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- [00:01]
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Matt Jones
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Caller
Lenovo.
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Matt Jones
Welcome everyone. It is the local toy dealers KSR post game show the Cats lose at home for the eighth straight year in the SEC home opener to Ole Miss, 30 to 23. You can give us a shout when we open up the phones here in just a little bit. 859-280-2287 Kentucky is now 2 and 11 in their last 13 SEC home games and it was a game that kind of played out exactly the way I thought it would, which was Kentucky. Well, except for the fact that Kentucky got out early after a couple of Ty Bryant interceptions. It kind of played out the way I thought it would in the sense of Kentucky was in the game throughout, was competitive throughout, but I never really felt like they were going to win the game or even were the better team. I give the team credit for being competitive against in a game where I think they were outplayed, but they were outplayed and it was frustrating. And I said in a social media post after the game, basically, and I think this is the best way to describe it in a lot of ways this game summarizes a great deal of the Mark Stoops era. And what I mean by that is at a program that's often not been competitive, Mark Stoops has created most years here a team that is competitive and can play these SEC schools and it be a competitive game. But with the exception of a couple years, a similar pattern emerges which is that they have a very good SEC defense. I'm not going to say elite, although they may have had an elite one a couple of years, but. But they don't this year and they don't in general, but it is good. I mean they have a defense that can play with most teams in the SEC and even though they gave up 30 points, I think against an Ole Miss offense that ran as many plays as they did yesterday, I mean I think you have to or excuse me, today you have to look at how many plays they ran before you look at the total points. The defense was com gave you a chance to win the game. That's been very similar to most Mark Stoops teams. The offense was inconsistent as most Mark Stoops offensive bid ran the ball I thought exceptionally well as most Mark Stoops offenses have and the passing game was anemic at times, a couple of good plays, but in general disappointing as most Mark Stoops passing attacks have been outside of, you know, maybe will Levis year the and then finally so you end up with as with most Stoops teams A good defense, a good running game, a not so good passing game, and then mistakes that take whatever chance you had to win the game and throw them away. Ole Miss was, was better than Kentucky. They outplayed us. We, you could make an argument. We were only in the game really because we got two interceptions and that allowed us to start inside Ole Miss 30 yard line. But the reality is we got two interceptions that allowed us to start inside Ole Miss 30 yard. You have a chance at that point. And once again, inconsistency, play calling, baffling play calling, and most frustratingly, just absolutely poor management cost you a chance to win the game. I'm not going to be breaking ground here. Talking about the end of the first half is the key, but the end of the first half was the key. It just was. I mean, you are in a game where it is 14 to 10, I believe. Is that the score at that point, Billy? Yeah, I think it's 14 to 10. And if you kick a field goal right there, you can make it 14 to 13. But more importantly, you can kind of get down off the mat after a second quarter where you were kind of run over and go into halftime and score and you get the ball back. I would like to know, in most games in the Mark Stoops era, I feel like we never, we always have first ball because if they win, they give it to us and if we win, we pick to take it, which is a terrible decision. But this time we actually had the ball to start the second half and just horrific end of game management. Let's start with the fact that you have no timeouts because of how horrific the management was up until that point. You call the timeout on fourth and what, two fourth and three at your own 40, which is not a time with the score tied at zero that you would think Stoops would go for it. He calls timeout. I think everyone in the stadium thinks, well, then he's going to go for it. And then he comes out and punts. Who calls timeout to punt? So there's one wasted then not once but twice during the regular play of the first half. They're not organized. Somebody's in the wrong place. In one case, the play comes in way late and they have to call timeout. So you have wasted three timeouts. So then when you get the ball with a minute left, let's be clear, first of all, Billy, they were trying to run out the clock. They just got lucky and McGowan broke one. They weren't trying to score right There, but they broke one. Had a chance, but you had. Now you have no timeouts because of your mistakes. Still. Yet because of two good runs, you are in field goal range. It is third down, you have a chance to go from what would be a long field goal to a very makeable field goal. Because it looks like our kicker's pretty good. I understand they're going to throw. That's a good decision because if you don't get the first down, you know, if it's incomplete, you can. The clock stops, you'll have a chance to get a kick instead. The play. I don't know if the plays late, if guys are in the wrong place, everyone is looking around and they let the play clock run out, which gets you a penalty and takes you out of field goal range. That's just malpractice. That's not just bad, that's malpractice because that's the only thing you cannot do. You cannot take a sack and you cannot get a penalty. And not only did we get a. Excuse me, not. You can't get a delay of game. We get a delay of game. And then just for good measure, on the next play, get the other thing you can't do, which is a holding. We get them both. Nice. A one, two punch. Of the two things you can't do in that situation, we do them both. Well done. It's so bad, the announcers are opening, openly mocking us. And I can't blame them. Sean McDonough, who's not exactly known as a jokester, says Kentucky will get the ball in the second half or. But maybe they'll defer. I mean, that is basically a joke to say these folks don't know what they're doing. Greg McElroy, who I think really likes Mark Stoops, was in. In the nicest way possible saying, what in the world is going on with these guys? It was a disaster. And when it was over, Stoop said it was unacceptable. I appreciate that, but I've heard him say that for 10 years, which goes back to my. This game is a symbol of a lot of Stoops era. How many games have I sat here waiting for this postgame to show to start. Listen to Tom interview Mark Stoops and heard him say something was unacceptable and they were going to have to fix it. Then it happens again and again and again. It's just how it is at this point. Like, this is what it is. And I think it's frustrating to people. And the problem is after what is this? Is this year 11 for Stoops. 13. 13. Sorry. After 13 years, fans. You know, I think fans can understand if we don't have the talent of the other team. I think Ole Miss has a little bit better talent than us, but not a lot this year. Last year I think they had a lot more and we won, but I don't think they have a significant, significant advantage. But. And I think Glenn Kiffin is one of the great. For all of his nonsense, he's one of the really smart play callers, just a very intelligent coach. But what fans can't sit and watch after 13 years is the same mistakes done in the same ways, the same sloppiness and the same, you know, it's inexcusable. And I think you saw that today. Credit to the fans. We had a one full, but that was a pretty good crowd out there that especially early tried to get into it. But it wasn't surprising to me that at the end the stands were empty and I had people who were there say to me it was kind of a restless, negative, like people are. Are kind of done with the staff feeling now. I think it's a little early to be done, but I totally understand the feeling. If I'm honest, I never thought we were going to win that game. And even when we were up 10, nothing, as soon as they hit that fourth and one, I mean, I knew what was going. I mean, you knew what was going to happen. It went a slightly different way than it goes the other times. But we know what. We've seen it. We know what this is. So you're left going, you know, online. Sometimes when you go online, you would think Mark Stoops is the worst coach in America by what people say. I don't believe that. I do think he has done a really good job to make it to where a program that has for most of its history not been competitive in these games is competitive in these games. But in some ways it makes it even more frustrating to me that he and the staff have done the hard part. I always thought the hard part of winning here was getting the players here to be good enough to compete and having the sort of depth and strength not at the skill positions, but in the interior of the line, etc. Like the positions that other teams were always so much better than us, the big uglies, as some people have called them over the years. Years. I just thought, Kentucky will never get those guys. And Mark's done the hard part. He's gotten those guys over the years. I'm not Saying, this group right here is awesome, but they're pretty good. That I thought the defensive line is really good and the offensive line is better. But what is frustrating is the one thing that is controllable, the one thing that you can control is discipline, management of the game, that type of thing. And they're bad at it, and they've always been bad at it. And it's the one thing that even if you don't have talent, you should be able to do. For instance, at the very end of the game, game's over. It's not a big deal. They kick a field goal. It bothered the people who had bet on the game. But it's interesting in the moment, Billy. As soon as we got down into scoring, into field goal range, I am not a football savant at all. I don't understand like in depth schemes or analysis, but I know math. And I've. I've learned enough about football to know when you should do things. And the moment we got in the field goal range, Billy, I was saying, you know what they ought to do right here is kick a field goal. They should kick a field guard here. Analytics and just people in general. You kick a field right here. Greg McElroy is on the game. What's he saying? You can't hear it, Billy, because you're doing the radio, right? But he's sitting there and Greg McElroy is going, now they ought to kick a field go right here. And Sean McDonough is saying, now they ought to kick a field go right here. But if Lane Kiffin doesn't come up, call timeout. We don't kick a field goal. We were about to run a play, and then Lane Kiffin, who probably was thinking, well, of course they're going to kick a field goal here. He's not ready, has to call time out. You see the moment when someone in the booth says to Mark, kick a field goal. And he goes, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, let's do that. But that says to me that they weren't ready to do that in the common course of it. And that is what is frustrating to me. There are basic decisions that are literally math and your. What's the word? I would say your philosophy. So if you play blackjack, everybody knows that on 16 you can either go or stay against a 10. And some people's philosophy is to go. And, and some people's philosophy is to stay. But at what everybody who knows blackjack says is whichever one you do, make sure you do it all every time. I don't Think we have philosophies. Sometimes I don't know if we even know the math. And then when we do know the math sometimes I don't think we have philosophies. Let's take the decision to kick the two field or to not kick the field goals in the fourth quarter. In both cases down seven, they decide to go for it on fourth down. I think it's the right decision. The math says it is the right decision. The time and game of the time and game scenario says it's the right decision. Mark does what is the right decision? And then after the game he's asked about it and he says well I wish I hadn't done that. The mass says to go for it but I should have gone with my gut. Now Billy, what is your philosophy? Is your philosophy to go with your gut or is your philosophy to go with the math or is your philosophy that it's just going to change every game? And it's clear that our philosophy is we don't have a philosophy. I don't think we really have an offensive philosophy and we really haven't since Liam Cohen was here and I don't really think we have a game management philosophy. And what is so frustrating to me about Marks, the Stoops era, especially the last few years he has through his talent, his ability to recruit, identify talent, hiring of coaches, he is as good as anybody in my lifetime done the hard part at Kentucky. He, he's gotten the players, he's gotten the buy in of the fans. For most of the time he has done the part of this job that I didn't really know if anybody can do and he's screwing up the easy part. The part that people like me who've not even played football and the part that people like Greg McElroy who are really good minds of football know even better than someone like me would. They always seem to get that wrong. And it's beyond frustrating. And I can see think about at the end of the first half everyone in that stadium knew you can not let the play clock go, everyone. That's why when they panned the crowd on TV everyone's heads were down. That was everyone knew that was the one thing you couldn't do except the 11 guys on the field and apparently our coaches. That is what fans are just kind of tired of. And I think they have a legitimate reason to be. 859-280-2287 we will open up the phones. Text machine is 772-774-5254. Cats lose by seven feels like a repeat of a lot of these shows we've done. But we will take your calls. It did sound like at the end of the game, Cutter Bowley could be starting next week. We'll talk about that a lot more. It is the local toy dealers, KSR Postgate show. It is local techie Toyo dealers, KSR postgame show. There you. I was trying to be. I was trying to think. I do this after losses that are important or wins that are important. Okay, what do I say? Because I want to try to make that monologue correct. So it seems like most of you agree with me. There are some people are saying that they think Stoops went against his philosophy to do the analytics. But here's the thing. If you have a philosophy, whatever it is, you stick to it no matter what, even when it's not popular. I mean, just doing what the masses want you to do all the time. Anybody can do that. You could just take a popular vote before every play. The question is, how do you create a football culture, how do you create a program, etc. And they do a decent job about that in some ways. But when it comes to game management, I never know what they're going to do in a given moment. And not in the good way. Right? Not in the good way. Billy made the point during the break about the play. Bill, you said on third and nine, we, when Cutter comes in, we run quarterback draw. Oh, my. What was that? What is that? It's the worst call of the year. I mean, I don't know. I don't even understand what you. How you think that's going to work, especially with a dude who's just come in, you know, I don't get it. But again, I don't know. I still never really know what Bush Hampton is trying to do. Today was a little more. More. More coherent with the running game. But, you know, it is what it is. Now that Zach Cazada, it looks like, might not be the quarterback anymore. I mean, I've never heard Mark Stoop sort of say. I mean, he literally said in the post game, I want to see Cutter. I don't know how you could have heard it. Not think Cutter Bowley start next week, even if Zach Calzada is healthy and they really gave no upd as to how he's doing. So I don't know. It may be. This may be Cutter bowling. As a caller said last week, if you're going to bring him Eastern Michigan may be a good time. Last time I saw they were losing a Long island, so. And by the way, Toledo is crushing your Western Kentucky hill. I had to turn it off. It was getting bad. Yeah. All right, let's get started. Who's up? Badger. Badger. Go ahead, Badger.
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Caller
Hey, guys. What I want to say, Matt, you're. You're right. I've never been more in sync with you. You can't have it where your players are doing everything in spite of the coaching. And that's what we've seen so many times over 10 years in the biggest moments that the coaches crumble and our guys put up the best effort they can put out. And I don't understand that. Game management, everything, you know, at the end of the first half, how can you expect the team to go tempo when they never practice it? What you said about. Yeah, that's never in his thought process. They're not going to do it, like.
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Matt Jones
And you can tell they don't practice it because they're bad at it. And, you know, they made the comment that their headsets didn't work. Okay, that's unfortunate. But you know what? That happens. And teams practice. What if our headsets go down and it looks like we had never done it.
- [21:46]
Caller
Exactly. Yes. I love you guys. Keep doing what you're doing. Shout out.
- [21:53]
Matt Jones
Appreciate the call. Yeah, I mean, the headset thing is a perfect example. He said at the end of the half, and he acknowledged that they should have signs, but it is clear. Look, Zach Calzada, he may not be good. I. I've heard a lot of questions about his work ethic. I think that's part of the reason Stoops is so ready to go to the next guy. Maybe. But I'll say this. I mean, he's not. I'm sure he knows the plays. I. I had some sympathy for him. It was clear he had no idea what they wanted him to do now. And. And that is. That's. That's on the staff now. He also made some bad throws. You know, I'm. I'm not saying I'm not, like, totally taken up for him, but I'm saying, like, it's not. When dudes are not lined up in the right place. I don't think that's his fault. And when he looked at the screen, Billy, and had said, what? What. What was. I'm not going to say the language, but, you know, he said some curse words. Yes. What the blank are we doing? Well, I had sympathy for him. He's right. What were we doing? Yeah. Second year of Bush Hampden. 13th year of Stoops, seventh year quarterback. Why does it look like the Kentucky offense is playing a different sport in a bad way at times? Who's next? Joe. Joe. I did get a dare, a blizzard. I'm treating myself after having. Oh, what kind watching that game. Well, it's Eminem. I hope it doesn't all melt before the end of the show, but go ahead. Joe. Joe.
- [23:20]
Caller
Oh, hey guys. Sorry, sorry. Headed back home to Louisville now. Woke up today and just impulse bought a ticket and just felt like the same, same song and dance as you know, a lot of other home games. You know it was a little bit higher scoring since it was Ole Miss. But with. I just wanted to talk about like it feels like with the, with the new basketball hire Mark Pope. I know. It just feels like we, we will definitely have a high IQ with basketball. High iq, exactly right. And it's just not the case with, with Stoops. And then real quick, let me.
- [24:07]
Matt Jones
I'll make a second point on that point. One things I like about Mark Pope is I know they're not going to like do anything stupid. I'm not like last year's team. They weren't talented enough to win the title. But what I liked about them is I thought Pope had always we were in the best position we could to win games. We ended not having the athleticism to guard a lot of teams in the sec, but we did the best I think we could have. When John Robick was an assistant under Cal, I always felt like for the most part we had a game plan to win games. I think that changed when he left. What's frustrating to me about this is the controllables often seem like they're not taken care of. Go ahead.
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Caller
Yeah. My one other note was going to be about Calzada, which might not matter if he ends up taking hurts, but it feels like if he just stays in the pocket and makes a decision, like things aren't always a complete disaster but if he scrambles, then just forget it.
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Matt Jones
So. So people who know more about the position than I do. Maybe you do, sir. I'm not sure.
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Caller
I'm.
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Matt Jones
I've never been a quarterback. I'm not claim to be an expert, but I will tell you I watch a lot of football like everybody else. I can't think of a quarterback I've ever seen that runs backwards more than him in turn. Like yeah, I feel like he heads backwards a lot. The only other people I can think of that do that are like Lamar and Michael Vick, but that's a Different level of athleticism. But it feels like to me he's running backwards and throwing while running backwards a lot. Do you agree with that?
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Caller
Yeah, that's what it felt like.
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Matt Jones
Yeah. I appreciate the call. I. You know, there are guys who are better throwing on the run, but he. A couple times I noticed he would throw the ball 17 to 20 yards behind the line of scrimmage. I can't imagine that's what he's supposed to do. It felt like the moment he could get out of the pocket, he did. And I'm not sure he has the athleticism to do that again. It may not matter because he may not be playing again. Who's next? Or fourth down? Don't throw it out of bounds. Maybe keep it in. Didn't understand that one either.
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Caller
No.
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Matt Jones
Yeah. Dustin is next. Dustin, go ahead.
- [26:19]
Caller
Hey, Matt. It's the same exact thing. It's a Mark Stoops offense. We go back to when Cal was struggling 18, 19, 20, Covid year, all that same. We're seeing the same exact thing. It's regression. Love you guys, love the show. It is time to shake his hand, move on. That's all I got. Have a great day.
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Matt Jones
Appreciate the call. I mean, I can't say that yet just because it's game two, but, you know, I. It is. We talked on the pregame show. Okay, what would be. Let's say we lost. What would be success? And I thought there's only one way that this game could be a real disaster and that was if it got blown out. But, you know, blown out would be the worst. But a game in which you get up 10 to nothing early, get everybody's hopes up, get everybody excited, and then proceed to make middle error after middle error and have an offense that can't move the ball for a lot of the time. Billy, we lost by one score, but it doesn't feel like it, you know. Yeah. And that is not as bad as getting blown out. But it's like it's the confirmation of everything that frustrates people about this staff. Got us our hopes up, up 10 to nothing, have chances, do stupid things. But you already said it. After they converted that fourth and one in the second quarter, Kentucky was up 10 to zero. I knew the game was over, Matt. Like I'd seen this. But I will say it was at 1410 last year they would have given up. They didn't give. I mean, they went down and had a chance to kick a field goal before halftime, make it 14, 13. And then all this that we talked about happened, which is again the frustration. What's next? The mayor of Shively. Mayor of Shively, how are you?
- [28:17]
Caller
I'm good. I want to. First I'll start out with saying the defense. I thought the defense played well for the most part.
- [28:24]
Matt Jones
Even though we gave up 30. I actually do agree with you.
- [28:29]
Caller
But now it's time to get on march Stoops, we lost that game or we lose this sense of playing offense. After that second interception, you take no shots towards the end zone and you settle for three. Hey, we're up 10, nothing, right? And then you think about all the times under Mark Stoops where he would rather win a game 2 to 0 than win a game 45 to 41, right? So then you go. And then you get to the end of the second quarter like you just talked about, where it's a minute left, you got the ball, it's time to move the ball. We run the. The dude runs three yards again, once again that second and seven or third nine like it was the whole game and then hand it off again. But the dude buses a long run, right? We're out of timeouts, ain't got nothing we can do. Then throw ball and then don't kick that field goal, etc, and then you go to the halftime. But everybody in the stands, I was at the game, I'm on my way home back to Louisville now. Everybody around me was like, this coward will not try to score before half. And then get.
- [29:37]
Matt Jones
Trying to score right there. They were trying to run the clock out. It's just. He broke it.
- [29:44]
Caller
I'm with you 100. And then you get to the fourth quarter. My best friend, it's his birthday. We were at the game, we're sitting there hanging out and he was like, dude, you know what? With nine minutes left, let's just go ahead and kick that field goal. Then you're down four, right? And then whatever happens, you play defense, you get the ball back. We stopped them. They went three and out. Get the ball again, we get right back down there and we go forward again on 4th and 9 or whatever it was, instead of kicking again, then you're down.
- [30:10]
Matt Jones
Okay, yeah, just on that point. I'm okay with both of those because I think considering how old Ole Miss had scored five of the last six possessions, considering that, I think in both cases you probably wouldn't have thought three was going to be enough. I was okay with him going for both of those. I really. And I, I would defend both of those decisions. I think what would have Been better though is if you kick that field goal to start right before halftime, then you would have kicked in those scenarios. But because they didn't get the three right before halftime, I, in my opinion, going for it was the right decision.
- [30:48]
Caller
I don't know, man. This is just an ongoing trail of Mark Stu, man, he's just so afraid to play offense. And I don't want to hear, I mean, Ole Miss every time they got the ball, they're ready to hike the ball, they're ready to go.
- [30:58]
Matt Jones
Well, let's use the difference and I appreciate the call. Be, be safe driving back. Let's use the difference. It's 10 nothing. We're up first. Quarterback. First year quarterback on the road. His first start on the road, he's thrown two interceptions back to back. It's 10 to nothing. All right, if we stop them right there, then who knows, they might be in trouble. It's ten nothing. Fourth and one. All right, fourth and one up, ten nothing. Billy, what are we doing? Fourth and one up, ten nothing. We're kicking, punting. We're punting. He's going for it. Okay, difference in philosophy, but what are the chances? 4th and 1 on his end of the. On his end of the field. Billy, do you think we're going to throw that pass lane through? None, none, none. Lane Kiffin down to nothing. A quarterback that's just thrown two interceptions on the road says his players. I'm calling this play A, that shows belief in your team, but B, that's gutsy and that's going for a win. And they have a lot more to lose than we do. They're the favorite. If we stop them, we have a chance to score again. Make it a three score game. And he is not scared. And we are scared. Who's next? Mike is next. Mike, go ahead, Mike.
- [32:27]
Caller
Hey, Matt, I was wondering, on October 25th, when they play Purdue, who do you think the starting lineup for the basketball game will be?
- [32:35]
Matt Jones
I appreciate the call. I don't do that. I don't. We, when we're on the football show, we do talk football. 859-280-2287. What's. Who's next? Drew. Drew, Go ahead, Drew.
- [32:46]
Caller
Hey, Matt. How are you doing?
- [32:49]
Matt Jones
Good, how are you?
- [32:52]
Caller
Wish I could say I'm doing better, but I think just going for it. I think Cutter Bowley has to be our guy. Going to miss Eastern Michigan game even if Calzada's healthy. I just think I got more dopamine from the five minutes that Cutter Bully was in than the game and a half I got from Calzada.
- [33:08]
Matt Jones
Were you at the game? Are you at the game?
- [33:11]
Caller
I was last week. Not this week.
- [33:13]
Matt Jones
Okay. So, Matt. Well, you may have heard this too. McElroy again, who I have a lot of respect for, he said Cutter Bowley looks more comfortable right now than Zach Calzada's looked in the first two games. That kind of told me all I need to know. That's a dude who knows quarterback play. And that was his way of saying, this is the dude that should be playing.
- [33:31]
Caller
Yeah. Zach Calzone's had six years to prove himself. I say we just cut our losses with the money. I mean. Barks Chief gone from the draft. I don't even think the Arena Football League wants this bum. Let's just go Cutter bowl the rest of year.
- [33:44]
Matt Jones
Well, I appreciate the call. I. You know, last year, Brock Vande Griff struggled. Bush Hamden said. I thought, understandably he was diplomatic, but his essentially was saying, I didn't pick this guy like he was here when I got here. Fair enough. But you pick this one. Right. So I'm not. I actually don't think we didn't play well. I think Zach Calzada was okay. I don't think he was great or even necessarily good, but I thought he was okay. I think you could have won with him in this game if the other stuff hadn't happened. But I do think there's a good argument at this point. Let's give it to Cutter and see what he does. What's next? Cathead. Cathead. Go ahead.
- [34:30]
Caller
Hey, guys. Yeah. Just like you asked the last caller. I was at the game, Matt. You know, it was real disappointing. And like you said, like Mark Stoops is he. He's brought a lot of stuff, this program, you know, and I. I would just like to say is, you know, I. I used to not get on these. The. The kids. I used to call them kids. That was in college. Right. But now they're making. You're exactly hundreds of thousands.
- [34:59]
Matt Jones
Yeah, they're making money.
- [35:00]
Caller
They're millions of dollars. So. So you can, you know, you can kind of get on to them a little bit. But, you know, Alzada, after six years, this is his seventh year. If he's. If he's not done anything by now, he's not going to. So that. That's why we're at the bottom of the SEC power rankings. I really believe that. And I do love Mark Stoops for what he's done, but he's. He is the worst time management coach that I've ever seen or, or at least he's certainly.
- [35:37]
Matt Jones
He's in the conversation and I hate to say that because I do like him. Yes, I appreciate the call. And I, I don't. I, I think he's, I think he's really good at, at, at picking players. I think he's good. I think he's good at scheming up defenses. I think he's really good at hiring coaches for the most part. Everybody has some duds, but I think he's done a pretty good job with that. I think he's good at installing toughness in his team. But I mean, I just don't know how you. His teams for 13 years have made bad time management decisions and that's not going to change. I don't think, unfortunately. 859-280-2287 we're going to take a break. Oklahoma is going to go up 14 nothing on Michigan at halftime. Florida loses at home to south Florida. Billy Napier, you know, his next four games are all against teams ranked in the top 15. Oh, and then he loses to south Florida. We'll take a break. Be right back. It's local toy dealers KSR postgame show.
- [36:37]
Caller
Welcome back.
- [36:37]
Matt Jones
It is local to a dealers KSR postgame show. Some folks right in one person writes, Matt, can we relieve Bush Hammond in the play calling and ask Eddie Grant to play call? Probably a little late to do that. I think it's probably a different off. Maybe we didn't realize what we had with Eddie Grant. Although Liam was really good. I mean, you know, I guess you would say, you know, Eddie Grant, like if you were to say, all right, well, how did, how's Mark done with offensive coordinators? I think Neil Brown, his first hire was a really good hire. I mean, Neil didn't have the players, but I think Neil's a good offensive coordinator. So I'd say one and oh, Eddie had enough. Good. We won a lot with Eddie. So I'm going to still say good two and oh, Liam, good three and oh, Skangarell, three and one and this is looking like it's going to be a three and two. Yeah, that's what I'd have to say. But I will say with all those guys, part of it is you don't know what Mark lets them do. Right. Although I feel like Marcus letting Bush ham didn't do whatever it is Bush is doing and I don't totally understand what it is. One person writes, Matt, we speak about the rudeness of the Ole Miss Fans singing during my Old Kentucky home. I didn't hear that, but I have to tell you, it actually doesn't bother me quite as much because while my Old Kentucky home means a lot to us, it's not their state song. So, you know, Tennessee Rocky tops their state song. You gonna be quiet during Rocky Top? If you had a chance, would you sing a song to drown out Rocky Top? Billy? Yes. Yes, I would. You would? So just because it's a slow song? Yeah, it's our song and I think it's beautiful and I don't like people singing it, but do I think it's especially rude? No, because it doesn't mean anything to them. Right. So, I mean, we go. What? Let me ask whoever wrote this, what's Wyoming state song? If we were at Wyoming, would you chant Go Big Blue during their state song? Probably would. Because you don't know what it is. So for them, it's not the same thing. One person writes map. The only thing worse than the play calling and the game management is the music in the again, uk. Yeah. I heard somebody had a few people write me and say it was a little better, but still terrible. And the sound system, it's awful. I mean, it is like that's a whole nother conversation we could have. But I think what we really need to do is put another 10 million into luxury suites and still not have WI FI on the sound system. That's right. For the average fan, that's what we need to do. What UK needs to do is make sure that the luxury suites are better. Because I do feel, as somebody I had a friend tell me, I feel like every three years I see the same headline. Kentucky is adding to luxury suites and then fixing WI Fi and somehow the luxury state suites keep getting better and the WI FI continues to not exist. So, you know, it is what it is. That sound system will get replaced. We will have four more upgrades of the luxury suites before we get to the sound system. Who's next? Kyle is next. Kyle. Go ahead, Kyle. Reds one. Which, yeah matter that they lost last night. Bases loaded, nobody out. Billy, the bottom of the night, they don't get running anyway. Go ahead.
- [40:14]
Caller
Yeah, I thought it was bad play calling when it was. I think it was a fourth and eight. Then he should have went ahead and kicked the field goal. That's bad play management.
- [40:24]
Matt Jones
Analytics say you go for it. Right there. Analytics say you go for it. Let me explain why real quick. You might still disagree, but there's nine minutes to go, ten minutes to go. If you Kick it. You're down four, but it's still. You still got to score a touchdown. Meanwhile, the team that you're playing has scored five of the last six possessions. They're getting the ball by the way. We stopped them, so we got the ball back. What we wanted to do actually worked. We just didn't score the next time. But I actually think that was mathematically the right decision. The old school way of football is to kick right there. I think the math suggests that doesn't really help you, but go ahead.
- [41:03]
Caller
Yeah, so, yeah, the. His players are so undisciplined. I mean, it was the same thing when I was in Texas, like Ben Brown running his mouth. We got multiple sportsmanlike conduct penalty soon. Yeah, I think we should run, though.
- [41:22]
Matt Jones
I mean, we didn't have a lot of that tonight. I don't. Did we have any. Did we have anything like that happen tonight? I can't remember. Billy. Was there one? I mean, we did have.
- [41:30]
Caller
We had that bad.
- [41:31]
Matt Jones
Not today. I don't think I felt like the rat. Like they should have called that pass interference when Cattus got hit, but I didn't feel like there was any sort of discipline. I maybe mistake forgetting something, but I don't think that was, that was a huge issue last year. I'm not sure that was what happened tonight.
- [41:52]
Caller
Yeah, the Texas fans, when I was in Texas, they said that boy was better than Vandergraft, so.
- [41:58]
Matt Jones
Yeah, well, that was last year. I appreciate the call. 859280, 2287. Who's next? Dan is next. Dan. Go ahead, Dan.
- [42:09]
Caller
Hey, Matt. Dan from Rocky Mount.
- [42:11]
Matt Jones
Hey, Dan. How you doing?
- [42:12]
Caller
You know, doing good, Matt. Doing really good. We just got to get a quarterback, man. We got to get a quarterback to, to meet these top teams in the sec, you've got to have a good, you know, a mediocre quarterback or better. And I don't think we have that yet. So I, you know, I think next week they're going to change the quarterbacks because, I mean, a good quarterback makes a bad coordinator look good.
- [42:41]
Matt Jones
No, you're right. I mean, like, you're exactly right. A really good quarterback could make the difference. But I, I think a lot of the problems we're talking about, though, I'm not sure how much the quarterback would change. Like, like, think about it like this, Dan. How many throws did Calzada miss? Okay, I think he missed a couple, but so did Cutter. Cutter miss. I mean, again, I feel like I'm his publicist, but McElroy pointed out that Kendrick Law was wide open on that fourth down. You know, I agree with you. If we had a great quarterback, we're talking about a different thing. But, yeah, I don't think.
- [43:23]
Caller
I don't think.
- [43:23]
Matt Jones
I can't think of a lot of plays where I was like, well, if Calzada throwing that ball better, it would have worked. I think a lot of this. The problems aren't even really that.
- [43:32]
Caller
Yeah. I mean, we can't. We had got that one pass down the field, and that was basically it as far as getting it down the hill to play in the sec, you've got to run the ball and you got to get the ball down the field, and we didn't do that.
- [43:45]
Matt Jones
Yeah. And you know, Bush Hamden might say, and I appreciate the call. Well, I don't call those plays because he can't execute. And maybe he hasn't said that to me, but maybe that's what it is. I don't know. But, you know, last year felt like sometimes Vandergrift would have a throw and he just couldn't make it. I certainly. In the first half, it sounded like McDonough was suggesting that our receivers just were never open and that. Well, did you hear? There was. Well, again, I always. There was a moment where McDonough said that Bush Hamden had told him they had no number one receiver and basically weren't able to get good receivers in the portal because they didn't have a wide receiver coach.
- [44:25]
Caller
Wow.
- [44:25]
Matt Jones
I thought was a really interesting thing that it feels like no one has really. I sort of wrote that down. When it happened, I was like, I haven't heard anybody say this. That was an interesting comment. Sort of suggesting. Well, we didn't have wide receiver coach, so we couldn't get any wide receivers. I mean, maybe, but that's first I've heard of that. Who's next? A lot of shots from McDonough, it seemed like. Well, but I mean, assuming McDonough's telling the truth. That's just quoting the coach.
- [44:52]
Caller
Yeah.
- [44:53]
Matt Jones
He also had another thing about coaching and squandered timeouts. He was right. I have no problems with Sean McDonough. He didn't say anything. I didn't think. The truth hurts, I guess. Ritter. Ritter. Go ahead, Ritter. What's up?
- [45:07]
Caller
Hey, law dog. Two things real quick. I want to talk about constants. I know you went through the offensive coordinators earlier, so that's a good thing. But, like, one of the constants is one of our offensive coordinators just had the Heisman Trophy Winner. One of our offensive coordinators is an NFL coach. One of our defensive coordinators has stuck with us. And you could have mentioned, you could probably agree that our defense has been solid ever since.
- [45:27]
Matt Jones
It has. I forgot about one contest, by the way. You're exactly right. I forgot about. That's a no here. But he's doing good elsewhere.
- [45:36]
Caller
Yeah. So there's a constant of. I think what the constant is the head coach. And my second thing is we lose for Kentucky. I'm almost 40 now. I've been used to losing. It's how we lose. Understood. And I think the biggest thing is it's mostly pulling the ball out from under us. We're doing the peanuts thing every single time. And we sit here and say, well, it's a quarterback. We need a Kentucky guy, we need this. We had a five star quarterback last year and now we got this guy as a seventh year starter. And if you were from the outside looking in, it seems like we're making excuses for this. And I, I just think that at what point is it. And it's like the Reds fans, you are like, we have some of the most dedicated fans for a team that doesn't have this success. So like we show up day in and day out.
- [46:20]
Matt Jones
Totally agree.
- [46:21]
Caller
And, and the biggest thing is, and I think you would agree with this is like it's on these kids. Like, you know, we don't want to do this. We want to show up for these kids. It ain't stoops or anything like that. But again, guess what? Like I think someone mentioned earlier, they're getting paid. So like JMI's got the big deal now. So they've got their money. So then I guess we don't have to worry about them not getting paid. But at what point do we just, just stop showing up? Like, because again, I think we all.
- [46:43]
Matt Jones
Agree it's a completely fair, it's a completely fair question. I'm not there yet. But this, this fan base will be there at the end of the year if this doesn't go any better. I mean, I, that's, I don't know that that's a conversation for week two, but it's a conversation that's coming if they don't, if they don't do better.
- [47:03]
Caller
I agree. And I think week two of last year when we came in off so many bowl games, but you saw how last year went and it's this year. And then it's like, and again, I think the biggest thing, what you see now like the Stoops Buyout? Well, it's. We have to do it in 60 days, so. Oh, that's the thing is, like, sooner or later, like, we can't be held hostage by this contract. Like, we want success. We show up and do everything else. And the reason, I mean, again, I go back to the constant. It's the Stoops thing, and he set the bar. And that may be his fault. You know, that's a detriment to him, that program like this. But the way it's losing, like, I don't know how we can emphasize we're fed up, we're done with this not going, or just.
- [47:37]
Matt Jones
Well, I don't think we're there yet, but, but that's coming. I, I appreciate the call. The, the game. There will be a game later this year where that, where I think fans will make that determination, but we'll talk about that if it ends up coming. The case I, I. The Shannon Dawson thing is actually a pretty big indictment because he was a disaster here and now, you know, he's the office coordinator at Miami and they look good. Well, you would have liked it if it would have worked. That was a terrible quote. But, you know, it might be the case that he's right, if that caller's right about what the constant is through this, I mean, through all these offensive coordinators. So, you know, there's a, There's a big picture conversation to have about the way. I'll tell you what I'm not going to do at any point this year, as long as people are not mean or personal. I'm not criticizing whatever this fan base's reaction is to this whole thing, because uk, in my opinion, completely screwed up the offense, or, excuse me, the off season in terms of the way they disappeared, didn't promote anything, you know, so they're gonna reap what they sow here. My hope is that we play good enough, that none of that stuff's gonna matter. That's my hope. But if it does, they're reaping what they sow, and we've been warning them for a long time. And when he talks about what the fans are gonna do, the fans listen. Next week, I don't know what's gonna happen. Three straight home games, Eastern Michigan State, Then you play Texas, then you play Tennessee, then you play Florida. Okay? Those games are going to have big crowds because it's Texas, Tennessee and Florida. But then you play Vandy, and then you play. Well, wait a minute. Vandy is there. Excuse me. Then you play what? Tennessee Tech at home is It Auburn before that or Tennessee both on their own. Vandy and Auburn road. You're gonna play Tennessee Tech at home. That's gonna be your senior day. You know that has last year joker Vandy vibes to me if they're not careful and I, I think that's. But I'm not going to criticize his fan base for like they showed up today and had energy. I'm not going to criticize his fan base for what they do the rest of the year because you reap what you sell. We'll take a break. 859-280-2287. This is the local Toy Dealers KSR post game show. Welcome back. It is the Local Toy Dealers KSR Postgame Show. 859-280-2287 Text Machine. 772-774-52541 Person writes, Matt, you say it's too early to call it. What in the past tells you that it's not going to be a repeat? Nothing. I mean if you were to, if you were to ask me to predict how this year is going to go, I'm going to predict. I think I said before the season five and seven and I thought we'd like sneak a victory against a team we probably shouldn't be. I still kind of feel that way. I think, I think we're going to win three and then beat Vandy is four and then I think that, I think they'll, they'll sneak one of them, whether it's Auburn, Louisville, Florida, one of those. They're gonna, they're gonna, they're gonna sneak and win. So I think they're gonna win five, but I don't know that that's gonna be a five. That does anything for people, unfortunately. So, you know, five and seven, Billy, would almost be like the worst because if it's like 3 and 9 or 4 and 8, then like you know what it is. And if it's 6 and 6, you're fine probably. But if you're 5 and 7 and you upset a really good team, then what do you do? Billy, I know what Mitch is going to do. Well, he's not going to do anything. But I don't know, I don't know how you get this fan base excited. The biggest problem that Kentucky football has in the next three years is apathy, which in my lifetime has only happened once for Kentucky football. And that was the last year. Joker. That was apathy. Apathy is the worst thing that can happen to your foot, to your program in any sport. Apathy is what kills everything. Amazingly, we were headed towards apathy that last year with Cal, and then Reed shepherd came along and Rob Dillingham and Antonio Reeves. And then all of a sudden, like that team, which I thought could be apathetic, the people got excited, excited about. But had Cal come back, that next. Next year was going to be apathy. The biggest worry for me about this UK football program is we're heading towards apathy if something doesn't change. And that, like I said, that's the hardest thing to come back from. Who's next? Bones, isn't it? Bones. Go ahead, Bones.
- [53:03]
Caller
What's going on? Matt Jones. How you guys doing tonight?
- [53:06]
Matt Jones
Doing good.
- [53:08]
Caller
All right, look, so this is my problem. Like, I'm a UK fan. I'm dying. Die. True and true. But let me ask you a couple quick questions. Number one, were we supposed to win tonight?
- [53:20]
Matt Jones
No.
- [53:21]
Caller
Okay. Number two, did we compete tonight?
- [53:25]
Matt Jones
Yes.
- [53:26]
Caller
Okay. So my problem here is, is I know there are things in the program like the Bush Hamden, we need to speed up the offense, the timeouts getting wasted. But at the same time, why can we not be more positive that we actually competed in a game where the. The line was nine and a half and we still beat that. It could have done better. We could have had that within one, two or three.
- [53:51]
Matt Jones
We also could have lost, but we also got the ball twice within our. With within the 30 of Ole Miss. And if you take those away and Ole Miss doesn't throw those interceptions and punts them, we might have only scored 10 points. Now, I. You can, like, you can if both ways. I. What you say, what you're saying in the abstract is not unreasonable. Hey, they actually covered the spread. Hey, we were competitive. Hey, we were this. But ultimately, what's frustrating to me is if we played smart and made great decisions and lost by seven, I would have the reaction you have. But we did okay.
- [54:32]
Caller
Well, we did like that.
- [54:34]
Matt Jones
We didn't know. You're right.
- [54:36]
Caller
But if. No, you're 100% right. But if we did those things, would it have been in a nine and a half spread?
- [54:42]
Matt Jones
But we never do those.
- [54:43]
Caller
We don't. Right.
- [54:46]
Matt Jones
So what makes me think. What makes me think that's going to change?
- [54:50]
Caller
It's just like your. Your. Your thing that, you know, we'll never play for SEC title.
- [54:55]
Matt Jones
Well, we have.
- [54:55]
Caller
Okay. We stole. We stole one from Ole Miss last year. Was it not that we were supposed to steal one? We were hoping we could steal one here. So we're hoping that we're going to Steal one. That means we already know we probably can't win the game. We had opportunities to, but we got to be realist about Kentucky's football. Like we're not at the bottom of the pile anymore.
- [55:17]
Matt Jones
Yeah, we are this year. Actually that's not true. I mean, and I right now we are probably in the power rankings, ranked in last place in the sec.
- [55:27]
Caller
I mean this year. Yes. Okay, Right now.
- [55:31]
Matt Jones
And last year we were ranked 15th out of 16.
- [55:34]
Caller
Okay, but we're not done with the season yet, so let's see where the season goes. But if this fan base dies on us, then we're not going to go.
- [55:41]
Matt Jones
It's not our fault. It's not our fault. Let me say that again. I did this, what I just said in the last segment. If this fan base dies this year, which I don't necessarily think is going to happen, but if it does, it is not the fan base's fault. I'm going to spend 10 games on these post game shows. Well, I'm gonna miss a couple because I'm in South Africa. But when I'm on them, it is not the fans fault. All right? The fans are not required to show up every week, have their parking got get worse, have the fan experience get worse, have everything done to take every dollar out of their pocket and get little reward back. And then watching a team that makes bad decisions lose time and again, they are we. That is not required of a fan base. A fan base is required to love their players, be you know, respectful, to cheer, all those things. But a fan base is not required to be ignored for years by a program. And I, I'm not, I'm not even putting on this on mark. I'm talking more UK athletics in general. A fan base is not required to sit and be basically told that unless you give a lot of money, your opinion doesn't matter. And then when they lose, do dumb things, told shut up and cheer. They're not required to do that. In 2025 you don't owe anybody your money. They have to earn it. And just like these players deserve to be paid and they do and I've advocated for it and will continue to and I hope they make every dollar they want. It is not the requirement of the fans to sit and continually be told they are secondary unless they have money and then they still have to cheer. So UK football is not putting on a product that right now is earning the customer of their fan bases $. They're not and I'm not blaming the customer to use a Different example, Billy, when we had to pause the restaurant because things hadn't gone as well. We need to reset. Yeah. It wasn't the people's fault for not coming. It was ours. Right? And we had to fix it. You can't go outside and go, why aren't you doing this? So I'm not, I'm not getting mad at the UK foot, at the UK football fan. I want, I'll be, I'll be doing every. I mean I'll be watching every game and cheering and talking every day. But if somebody else decides, you know what, it's a beautiful day and I'm not gonna go watch us do something stupid Saturday. I'm gonna go with my kids to the park and illegally park on Match Street. You can do that. And they will. They will. We'll do five more and go to bed. Who's next? Emerson is next. Emerson, go ahead, Emerson.
- [58:49]
Caller
Hi.
- [58:50]
Matt Jones
Hi, Emerson.
- [58:53]
Caller
So I completely agree with like the no philosophy, the, like the uncoordination. But I also think for this game, specifically one of those last calls, the miss pass interference. I think that probably, if it was called, it could probably like change the time for this game.
- [59:13]
Matt Jones
Could have. That was a big call. You're talking about the Josh Catus one. The guy clearly hit Cattus before the pass. If you get that it's a first down, maybe you score a touchdown. So I mean, I don't think that's completely incorrect.
- [59:28]
Caller
Yes.
- [59:29]
Matt Jones
Well, thank you. Thank you, Emerson. Appreciate the call. That's a good. That's good analysis, Billy. Better then you could have provided right there. I'll give her credit. That was a good call. That was a good call. That's right. Are you ready by the way, to tomorrow night do an NFL show? I am so excited to watch football all day and then do a show with you. Yeah, I'm excited about it. I'm excited to see you that late at night. I'm gonna be a little tired, but. Yeah, you think you're gonna be. I got a three hour show in the morning. Oh, that's right. I don't know how you do it. Yeah. Who's next? Jerry is next. Toledo 45. Stop. Thank you, Jerry. Go ahead, Jerry.
- [60:07]
Caller
Hey, man, you know one of the. I mean I always dog for being pessimistic. Pessimistic this year. But one of the reasons I was so pessimistic is I didn't think this offensive staff should have been brought back. And I haven't seen anything these first two games that tells me that they're any better? I mean the defense is better than I thought it'd be. I think the only prayer this team has of winning more than three games this year is the defense has told teams less than 20 points. Because I after. I mean, I just don't think Bush Hampton's got what it takes.
- [60:36]
Matt Jones
I mean, I. I'm not quite there, but I can see why you are and, and you give me a couple games similar to this and I might be right there too. So I. Jerry, I understand that. I mean, I do. I appreciate the call. I think the offensive, you know, I. Offense lines better. I think looks like they've got two good running back. I mean that those were who the decision to bring those two guys. Seth McGowan is going to be really good. I hope we get to appreciate him by being in games that will allow him, I mean play. He was great today. Dowdell I think is very good too. But you know, it doesn't matter if you can't throw the ball and you make bizarre decisions like third nine quarterback sneak with a guy who's just come in the game. Three more. Who's next? Phil. Phil. Go ahead, Phil.
- [61:26]
Caller
Yeah, first of all, I think we just lost by seven. So that. That was. That was on the upside. Secondly, I'm really disappointed that as far as UK goes, you have appointed yourself the vocal spokesman for the fan base. I. I'm really tired of listening to you.
- [61:46]
Matt Jones
Well, you don't have to listen. Just for the record, you don't have to.
- [61:49]
Caller
Oh, honey, trust me. Trust me. I don't listen.
- [61:55]
Matt Jones
Hang on. Turn him down for a second. How would you even know I'm on the radio and I'm doing a show right now? Unless you had either your streaming device or your radio turned up, how would you even know I was on the air? Now go ahead.
- [62:12]
Caller
Those two, the Legion, they were never.
- [62:15]
Matt Jones
The whole Poro is.
- [62:17]
Caller
Whatever his name. I don't care what his name is.
- [62:19]
Matt Jones
It sounds like you don't care. You listen to him. Hang on. You listen to Tom Leech, you listen to Jeff Poro, you listen to Matt Jones, but you don't care what any of them say. Now go ahead, listen.
- [62:30]
Caller
No, I. I appreciate everything they say, but they were negative. They were down. They need to go back and listen to the tape of what they talked about during the game because it was depressing. Listen to those people.
- [62:40]
Matt Jones
Well, we were losing.
- [62:41]
Caller
I would have thought we were behind. We were behind 60 points. The way those two guys talk. Mean, really, I wish we would upgrade all of our Spokesman for our school.
- [62:51]
Matt Jones
Okay, first of all, I'm not a spokesman, just for the record. I appreciate the call. I'm not a spokesman, okay? This is a radio show that I created 20 years ago at the basement of my friend's apartment. All right? You don't have to listen. It is totally fine for you not to, but the reality is you are listening for what that reason is. Maybe it's masochism, I don't know. But you're listening. But I'm not a spokesman for anybody. You think. You think the university's happy with what I've said during the last hour? I say what I think. You don't have to listen. I'm not the spokesman for the fans. But what I will not do, at least I won't do, is just have the fans being called. The reason that things are bad. No fan base in sports has given more in historically and gotten less than UK football. Now, to the credit of Mark Stoops, that calculus has changed some in the last decade. He has given. I am a Mark Stoops fan overall. And if he leaves at the end of the year, two years, three years, I'm going to say, overall, that man was good for Kentucky football. But that doesn't change. Like, you can't live in the past. You have to live in the now and the future. Okay, one of these days, I'm gonna be too old to do this. I'll probably have quit before then, but I will. And it won't matter if I was good for the 25 years before. If I'm not good in that day, I shouldn't be doing it anymore. Right? We lit. If you. If you live for the past, then the future passes you by. And I worry that in deciding this, we can't just say what's happened in the past. We have to say what is happening right now. And right now we're seeing a pattern. So as far as me, I'm not the spokesman for fans. I'm the spokesman for me. And a lot of people seem to agree with me or at least want to hear it. If you don't, there are other stations. I think the Alien show starts here soon. You can listen to that. And if you think Tom Leach is too negative. Tom Leach, who is one of the nicest people I've ever met, probably one of the most positive people about UK sports on the planet. If he's too negative for you, then chances are, man, you just need to sit in silence because your opinion is going to be the only one that makes you happy? Two more. Who's next? So tired of you being the spokesperson for this fan base.
- [65:25]
Caller
Matt.
- [65:26]
Matt Jones
Tyler is next. Tyler, go ahead, Tyler.
- [65:31]
Caller
Matt, it's good to talk to you. My. My voice is a little scratchy because I went to the game this evening. It was very, very aggravating. But I tell you, man, listen to these callers. One thing I've learned to do with Kentucky football is temper my expectations. And while I'm aggravated that we lost tonight, I'm not really surprised, but I think what aggravates me, and I feel like I don't want to say I speak for the fan base here because that's kind of arrogant, but, like, I'm the average football fan that says, hey, I've got a Saturday where Kentucky's playing or I've got a bunch of other stuff I could do. And I decided to go watch the game.
- [66:01]
Matt Jones
Yes.
- [66:02]
Caller
I feel like we're kind of stuck in a cycle right now where the crowd shows out tonight. Today's crowd was great. I thought, you know, I looked up and I was like, man, there's quite a few.
- [66:13]
Matt Jones
There's a lot of people there. A lot of people. Yeah.
- [66:16]
Caller
Oh, there was. And I, I was really proud of the fan base, how they showed out. But what I get, I get. What I get sick of, I think, as a fan, is I go in and I feel like I kind of know how the game's gonna go. Like, I didn't know the exact score.
- [66:30]
Matt Jones
Tonight, but I kind of thought, you're new in general.
- [66:33]
Caller
Yeah, exactly. I thought, this is going to be an aggravating game. I'm going to walk out. Like, I've walked out a million other times, ticked off wanting to, you know, beat a bunch of people up and all that stuff. But what I think, what I get aggravated is with when Stoops goes in his post game press conferences and says, we got to be better, we got better, but we watched the same old crap and I'm sick of it. It's like at some point, man, something's got to change. And I feel like the past couple years we've been just stuck in a rut where it's like, we have these problems and they rear their ugly heads in the most important situations, play calling, inconsistencies in the half errors, like this stuff that we're like, man, this isn't. I don't feel like it's hard to fix, especially for the coach that's been coaching the SEC program for 12 years. But we're still in these Kinds of situations. And at some point the fan base is gonna go. And you spoke to Apathy earlier. The famous is gonna go, you know what? We got better stuff to do than watch this crap.
- [67:30]
Matt Jones
First of all, you said it better than I could. I appreciate the call. That's a great call. It's Also, look, it's 2025. I can literally hit a button on this little box in my hand and talk to any human being in the world, right? I can watch any television show. I can watch any game of any sport. I can. Like we have so many options now. You cannot take for granted that people. Here's the thing that's different about football. It is a time commitment, Okay? I got up this morning at 10:30 to start this day of stuff. Many of you were already out when I got up. I mean, I was up, but I left my house at 10:30. Like many of you were already out there. Let's say you want a tailgate. I mean, just think about the time commitment to come to a game. A lot of you are listening right now who drove from far ends of the state to make this trip, and you're listening to this. You have put in 14 to 15 hours of your day for this tailgating, right? If you come to a go to a bar, KS bar, you go to see your friends, you go to the game, you sit in traffic getting out, you can sit in traffic leaving the city, you try to get a meal, you're with your kids, it costs a lot of money like this. Football is a massive time commitment and you only get so many Saturdays in your life. And we as UK football fans, you all that go pick eight of your Saturdays to go, spend hundreds if not thousands of dollars to go. Like, you deserve to be happy. So that's why it's not about being anything except acknowledging we have got, as a university, as a fan, we like, you can't keep taking these people for granted. One more. Who's next? Brandon. Brandon. Go ahead, Brandon.
- [69:24]
Caller
Yeah, Matt, you know, we, as a season ticket holder, we come down there every Saturday and it hits a lot of the points that you talked about tonight. And you know, the fact that we have been 0 and 8 or 0 and 9 against SEC opponents at home. What part of the schedule do you see for the remainder of this year? Do you think that there's an opportunity for us to maybe, you know, knock somebody off? We're not supposed to because basically what you've talked about all night is, you know, that's why we come. And yes, that is we cheer, we get excited, and it's one of those things where it's like it's just let down after letdown.
- [70:04]
Matt Jones
Well, the SEC home schedule this year was unique because there are no games that Kentucky should win in the sec. Right. I mean, this one arguably was maybe the easiest, but it's not easy. We were an 8 and a half point underdog. So you're going to play Texas, Tennessee and Florida and you're going to be big underdogs to all of them. I think, yes, you could steal one of those, Tennessee or Florida, but am I confident we will? No, but the reason, the thing is you're going to get in the car probably and go. Because you want to have that moment, which I've had to. Where we did steal one. Right. Like is. Does one stick out for you?
- [70:45]
Caller
Yeah, of course. One of the biggest moments, you know, in my life was, and I'm your age, one of the biggest moments in my life was when Kentucky beat LSU at home and they were ranked number one. And also when Matt Roh beat Tennessee.
- [70:59]
Matt Jones
Exactly.
- [70:59]
Caller
And we hadn't done that for. For so long. So, you know, I tell one of my best friends, I was like, we've never beat Tennessee and Florida in the same year, you know, at the same time. And regardless, home or away, and it's one of those things where it's just like, you want that big win, you want that big victory, and I'm a die hard basketball fan, but at the end of the day, you want Kentucky football to be relevant in the sec and it's just like, you know, you keep paying the money and you want to be there and you support them and it just, it just never happens.
- [71:30]
Matt Jones
Yeah, I get it. And there's a joy. We've talked about this a lot on the show. There's a joy that comes with winning a regular season football game that does not come with a regular season basketball game because there's so few of them. And in Kentucky football case, it's so rare. And so I appreciate the call. Yeah. I mean, one of them could happen with Texas, Florida or Tennessee. But I think what's frustrating to me about tonight is there were a lot of pieces that could have made tonight. One of those. Right. They had two turnovers early in the game. They gave us the ball inside their 30 twice. Right. They had a new quarterback on the road that at times looked a little rattled. We had multiple chances to tie the game and to put Lane Kiffin. The pressure on him is Mark Stoops, the guy that makes Lane Kiffin crazy. If we score there at the end, it could be tied. Who knows what happens. We had multiple chances and then the same old things that have always plagued this era of Kentucky football showed up. And that is why this is frustrating. There are these nights that are special. Austin McGinnis kick against Mississippi State, LSU, Bud Dupree's return against South Carolina, the blocked punt against Florida, Matt Roark against Tennessee. Stevie got loose against Louisville. Like you have these moments and we all can remember where we were tonight. Could have been one of those. But the same mistakes that plagued UK football in the last decade under stoops ended up happening. Thank you folks very much for staying up listening. Tomorrow I'll be on ESPN Radio in the morning and we're doing our NFL podcast at night. Cats lose 30 to 23 in Kroger Field Cats play tomorrow or next week against Eastern Michigan. We'll see you later. This has been the local toy dealers KSR postgame show.
- [73:45]
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- [74:44]
Matt Jones
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- [75:49]
Matt Jones
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