when you have
(22:45):
speed and quickness, it allows those old linemen to not
get up on the linebacker's feet and when they can
stay clean, you have a game like Alex had because
you're not successful a linebacker off the front four doing
their jobs.
Speaker 2 (22:58):
McKeith.
Speaker 1 (22:59):
Humphrey Grays got injured, had an ankle issue in the
some point in the first half, so he really was
not much of an impact guy in this game. Hopefully
he gets back next week because to what you're talking
about in our visit before the game and prepping for
our broadcast with Brad White, he said that Humphrey Grace
has an amazing first two steps off the ball and
(23:23):
cause his problems for tackles that way. The other thing
he said, and you'll get a kick out of this
from you know, playing at the high college level and
the NFL and coaching kids and things. He said, he
takes the best notes of anybody on the defense.
Speaker 4 (23:39):
Wow, that's that man. That's interesting, especially at this level
because I don't be honest with you, I didn't take
notes in college. I didn't take notes until I got
to the pros because I just thought I could remember everything.
So for him to do that now it shows. And
you know what, since you said that, it's interesting that
it showed. The product on the field. That defense on
(24:03):
Saturday was so business like. They played button up professionally.
They didn't take anything for granted for the most part,
and definitely the first three quarters, they were where they
were supposed to be when they are supposed to be there.
And when you do that, everybody handles their responsibility. That's
how you get a team in the first three quarters
(24:26):
with one hundred and some couple of yards because you
ramp down on your job and if a guy is
writing down everything the coaches tell them and how to improve,
that showed on Saturday.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
They're facing a much different level of challenge on Saturday
in Old miss who they play obviously very fast, score
a lot of points and Kentucky held them to seventeen
last year and did a tremendous job down at at Oxford.
So what did you see on Saturday in terms of
(24:59):
any area is where they need to improve or show
up before they face the Rebels.
Speaker 4 (25:04):
We definitely to show up on the back end. The
secondary has to play. It's just like last year we
had to shore up the back end before that game
and they played their best game of the season. They're
gonna have to do the same thing this year. The
only thing that's different this year is if that front
four can put that push and that pressure on a
first season starter in his first row game in SEC
(25:27):
if they can rattle him early, which is gonna be
hard because the kid is a very good quarterback. If
they can rattle him early, that gives us our best
chance to win because they have some talent on the
perimeter that's gonna be hard to harness and prevent them
from being successful on a lot of plays. We got
to prevent the deep, the explosive plays, the big plays.
(25:50):
We can do that like we did last year. We
can't frustrate them like we frustrated the New York Giants.
Speaker 2 (25:56):
Future quarterback yeah, Jackson Dark last season.
Speaker 1 (25:59):
That's right, quick break here, will come back, continue our
visit with Van Hiles. It's at V Style seventeen on
X and you can catch the locker also with Van
and his former teammate Anthony White and when and where
on that sixteen away from the top of the hour
(26:20):
Leach Reports presented each day by Bobcat Enterprises, and we
are chatting with Van Hiles at V Style seventeen on
X and then the locker Van that's on Wednesday nights.
You and your former Wildcat teammate Anthony White win and
Where for the.
Speaker 4 (26:36):
Lockers Wednesdays at nine pm Eastern Standard Time on all
social media platforms Twitter, YouTube. We are on the tickets
in the Fox sometimes so you can check that out.
It's a fun watch. I'm biased, but I think it's
a good time. You you get the perspective of two
(26:59):
former Okay football players like we were both in the
locker room chopping it up.
Speaker 1 (27:04):
There you go, and it's it is a great watch.
So check that out on Wednesday night at nine for
the breakdown on week one and looking ahead to the
matchup of Week two. One thing I got a kick
out of seeing was their short yardage package on Saturday,
they were four out of five when it was third
(27:25):
and three or less. And I'm not sure what they
define as third and short, maybe one third and one
third and two. Anyway, their SATs the team stats they
were four for four, so either way, very effective in
an area where they didn't do well last season. And
what they ran out there was their starting offensive line.
(27:45):
Then they'd bring in Malachi Wood and set him up
as the tight end on the left side at three
twenty eight. So you have a sixth offensive lineman as
a tight end. Right behind him a step off the
line is a Boyer at the two sixty five. Then
on the other side you have Willie Rodriguez at two
fifty two. Then you line up Catus as a full
(28:07):
back at two forty seven. Both of your running backs
are uh north of two hundred now they's two twenty seven.
So I did the math on this. It's thirty one
fifty three, one hundred and fifty pounds of football trying
to get a third and short situation. I like the
(28:27):
use of personnel there.
Speaker 4 (28:30):
That's hey, when you have them on the team, you
better use them, and is not That's the reason why
we got Bowyer. And the great thing about it is
for for that is you have Willy Rod, really Rod
on the back on the back end where the defense
has to respect that backs that have to respect the
potential of a waggle of some boot to him to
(28:50):
get those yards too. So those guys on the back
end came cannot just run across the line of scrimmers
and run across the ball to try to stop all
of that of energy on that left side. They someone's
got to stay home. So that's a great use of
the beefs that you have on your side of the ball.
Speaker 1 (29:08):
And with Willie and Cattis, I think those are the
two best pass receivers of the tight end group.
Speaker 2 (29:14):
But Boyer's better.
Speaker 1 (29:16):
Than what we were lived to believe on the scouting
report coming from Illinois. They just didn't use him. He
catches the ball well, so you'll see him, you know,
at some point I think make a big play or
two from that spot, and maybe it's gonna be like that,
you know ninety nineteen with James Whalen, where the tight
end will be the quarterback's best friend.
Speaker 4 (29:35):
It's gonna have to be at this point, I think
your best matchup problems for the opponent is Will Rodd
and potential Bowyer in the red zone. When you're at
that size and that big is a power forward posting
up on the block, you just throw it up, allow
him in good position and he can come down with
(29:55):
the ball. I think right now that the tight ends
after game one is probably the most consistent matchup problem,
and we kind of exploited that this week. I think
we can even do more with that. I think that
fumble by Will Rodd might have kind of stopped that
steam a little bit, But I think we should use
them and we can use them through a through through
(30:18):
our advantage for the rest of the season for sure.
Speaker 1 (30:22):
Yeah, it's about getting some favorable matchups. And you know,
you like those guys against linebackers. You will he in
particular looks like an NFL tight end, doesn't he.
Speaker 4 (30:33):
I like that matchup against safetyes in linebackers. He definitely
looks like the modern day, current NFL tight end. And
I would say this, and that's Catas looks like the
modern day h back. So put him in motion, get
him on, get him on some kickoff blocks. Then you
have Will Rod who's more of that. Travis Kelcey Kyle
(30:55):
fits type of tight end. We have it, we have
to use it. And I'll say this after week one,
when your tight ends have half of the receptions, it's
a good and a bad thing. It's good for them,
but then it's bad for those wide receivers who are
not getting more more targets and more catches.
Speaker 1 (31:13):
I think coming out of the first game, you have
to like the way they ran the ball, you like
the way they stop the run. Kicking games really solid.
We were talking about the field goals earlier. I think
probably in a game like this, you might be more
inclined to take that chance with a field goal, especially
(31:33):
since you got Colway a kick that he made that.
You know, if you're when you're playing Toledo, you're ahead
from the start, you don't think they can, you know,
score a lot of points on you, and so you
don't want to give them that really good field position
to help them out. Ole Miss is the kind of
team that can score from anywhere, and they're generally You
(31:57):
kind of go into the game, I think probably figuring
you're gonna have to be at least in the In
the mid twenties, Kentucky got got to win with twenty
points last year, but that's hard to do against the Rebels.
So I think you might be more inclined to take
a shot with a field goal from a longer range
in a game like this. But point is, you've got that,
so you've got a lot of boxes checked that you
(32:18):
wanted to have as the coach. Now you just have
to get the passing game short up exactly.
Speaker 4 (32:24):
And and it's unfortunate that that is the outlook because
as we talked about earlier, the first two drives, the
passing game looked pretty good. You're right, and I'll say
the first all the way to the to the winniw
Rodriguez fumble, the passing game looked really really I guess solid,
(32:45):
like it's something that we can depend on when we
need it. And unfortunately, after that things the wheels kind
of fell off. So hopefully we can build off of
the first three drives and instead of the last three drives,
because for some reason we lost a little bit of
all rhythm. So the great thing is that we can
always rely on the run game, and that's what we
did in the second half. I think we scored two
(33:07):
all the five drives.
Speaker 1 (33:09):
Yeah, and it looked like at one point where I
don't know whether it was Bush with this way or
whether the head coach just said run the damn ball,
because they had, you know, a couple of series where
they took some shots and didn't hear I think they
had a key drop and then they came back out
and they had a drive where it was like a
(33:30):
I think it was a thirteen play drive and there
were twelve runs.
Speaker 4 (33:32):
Yep, yes, yes, And you know, it's tough as a
play caller because you were playing the percentages and you're
also looking at the other side of feel and seeing
what can they potentially call on this play and to
run twelve times, I think they ran like eleven times
in a row, nine times in a row. To run
(33:54):
eleven times in a row, it's very difficult because eventually
different coordinators's going to load the box and for us
to it'll be successful. It harkens back to twenty nineteen
and Lamb Bolden. Everybody knew what the play was gonna be.
It was You knew it was gonna be a run,
but you couldn't stop it, and that drives to Leo
had no chance to stop in the.
Speaker 1 (34:12):
Run and the Kentucky surrendered no sacks and there were
four tackles for loss, but for a minus ten yards.
I went back and looked at last year they averaged
losing thirty six yards a game on tackles for loss,
not including the sacks. So you know, if you can
continue with that kind of you know, production in those
(34:33):
stats as an offensive line, that will be like the
offensive line huge.
Speaker 4 (34:39):
Yeah. And one of those plays was the Jets suite,
which their defensive player made an unbelievable player and that
was minus five So even the the rest of the
place were not You're talking about one yard or less average.
So they had a look. They had a great game,
and whatever we did this year, they fire off all
(34:59):
run play. It's like I haven't seen in a long time.
They were legitimately creating a new line of scrimmage. And
when you can do that on the old line, and
they're gonna have to do it this week, and they're
gonna have to continue to do it all season because
we're gonna have to rely on them a lot. If
they were able to do that, the great thing about
that is it also makes the past game easier because
now if you can get three four yards on first
(35:21):
down and second down the the that's the greatest thing
for the past game for not only for the court,
but also for the old line.
Speaker 1 (35:28):
Yeah, because you know the other guy has to respect
every time you run fake.
Speaker 2 (35:35):
You know you have to.
Speaker 1 (35:36):
You know that was certainly not the case last year
where they could have that kind of.
Speaker 2 (35:43):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (35:43):
Van, thank you as always. Well, we'll talk on get
back to Monday next week, but we will see you then.
Enjoy all the football. NFL starts on Thursday. Who's your
team the Bears?
Speaker 4 (35:55):
I am? I guess it would be the Bears. I'm
more of a player guy, all right, but yes, I
have to cheer for the team that gave me an opportunity.
So yes, I guess I'm gonna be at Bears.
Speaker 1 (36:07):
Yeah, well we're in the same boat there. I go
back to Gail Sayers, my first favorite player got me
on the Bears. So Bears and Bengals for me. Awesome, awesome, Van,
talk to you next week. Thank you, Thank you at
V Styles seventeen for Van Hiles's coming to us on
our shuffle being called a Monday morning quarterback edition of
The Leach Report Quick Break and right back for our
(36:30):
final second Can you believe it's already been four months
since Cornbread Hemp launched their infused Seltzers. All the great
feedback they've heard from the listeners here to this show
is that they have three main qualities that everybody loves.
It's the feeling first of all, a lightlift that helps
you relax after a long day. It's the taste crisp,
(36:51):
refreshing and delicious. And number three, it's only thirty calories
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twenty percent off your first order if it's the infused
Seltzers or their gummies, the new cherry lime chill flavor
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(37:12):
made with Kentucky grown hemp. Corn Bread Hemp, This is
the Good Life. Kentucky Men's soccer and UCLA played to
a zero zero draw last night, so Kentucky now two
to zero to one on the season, and TCU hammered
North Carolina in Bill Belichick's debut with the Tar Heels
forty eight to fourteen. The stay Wildcat History is the
(37:35):
service of Kentucky road Show sports cards and memorabilia. They're
on Romedy Road at Lexington That at Roadshowcards dot Com.
Eight off Rupp the coaching legend full of Wildcats born
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That will do it for us. We will see you
tomorrow on the Leach Report, Presented by Bob Kat Enterprises
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