Speaker 1: Welcome to the Big Blue and Sider Dick Gabriel with
Speaker 1: you on a Thursday edition of our show. And this
Speaker 1: is a day that we'll be remembered as the day
Speaker 1: Jasper Johnson committed to play at the University of Kentucky.
Speaker 1: The Wildcat coaching staff, Mark Pope and his guys apparently
Speaker 1: flipping Jasper away from Alabama and back to the Bluegrass.
Speaker 1: He's been at a prep school for the last year
Speaker 1: or so, but of course matriculated at Woodford County High School.
Speaker 1: That's where his father played, and of course was a
Speaker 1: football Wildcat for three years before going on to the NFL.
Speaker 1: But Jasper one of the top basketball players, one of
Speaker 1: the top dozen in the country according to two four
Speaker 1: to seven Sports. Travis Branham of two seven m ced
Speaker 1: the event. Did a good job with it, I thought,
Speaker 1: But the reason we didn't start the broadcast as we
Speaker 1: ordinarily would have with the announcement was it was really unconventional,
Speaker 1: which is not unusual this day and age. He didn't
Speaker 1: do the hats thing. He did a sponsorship thing where
Speaker 1: when Brandham asked him, where was he going to play now,
Speaker 1: he invokes a couple of his sponsors.
Speaker 2: Where will be playing college basketball.
Speaker 3: I will be at sad uh is the Denatos here.
Speaker 3: He's supposed to have a put delivery from me.
Speaker 1: Got delivery. He's got the phone out of the Domino's
Speaker 1: on the phone. They bring him the box and then
Speaker 1: you'll hear somebody say take your jacket off, and he
Speaker 1: shows his shirt. This is Morgan and Morgan, and Morgan
Speaker 1: and Morgan. And then comes the announcements that we all
Speaker 1: kind of knew was coming.
Speaker 2: I will be.
Speaker 4: On I will be going to the UH.
Speaker 1: So you never really got to hear him say the
Speaker 1: University of Kentucky because he pulled the jersey out of
Speaker 1: the box, and of course the fans all went nuts.
Speaker 1: This kind of leaked out yesterday when the word came out,
Speaker 1: and again several different places I heard it that he
Speaker 1: was going to be at the football game this Saturday
Speaker 1: with the UK basketball team. So yeah, you know he's
Speaker 1: going to be a Kentucky Wildcat. Be kind of awkward
Speaker 1: for him to not pick Kentucky and to come to
Speaker 1: the football game. So and again. Travis Brannham from two
Speaker 1: four to seven Sports on behalf of CBS Sports HQ,
Speaker 1: conducting the interview at the table and asked the obvious question,
Speaker 1: why Kentucky.
Speaker 3: There's a lot of winning into it. I mean, coach
Speaker 3: Cole you know, they had a short period of time
Speaker 3: with the coaches switches. But I feel like, you know,
Speaker 3: he made a big commitment, take a lot of time
Speaker 3: and spoke a lot with me, So I feel like
Speaker 3: the trust was there between me and him and the
Speaker 3: coaches save and I mean being from leisas Tokit Techy,
Speaker 3: I mean, I feel like that was a you know,
Speaker 3: easy decision right there. I mean, I feel like I'm khy.
Speaker 1: It's I'm ky until I die. Although there was a
Speaker 1: point where, like I said, it did look like he
Speaker 1: was going to Alabama, and a lot of that had
Speaker 1: to do with the nil but and I came through.
Speaker 1: Of course here in Kentucky, Donado's Morgan and Morgan and
Speaker 1: who knows what else. But and you can't blame the kid.
Speaker 1: You know, you never know when you're gonna blow a
Speaker 1: knee or turn an ankle. So Jasper Johnson, as expected
Speaker 1: for the last forty eight hours, is a Kentucky Wildcat.
Speaker 1: And you got to think that they knew this by
Speaker 1: now down in Alabama. Within the last forty eight hours.
Speaker 1: But Johnson joins Malachi Mareno from this recruiting class, Travis Perry,
Speaker 1: Trent Noah from last year's recruiting class. That's a core
Speaker 1: of Kentucky players who will build with Mark Pope. Maybe
Speaker 1: they'll be here for a year, maybe they'll be here longer,
Speaker 1: but at the very least, Mark Pope has got a
Speaker 1: roster with Kentucky kids on it. And not a knock
Speaker 1: on Cali Perry, because you would think that if Calip
Speaker 1: Perry were here, he would have been going after these guys.
Speaker 1: You knew he went after Jasper Johnson. You got to
Speaker 1: think he was going to go after Malachi Marino, he
Speaker 1: was not interested in Trent Noah, and of course he
Speaker 1: landed Travis Perry. But that's in the past. Mark Pope
Speaker 1: is here now and he's got himself the makings of
Speaker 1: a pretty good recruiting class for looking at next season.
Speaker 1: Of course, Jasper Johnson's got another entire seat easy to
Speaker 1: play in prep school. It's a big day for the
Speaker 1: Wildcats and again not unexpected, but put that on the
Speaker 1: back burner for now because coming up tonight we're going
Speaker 1: to talk a lot of Kentucky football. Van Hiles will
Speaker 1: join us at the bottom of the hour, the former
Speaker 1: Kentucky defensive back. It was all over the radio, social
Speaker 1: media breaking down Kentucky football. It's a lot of fun
Speaker 1: talking football with van Lee. K. Howard from WKYT will
Speaker 1: join us in our number two as well to talk
Speaker 1: about the Wildcats, and we recorded that before the Jasper
Speaker 1: Johnson announcement. You should know that we're also going to
Speaker 1: hear from Reggie Anderson, who's the sports director of the
Speaker 1: CBS TV affiliate down in Columbia. Get his take on
Speaker 1: what's going on right now with the football game Cocks.
Speaker 1: There is one other note in the college basketball world
Speaker 1: that was a big story breaking earlier today. University of
Speaker 1: Memphis has received an anonymous letter alleging the men's basketball
Speaker 1: program has committed multiple potential major NCAA violations in recent years.
Speaker 1: And I know the first reaction for most people now
Speaker 1: is well with nil with the portal, everything's legal now,
Speaker 1: it is not. There are still rules to be followed,
Speaker 1: and apparently someone is alleging that Penny Hardaway and his
Speaker 1: staff have broken rules. Now. Is it a coincidence that
Speaker 1: on the same day the athletic department at Memphis announces
Speaker 1: that multiple members of Penny Hardaway's coaching staff, and mind
Speaker 1: you you know the basketball season is coming up fast,
Speaker 1: he has let go fired Rick Stansbury, formerly the coach
Speaker 1: at Campbellsville, formerly the head coach at Mississippi State, and
Speaker 1: a top assisted at Memphis foragi Or Froggi Phillips, Jamie Rosser,
Speaker 1: and Demetrius Dyson all let go before the twenty four
Speaker 1: to twenty five regular season tips off. And of course,
Speaker 1: the story in the Memphis Commercial Appeal, and rightly so
Speaker 1: says it's not immediately clear whether there is any correlation
Speaker 1: between the letter's existence and the recent personnel moves. The
Speaker 1: Commercial Appeal obtained the letter, but did not yet independently
Speaker 1: corroborate the contents of it. Alleged that Hardaway's involvement in
Speaker 1: what could be significant violations in twenty twenty regarding the
Speaker 1: recruitment of a former Memphis player and a second student
Speaker 1: athlete who signed in twenty two but never played in
Speaker 1: a game for the team. It's now hanging over the program.
Speaker 1: So evidently it's a mess down there in Memphis, and
Speaker 1: Penny Hardaway's got to scramble to put a staff together
Speaker 1: less than two months out. Up next, we'll hear from
Speaker 1: the football Wildcats on six thirty WLAP Welcome back to
Speaker 1: the Big Bluonsidter coming up, Van Hiles, a former UK
Speaker 1: defensive back. He breaks down Kentucky football. We'll spend some
Speaker 1: time with us a little bit later on Lee K.
Speaker 1: Howard from WKYT and we'll get a report from down
Speaker 1: in Columbia, South Carolina. Yesterday was Defense Day, so we
Speaker 1: had a chance to hear from Brad White over UK
Speaker 1: football practice and a couple of the defensive players. And
Speaker 1: I asked White what concerns him the most about the
Speaker 1: South Carolina offense, and the first thing he talked about
Speaker 1: was the offensive coordinator Dow Logans for South Carolina. Apparently
Speaker 1: they go way back, and Logans is a veteran OC.
Speaker 5: You know, I know dwe you know, he's a friend
Speaker 5: of mine, and he does a really you know, extensive experience,
Speaker 5: does a great job calling games, setting up games, and
Speaker 5: so he's gonna have those guys ready to play, you know,
Speaker 5: a really talented quarterback, yes, one that may had some
Speaker 5: first game jitters anticipate him coming in ready just to
Speaker 5: really delight it up, you know, and he's got all
Speaker 5: the tools. He's got the arm strength, he's got the
Speaker 5: legs obviously. You know, Rocket Sanders there in the backfield,
Speaker 5: you know, is a proven commodity, and you know they've
Speaker 5: got weapons on the outside edge. The tight ends I
Speaker 5: think are really good players. So you talk about good
Speaker 5: players with good scheme, you know, and play calling, you know,
Speaker 5: we've got our work cutout for us.
Speaker 1: Well. Games played college football at Arkansas, but began his
Speaker 1: coaching career in the NFL. He was a quality control
Speaker 1: coach for the Tennessee Titans, and from twenty oh eight
Speaker 1: until what twenty twenty he he worked in the NFL for,
Speaker 1: like I said, the Titans, the Browns, the Bears, the Dolphins,
Speaker 1: the Jets as either a quarterbacks coach or an offensive coordinator.
Speaker 1: And the reason he moved around a lot for like
Speaker 1: a lot of NFL assistants is head coaches kept getting
Speaker 1: fired or offensive coordinators moved on or whatever. But he
Speaker 1: was tight with a guy named Adam Gaze. When Lol
Speaker 1: Gaines was out of work, he would hire him because
Speaker 1: he likes the way he coaches, obviously, and take him
Speaker 1: with to whoever he was. So he has really experienced
Speaker 1: at the Pro game, but then he went back to
Speaker 1: his alma mater in twenty twenty one Arkansas. For two
Speaker 1: seasons was the tight ends coach for the Hogs, and
Speaker 1: then last year and this he's the offensive coordinator and
Speaker 1: quarterbacks coach for South Carolina. He has a dual threat
Speaker 1: quarterback who's got a strong arm and can run the ball,
Speaker 1: Lenorris Sellers. So we talked a couple of the players
Speaker 1: about what it's gonna take to be gap disciplined and
Speaker 1: handle a guy like that. Trayvon Ripka is a defensive lineman.
Speaker 6: I mean everything starts with our eyes.
Speaker 1: Coach.
Speaker 6: Coach preaches that every coach from the defense from the
Speaker 6: D line to top of the defense preach bad eyes
Speaker 6: and gets you in trouble. So just staying disciplined with
Speaker 6: our eyes will help them make plays and do what
Speaker 6: we're supposed to do.
Speaker 1: For those of us who haven't yet played D line
Speaker 1: in college, what does that mean? Good eyes, bad eyes?
Speaker 6: Good eyes? Uh, you can't beat you can't. You can't
Speaker 6: make a play until you beat the guy in front
Speaker 6: of you. So if I don't whoop my tackle, I
Speaker 6: can't go shed and make make a play in the
Speaker 6: backfield because I haven't did my job in front of
Speaker 6: me yet, So I'm ready, Yes, sir, I think you are.
Speaker 1: That's Trayvon Ripka, Kentucky defensive lineman. Zion Childress is a
Speaker 1: Kentucky defensive back and talked about how quickly Kentucky's gonna
Speaker 1: have to move from non conference to a big SEC game.
Speaker 7: Going to the SEC week two, you gotta be ready quick,
Speaker 7: and so we're ready to play. We're ready to go.
Speaker 2: South Carolina's got a different personnel this year. Obviously you
Speaker 2: guys do too, but they've got you the last couple
Speaker 2: of years. Is that something you think about going into
Speaker 2: this game?
Speaker 3: Definitely? Uh.
Speaker 7: I was on the phone one of my friends the
Speaker 7: other day. He said, Man, I don't think you beat
Speaker 7: South Carolina since you've been a Kentucky and I haven't.
Speaker 7: Uh So, definitely puts a chip on our shoulder. But man,
Speaker 7: we gotta put the ball down. We gotta play ball
Speaker 7: for four quarters, and we gotta be ready to go.
Speaker 7: They got some good players over there. We got some
Speaker 7: good players, but were ready to go for sure.
Speaker 1: How do you prepare for a mobile quarterback like Leonora's sellers.
Speaker 7: Zion, Oh, you gotta be disciplined, you gotta do your assignment,
Speaker 7: and you gotta be gap sound. You know, he's a
Speaker 7: good athlete, he's a good football player. We have a
Speaker 7: bunch of good football players too, So we're ready for
Speaker 7: the challenge. It's nothing that we've never seen before, but
Speaker 7: definitely something we have to be prepared to UH to
Speaker 7: play against.
Speaker 3: UH.
Speaker 7: We we have to be prepared for them to use
Speaker 7: him as their number one run guy, you know, so yeah,
Speaker 7: we're ready.
Speaker 1: I like how you can hear snapping his fingers at
Speaker 1: the beginning of that sound bite. You gotta be ready.
Speaker 1: So well, they sound like they are, but we have
Speaker 1: seen you and I haven't we dual threat quarterbacks come
Speaker 1: in and really give the Wildcats a hard time. So
Speaker 1: they're going to have to be on top of everything
Speaker 1: when they take on a South Carolina team that just
Speaker 1: did not impress against Old Dominion. But week one to
Speaker 1: week two, you know how that works. Bad news if
Speaker 1: you're a Gators fan. Even more bad news, Graham Mertz
Speaker 1: sidelined in concussion protocol, which means a true freshman DJ
Speaker 1: Lagway will make his first career start against Samford in
Speaker 1: the Swamp on Saturday, at Samford with an Amazon mom
Speaker 1: that's the team. The one A team in Birmingham coached
Speaker 1: by former Kentucky assistant Chris Hatcher, and of course former
Speaker 1: Kentucky assistant AD Scott Strickland is the AD at Florida,
Speaker 1: but Billy Napier made the announcement on Wednesday yesterday, and
Speaker 1: Mertz has not been able to practice this week. Said
Speaker 1: he's doing better, but he was hurt late in the
Speaker 1: third quarter that lopes I had lost to Miami this
Speaker 1: past weekend, so Lagway came in, got a little bit
Speaker 1: of experience. There was three for six, picked up twenty
Speaker 1: yards on the ground. He was the number eight player
Speaker 1: in the ESPN three hundred and Gator a Player of
Speaker 1: the Year in twenty twenty three, So Gator fans are
Speaker 1: hoping he is the answer. NFL kicks off tonight and
Speaker 1: it should be a good one. The Ravens visiting the
Speaker 1: Kansas City chiefs Lamar Jackson trying to get his team
Speaker 1: to a Super Bowl. Kansas City well knows the way.
Speaker 1: My Packers play tomorrow night and they play in South Paulo, Brazil,
Speaker 1: where they have beefed up security for their game with
Speaker 1: the Philadelphia Eagles, and you must be scratching your head
Speaker 1: as I am, why in the world are you playing there?
Speaker 1: No disrespect, but of course there are there are issues there.
Speaker 1: That's why the state government says it will deploy hundreds
Speaker 1: of police officers and provide escorts for team buses because
Speaker 1: the players have expressed concern duh about playing in Brazil.
Speaker 1: They're going to coordinate security operations with US authorities. Gun
Speaker 1: violence and crime rates in Brazil among the highest in
Speaker 1: Latin America, and evidently, metropolitan South Polo has also faced
Speaker 1: a wave of cell phone threats. I'm not sure why
Speaker 1: they folded that into the story, but it says here
Speaker 1: hundreds of civilian and military police will be deployed for
Speaker 1: the game. This is the first time the NFL will
Speaker 1: play in a South American country. Keep in mind, Mexico
Speaker 1: is considered North America. Some call it Central America, but
Speaker 1: technically Mexico is part of North America. But military police
Speaker 1: will be used to escort the team's buses to their hotels,
Speaker 1: training grounds, and stadium and have been over the last
Speaker 1: few days in will and through the time that they
Speaker 1: will leave the country. So and of course emotions are
Speaker 1: on high after Ricky pearsall the Niners rookie receiver, was
Speaker 1: shot in the chest during an attempt at armed robbery
Speaker 1: in San Francisco. They're gonna be trained dogs at the
Speaker 1: stadium looking for potential explosive devices. But I got news
Speaker 1: for you that happens at every NFL stadium and just
Speaker 1: about every college stadium in America. But they're gonna have helicopters,
Speaker 1: they're gonna have drones, and they're also gonna have a
Speaker 1: station inside the stadium to support women who are victims
Speaker 1: of violence. So let's just hope that the football is
Speaker 1: the only headline that happens throughout that game. One other
Speaker 1: note before we hit the break. Jamar Chase practiced yesterday
Speaker 1: with the Bengals. That was the key day. If he
Speaker 1: didn't practice yesterday, he's not gonna play this weekend. But
Speaker 1: he participated in the first official practice of game week. Bengals,
Speaker 1: of course, open up against the Patriots on Sunday. Yeah,
Speaker 1: those Patriots. They are the reason that everybody in survivor
Speaker 1: leagues throughout the world, everybody picking the Bengals, everybody playing
Speaker 1: it safe. He goes it says right here, there's no
Speaker 1: way the Patriots beat the Bengals. So Chase listed as
Speaker 1: a limited participant in his first practice course he's got
Speaker 1: a contract dispute happening. They talk about a mild injury,
Speaker 1: but it's all about the contract, and he and fellow
Speaker 1: receiver t Higgins, who's also got contract issues with the
Speaker 1: last ones to walk out to practice. They walked out
Speaker 1: with a couple of Bengal assistant coaches and there was
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow waiting to welcome them with open arms. So
Speaker 1: if this drags on, we'll see if it affects the Bengals.
Speaker 1: They can't go as far as they want, obviously back
Speaker 1: to the super Bowl in my opinion. Without Chase, he
Speaker 1: did not participate in any training camp or team practices
Speaker 1: for the most part while he's been working on this
Speaker 1: contract negotiation. So keep an eye on that, and I
Speaker 1: know you are if you're a Bengals fan. Up next,
Speaker 1: Van Hiles on six thirty WLAP Welcome back to the
Speaker 1: Big Blue and Sider joining us now one of our
Speaker 1: favorite guests because we always learn football from mister Van Hiles,
Speaker 1: former Kentucky defensive back now just becoming a media megastar,
Speaker 1: co host of The Locker four to one one driving
Speaker 1: with Styles. You hear him Monday morning quarterback segments with
Speaker 1: Tom Leach. That's a big show. And you know Sunday
Speaker 1: morning sports talk. You're everywhere. Man, You're massive now.
Speaker 8: So for I appreciate that. I'm so for from massive,
Speaker 8: But yeah, it is awesome to be able to talk
Speaker 8: Kentucky football. Never would have thought this in a million years.
Speaker 8: This is what I will be even part time doing
Speaker 8: so out. I really appreciate it.
Speaker 1: Well. I noticed you a couple three years ago on
Speaker 1: social media having a good time with the cutups, and
Speaker 1: people heard you on this show and they said they
Speaker 1: started calling, Hey, you got Van's phone number. So and
Speaker 1: I wonder how many people really know about your grilling
Speaker 1: capabilities because you have now I believe maybe I missed
Speaker 1: it earlier. Changed your background photo on your Twitter account.
Speaker 1: You got shots of what is his brisket ribs?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 1: Tips?
Speaker 9: Is that right?
Speaker 1: On those tips?
Speaker 2: Yep?
Speaker 8: Those are tips?
Speaker 1: And then barbecued pork. Is that a pull pork?
Speaker 8: That's pull pork?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 1: You see. And you need to be proud of me
Speaker 1: because I'm not a red meat guy, but I respect
Speaker 1: the grilling. It's fantastic. Fantastic.
Speaker 8: Yeah, it's definitely funny. It's fun for me. It gives
Speaker 8: me another thing to try to be competitive with because
Speaker 8: every day is a different day.
Speaker 1: When you're cooking and it's relaxing. I know we'll come
Speaker 1: back to that. I need to leave myself. I just forget.
Speaker 1: I get so involved in football, I forget to leave
Speaker 1: time for the grilling. So I'm not going to give
Speaker 1: away the story because you need to follow Van on
Speaker 1: social media to find out how he broke down the video.
Speaker 1: But let's start with your favorite side of the ball
Speaker 1: defense And there were some question marks, especially the corner
Speaker 1: opposite Maxwell Harston. What did you see And granted you
Speaker 1: didn't have a sample size, you usually.
Speaker 8: Have exactly that. That is the thing. There's some good
Speaker 8: and there were some bad. To me, the most important
Speaker 8: thing for corners is one is great discipline, great eyes,
Speaker 8: and then it's confident. Yeah, and I'm not sure that
Speaker 8: JQ is one hundred percent confident on game day because
Speaker 8: it's obvious to me that he has a confidence in
Speaker 8: practice because the coaches are confident were putting them out there.
Speaker 8: So I think he needs to get get feel a
Speaker 8: little bit more wet with on game day, I think
Speaker 8: he will be to become even better because this show.
Speaker 8: As the game went on, he kind of settled in
Speaker 8: a little more and more.
Speaker 1: How can you tell that his confidence might not be
Speaker 1: where it needs to.
Speaker 8: Be, because the thing about this back is when some
Speaker 8: bad happens when it's to you, it's obvious if they
Speaker 8: throw a pass and a touchdown, well that guy messed up.
Speaker 8: And a lot of times on this level, you don't
Speaker 8: want to get big deep, so you're a little conservative
Speaker 8: on your break on balls because you want to make
Speaker 8: sure even though the ball's in your air, right a
Speaker 8: guy rather fire or hit you see the ball in
Speaker 8: the air. You just want to make sure that maybe
Speaker 8: potentially doesn't get tipped or something crazy. So his reaction
Speaker 8: to the ball is not what I think it should
Speaker 8: be or could be. And then on I think they
Speaker 8: threw another pass. They're coming out of the end zone,
Speaker 8: and he made a good break on the ball. So
Speaker 8: I think there was one pass who was slower, and
Speaker 8: then the second pass that was to his side, he
Speaker 8: broke much faster than next past. He made a good
Speaker 8: tackle on or the passer incomplete on third and and
Speaker 8: seven or something on the other side of the Steeld.
Speaker 8: So he has the potential, he just needs to settle
Speaker 8: in and gain that confidence. In my opinion, I'm like
Speaker 8: he could be the most confident guy in the world.
Speaker 2: You never know.
Speaker 1: Got himself a pick though, That's got to go a
Speaker 1: long way in building that confidence for sure.
Speaker 8: And he owes d Jack something. I don't know what
Speaker 8: those guys get for picks, but whatever he gets, he
Speaker 8: should get half of it to Djack because d Jack
Speaker 8: made He made probably one of the most underrated great
Speaker 8: plays by instile linebacker that you would get from an
Speaker 8: instile linebacker because his odd discipline on that play was
Speaker 8: out of this world.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, I talked with trayvon Rivko about I disciplined
Speaker 1: a practice yesterday and I was pretty sure I knew
Speaker 1: what it menment had him really explained it. And of
Speaker 1: course he's coached by the great Anne war Stewart. So
Speaker 1: what did you think of the discipline of the front four?
Speaker 8: I mean, when if you don't watch the game and
Speaker 8: you are a stat group as I call them, if
Speaker 8: you if you see a team only your five yards
Speaker 8: Russian that just automatically knows shows you that that defensive
Speaker 8: line dominated. They dominated the game and the trenches on
Speaker 8: defense and there were there was nothing there. I'm not
Speaker 8: sure they had a over ten yards of more. I'm
Speaker 8: pretty sure they didn't. And if you can hold I
Speaker 8: don't care who you're playing on Saturdays, SCS, SBS, whatever,
Speaker 8: if you can limit them the five yards Russian, your
Speaker 8: defense is going to be successful.
Speaker 1: If you can limit somebody the five yards in the
Speaker 1: backyard right.
Speaker 8: Right, exactly exactly someone and someone's gonna mess up eventually,
Speaker 8: and no one did to give them a layer.
Speaker 1: Now, Jeff Percoro made a great point after the game
Speaker 1: on our broadcast when again looking at stats, what did
Speaker 1: you call them? A stat stats? What status? Yahoo?
Speaker 8: I come on, stat goofies, stat goofies.
Speaker 1: Okay, if you looked at Dion Walker, what are you
Speaker 1: gonna say, You're gonna see zeros right, But that doesn't
Speaker 1: mean he had a bad game.
Speaker 8: No, I mean that same way Max didn't have probably
Speaker 8: a great numbers on paper. Here's the thing with defensive
Speaker 8: line is there are five offensive alignments, and we really
Speaker 8: have three defensive alignments. We'll walk down J. J. Weaver,
Speaker 8: So now they have five on three. If you have
Speaker 8: to double team d On now there's four on three.
Speaker 8: Now that means someone is single block. That single guy
Speaker 8: who's blocked should create habit. The other thing is, when
Speaker 8: there's four on three, never got two linebackers, probably both them.
Speaker 8: Linebackers don't have a lineman on them because two are
Speaker 8: on d on So with him not having a great
Speaker 8: status of a great thing on paper, the thing about
Speaker 8: look at everybody else, look at the linebackers. If you
Speaker 8: have linebackers getting tackles, that means the front three is
Speaker 8: doing their job because their job is really to be
Speaker 8: a tackler. Their job is to gobble up block and
Speaker 8: a lot of those two linebackers to roam freely and
Speaker 8: make tackles, and they did a good job of that.
Speaker 1: I was gonna say, that's exactly what happened.
Speaker 8: Isn't it as a tactful? I mean it is, I
Speaker 8: bet you right now. Pop was like, this product feels
Speaker 8: like when he was at Georgia he didn't have anybody
Speaker 8: on his toes. And DJ's like, man, this is a
Speaker 8: great game because man, I had no one blocking me either.
Speaker 8: It is a great game when no one's on your
Speaker 8: inside linebackers.
Speaker 1: What was your reaction when USM was three for three
Speaker 1: on third downs to open the game.
Speaker 8: I was like in a moment when it happened live,
Speaker 8: I was not happy, No, it was just bad things happened.
Speaker 8: But then here's the thing, as thin I talked about,
Speaker 8: is when I looked at the filmily, Okay, these are
Speaker 8: just mental mistakes. I can hark him back to the
Speaker 8: nineteen hundreds when we just didn't have the talent to
Speaker 8: even whole team. Sometimes this team has the talent now,
Speaker 8: they just got us threw the screws little tire between
Speaker 8: the years, and those things wouldn't happen because they played
Speaker 8: great on neighbors in the plays. But the couple plays
Speaker 8: you give up a big plays like don't give up
Speaker 8: thirty yard pass plays, fifteen to twenty yard pass plays,
Speaker 8: those can't happen if you give up an eight yard run.
Speaker 8: This team is really good on third and short. We'll
Speaker 8: see that in the past few years. Get them a
Speaker 8: third and third down, and then let's when do not
Speaker 8: make minim mistakes, because minim mistakes are worse than a
Speaker 8: physical mistake. And we had a couple of mental breakdowns
Speaker 8: in the US them had chances to potentially score because
Speaker 8: of them.
Speaker 1: It's so odd to hear you refer to the nineteen
Speaker 1: hundreds when you played, but that is literally correct. I
Speaker 1: mean you played in the mid nineties. I mean it
Speaker 1: sounds like you're saying, like back in nineteen twenty or whatever.
Speaker 1: I'm old, brother, but I'm not that old. We talk
Speaker 1: to Van Hiles, former Kentucky defensive back and the guy
Speaker 1: who hosts several presentations of Kentucky football as he breaks
Speaker 1: him down on social media. We'll come back with more
Speaker 1: questions for Van in just a minute. Here on the
Speaker 1: Big Blue Sider six thirty WLAP Welcome back. We're talking
Speaker 1: with Van Hiles, former Kentucky defensive back and now media
Speaker 1: megastar on social media. Coast to the Locker four one one,
Speaker 1: host of Driving with Styles. You hear him on the
Speaker 1: Tom Leech Report every Monday. You hear him on Sunday
Speaker 1: Morning Sports Talk. Actually they get it you first. But
Speaker 1: that's got to be a lot of fun to break
Speaker 1: things down with Tom on Monday morning. But we talked
Speaker 1: a lot of defense prior to the break. Tell me
Speaker 1: about Brock vander Riff. Are you surprised that Bush Hampden
Speaker 1: had him run the ball so much?
Speaker 8: Honestly, not really. Now, I play quarterback for a long time,
Speaker 8: so I got to college and for me, I like
Speaker 8: to get hit because it gets you into the game.
Speaker 8: It gets your juices flooring. Now there are a couple,
Speaker 8: maybe one or two too many, not in a bad way,
Speaker 8: but uh maybe, But those quarterback runs were That first
Speaker 8: quarterback run was immaculate as far as play call, as
Speaker 8: far as the formation that was given. I love giving
Speaker 8: your quarterback a chance to get in the Florida game early.
Speaker 8: And the Florida game doesn't also mean just giving you
Speaker 8: a short pass to get your confortence on throwing. Florida
Speaker 8: game is to get hit a time or two that
Speaker 8: is not a sack. So I actually liked it, so
Speaker 8: I didn't have a problem. I mean, the kid is
Speaker 8: obviously he's he's a kid who who loves it himselves
Speaker 8: because he didn't back down from anything.
Speaker 1: But he needs a slide more, doesn't.
Speaker 8: He see I'm honestly, I'm not a fly guy. Here's
Speaker 8: the reason I'm not a slide guy is when you
Speaker 8: baseball slide, you really give yourself up to a potential concussion.
Speaker 8: If a guy comes and hits you in the chest,
Speaker 8: your head is gonna snap back. I'm really afraid of that.
Speaker 1: Now.
Speaker 8: I don't like him not protecting himself from the first one.
Speaker 8: The safety came up and hit him on that thigh.
Speaker 8: That's that's not He's got to protect himselves a little
Speaker 8: better than that. But other than that, I didn't see
Speaker 8: anything wrong with any of the other ones except for
Speaker 8: for that one. That one was a that was what
Speaker 8: was was brutal.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, I see what you're saying. And you know,
Speaker 1: everybody remembers Will Levice who was bigger, but Vanders not
Speaker 1: small by any means. But just like running backs, they
Speaker 1: get down behind their pads right and really protect themselves
Speaker 1: that way, don't they exactly?
Speaker 8: Now, if he's close to the sideline, run out a bound,
Speaker 8: don't try to get actually yard in the half and
Speaker 8: try to no no, no, no, get down.
Speaker 2: But in the middle field.
Speaker 8: I mean, I think he got a little lost in
Speaker 8: the play the first one. But that was another one
Speaker 8: I think where it was a little confusion and where
Speaker 8: he was going for the course back draw and he
Speaker 8: got hit going towards the Craft Center building and someone
Speaker 8: came in, like third in and got a good lick
Speaker 8: at them butt. That wasn't a look that you're going
Speaker 8: to be concerned it. It just looks good. But he
Speaker 8: does have pats on that flastic is very is very protective.
Speaker 1: Well, South Carolina coming in has a little bit more
Speaker 1: or a lot more than Southern Miss, So I wonder
Speaker 1: if we'll see as much of that. But it's a
Speaker 1: team with a dual threat quarterback. And I'm sure you
Speaker 1: were a dual threat quarterback too, and you're a QB,
Speaker 1: weren't you.
Speaker 2: Yes, And that's the.
Speaker 8: Bad thing about for a defense is you're playing with
Speaker 8: eleven all the time. Now, you're not playing with ten.
Speaker 8: A quarterback that doesn't hand the ball off and then
Speaker 8: looks at what the running back is running. Even if
Speaker 8: he hands the ball off the running back, if a
Speaker 8: quarterback does a great playfake off of it, he's going
Speaker 8: to take somebody with them because of the fact that
Speaker 8: he can pull the ball off the face. You are
Speaker 8: actually playing with eleven on eleven. If he runs, he's
Speaker 8: got an extra block in front of him. Those are
Speaker 8: the things that can be harmful if the defense is
Speaker 8: not disciplined. Goes back to the trip option, the verer,
Speaker 8: the midline like all that stuff makes the defense be disciplined,
Speaker 8: and not just a couple of them. It makes everyone
Speaker 8: from the defensive line to the linebackers and the secondary.
Speaker 8: Whoever has pitch has pitched. Whoever has quarterback has quarterback.
Speaker 8: So that's the thing about is that when he goes
Speaker 8: and extend plays, not everybody has to be on that
Speaker 8: piece and keys because the player is going to last
Speaker 8: through the four seconds longer.
Speaker 1: I was gonna say that was the word of the
Speaker 1: day yesterday talking to the UK defensive guys. With discipline,
Speaker 1: you can't try to do too much. I remember Mike
Speaker 1: Archer when he was here pulling with little hair that
Speaker 1: he had, pulling it out of his head because too
Speaker 1: many guys were trying to do too much instead of
Speaker 1: just taking care of their gap. Right.
Speaker 8: Yes, I don't want to say the words he used
Speaker 8: to say it for this basicly do your job. Do
Speaker 8: your job because you're playing. This is not high school.
Speaker 8: But the guy's next to you might not be as talented.
Speaker 8: Everybody on this defensive scholarship player they have talented. Let
Speaker 8: them handle their job and you handle your job. If
Speaker 8: they mess up, let me yell at them and not
Speaker 8: yell at him in you because now we got two
Speaker 8: guys messing up. So yes, that was big during my
Speaker 8: days with CoA Storch.
Speaker 1: He asked me once because he would see me in
Speaker 1: my role as sidelines reporter, kind of hovering behind the
Speaker 1: bench trying to pick up something to report on, and
Speaker 1: we made eye contact one day and he asked me
Speaker 1: a practice. He said, Hey, they can't hear me on
Speaker 1: that microphone of yours, can they? I said, Coach, what
Speaker 1: I do is I turn it off. I put my
Speaker 1: hand over the top of the mic, and I put
Speaker 1: it behind my back. So I'm triple covered when it
Speaker 1: comes to protecting America from what you're saying to these guys.
Speaker 1: But he knew his defense. I know that We're talking
Speaker 1: to Van Hiles, former Kentucky d back and football analyst
Speaker 1: on social media. Talk to me a little bit about
Speaker 1: Kentucky's run game, because it's gonna be a lot tougher
Speaker 1: to run between the tackles. Saturday afternoon. What did you
Speaker 1: see last week?
Speaker 8: I thought they played really well. There were a couple
Speaker 8: of leakages. I mean, obviously here, you're not gonna be
Speaker 8: perfect because the other guy across from you is also
Speaker 8: good and he's gonna do thing that on paper that
Speaker 8: you might not have seen. So overall, I thought the
Speaker 8: run at was was it was great. I mean, just
Speaker 8: think about it. I think every back everage seven yards
Speaker 8: of carriage. If you take away Willcox's first carry, which
Speaker 8: was a great play by them, more than a fought
Speaker 8: by us, he would have had seven yards per carry.
Speaker 8: If you can look at stat and see all your
Speaker 8: running back to seven years of carry, that's a win.
Speaker 8: So now they're gonna be tested a lot more with
Speaker 8: this South Carolina front for but let's see what they
Speaker 8: can do. I think as coach Milk and coach Archie,
Speaker 8: both of them used to say the biggest improvement coach
Speaker 8: curves from week one to week two. So if they
Speaker 8: played well week one, I think they're gonna play even
Speaker 8: better next week.
Speaker 1: Yeah. That's that's a classic football tradition, week one to
Speaker 1: week two. All right, I'm gonna wrap football discussion a
Speaker 1: little a little early because I wanted to leave time
Speaker 1: for grilling. Did we grill this past Saturday?
Speaker 8: Yes? I was this weekend. I can't remember what dad is.
Speaker 8: Yes I did. I actually did some steak and normally
Speaker 8: I reversed there my steak on the grill been happening,
Speaker 8: not problems, but not the greatest result because I have
Speaker 8: an offset smoker, so the temperature inside I wasn't staying
Speaker 8: at about four to five. It was just taking too long.
Speaker 8: So I actually brought it inside. I I put my
Speaker 8: cast iron skilly in the oven, and I took it
Speaker 8: out of the oven, put on top of the grill.
Speaker 8: I'm on top on top of the oven, on the
Speaker 8: on the eye en. That worked great, So I'm very
Speaker 8: happy with that result. I'm going to try that again,
Speaker 8: probably soon, to make sure it's the deal.
Speaker 1: People who are serious about their grilling need a cast
Speaker 1: iron skillet, don't they. That's a vital, vital.
Speaker 8: If you are a cook, you need a cast iron skiller.
Speaker 8: My grandmother had, like I can't remember how many.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 8: No, if you don't have a yes, If you don't
Speaker 8: have a cast iron skill, that I don't, I don't
Speaker 8: claim you. Well, I guess a Southern cook. I mean
Speaker 8: I don't know the other cooks, but in the South
Speaker 8: every cook cast iron skill at least two yeah.
Speaker 1: Yeah. And and there's there are ways to clean them and
Speaker 1: take care of them, right, you don't just them in
Speaker 1: a pot of water.
Speaker 8: Minis thirds about people messing up are perfectly seasoned cast
Speaker 8: iron skilly because and that's it doesn't look great, but
Speaker 8: that that's thirty years of work to get that thing
Speaker 8: to look like that. Yes, do not just throw that
Speaker 8: in in a dishwasher or leave doll that's that's that's
Speaker 8: a mil NOTLK.
Speaker 1: Yeah, we talked before about how to blacken food, and
Speaker 1: you got to have a cast iron skillet. So there's
Speaker 1: a lot of info on the internet about that. A
Speaker 1: couple of minutes le of advance. So tell me what's
Speaker 1: on the menu for this weekend. I assume you're planning
Speaker 1: a big one.
Speaker 8: I'm supposed to do brisket and pool port because I
Speaker 8: have a high school game on Friday, so I'm gonna
Speaker 8: chill out on probably Saturday or Sunday morning and spend
Speaker 8: that fourteen hours watching TV and making sure those two
Speaker 8: meats turn out well. And what are you cooking again,
Speaker 8: brisket and pull port? I have a Yeah, I have
Speaker 8: a big offset smoker. So once I do one, I
Speaker 8: just do two at a time, or three at a time.
Speaker 8: I just vacuum steal the rest of it and put
Speaker 8: in a freezom I hear more and.
Speaker 1: More people cooking brisket. Is that just become a thing
Speaker 1: or has that always been big?
Speaker 8: You go, so, sure, yeah, it's been big with me.
Speaker 8: Now I'm not sure why people are cooking more brisket.
Speaker 8: That's a good one because it takes forever to actually,
Speaker 8: if you're grilling it, forever to cook it. So I'm glad.
Speaker 8: It's a hard meat to perfect just because of the
Speaker 8: toughness of it, and it takes some time to get
Speaker 8: because sometimes it's more of a feel like you have
Speaker 8: your temperature controls, or sometimes those temperature controls are not
Speaker 8: one hundred percent acurate. You have to touch and fell it.
Speaker 8: So sometimes it can frustrate you because you might have
Speaker 8: undercooked it or overcooked it because there is a sweet spot.
Speaker 8: So you have to get comfortable and maybe pushing the
Speaker 8: envelope a little bit or maybe that I think it's okay,
Speaker 8: let's let it rest and build it that way. It's tough.
Speaker 1: Now, one of these days, when you have time, you
Speaker 1: need to just put together a regular grilling feature on
Speaker 1: social media. Now that you've got the following that you
Speaker 1: have from football, I know I'm creating more work for you,
Speaker 1: but why hide your lamp? Under a bushel basket. You know.
Speaker 8: Yeah, I'm not sure how you even do that. Somebody
Speaker 8: would have to give me the idea of how I
Speaker 8: would do that on social media with the two minutes
Speaker 8: and twenty seconds that they forced you to maybe YouTube.
Speaker 1: You got plenty of time on YouTube.
Speaker 8: I guess. Yeah, we'll talk.
Speaker 2: We'll talk, okay.
Speaker 1: Vanhius, former Kentucky d back who breaks down UK football
Speaker 1: on social media. Follow him on Twitter x at V
Speaker 1: Style seventeen. Thank you, sir. We'll talk to you next week.
Speaker 8: You know, anytime you need me I'll be here.
Speaker 1: I told you we would learn football from Van. We
Speaker 1: always do up next hour number two, Lee K. Howard
Speaker 1: from WKYT and my buddy Reggie Anderson from a TV
Speaker 1: station down in Columbia. We'll fill us in on those
Speaker 1: game cocks. That's all ed here on the Big Blue
Speaker 1: Sider six thirty WOAP. Welcome back joining us on our
Speaker 1: celebrity hotline as a longtime friend and colleague and a
Speaker 1: member of the media who covers UK sports, and that
Speaker 1: is Lee K. Howard and I saw Leek at practice
Speaker 1: yesterday and it wasn't It was kind of weird, was it?
Speaker 1: And not having a complete game to refer to, you know,
Speaker 1: and we talked to Brad White and the defensive players.
Speaker 1: I found it weird.
Speaker 2: It was a little bit weird, you know. And we're
Speaker 2: used to now seeing Kentucky play SEC competition early in
Speaker 2: the year, but we've never seen him play SEC competition
Speaker 2: after less than three quarters of football, so this is
Speaker 2: kind of a unique situation, you know. That game was
Speaker 2: I'm glad that they were able to get in some
Speaker 2: of the game, and I think we were able to
Speaker 2: see a good amount of what Kentucky can be and
Speaker 2: what at least the first string looks like. I think
Speaker 2: the thing we really missed out on, or the team
Speaker 2: really missed out on, is getting some of those second
Speaker 2: string guys more reps. And I think that's one of
Speaker 2: the goals when you play a team like Southern miss
Speaker 2: is trying to get some more guys in because I
Speaker 2: really think that we're about a series away from seeing
Speaker 2: what Gavin wims That could do getting in there, maybe
Speaker 2: even some more Jason Patterson at running back right now,
Speaker 2: because you know, they're kind of a committee running back
Speaker 2: group right now with Demi and Jason and Jamrian while
Speaker 2: they wait on Chip train them to get back. So
Speaker 2: that's the one thing that I think was left to
Speaker 2: be desired after that game, was getting some of those
Speaker 2: second string guys more reps, because as you know, you
Speaker 2: jump into SEC competition right away, you're going to need
Speaker 2: to be more than one unit deep. So I think
Speaker 2: that's the one thing I kind of took away from.
Speaker 1: That before we start getting into the issues of the
Speaker 1: running game and how to stop a dual threat quarterback.
Speaker 1: This South Carolina series, I believe, is becoming a rivalry.
Speaker 1: They're not just rivalries because they're on the schedule, but
Speaker 1: it's because of obviously what has happened through the years,
Speaker 1: and this one has gone back and forth, which good
Speaker 1: rivalries do. It's not geographical, but it's such an important
Speaker 1: game for both teams, and both teams have had success
Speaker 1: at the expense of others, and there's a little bit
Speaker 1: of juice to this one. We're the coaches and all that.
Speaker 1: Do you see it that way?
Speaker 2: I do? You know? Of course, when the head ball
Speaker 2: coach was Roman Pipeline there at South Carolina and famously
Speaker 2: say Weil Kentucky's got a good punter. But there was
Speaker 2: a time that South Carolina dominated the rivalry from two
Speaker 2: thousand to two thousand and nine, South Carolina won ten
Speaker 2: in a row, and then Kentucky won that twenty ten game,
Speaker 2: and then I believe South Carolina won the next two
Speaker 2: or three. So yeah, there was a time when South
Speaker 2: Carolina really had the upper hand. But then when Stoops
Speaker 2: came in. I still remember that that game where Bud
Speaker 2: Dupree at the interception runs it back for a touchdown
Speaker 2: and it was almost felt like a change of the guard.
Speaker 2: And since twenty thirteen, Kentucky has won seven of ten
Speaker 2: against Carolina. But then you know, if you know it's
Speaker 2: like stats, any any way you look at it, you
Speaker 2: can twist them. He's also lost the last two against
Speaker 2: South Carolina. But you're right, this is these are two
Speaker 2: programs in a way, and I don't mean this as
Speaker 2: a slight to either, but these are two programs in
Speaker 2: a way that are kind of fighting for the same
Speaker 2: position right in the SEC hierarchy. Right, So both programs
Speaker 2: come in thinking that they should beat the other one
Speaker 2: every year, and in many ways, whichever team wins this
Speaker 2: game does set itself up for some ability to have
Speaker 2: a really good season, and the loser of the game
Speaker 2: walks away going that's one we should have had, That's
Speaker 2: one we could have had and could have set up
Speaker 2: a season. So yeah, that is a really big game
Speaker 2: as far as you know, just the projection of how
Speaker 2: you're going to look for.
Speaker 1: The rest of the year for so long as you know.
Speaker 1: This was a divisional game, so vital if you want
Speaker 1: to move up in the SEC East, which Kentucky did
Speaker 1: at times at the expense of SC and vice versa.
Speaker 1: But now they've done away with the divisions. I was
Speaker 1: staunchly opposed to that, and I know everybody wanted to
Speaker 1: see more of a balance schedule, but it bugs me
Speaker 1: that the program I cover now is an even longer
Speaker 1: shot to get to Atlanta for the SEC Championship game,
Speaker 1: better chance of getting to the playoffs. But I just
Speaker 1: so enjoyed covering that event for SEC Radio for the
Speaker 1: longest time, and it's so hard to do, and I
Speaker 1: just wonder if Kentucky's ever going to get that. But
Speaker 1: it's now I think Lee k a bigger game and
Speaker 1: that if you want to get to the playoff, much
Speaker 1: less Atlanta, you cannot lose this game, you know what.
Speaker 2: I mean, right, Yeah, I mean you would almost have
Speaker 2: to run the table and pull up some big upsets
Speaker 2: like over Georgia. Yeah, and you know Texas and some
Speaker 2: of those. So you're right, and it's hard to see
Speaker 2: Kentucky or it's not just Kentucky, it's most schools in
Speaker 2: the SEC that aren't named Georgia and Alabama and possibly
Speaker 2: a Tennessee or some to get to the SEC championship game.
Speaker 2: I mean that's that now becomes a lot tougher than
Speaker 2: making the playoff, right, So I guess it's it's a
Speaker 2: little bit of give and take. You now, with the
Speaker 2: twelve team probably soon to be sixteen team playoff, have
Speaker 2: a legit shot to play for the postseason. And I
Speaker 2: do like that part about it, Like you don't lose
Speaker 2: one game and suddenly every guy on the roster doesn't
Speaker 2: think that there's much to play for. Right, But you're right,
Speaker 2: you know not a conference championship in a league like
Speaker 2: the SEC becomes a lot more elusive when you're taking
Speaker 2: literally the top two teams.
Speaker 9: You're right.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Talking to Lee K. Howard of WKYT, he covers
Speaker 1: UK football among many other things. Well, you brought up
Speaker 1: the run game. We know that Southern miss is a
Speaker 1: have not at least it looks like that right now.
Speaker 1: South Carolina we're gonna find out. We're all going to
Speaker 1: find out together. But mediocre effort against Old Dominion. Well
Speaker 1: I shouldn't say effort. I don't know what their effort
Speaker 1: was like, but result was mediocre. But they did get
Speaker 1: a win against Old Dominion. But they've got a power
Speaker 1: run game, don't they. This is going to be interesting
Speaker 1: to see SE's offense versus that Kentucky d line.
Speaker 8: Yeah.
Speaker 2: I think so too, you know, And I asked Brad
Speaker 2: White yesterday about the running game for USC, just because
Speaker 2: they were very run heavy against Old Dominion and they,
Speaker 2: you know, Rocket Sanders is transferred in there. Sellers the
Speaker 2: quarterback can run the ball, and traditionally we've seen Kentucky
Speaker 2: and most teams really in the country struggle when when
Speaker 2: you've got a running quarterback of quarterbacks that can get
Speaker 2: out of the pocket and pick up yards, and so,
Speaker 2: you know, I thought it was interesting. Brad White at
Speaker 2: least said he expects a balanced attack. But you know,
Speaker 2: I do think that that is something to watch, how
Speaker 2: effective South Carolina can be on offense running the ball,
Speaker 2: because we know both teams are good on defense, right.
Speaker 2: I think that's the strength of both of these teams,
Speaker 2: especially the front seven. And so you know, what can
Speaker 2: Kentucky's defense do to limit South Carolina? Because if South
Speaker 2: Carolina proves to not be a very good offensive team,
Speaker 2: then I think Kentucky walks away with a you know,
Speaker 2: ten plus point win, easy if they if they come
Speaker 2: out and play like they did against the Old Dominion,
Speaker 2: I think Kentucky walks off with an easy win. If
Speaker 2: that that run game though or Sellers gives Kentucky's defense
Speaker 2: any trouble, then I think we're in for a tight game.
Speaker 1: Well, I got a dual threat quarterback. And we have
Speaker 1: seen through the years, and you've worked this market for
Speaker 1: quite a while, you've seen dual threat qbs come in
Speaker 1: and really be fuddle the Wildcats, haven't you.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and they and they have now. Also, You've got
Speaker 2: to keep in mind that Kentucky's defense from you know,
Speaker 2: front to back is as solid as it's been for
Speaker 2: a while. You know, they may not have a Josh
Speaker 2: Allen or you know, the the elite NFL prospect on
Speaker 2: that roster. I mean, they've obviously have Deon, but they
Speaker 2: are so balanced defensively from the line, the linebackers to
Speaker 2: the defensive backs. I think that a running quarterback in
Speaker 2: theory wouldn't give these guys as much trouble. But like
Speaker 2: I said, it's not just Kentucky any and Brad White
Speaker 2: said this yesterday. Any team that can run their quarterback,
Speaker 2: they just create another gap, right, so they they make
Speaker 2: it a lot tougher for a defense. And you know,
Speaker 2: now instead of the defensive lineman filling one gap, he's
Speaker 2: looking to fill a gap and a half in order
Speaker 2: to limit the ability for the quarterback to run. So
Speaker 2: it just brings in a whole other element. And we
Speaker 2: were kind of seeing the same thing on Kentucky's offense, right.
Speaker 2: So Bush Hampden has proven, at least in one game
Speaker 2: or three quarters of the game, that he's not afraid
Speaker 2: to let his quarterback run. And like I said, if
Speaker 2: we would have got to see Gavin Wimsatt in there,
Speaker 2: I think that's certainly part of the game plan when
Speaker 2: Gavin's in there, to let him run. You know, we
Speaker 2: saw the last couple of years when Will Levis. We
Speaker 2: knew he could run the ball, but his second year
Speaker 2: he was very limited. So I think that having the
Speaker 2: ability to have a quarterback move the pocket and pick
Speaker 2: up some yards if he needs to is a huge deal.
Speaker 1: Lee K. Howard, my guest from WKYT, will come back
Speaker 1: with more football chatter in just a minute here on
Speaker 1: the Big Blue and Siders six thirty WLAP Welcome back.
Speaker 1: We're talking with Lee K. Howard of WKYT reporter anchors.
Speaker 1: Worked in election for quite some time from New Mexico.
Speaker 1: But what the college in Texas? And you and I
Speaker 1: have talked about football in the state of Texas. Of
Speaker 1: course Texas now in the Southeastern Conference. That's going to
Speaker 1: take some getting used to. But I bring up the Longhorns,
Speaker 1: lee K, because we were talking about SEC football in
Speaker 1: the previous segment and now we need and we would
Speaker 1: have done this anyway. It's a great game. Need to
Speaker 1: keep an eye on the first big game scheduled on Saturday,
Speaker 1: and that's the Longhorns at Michigan and Texas. Lee K
Speaker 1: is a seven and a half point favorite right now.
Speaker 1: I mean Michigan, the defending national champ, which admittedly lost
Speaker 1: a lot to the NFL, specifically a quarterback, but a
Speaker 1: touchdown more than a touchdown underdog at the Big House.
Speaker 1: What do you make of that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I was gonna say going into the Big House
Speaker 2: as a favorite on the road is quite impressive. But
Speaker 2: I think that speaks just as much to what Michigan
Speaker 2: lost as much as what Texas is bringing in. I mean,
Speaker 2: Texas is a really good team. Obviously, they wouldn't be
Speaker 2: ranked in the top ten, you know, as a fluke
Speaker 2: if they weren't. They've got a lot of talent. But
Speaker 2: when you've got Michigan losing not only a bunch of players,
Speaker 2: they lest their coach also, right, So it's a different
Speaker 2: it's a different team. So it's almost hard to look
Speaker 2: at them as the defending national champion at least coming
Speaker 2: onto the field. But you know, I will say it
Speaker 2: was weird. You know, I had to catch a little
Speaker 2: bit of the Texas and a little bit of the
Speaker 2: Oklahoma game, and it's weird seeing the SEC logos and
Speaker 2: you know, the promos for the SEC running before the
Speaker 2: Texas game, because like you said, I grew up, you know,
Speaker 2: watching Texas in the Big twelve right in Oklahoma, and
Speaker 2: so it's going to take them getting used to. But
Speaker 2: I think overall, when you had a program or two
Speaker 2: programs really like those two programs to the SEC. It
Speaker 2: just makes it that much better. And really, the SEC
Speaker 2: looked pretty good over the first weekend. There's some really
Speaker 2: log sided wins, and it's really hard to tell after
Speaker 2: the first week when hardly anybody plays it. I mean,
Speaker 2: there were a couple of really good games, but most guys,
Speaker 2: most teams rather are just playing, you know, to get
Speaker 2: their their feet underneath them, right, So I thought it
Speaker 2: was a good first week for most of the SEC.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, well Texas destroyed Colorado State, Michigan beat Fresno
Speaker 1: State thirty to ten. But you know, obviously didn't look
Speaker 1: like a steamroller. But as you said, it's it's basically
Speaker 1: a new team. But you know, Texas has the Marquee
Speaker 1: players at quarterback and not just Quinn were viewers but
Speaker 1: Archie Manning as Jenny as well, so that you know
Speaker 1: the nation will keep an eye on that. But boy,
Speaker 1: I had something off the wire yesterday about how except
Speaker 1: for the Longhorns, the state of Texas had a miserable
Speaker 1: day in college football this past week at A and M,
Speaker 1: losing the one double A teams losing the NAI teams.
Speaker 1: H it was really bizarre. But yeah, just talking about
Speaker 1: the Longhorns in the SEC is we're another great game
Speaker 1: Arkansas will find out more about the Hogs not on
Speaker 1: Kentucky's roster or schedule rather, but playing at Oklahoma State.
Speaker 1: That's gonna be good.
Speaker 2: That is gonna be good. Yeah, Like I said, there's
Speaker 2: a lot of good matchups. I guess I don't know
Speaker 2: if I'm if I'm weird in this way. I'm more
Speaker 2: interested to see, like, what what is Florida do? What
Speaker 2: is what does Florida come out? And can they can
Speaker 2: they have Hilly Napier's job? Right? I I keep wondering
Speaker 2: when is that train going to come off the tracks completely?
Speaker 2: But there are some good matchups coming up this week.
Speaker 1: And I just mentioned the fact that, uh, Florida's backup
Speaker 1: QB's got to start because a concussion protocol.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and who knows, I mean, maybe they're just looking
Speaker 2: for a spark at this point. You've seen teams do
Speaker 2: that before, where they're gonna set a guy without saying
Speaker 2: they're sitting him. And I don't know the Like I said,
Speaker 2: the train's about to come off the track there at Florida,
Speaker 2: And I wouldn't be surprised if by the time Kentucky
Speaker 2: placed Florida in a couple of weeks. If they have
Speaker 2: a change, you know, depending on depending on what they're
Speaker 2: what they're doing this next couple of weeks. But yeah,
Speaker 2: that's going to be interesting to see.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and you always wonder about mid season changes or
Speaker 1: late season changes. But it's it's a message to recruits,
Speaker 1: isn't it. Hey, we know we got a problem. We're
Speaker 1: fixing it. It'll be all, it'll be great, it'll be
Speaker 1: fine by the time you get here. But the recruits
Speaker 1: is say, well, who the hell am I planned for?
Speaker 1: You know, who's going to my head coach going to
Speaker 1: be And they can't answer that question. A few minutes
Speaker 1: left with Lee K. Howard of w K Watt, you
Speaker 1: got to throw in as we speak, we don't yet
Speaker 1: know about Jasper Johnson. We believe it's going to be Kentucky,
Speaker 1: but we're recording this earlier in the day. But just
Speaker 1: your take on how things have gone for Mark Pope
Speaker 1: and the expectations of the Big Blue Nation for a
Speaker 1: Kentucky team that it has not shown up leek and many,
Speaker 1: if any early preseason top twenty five that might be
Speaker 1: a blessing.
Speaker 2: You know it really may be, because I think that
Speaker 2: that was kind of a curse to the Caliperi regime
Speaker 2: the last couple of years when they would come in
Speaker 2: ranked top ten, I think the lowest they were ranked
Speaker 2: with top six, number sixteen once and they thought that
Speaker 2: was a slight yeah, and then underperformed at the end
Speaker 2: of the year. So, you know, I think a lot
Speaker 2: of people national people that do these sort of you know,
Speaker 2: projections and things like that, might be sleeping on Kentucky,
Speaker 2: but I think some of them are more just cautiously going, Okay,
Speaker 2: we know that that roster that Mark Pope has put
Speaker 2: together has a lot of talent, It's got a lot
Speaker 2: of a lot of experience. I think Mark's story of
Speaker 2: the Harold Leader did a story a couple of months
Speaker 2: so ago about how many starts all of these players
Speaker 2: have together. It's the most starts of any team in
Speaker 2: Kentucky's history, which is kind of crazy to think of
Speaker 2: how old this team is. So we know there's talent,
Speaker 2: but we've yet to see any of them really play
Speaker 2: together against competition. So I think that's probably some of
Speaker 2: the reason why you're not getting some of the projections
Speaker 2: in the top twenty five that maybe that they will
Speaker 2: certainly get there and once they get on the court,
Speaker 2: but yeah, adding a guy like Jasper Johnson, if that
Speaker 2: I mean, I believe that that's the belief that most
Speaker 2: of the recruiting experts that follow this very closely think
Speaker 2: that Jasper will be Pope's second commit for the twenty
Speaker 2: twenty five class, so obviously won't make an impact this
Speaker 2: coming season. But you know, if you had Jasper along
Speaker 2: with Malachi Marino from Great Crossing, you suddenly have two,
Speaker 2: you know, top twenty guys in that twenty five class,
Speaker 2: both of them who happened to be from right here
Speaker 2: in central Kentucky. So that would be a huge start
Speaker 2: on the next year's class. But I really think that
Speaker 2: once this year's team gets on the court and finds
Speaker 2: their chemistry, I think they're going to exceed the expectations
Speaker 2: rather than underachieved. I think they overachieved and that could
Speaker 2: be a good thing for Kentucky ball.
Speaker 1: I fully agree. And the other thing is that I've
Speaker 1: had a lot of pep I'm sure you have too.
Speaker 1: A lot of people ask me. Most recently, one of
Speaker 1: our vets asked me, what do you think this team's
Speaker 1: going to do. And I think that people, the posters,
Speaker 1: maybe not the Big New Nation, might be sleeping on
Speaker 1: Mark Pope as a tactician and a technician when it
Speaker 1: comes to coaching basketball. He did postseason, notwithstanding, he did
Speaker 1: a really good job in his first two stops as
Speaker 1: a head coach just calling x's and o's, you know
Speaker 1: what I mean, and obviously didn't have the talent level
Speaker 1: he's got now.
Speaker 2: And I think that was one of the biggest gripes
Speaker 2: for the last couple of years of the Calipari era,
Speaker 2: was the x's and o's right, right, And I think
Speaker 2: exactly right that Hope has the coaching acumen to really
Speaker 2: put his players in a position to be successful both
Speaker 2: offensively and defensively. And so I've really never questioned that,
Speaker 2: and I don't know why people would, because he has
Speaker 2: shown that he can take a roster that maybe not
Speaker 2: as good as the one that he's put together here
Speaker 2: at Kentucky and be successful with them, not in the postseason,
Speaker 2: but during the year. So I don't question that whatsoever
Speaker 2: that these guys are going to be in a position
Speaker 2: to win every game. And so I think that will
Speaker 2: be a nice change for for Kentucky fans to watch.
Speaker 2: They weren't. They're not going to feel like they're getting
Speaker 2: out coached against the lower level team. An Oakland team
Speaker 2: who comes in and figures out a way to find
Speaker 2: some space in the Kentucky defense in Kentucky has no answer, right.
Speaker 2: So I think that you combine Pope and his staff
Speaker 2: and their coaching ability with the rock that he's put together,
Speaker 2: and you know, maybe I'm foolish to think that they're
Speaker 2: a team that makes it easy run to the Elite eight,
Speaker 2: but I think that they have the ability to do that.
Speaker 1: Wouldn't it be interesting if Kentucky made a Cinderella type run.
Speaker 1: Although by tournament time, if Kentucky's good enough to make
Speaker 1: a run, they're not going to be you know, bury
Speaker 1: it in a poll. They're going to be top ten.
Speaker 1: But it's gonna be fun. Lee K. Howard will be
Speaker 1: there to cover for WKYT. Thank you, brother, We'll see
Speaker 1: you at the ballgame.
Speaker 2: Okay, sounds good. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Dick down in Columbia, Reggie Anderson waiting to talk to us.
Speaker 1: He's covered the game Cocks for about thirty years. That's
Speaker 1: next in the Big Blue Insider here on six thirty
Speaker 1: w Welcome back to the Big Blue Insider, joining us
Speaker 1: now as a guy I've known for a long time
Speaker 1: on the SEC beat, Reggie Anderson's sports director wlt XTV
Speaker 1: down in Colombia and Reggie once again Kentucky South Carolina.
Speaker 1: First of all, good talking to you again.
Speaker 9: I'll get to hear from you, Jick.
Speaker 1: I was talking to one of my colleagues's former colleagues
Speaker 1: from a WKYT the fact that I really like that
Speaker 1: Kentucky South Carolina football has become a true rivalry because
Speaker 1: this game means so much to both teams every year.
Speaker 1: Is not traditional, not geographical, but it means so much
Speaker 1: when it comes to looking ahead the postseason and things
Speaker 1: like that.
Speaker 9: That's really kind of the way it's been, especially with
Speaker 9: South Cona' schedule and being so screwy this year, No Georgia,
Speaker 9: no Tennessee.
Speaker 2: So yeah, I was.
Speaker 9: I was thinking about this a little while ago. I
Speaker 9: think of all the SEC teams on the schedule, Old
Speaker 9: Miss will be, you know, on the schedule, and obviously
Speaker 9: the lean given factor, and there's a former Gamecock receiver
Speaker 9: Juice Wells and transferred Old Miss that'll have some heat.
Speaker 9: But yeah, I think Kentucky and South John of this year,
Speaker 9: if you look at the SEC schedule, that's the Gamecop's
Speaker 9: biggest rival, and that may be the case going forward
Speaker 9: because the programs are so have have for the most part,
Speaker 9: not every year, but for the most part, have been
Speaker 9: close in terms of where they are in the SEC
Speaker 9: pecking order.
Speaker 1: Tell me a little bit of about that opener with
Speaker 1: Old Dominion, where we're fans down there upset about it,
Speaker 1: confused about it, because I think we all kind of
Speaker 1: expected more.
Speaker 9: I think the reaction for most fans is, don't let
Speaker 9: that happen again. And you would take you know, Leonoris Sellers,
Speaker 9: the freshman quarterback making his first true start, and really
Speaker 9: he and even though they're on different planes with him
Speaker 9: and Brock Vandergriff, you know this week it will be
Speaker 9: the first time they get their first SEC start in
Speaker 9: a I mean, I'm sure Brock's played its best games before,
Speaker 9: but they'll both be making I would think I would
Speaker 9: I haven't looked up at Brock's career statfs, but I
Speaker 9: would think this game they would be making their first
Speaker 9: career start in an SEC game. That'll be different for
Speaker 9: both guys. And even though you know Leonori's was a
Speaker 9: four star. People are very high on him. I think
Speaker 9: he's got got great upside. Rock of course, uh, coming
Speaker 9: in very heralded in Georgia looking for a you know,
Speaker 9: a new scenery and and and better better chance at Kentucky.
Speaker 9: So that'll be very interesting to see which quarterback is
Speaker 9: able to will their team to to that first SEC win.
Speaker 9: And again, I know it's early, but again want to
Speaker 9: know in the SEC a young team for South Carolina
Speaker 9: freshman played very well the other night, Govii Stewart at
Speaker 9: the five star defensive end. He came out and really
Speaker 9: impressed people. So I think if you believe the old
Speaker 9: adage that you make great progress from week win a
Speaker 9: week two, especially true for a freshman, especially a freshman
Speaker 9: quarterback who admitted that he was a little a little
Speaker 9: wiar the other night, a little a little bit more
Speaker 9: seat up. So he's going to try to try to
Speaker 9: slow things down.
Speaker 1: A little bit. Well, I know he's dangerous, and I
Speaker 1: know the Kentucky players have all talked about his arm strength,
Speaker 1: so apparently that was on display against Odu, right it was.
Speaker 9: And then of course, I mean, of course we always
Speaker 9: know he knows he can run and he's a big
Speaker 9: boy and he gets he gets rolling along and he's
Speaker 9: tough to stop. But really, over the summer, he worked
Speaker 9: with a private quarterback coach who I've known for years,
Speaker 9: of a former local quarterback at one of the divisions
Speaker 9: colleges in here who's running a very successful quarterback academy,
Speaker 9: if you will, private instruction, and his passing is really
Speaker 9: he is so farther far along this year because all
Speaker 9: the intensive work he's done in the offseason on top
Speaker 9: of the normal workouts that the players go through. So
Speaker 9: he's Leonoris has really gone the extra mile to make
Speaker 9: sure he's ready to leave this team, not just with
Speaker 9: his legs, but obviously with his arm.
Speaker 1: Tell me about his recruiting. You mentioned how highly regarded
Speaker 1: he was. I got to think they rejoiced in Columbia
Speaker 1: when they got him. There. May I'm sure some nil
Speaker 1: funding involved as well, but that's the case everywhere. But
Speaker 1: this guy could be a program turner right well.
Speaker 9: Back in December of his senior year, after he leaves
Speaker 9: his high school teams of a state championship, he was
Speaker 9: playing in the anal Shrine Bowl North Carolina versus South
Speaker 9: Cond's best players and he was committed to Syracuse at
Speaker 9: the time, but.
Speaker 2: Yeah, he was.
Speaker 9: He was actually hitded up there. He was hit up,
Speaker 9: but he kind of you know, the momentum started building
Speaker 9: for South Carolina and then it got to the point
Speaker 9: where the week of that All Star Game, it was like, well,
Speaker 9: right now both teams are even. Okay, if both teams
Speaker 9: were even and the hometown team is the one who's
Speaker 9: made up the most ground. You know, we had had
Speaker 9: a free good feeling that he was going to commit
Speaker 9: and eventually signed with South Carolina and that was the case.
Speaker 9: So but everybody I've talked to says, this guy has
Speaker 9: got a chance to be one of the again everybody,
Speaker 9: and I hate using this term, I hate I really do,
Speaker 9: but everybody says he has the chance to be one
Speaker 9: of the greatest quarterbacks in the history of Game Cocked football.
Speaker 9: I've heard that from several people, and I'm being the
Speaker 9: cynic that I am. I said, well, he's gonna have
Speaker 9: to prove it. But that's that's the uh, that's the ceiling.
Speaker 1: If you will, Who is the best quarterback in game
Speaker 1: Cocks history?
Speaker 9: Well, a couple of guys, but I would think you
Speaker 9: got to go with Connor Shaw, who went undefeated at
Speaker 9: home at Williams Brice Stadium. And yes, so I would
Speaker 9: think you got to had to go with Connor. But
Speaker 9: then again, you know, even though the sample size isn't
Speaker 9: a very big, Spencer Ratler back in twenty twenty two
Speaker 9: led the Gamecocks to the big win over Tennessee where
Speaker 9: they just routed the volunteers. Yeah, I think Tennessee came
Speaker 9: in right fifth in the country, and then the following
Speaker 9: the you know, that led to the win over Clemson,
Speaker 9: which was big. So in terms of just I would
Speaker 9: think people would look at Connor and Spencer Ratlers as
Speaker 9: the two best quarterbacks in Gainecock history.
Speaker 1: So it's more about, obviously results than stats and things
Speaker 1: like that because Kentucky it's easy was couch and all
Speaker 1: those stats. But yeah, I mean, there's a hill to climb,
Speaker 1: but Sellers apparently has the ability to do that, and
Speaker 1: behind him he can hand it off to Raheem Sanders.
Speaker 1: That's another guy who got a lot of attention and
Speaker 1: the discussion with Kentucky's defenders, a power running back who
Speaker 1: had a pretty good game, didn't.
Speaker 9: He It wasn't bad. I mean, again, the offense was
Speaker 9: kind of I think people were obviously affecting more and
Speaker 9: they should have. But yeah, Rocket's the guy who's given
Speaker 9: that that running game some some power, and of course
Speaker 9: he had that that great so I think it was
Speaker 9: two years ago. He had a great season at Arkansas,
Speaker 9: battles of injuries and really the game stocks were really
Speaker 9: lucky that I can't land him out of the out
Speaker 9: of the transfer portal. So if if sellers in the
Speaker 9: passing games can get going, that was certainly loosen things
Speaker 9: up for that running game and vice versa.
Speaker 1: What do you know about Kentucky? What are you hearing?
Speaker 9: Well, I was looking at I was neat. It was
Speaker 9: neat to see that, uh our old fowler, Eric Willford
Speaker 9: back as the offensive line take and he is an
Speaker 9: out He really is an outstanding like uh O line
Speaker 9: coach and a great guy too. So uh he'll, uh he'll, he'll.
Speaker 9: I'm sure he'll have his guys ready for uh for
Speaker 9: that front six or that game talk defense, which really
Speaker 9: is the uh is the strength of of of that
Speaker 9: defense of that front six. He's got a lot of bodies.
Speaker 9: They've had more depth in the defensive line than I
Speaker 9: think in Beamer's four years, so that'll be interesting. We've
Speaker 9: got some rangy guys in the secondary. But I'm looking
Speaker 9: forward to seeing how how the Kentucky office line battles
Speaker 9: the D line of South Carolina.
Speaker 2: And it's see how.
Speaker 9: Wolford he still has the same same nasty players he's
Speaker 9: always had, whether he was at South Carolina. I know
Speaker 9: he was an Alabama, but his player is mirror his personality.
Speaker 9: And uh, I'm kind of looking forward to that. I mean,
Speaker 9: I know we're we're all local guys. We'd like to
Speaker 9: hear our local teams do well. But you know you
Speaker 9: can certainly from afar admired and respect from like you
Speaker 9: who he was only here for a year. Yeah, but
Speaker 9: I was really impressed with with Wolford's time here at
Speaker 9: South Carolina. And I'm always it's always good to when
Speaker 9: you when you look down at the schedule and you
Speaker 9: see some friendly, familiar names on the on the opposing roster.
Speaker 1: Well, he was only here for a year before he
Speaker 1: left abruptly ticking off Mark Stoops and everybody in the
Speaker 1: Big Moon Nation and went to Alabama. Uh. But then
Speaker 1: of course when Saban made his decision, uh, Stoops kind
Speaker 1: of swallowed his pride and knew that this guy is
Speaker 1: an excellent coach and hired him back. So we'll see
Speaker 1: how that works. And by the way, speaking of that
Speaker 1: front for South Carolina, we've all heard about it up here.
Speaker 1: They're gonna have their hands full with a quarterback who
Speaker 1: can run the football, Brock Vandergriff. You mentioned him getting
Speaker 1: his first SEC start. He ran the ball Reggie Moore
Speaker 1: against Southern Miss, And really we thought we knew Bush Hampdon,
Speaker 1: the new OC likes the quarterback run game, but man
Speaker 1: Vandergriff kind of channeling his inner Will Levis by not
Speaker 1: just running for first down but putting his head down
Speaker 1: and running behind his shoulder pad, which is risky.
Speaker 9: Well, and again, you wouldn't you, you know, you wouldn't
Speaker 9: think that you knew he was gonna run a little bit.
Speaker 9: But I think people may be a little bit surprised
Speaker 9: at how much he did run the ball.
Speaker 2: And again that's a.
Speaker 9: That's another speaker of this day and age, where you know,
Speaker 9: if a quarterback he gets seven eight yards on a
Speaker 9: run and all of a sudden you looking at the
Speaker 9: second and or third and short, and that really just
Speaker 9: kind of kind of free freeze things up.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Well, he was listed as a recruit as a
Speaker 1: dual threat quarterback, but in his introductory news conference he
Speaker 1: said he did didn't want to be known as a
Speaker 1: running quarterback, and he certainly threw some great balls. So
Speaker 1: this is going to be fun. Reggie Anderson is my guest.
Speaker 1: He is the longtime sports director at w lt XTV
Speaker 1: down at Columbia. We'll talk more about the game Cocks
Speaker 1: on the other side of the break here on sixth
Speaker 1: we come back. We're talking with Reggie Anderson. He is
Speaker 1: a sports director w lt XTV down in Columbia. You're
Speaker 1: in your fourth decade now, just getting say you you
Speaker 1: were You've been there since ninety three, is that right?
Speaker 9: I started in ninety three. I was actually in grad
Speaker 9: school at South Carolina, Wow, and got my master's in
Speaker 9: mass Muka. I am smarter than I look.
Speaker 8: And then.
Speaker 9: Then this job came open, and it was it was
Speaker 9: basically a videographer, yeah, and a part time achor. And
Speaker 9: then twenty ten, I mean they I kind of hangu
Speaker 9: I'm hanging around and all of a sudden kind of
Speaker 9: worked out to where I was naming full time sports
Speaker 9: director after being the weekender for so long and been
Speaker 9: there ever since. In that so, but I still getting out.
Speaker 9: I still enjoy getting out and in filming games, shooting
Speaker 9: games high school. And I love NASCAR, go to the Masters,
Speaker 9: go to the Masters every year. So that's one of
Speaker 9: the fun aspects of the job. Able to get out
Speaker 9: from behind the desk and go cover big time sporting events.
Speaker 9: And I notice a sacrilege around here, but give me
Speaker 9: NASCAR and the Masters over college football. Believe it or not. Wow,
Speaker 9: But those are my Those are my two favorite sports
Speaker 9: to cover because I grew up in Darlington, so I
Speaker 9: grew up a NASCAR fan, but state currently around around
Speaker 9: these parts. When I'm when I'm leading when I have
Speaker 9: a show on Saturday Night. As hard as it is
Speaker 9: for me not to lead with Nascar, I do lead
Speaker 9: with college football.
Speaker 2: So I do. I do.
Speaker 9: I do, put my own personal biases aside and and
Speaker 9: lead with with college football.
Speaker 1: Yeah, but you can't go wrong down there with coverage
Speaker 1: in NASCAR, and I've I've covered NASCAR events, Uh, but
Speaker 1: I have never been able to scratch that itch when
Speaker 1: it comes to the Masters.
Speaker 2: Uh.
Speaker 1: But ky t, we could never get media credential, as
Speaker 1: you know, so hard or if you haven't been doing
Speaker 1: it for a long time, and uh so, I don't
Speaker 1: know if I'll ever get to do that. So I
Speaker 1: tip my cap there. But we are talking about Kentucky
Speaker 1: South Carolina football, and the Wildcats are I think a
Speaker 1: ten point favorite. I don't see. I think it's gonna
Speaker 1: be a close one, don't you.
Speaker 9: I'm thinking not only I think it's probably gonna be close,
Speaker 9: but I'm looking at kind of like a I don't know,
Speaker 9: twenty four to twenty twenty seven, twenty that's kind of
Speaker 9: how it feels. I don't think it's'll be a and
Speaker 9: I could be totally wrong, but I feel like it's
Speaker 9: not gonna be one of those high scoring affairs were new.
Speaker 9: In fact, I I would expect both defenses to have
Speaker 9: their way. It's just a matter of who can maybe
Speaker 9: get that last scoring drive kind of get some separation.
Speaker 9: But I don't think it's gonna be a shootout them again.
Speaker 9: I think it's that that that twenty point range, maybe
Speaker 9: the first one of twenty seven might win.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, I think South Carolina football is fascinating because
Speaker 1: for years I've always believed that it's a sleeping giant. There.
Speaker 1: There's fan interest. It's a great part of the country
Speaker 1: for talent. Kentucky has pulled some some really talented kids
Speaker 1: out of that state, especially when Joker Phillips was the
Speaker 1: recruiting coordinator. And of course Sellers is local, as you said,
Speaker 1: from Florence, South Carolina. Uh, you've had some great coaches
Speaker 1: down there. One coach tragically died way too young. But
Speaker 1: Holtz was down there. He was didn't he win like
Speaker 1: three straight seasons eleven wins or something like that.
Speaker 2: That was Spurrier.
Speaker 9: He did that, Okay, that lou His first year he
Speaker 9: went four oh yeah, I know, oh for eleven and
Speaker 9: then the next years who went to head back to
Speaker 9: back out back Bowl champions.
Speaker 2: Or out back Bowl victories.
Speaker 9: Yeah, won eight games. Perhaps when Spurrier took over, he
Speaker 9: kind of took him a couple of years to really
Speaker 9: get it going right. But yeah, when you had guys
Speaker 9: like Jadeveon Clowney and Connor Shaw as part of that
Speaker 9: as well. Yeah, uh he had he had three straight
Speaker 9: uh double digit seasons of wins and one year they
Speaker 9: finished fourth in the final AP Top twenty five. So
Speaker 9: that's been the that's been the gold standard for Gamecock
Speaker 9: football and of course, Burrier left is the all time
Speaker 9: winning his coach there, as he did at Florida, so
Speaker 9: he certainly made his mark. He didn't win, he didn't
Speaker 9: win an SEC championship, but he did have one FEC
Speaker 9: Eastern Division title, and that's been their only their only,
Speaker 9: their only EA Eastern Division titles so far.
Speaker 1: When I worked the SEC championship game for SEC Radio,
Speaker 1: I produced the radio network for fifteen straight years in
Speaker 1: South Carolina, was there and the Gamecock fans took over
Speaker 1: in Atlanta and had a wonderful time. I remember that.
Speaker 1: And here's the other thing I remember Reggie about that
Speaker 1: over team with Lou Holtz. People don't realize that team
Speaker 1: was ranked overall fifteenth in the country in defense. It
Speaker 1: just couldn't score, You remember that.
Speaker 2: I do.
Speaker 9: In fact, that one of the one of the quarterbacks
Speaker 9: I knew very well was about I mean, was he
Speaker 9: had no business playing D one football. But that's all
Speaker 9: they had. I mean, seriously, I mean it was just
Speaker 9: I mean they yeah, they couldn't do anything offensively, he inherited,
Speaker 9: Oh my gosh. Yeah, but they only won one They
Speaker 9: only won one game the year before.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's right, that's why that's why Holts was there. Uh.
Speaker 1: So now they've got a coach who's colorful, he's got
Speaker 1: a great pedigree, he's beaten Kentucky a couple of times.
Speaker 1: What do you think of Beemer?
Speaker 9: He's great with us and he's he's a former assistant
Speaker 9: under Spurrier, so he gets the culture. Uh and this
Speaker 9: and for him, this is his his destination job. He
Speaker 9: has no interest in uh in going anywhere else. Although
Speaker 9: it's it's a situation now where he didn't didn't go
Speaker 9: to a bowl game last year, tough scheduled this year.
Speaker 9: If he doesn't go, if they have another situation where
Speaker 9: they're not playing in December, there's gonna be some grumbling
Speaker 9: and and then you know, ultimately it comes down obviously
Speaker 9: know that the coaches get paid for for that, for
Speaker 9: that win loss record. That's how they're they're they're they're judge.
Speaker 9: So but he's got a good plan. He's a relentless recruiter.
Speaker 9: I mean, he loves recruiting and he's he's somebody who
Speaker 9: from a from a fan standpoint, very engaging with the fans. So, uh,
Speaker 9: he's got everything in place. The facilities have never been
Speaker 9: have been better they've really invested this over the few years,
Speaker 9: which you know, in this day and age, you know,
Speaker 9: in this arms race of facilities, if you don't have
Speaker 9: that going for you, it's just tough. He knows how
Speaker 9: to work the NIL thing. So, Uh, everything's in place,
Speaker 9: you know, but again every week is is a challenge
Speaker 9: and it's just it's brutal.
Speaker 2: I mean it is.
Speaker 9: It is a brutal schedule.
Speaker 1: What's the NIL situation like down there in Columbia, Well.
Speaker 9: It's a situation. Well again I mentioned Juice Wells going
Speaker 9: to old Myths. I think that was an an IL thing. Uh,
Speaker 9: they've lost some players in the Nile. They're they're trying
Speaker 9: to get what they can done, but I don't I
Speaker 9: think there's other schools that have more resources in that
Speaker 9: regard right now. So I think they're they're kind of
Speaker 9: playing from behind right now, but they're they're trying to
Speaker 9: work that that game, and they've they've done pretty well
Speaker 9: in terms of landing some recruits and and uh and
Speaker 9: and give them what they can from an NIL standpoint,
Speaker 9: but it's a it's it's it's crazy the way we
Speaker 9: are now in twenty twenty four, where I mean ten
Speaker 9: years ago, who'd have thought that, you know, we are
Speaker 9: where we are, and I think we play We know
Speaker 9: that football drives the engine of all universities for the
Speaker 9: most part, and and I'm certainly all for for you know,
Speaker 9: players getting a little sumpthing. But I think it's just
Speaker 9: it's almost like a lot while weft now. I mean,
Speaker 9: it's just like there's no rules and it's just you know,
Speaker 9: I mean, you know, if you're out in Texas, you
Speaker 9: got those deep pockets in Texas or Arkansas. Yep, uh,
Speaker 9: it's it's it's it's madness.
Speaker 2: It really is madness.
Speaker 1: Yeah, there's no guardrails, and I know they're working on them,
Speaker 1: but who knows. A couple of minutes left with Reggie
Speaker 1: Anderson down in Columbia, South Carolina real quickly, La Motte
Speaker 1: Paris made quite a splash at South Carolina coaching basketball.
Speaker 1: Are people excite now about hoops down there? Because it
Speaker 1: takes a lot to get people fired up, especially at
Speaker 1: a place where football has been more more important than basketball.
Speaker 9: And only that, but you've got the women's basketball team,
Speaker 9: Oh yeah, U team league well routinely, I mean the
Speaker 9: Colonial Life Arenas in eighteen thousand, seed Arena and it's
Speaker 9: not unusual for that for their games to draw thirteen
Speaker 9: fourteen thousand people. So it really is the women's basketball
Speaker 9: program and the men is very similar to how it
Speaker 9: was when Patsumad had Tennessee rolling in her heyday, where
Speaker 9: the women would totally outdraw the men's teams for the
Speaker 9: most part. But in terms of in terms of coach Paris,
Speaker 9: this is a guy who's trying to, i think, build
Speaker 9: a program reminiscent of the Wisconsin days when he was
Speaker 9: an assistant under under Bo Ryan's. You know, they played
Speaker 9: physical defense and try to be very efficient on offense.
Speaker 9: And yeah, this year they've you know, I think last
Speaker 9: year kind of caught a lot of people off guard
Speaker 9: and what they were able to do, but made the
Speaker 9: NCAA tournament and it's second year, so now it's you know,
Speaker 9: he's got most of the players back. They bought some people.
Speaker 9: They Michi Johnson transfer.
Speaker 2: To the Ohio State.
Speaker 9: But they've they've got They had a five star guard
Speaker 9: who originally signed with Texas, local kid Cam Scott. He
Speaker 9: opted out of that uh letter of in Kent with
Speaker 9: Texas and now he's a he's with a game talk
Speaker 9: program now, so it's gonna be it's gonna be interesting,
Speaker 9: to say the least.
Speaker 1: Reggie Anderson sports director for quite a while and has
Speaker 1: been at wlt X down in Columbia for more than
Speaker 1: thirty years. Great talking to you again. Hope to see
Speaker 1: you soon.
Speaker 9: All right, Jack, thanks for having me and we'll see
Speaker 9: down the road.
Speaker 1: And I'll do it for now, thanks to my guest,
Speaker 1: to Reggie Anderson, to Lee K. Howard, and to Van Hiles.
Speaker 1: And tomorrow night we'll have a one hour program. Then
Speaker 1: we will give way to Kentucky volleyball right here on
Speaker 1: six thirty WLAP a Wildcatcher taking on Penn State. That
Speaker 1: one's going to be streamed as well, but it's a
Speaker 1: pass through so it's not a full broadcast, but you'll
Speaker 1: still be able to see the match. We will have
Speaker 1: volleyball on SEC plus a full broadcast on Sunday, yours
Speaker 1: truly and Leah Edmund will have a call. So there's
Speaker 1: a lot of sports coming up this weekend. Of course
Speaker 1: Kentucky football on Saturday afternoon. Thanks for joining us. That's it.
Speaker 1: Good night from the garage in Lexingdon lunch lady thaughtus
Speaker 1: at any grease, Yes.
Speaker 8: Yes we do.
Speaker 2: Then Greece Me Up Woman, Okay, Joky and