2025-09-29 - LEACH REPORT

It's the Monday Morning Quarterback Show with Van Hiles.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good day, everybody. It is the Leach Report presented by
Bobcat Enterprises and a rough Saturday night down in Columbia,
South Carolina for the Big Blue Nation as the game
Cocks defeat the Wildcats thirty five thirteen game that looked
a lot like the one last year in Lexington when
South Carolina won by a similar margin. And excuse me,

(00:24):
we will talk about that today with our man Van Hiles,
former Wildcat dB, and he joins us for our shuffle
being coffee Monday morning quarterback shows each Monday, and we
will get his I'm sure very frustrated take on his
alma mater's performance. And now the Wildcats move into a
brutal October at Georgia this Saturday, then an open date

(00:49):
and then home games against Texas and Tennessee. So three
teams right now, all ranked in the top twenty coming
up this month for the Wildcats. Wildcat News of the
Day is presented by Sepies of Lexington. Kentucky's second quarter
was just a disaster. Game was really over it at
that point. Four turnovers, the first three led to twenty

(01:11):
one South Carolina points, turning a ten to seven Kentucky
lead into a twenty eight to ten halftime deficit, and
Kentucky never really was able to threaten after that. South
Carolina's defensive line once again was dominant. Six sacks, ten
tackles for loss a total of ninety one negative yards

(01:32):
for the Kentucky offense in that game. One of the
few bright spots the running of Seth McGowan. He goes
over one hundred yards for the second game in a row.
Threw a ball into the stands after his first touchdown
and it hit the left shoulder of a fan who
turned out to be the grandfather of the South Carolina
quarterback Leonora Sellers, and McGowan apologized for that and went

(01:55):
to social media and did that yesterday and said he
would like to get in contact with the person who
was hit and so he can formally apologize in person.
So he has handled that the right way and he
is playing really well right now, really looks good running

(02:15):
the football. Got a little dinged up in the game.
There was a time we talked about it on the air.
It was kind of slightly limping off to the sidelines.
He was able to come back, but coach Stoop said
of the post game that he was not really back
to full strength when he was out there, so that
will be something to watch on the availability report this
week and hopefully it's nothing major for him. Kentucky opens

(02:38):
as a three touchdown underdog to Georgia and that game
will be at noon Saturday down between the Hedges. The
Reds are in. They made the Major League playoffs. Yesterday
they lost in Milwaukee after taking the first two games,
but the Mets lost at the Marlins, so they dropped
two out of three to the mar Arlands and that

(03:01):
enables the Reds to finish in a tie with the Mets,
and they had the tiebreaker. So the Reds are in
and they will play the Dodgers in Los Angeles on
Tuesday night, nine o'clock Eastern times. Starts going to be
on ESPN, and was really looking forward to Ryder Cup
weekend and then the European team just thoroughly dominated the
American team on Friday and Saturday. Saturday was just a

(03:24):
complete beat down. The crowd was shameful and its performance
as well, and especially as it was directed to Rory
McElroy and his wife. Some of that was better on
Sunday reportedly, and the play was much better and the
US actually was in a position to pull off a

(03:45):
miracle comeback, so it ended up being a more interesting
Sunday than it looked like it was going to be
if you were caught up in the ryder Cup. Thanks
to the stories that we talk about each day, you
can find those on the bud Light Leach Report page
at Tom Leachky dot com. We'll take a break, come
back chat with Van Leach Report's opening segment of Wildcaid
News always presented Byoseepes of Lexington. They're out of Nicholasville Road,

(04:09):
just past Mane Or Boulevard and get to open Table.
Make a reservation for a really special night out. Sit
in the lounge area. They've expanded. It is of a
couple of years ago and it's been a big hit
because it is so popular to sit and get the
fine food at Giuseppees and enjoy Dave Hall's live jazz
music while you enjoy your meal. So check that out.

(04:29):
The food is off the charts good at Giuseppees of Lexington.
We'll be right back on the Leach Report Radio Network.
It's the Leech Report coming to you from the Clark's
Pump and Shop Studio. Return refresh refuel at Clark's. Make
sure you sign up for their Loyalty rewards program too.
You see you can get some discounts when your refuel

(04:49):
and some good deals when you go inside their stores. Yesterday,
the Marlins completed the win over the Mets ford to
nothing that kept the Mets out of the playoffs, and
late in the game they were playing apparently, according to
this thing I see on social media, the theme song

(05:10):
from w k RP and Cincinnati for the Mets and
their fans as the Mets loss put the Reds into
the playoffs. So that's some creative taunting there from the Marlins.
I'm sure they'll have a little issue with that in
the from the Mets side in future years. We welcome
in Van Hiles to the program for our Shuffle being

(05:31):
Coffee Monday Morning Quarterback edition of The Leach Report. You
a baseball fan or a golf fan fan.

Speaker 2 (05:39):
I'm a golf fan. Baseball's like watching paint dry, although
although I am a lifelong fan and it's the first
time we haven't been the playoffs and forever I was
a big hol Day cruise and hunting a Bass fan,
so I just can't watch it.

Speaker 1 (06:00):
I understand you're not the only one that feels that way.
The golf I was really looking forward to the Ryder
Cup and I was able to watch a lot of
that on Saturday well, waiting for the game to start.
And the US performance was about as disappointing as the
Wildcats unfortunately.

Speaker 2 (06:17):
Well, at least they made a fearless comeback and they
all gave me a little hope. But they just dug
themselves too deep.

Speaker 1 (06:27):
And the Wildcats certainly did that in the second quarter.

Speaker 2 (06:30):
That was disastrous.

Speaker 1 (06:31):
I mean, Shannon and I were just talking off the air.
You know, you're sitting there at the early in the
second quarter. I was about to say the start, but
it's early in the second quarter and you're in You're
right where you want to be. I mean, South Carolina's
this special teams, Guru has his special teams. Have made
two horrendous mistakes. Kicked the ball out of bounds, gave
you great field position. Kentucky goes down, scores South Carolina answers,

(06:53):
but Kentucky's had ten to seven. South Carolina shanks a punt, Tucky,
he's got the ball at the forty, get a first down.
They've got first down around the forty seven forty eight
yard line, and they end up in the place they
didn't want to be against this team, which is third
and long. Yeah, And they run a stunt and Stewart
comes free and hits the quarterback and the ball pops

(07:16):
loose and South Carolina picks it up and runs it
in and then pick six and then another interception. So
three turnovers in a row that led to twenty one
points and the game was over at that point.

Speaker 2 (07:27):
Really yeah, I mean, if you really want to call
everything a turnover, they had five turnovers in a row.
They had a turnover on downs, They had a fumblood
in the game at the in the half. That is,
as I look at the stat sheet as they coached.
The one thing you don't want to see in the

(07:47):
stat sheet is red boxes for the a RESULTO drives.
We have five red boxes in a row with are turnovers.
You cannot win an SEC game with five turners in
a row. It's impossib It's impossible to give the ball away.
And then they have two of them be points, immediate
points for the opponent. It this ball game, Yeah, I.

Speaker 1 (08:09):
Mean, and you know it's even a team that can
score at a high level would have a great difficulty
winning under those circumstances. But Kentucky's not that team with
that kind of offensive production.

Speaker 2 (08:22):
Yet.

Speaker 1 (08:23):
Maybe they'll get significantly better over the course of this season.
But we got a young quarterback. But yeah, they they
are not built to come back from that kind of deficit.
And Cutter struggled, certainly, but there were times when he
got protection and could there was nobody open. What are
you seeing in terms of the passing game right now?

Speaker 2 (08:43):
But what I'm seeing is that for a young quarterback,
the pitcher is just not clear when a pass game
of the coach cannot scheme guys wide open all the
time in this conference, if a guy is a yad
away from a wide receiver, he is open. Like there
is no such thing as guys like that pass to

(09:05):
Willie Gonzales is not a typical pass play for a quarterback.
The windows are gonna be small, and they're gonna be
guys around the quarterback. I don't think Cutter is comfortable
letting the ball rip that was on the field goal plays,
there were two attempts or two options or opportunities to

(09:28):
make a play. Any decided not to throw the ball
and to run the ball. Those opportunities have to take.
We cannot not let it rip, especially with its own talent.
Let the ball rip and let your guys make plays
in open field. We're We're We're not Florida back in
the in the in the early two thousands, where guy's

(09:49):
gonna be wide open running across the field, nobody on them.
That's just not card. It's gonna happen. And he's got
to get comfortable, being uncomfortable and throwing certain passes, and
he's just not there yet.

Speaker 1 (10:00):
That come with the time.

Speaker 2 (10:02):
It comes with confidence, and it comes with experience. It
comes with also. The one big thing I learned in
my life is once you learn the scheme and also
learn what everybody else does on top of that and
learn how the defense or the offense can attack you,
now you can play with a little bit more confidence
and calm. He's not at that level where he understands

(10:23):
where everybody is. Like on one of those sacks, he
had a guy wide open come across the middle. If
he knows this, Manda, Man, sometimes I can't do what
the coach says to read this side of the field.
Sometimes you have to play football and understand the game
and understand where my best option is. If they're playing
Manda Man, he's not quite there yet.

Speaker 1 (10:44):
And to that point, I think back to a couple
of guys. One of them's on the staff now, maybe
can help him a little bit. As Mike Hartline, he
was understudied. The other guy I'm going to talk about
Andre Woodson. When Mike went in in two thousand and eight,
he had had two years as the understudy, and he
still struggled, and he actually lost the starting job, got

(11:06):
it back by the end of the year because of
an injury and played well in the Bowl game, and
then was becoming an outstanding quarterback in the next season
when he got hurt and became his twenty ten years
vastly underrated for how good he was in his last year.
And then Andre Woodson is the guy that struggled with

(11:26):
ball security issues and five he was losing, getting hit,
losing the ball, and going into six he had to
battle with Curtis Pulley to win the job. And I
know Rich Brooks told me he didn't know for sure
that Woodson was his guy until how he performed. Actually
in the season opening lost to Louisville, and he just
kept taking shots and getting up and making plays. And

(11:47):
he said that's when he knew Woodson was his guy,
and he became a great quarterback for his final two years.
So you know, in fairness to Cutter, you can get better.

Speaker 2 (11:56):
Yeah, there's two things. First of all, I would say this,
Mike our Line is one of the most unappreciated quarterbacks
in UK here story. I think he's the last quarterback
to pass of three thousand yards as I remember, so
he is so underrated. The concern is that is that
expectations are not where they were when Andre Wilson, Woolson

(12:18):
and Mike Hartline played. That's the big difference. And those
times the expectation went so high that you can give
a quarterback time. Now that expectations are we have to
be at a certain level, and there's a hot seat
from the fans, from the guy who's your CEO of
your team. That's the problem. There's there's no there's no

(12:40):
level or no time for us to say, oh, let's
just have a learning year for all quarterback and next
year we're gonna be fine. The coach doesn't have that time,
and the fans are not looking for for that kind
of season from this team. So that's the that's the
biggest difference, is that pressure and expectation on this team
and on the offense.

Speaker 1 (13:00):
You know exactly right about that. Van Hiles with us.
It is twenty two past the top of the hour.
It is the Leach Report. We're presented by Bobcat Enterprises.
They have four locations around Kentucky. When you need to
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They will have what you need and take great care
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(13:23):
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Van Hiles. We are back. It is the Shuffle being
Coffee Monday morning quarterback edition of the Leach Report. We're
chatting with Van Hiles. It's at V Style seventeen. If
you follow on x and on Wednesday nights at nine
Eastern time, you can catch him and his former teammate

(13:45):
Anthony White on the locker on YouTube and other podcast platforms,
and that I'm sure will be a fun session for
you guys on Wednesday.

Speaker 2 (13:54):
Van, I guarantee you this is not governed by sec
with your with your wife and kids to bed. Turn
it down low, make sure you have bluetooth headsets, because
I promise you there are gonna be some colorful words
that's gonna be said, and it's gonna be loud. So

(14:14):
turn it down load, put some headphones on and watch now.
I feel me sustend the time. It's going to be
a lively show. I promise you.

Speaker 1 (14:22):
The first damn break in that game was the strip
sack and scoop and scoring for South Carolina. And on
the third long they ran a stunt that was went
back and watched the TV cover yesterday and they were,
you know, focus actually talking about Stewart and uh they
you know how Kentucky was good at what they were
gonna do to try to keep him, uh contained in

(14:43):
that situation and they loop him around to come up
the middle. What was the breakdown there for Kentucky's offensive
line and or Cutter.

Speaker 2 (14:54):
Burton just just over committed to the linebacker blitzing a gap.
And the thing about it, this is what the difference
between those winning teams in these teams is the high
IQ football players we had in twenty eighteen to twenty
twenty one. And the thing about is situational football. You knew,

(15:18):
at least you should have known as a players thirty seven,
they are going to try to get their best player
a chance to make a play. And once you saw
those two guys the linebacker and the defensive tackle kind
of slapped away from to the boundary, you knew somebody
was looping around and we were unaware that we over

(15:39):
committed and they gave him a wide open lane to
make a play on Cutter. Now, the other things that
the quarterback you have to protect the ball with two hands,
and cut in that situation when he felt the contact
should have protected the ball. On top of that is
you had Pete with a clear chance of following the
ball if he doesn't. That was just that just showed

(16:01):
that this game probably wasn't for us. Like if you
really look back at I know, hindsight is twenty twenty
there are like three or four plays like, okay, those
things don't happen normally, and when it happened to us,
it's just snowball. And that is one of the plays
that should have been a clear indication that this might
not be all night.

Speaker 1 (16:21):
I was watching the play with Josh Pete. You know,
he goes to follow the ball and missed the ball. Look,
the more I watched it, I think I know what
he was thinking the ball. If you look at the ball,
it looks like the next bounce is gonna bounce where
he fell, and instead it just popped straight up and

(16:42):
maybe went the other direction. And at six eighty three
twenty two when that started leaning, it wasn't changing, no,
and so it looked bad. But I think I know
what he was saying.

Speaker 2 (16:55):
Yeah, that's it's an odd long shake ball. It's gonna
do things weird. Here's the crazy part about it is
that when he missed it, their defensive lineman cleanly scooped
it up. How many times have you seen a guy
it's a scoop like I mean, it was like it
was handed to him almost Like those are things that
we was back on its like, wow, that was a

(17:16):
clean pickup and there was nobody else there a basketball
with a clean pickup on a football. That was crazy.

Speaker 1 (17:23):
We're chat with Van Hiles. It's the shuffle being Covee
Monday Morning Quarterback Edition of the Leach Report, and we
are coming up in the Herd break at the bottom
of the hour, so we'll take that and continue the
conversation as the Wildcats look to bounce back and and
then just a fun time to be going down to
Georgia for a Georgia team that is looking to get
back on track after losing at home and seeing its

(17:45):
long winning streak in Sanford Stadium snapped by the Alabama
Crimson Tide. So we'll talk about all of that when
we return here on the Leech Report presented by Bobcat Enterprises.

Speaker 3 (17:56):
Honestly, I think the stars in practice, I think it
starts away from practice. And you know, one thing I'm
going to challenge myself and all of these guys to
do is to for addressing anybody else before speaking on
anybody else. Let's try to address the man in the
mirror first.

Speaker 4 (18:12):
And so.

Speaker 3 (18:15):
You know, I'm excited to see how the teams. I
think we're going to respond well to that. And you know,
ultimately I think that's what it is. I think there's
got to be eleven guys out there doing their job.

Speaker 1 (18:26):
That was seth mcgallan talking to reporters after Kentucky's loss
at South Carolina on Saturday night. It's our Chufflee Coffee
Monday Morning Quarterback edition of The Leacher Report with Van Hiles,
the former Wildcat and Bear's dB. So what do you
think about those comments from McGowan.

Speaker 2 (18:45):
There's no true statement that that is all what it
comes down to. It is the greatest team sport in
all the sports, but it also requires all eleven individuals
to do their job. If you don't do your job
and you don't learn your responsibilities, you're in trouble. The
game of football is about handling your job, winning your battle,

(19:06):
and on this level, it also requires you to do
things off the field that a lot of guys probably
don't want to do, which is watch film, which is
also to learn your scheme in and out, to learn
what you're what your other teammates are responsible for, which
is going to help you handle your responsibility. It's not
about talent anymore, for say, because everybody's talented. You're not

(19:28):
in high school where you're the best player on the
field all the time. They're the little things that are
in tangibles that you really have to lock into to
be successful on this level.

Speaker 1 (19:38):
There was a play on Saturday night where the same
thing happened last year, Kentucky had a perfect blitz drawn up,
drawn up. This time, Love it comes clear. I think
I thought it was Souls in real time, but it
was Loved. It's twenty five instead of thirty five. And
he comes clean and gets a shot on Sellers and
misses him, and Sellers turns it into a first down.

(19:59):
And I think it was early second quarter. And you know,
there are a few plays in a game like that
if it's going to be, hope, a close game, that
you're gonna need to make to be able to be
the team that comes out ahead. And Kentucky missed on
that one and a few others over the course of
the night. What are you seeing with the defense right now?
Is it, you know, guys trying to do too much?

Speaker 2 (20:22):
At times? I would say this, it is guys who
are not handling their responsibility. That first drive, their first
touchdown drive was a system failure by honestly one guy.
And this is and this is the crazy part about
that is that when I was watching it, I was wondering,

(20:43):
why was number nine a game. I'm not big on names.
I haven't connected names to the numbers that, but I'm like,
why is number nine a game earlier in the first quarter? Well,
I guess it's late in the first quarter, after the
second drive. And then when I look back at film, like, ah,
that's why. On that first job, it was one guy
that was consistently all the plays, and they made us

(21:05):
pay for it. We had a thirty seven and a
fourth and three and one guy made a mistake and
they got first downs. Like those are the kind of
things that you can't you just can't do. That's like
when Stef said that, it made sense. Look in the mirror, guys,
we have to look in the mirror and said, why
are we doing these things? I wish I knew as
a coach, I'm coaching kids. I wish I knew I'm

(21:26):
not coaching to do that. Why are you doing on
game day? If I had that answer, I'd probably be
a head coach in the NFL.

Speaker 1 (21:33):
Yeah, Because I mean, you're coaches talking about repping it.
You're going against those plays, and especially that read option
for sellers and it's third and one. You have to
know that that's an option. And he didn't run the
ball much at Missouri after be getting hurt against Vanderbilt.
But I know Jeff and I talked to Brad White.
He said, Oh, they'll run him tonight because they're they're desperate.

(21:55):
We know that he's going to run tonight. So I mean,
what like it? They were fooled by it?

Speaker 2 (22:00):
No, and they shouldn't have been. I mean, if you
really look at the game from not a fan's perspective,
just as I'm just looking at the game, and that's
not my favorite team. We dominated a line of scrimmage.
Their runner backs had nowhere to go. They were in
second and eight consistently all night. It wasn't that it
was the look. The difference in the game for me

(22:22):
as I look at it is that their quarterback was
way better than all quarterback and he helped their offensive line.
We had him dead the rights a few times, as
you mentioned earlier, and we just couldn't bring them down.
It was that and on defense for the couple drives
that we gave up. I know they scored thirty five points,
but they were not all on defense. For the couple
drives they had. It was God's being out of position

(22:43):
and in this defense, in any defense, you just can't
do that. And they're gonna make big plays, and that's
what happened. He just sustained drives with his legs and
we just could not bring them down.

Speaker 1 (22:55):
The big plays is what is killing Kentucky defensively. You
mentioned the defensive line. I guess and you study this
and know what you're looking at at more than the
rest of us. It seems to be a defensive line
maybe is the play and the best of any of
the position groups on that side of the ball.

Speaker 2 (23:10):
Would that be right easily? Is not even close? They
are they a saying they are the strength of the team.
They are the best position group of all the positions
on the team. They are the most consistent, They do
their job more than others. The mistakes they make are
EFRA mistakes like the thirty seven. If Steven Souls does

(23:32):
not fall down to get tripped, he's probably in a
position to narrow that lane and not allow Sellers to
go straight up the middle down the ass to get
the seven yards like things. Those guys are straining, they're
playing with effort, and they're playing smart. They are by
far the best position group on this team.

Speaker 1 (23:51):
We're talk with Van Hiles, former Wildcat dB. It's the
shuffle being coffee Monday morning quarterback edition of the Leach Report,
and we're gonna get to a break and come back
to of the discussion here on the Leach Report Radio Network.

Speaker 4 (24:04):
There's just knowing the guys I have around me, they
uplift me at all times. And knowing the team I
got around me, I'm never in doubt. We can beat
anybody any place, anywhere. We just got to put all
the pieces together.

Speaker 1 (24:16):
That was Cutter Bowley after the game. This is the
Leach Report presented by Bobcat Enterprises. We're chatting with Van
Hiles at V Style seventeen on X and don't forget
to catch him and Anthony White on the Locker Wednesday
nights at nine o'clock on YouTube and the other podcast platforms.
Van back to Kentucky's offensive issues right now. Third and

(24:39):
long was a bad spot for them in that second quarter,
a sack that led to the stripping of the football
and the scoop and score for South Carolina's second touchdown.
And then later it was third and long deep in
their own territory and Bully gets hit as he's throwing
it and so it basically turned into a punt for
the South Carolina defensive back to intercept. What can Kentucky

(25:04):
do at the moment until it can get more experience
and better, you know, better play it from its quarterback
to help him in third and long.

Speaker 2 (25:15):
Well, and we all got to help each other, like
the quarterback has to help the old line. On the
second interception, that was more on him than on the
old lineman. He had a clear lane to step up
and make that pass. That was actually if he does
if he does the things that I thought he did

(25:35):
earlier this season against Eastern Michigan, or why I felt
comfortable with him starting, is that ability to be calm
in the pocket and step up. That was one time
where he got flustered, I think from the first mistake
and he didn't step up into a clear pocket where
he could have made that throw. That guy's open if
he doesn't drift in the pocket. We have to help
each other. And he's at a level right now where

(25:57):
I think when there's a little bit of adverse he
might get a little tight. And that was a clear
indication of that play that I've seen him do it,
and he didn't do it on that play. It's something
that we have to get him more comfortable. I don't
know if that's ding hitches or whatever it is to
get him comfortable, but you have to take what the
defense gives you. And South Carolina was playing a little

(26:20):
more press man, a little bit more close to the
receivers where the hitch is not there. So now we
got to find ways to get him comfortable because he
seems like a company kid, and when you lose it,
things like that happens, starts to snowball, and the first
turnover I think started the avalanche and we could never
fight back from it.

Speaker 1 (26:39):
Yeah, we were talking about golf earlier. I know when
I'm playing golf, a lot of times one bad shot
turns into like ten bad shots, and yeah, you can
blow up around. Same thing I would think could happen
to a quarterback because I thought on the first interception
to pick six, that was the series. Right after the
strip sack, he missed high and selected off Law's hand.

(27:04):
And I thought, when I watched him against Louisville when
he probably was nervous last year, he was missing high early.
He's just gotta, you know, manage that, and it's yeah,
obviously a lot easier said than done, but you know,
you've got to manage that adversity and when you're in
that position, don't you bro And that was.

Speaker 2 (27:20):
A situation where his guy was opened. Like those are
things that you have to understand how that defense is
attacking you. Like that was a situation where he didn't
have to throw in a tight window and throw the
ball so hard. He could have thrown that ball a
little firm and led them and lad I think that
was Kendrick Law led him a little bit more across

(27:42):
the middle because there was nobody else there. So like
sometimes you have to also identify what throws uh uh
have needed for situations like that was a situation where
he did not have to throw the ball so for it.
Like those are things that he's gonna learn and he's
going to adapt in the future. Is that I know, Oh,
linebackers are coming. They're playing single high safety both guys, Amanda, man,

(28:05):
my guy beats him. I got to give him a chance.
And that's situay that he was trying to make the
perfect throw instead of making a good throw.

Speaker 1 (28:13):
You can watch vans cutups of key plays in the
game at v Style seventeen. It's a great way to
go back and as painful as it might be at
times to relive it certainly, you know, even after a victory,
to see where it could have been better. There was
one play early I know you mentioned where. And the
thing is in this level when you get a they

(28:33):
missed Macklin on a play late that would have been
a touchdow. You don't get a lot of those at
this level when you're playing in the SEC. So you've
got to be able to you know, when when the
pitcher misses, you got to make him pay most of
the time at least uh and you know, do something
with the you know, to hit the ball when early
in the game games. Maybe you on the first series

(28:55):
where they ended up scoring, but they did ah that
play where they bring Law in motion and pitch right
ahead to him and they had to play block perfectly
to be much bigger. As you pointed out.

Speaker 2 (29:05):
Personal, I mean, you have only one more guy to
be like if he stays outside like he's supposed to,
that is a touchdown. Here's here's the thing about like
plays like that is we can say, oh, we scored,
but the way you score matters. Like those two big
plays on defense, even though they scored the way they

(29:26):
scored mattered that that gave that that defense was really
if you really want to look at it, we drove
down the field once easily. Touchdown. We was driving down
the field, was first and goal on a nine yard line.
We was driving down a field again rather easily. Now,
I mean only we have to say a for a
field goal. Like those two plays gave that defense confidence

(29:46):
if we score on that jet suite. Can you imagine
the amount of confidence that that play gives the offense,
give the offensive coordinator because what happened is when you
have those turnovers. Now me is a coordinator, It's like, man, okay,
what place can call? Because now we turn the ball
over three times? I'm not sure what to call because
now I can't pass the ball because our quarterback is rattle.

(30:09):
They're coming to playing putt an eight mintal box for
where are the running lanes? Like? Those are the things
that kind of tie your hands. That play could have
been an explosive, huge play for us, and we didn't
take advantage of it.

Speaker 1 (30:20):
So those are the things I mean. This it looked awful.
It was awful, but it maybe even looked worse the
way it played out with all those turnovers. And the
easy short field touchdowns for South Carolina. The thing is
it is just one game, so you have to regroup,

(30:41):
but it is a brutal October coming up, starting with
the Dogs on Saturday.

Speaker 2 (30:46):
Yeah, and it doesn't help that they lost their home
to Alabama, but it just doesn't help. It doesn't help. Now,
the great thing about Georgia for US is Kirby Smart
is the coach and he's gonna play a certain way
that is Stile makes fights. That's the best style fight
for us. They are more talented, but if you look
in that style, that's the best style fight for US

(31:08):
to come out for this game. I'm not sure what
George is gonna do. Mike Bobo is probably in the
hot seat two. But it's gonna be interesting how that
game plays out with two teams that are coming off
of tough losses, Georgia at home and US on the road.
So let's see all these guys battle back today at practice.

(31:28):
If they come back refocused with energy, we'll see.

Speaker 1 (31:32):
Yeah, And to your point, I think the reason this
game a lot of hems plays that like it does
in the series is Georgia is more. You know, they're
not doing their quarterbacks not doing a lot of Reid option.
They're more of a conventional, you know, pro style kind
of attack, right, you know what.

Speaker 2 (31:50):
Exactly, and Kirby is not. Here's the thing with Kirby
is that, as they coach like himself is you're not
You're more talented than the team you're playing. The only
way you can get deep by that team is to
put yourself in bad situation like we did last week turnovers.
So he's not gonna put his quarterback in a situation
to allow us to get big plays and make and

(32:12):
maybe stem the tide and go ahead on them, because
that's not how he wants to play against a team
that he knows he can beat by just playing good football.
That's why you don't see them throwing the ball fifty
times on us, because they know that they're not gonna
get a in a harsh race with us on Saturday.
It's gonna be a methodical game and they're more talented.
He feels like he can win playing that way.

Speaker 1 (32:34):
Who's some guys or a guy that is playing better
than maybe it might look at the moment, or they
didn't get noticed for how well he's playing.

Speaker 2 (32:45):
Look David Gusta is a man. That whole defensive line
is playing really good football. From Saunders to Grace to
Owl's and Green, those guys are really playing. They are
really the foundation of that defense. Now we're going to
get our other linebacker to play as well as the

(33:05):
Farest plan and we're gonna be okay. But you cannot win.
You cannot. If you look at the game. If you
take out Sellers almost hundred yards of Russian, they add
less than one hundred yards of Russian from the running backs.
And that's what you have to do game in game
out is reduce the runs. And we have been doing
that game in the game out. That defensive line is

(33:28):
the star of this team easily.

Speaker 1 (33:32):
You played on a team that had a really rough
season in ninety four.

Speaker 2 (33:37):
YEP.

Speaker 1 (33:37):
When things aren't going well as players, especially if you're
older players on a team, what do you try to
do to keep it or get it back on the
right track.

Speaker 2 (33:48):
It goes back to seth. You have to look yourself
in the mirror. I'll say this as a captain who
had many of those. When you have a lot of meetings,
it's not a good thing. When I am a captain
and have to get in front of my peers and
say we got to do better. We have to be
more energetic, we have to prepare better, we have to

(34:08):
have more energy and focus on games. If I have
to tell you that as a peer, that's a problem
because that should be something that's in you when you
get to this level. That's something that should be a
common thing. We have to reiterate that to your teammates.
It's not a good thing at all.

Speaker 1 (34:28):
Van Hiles joins us every Monday for the Shuffle being
Coffee Monday Morning quarterback edition of The Leech Report, and
as always a pleasure and we will chat next Monday. Van,
thank you, Thank you at V Style seventeen on X
and again it's a great way to go back and
watch the game, even if it's painful, because you get

(34:50):
some great insight as you do here on the show
on Mondays from Van one last segment when we come back.
It is the Leach Report Network and we're presented by
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(37:00):
good life. Man Soccer Kentucky beat Coastal Carolina to nil yesterday.
Arkansas has fired coach Sam Pittman interim coach Bobby Petrino,
who had been the offensive coordinator. Take Kenny point Guard
played at Newport High School. Previously, he has committed to Kansas.
Says he committed to the Jayhawks over his other two

(37:22):
finals finalists, which were Arkansas and u of L. This
Day of Wildcat History presented by Kentucky Roadchhow Sports cards
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a roadshowcards dot com. And it is a big old
happy birthday to Jeff Shepherd, the nineteen ninety eight final
four MOP Happy birthday, Shep. That will do it for us.

(37:43):
We will see you tomorrow. On the Leech Report presented
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