Speaker 1: It's time for coffee and company, fueled by Thornton's on
Speaker 1: Sports Talk seven nine day. Now here's Nick Coffee.
Speaker 2: All right, hour number two here on a Monday afternoon,
Speaker 2: reacting to the weekend. I mean, overall, you know, things
Speaker 2: that like really matter. I had a good weekend, you know,
Speaker 2: I had a good weekend with friends and family. Got
Speaker 2: to have a date night with the wife. That was good.
Speaker 2: You know, all in all, Like my life's in pretty
Speaker 2: good shape right now. My family's healthy, and I got
Speaker 2: to remind myself of those things whenever my football team
Speaker 2: just you know makes me sad, and the frustration really
Speaker 2: into sadness on Saturday, and I could feel it coming
Speaker 2: because I knew that Louisville could play a really good
Speaker 2: game and still come up short because Miami was that good,
Speaker 2: and that's kind of what played out. I'm not here
Speaker 2: to tell you that if Louisville plays Miami ten times,
Speaker 2: they're going to win more than half of those games.
Speaker 2: I mean they could, but you know, you're sitting at
Speaker 2: four and three, two and two in league play, and
Speaker 2: I just think that as a result that no matter
Speaker 2: how you wanted to present that meaning which games went
Speaker 2: which way, if you'd have told anybody that seven games
Speaker 2: in that would be where Louisville is, I think most
Speaker 2: fans would would say, yeah, that's underwhelming, that's less than
Speaker 2: what I would have expected. But you know, still a
Speaker 2: lot of football to be played. And I mean it
Speaker 2: when I say it. It's not like I think that
Speaker 2: the season's destined to just be a complete, you know,
Speaker 2: failure the rest of the way. But seven games in,
Speaker 2: you are who you are, and I just, you know,
Speaker 2: I really feel stupid more than anything, but I know
Speaker 2: I'm not alone. Defense should be better, right, there's really
Speaker 2: I mean, I'm trying to figure out where we could
Speaker 2: have been so wrong, because sometimes you just you end
Speaker 2: up thinking you got something and it's not at all
Speaker 2: what you expected. There's guys back from this defense that
Speaker 2: were really impactful last year, and I think some of
Speaker 2: the pieces that you've added, even despite at times the
Speaker 2: defense looking like a real big red flag and a
Speaker 2: real weakness. I mean, I've seen newcomers make some big
Speaker 2: plays and you think to yourself, Wow, I'm glad we
Speaker 2: got that guy. You get MJ. Griffin healthy tomorrow. McDonald's
Speaker 2: been I think been impressive. Thornton the transfer from Central
Speaker 2: Florida and the secondary. I mean, he's made some really
Speaker 2: good plays. It's just collectively they've not been real reliable.
Speaker 2: And yes, they did play the number one offense in
Speaker 2: the country on Saturday in Miami, and Miami's gonna put
Speaker 2: up a lot of points and put up a lot
Speaker 2: of yards against probably just about anybody they play. But
Speaker 2: what really just is the ultimate, like you know, and
Speaker 2: again it's if you watch the game, and this probably
Speaker 2: won't surprise you, but hearing these numbers, I mean, it's
Speaker 2: it's it's insane. I was gonna say sickening. That would
Speaker 2: be a little dramatic, but maybe that's how Maybe sickening
Speaker 2: is the better word. But they give up one hundred
Speaker 2: and fifty five rushing yards after contact. That's one hundred
Speaker 2: and fifty five yards on the ground after guys were
Speaker 2: contacted by the Louisville defenders. They gave up one hundred
Speaker 2: and seventy five receiving yards after guys made catches. And
Speaker 2: some of those were just guys running open and making plays.
Speaker 2: But there's also times where you feel like what should
Speaker 2: have been I mean, and not as much in the
Speaker 2: passing game, although there were times where you just feel like, Okay,
Speaker 2: it's one thing for a guy to get open, how's
Speaker 2: he get that wide open? And why did it? You know,
Speaker 2: why was he able to turn? You know, why did
Speaker 2: he was able to you know, make that a fifty
Speaker 2: two yard gain or something like that. But defensively, you know,
Speaker 2: I watched the first half of the game there in person,
Speaker 2: and obviously I have to leave earlier than most because
Speaker 2: I got to make sure I'm situated for the for
Speaker 2: the postgame show. But watching the first half, I mean,
Speaker 2: it just felt like without hearing that, you know, the
Speaker 2: broadcasters talk about, you know, how much yards were gaing,
Speaker 2: how many yards were gained on each play. I mean,
Speaker 2: I'm thinking, okay, that should have been that should have
Speaker 2: been a stop right at the line of scrimmage. That
Speaker 2: should have been two yards and it would be seven
Speaker 2: or eight, and that never really Again, the defense did
Speaker 2: get a couple of stops, they sacked cam Ward a
Speaker 2: couple of times consecutively, but you know why, you know,
Speaker 2: the pressure wasn't consistent. I mean, maybe it's because they
Speaker 2: feared he would burn him, and maybe he would have.
Speaker 2: I'm not sure there is a perfect game plan to
Speaker 2: just completely neutralize and shut down cam Ward, but clearly
Speaker 2: the defense they couldn't figure out how to how to
Speaker 2: contain him and how to slow him down. And it
Speaker 2: just felt like a game that at any point you realized, Okay,
Speaker 2: if the defense has got to go back out there,
Speaker 2: that is not ideal for Louisville. And again, I'm trying
Speaker 2: to and I'm probably overdoing it as far as how
Speaker 2: much I'm mentioning that the opponent that they played was
Speaker 2: a factor in these results, because Miami's really good. I
Speaker 2: just I wanted Saturday to be the chance for Louisville
Speaker 2: to get a big time win that wouldn't eliminate what
Speaker 2: you did against SMU and what you did against Notre Dame,
Speaker 2: because those losses are going to count and you're always
Speaker 2: going to have to be held accountable for those. But
Speaker 2: that was a big opportunity to make up for it,
Speaker 2: and yet you couldn't get it done. And now you
Speaker 2: sit here with three losses, all to good teams, all
Speaker 2: to teams that I'll be honest with you probably will
Speaker 2: finish in the top twenty five, top twenty when it's
Speaker 2: all said and done this year. But with Louisville, we
Speaker 2: felt like we I mean, I shouldn't say we as
Speaker 2: if I speak for the entire fan base. I mean,
Speaker 2: I only speak for me, but I know I'm not alone.
Speaker 2: You know, when Jeff brahms here, you don't go in
Speaker 2: and think, Okay, we'll go eight and four, but all
Speaker 2: four of our losses will be against good teams. So
Speaker 2: it's fine. I mean, sometimes that's going to happen, but
Speaker 2: like you want to compete at a higher level. You
Speaker 2: want to feel like you are going to win some
Speaker 2: of these games, and now you've lost three of them. Like,
Speaker 2: the three best teams you've played this year have all
Speaker 2: beat you. I mean, there's no way around that. And
Speaker 2: the only team that you've beaten that I mean, I'm
Speaker 2: not sure any team you've beaten would be viewed as
Speaker 2: like a good team. I don't think Georgia Tech's terrible.
Speaker 2: I don't think that Virginia is terrible, but they're certainly
Speaker 2: not viewed as like quality really good wins. So you look,
Speaker 2: you got a lot of football left. Maybe the defense
Speaker 2: does get better, maybe they take advantage of two games
Speaker 2: left on the schedule that would give you I mean,
Speaker 2: beating Clemson at Clemson has never happening lo will never
Speaker 2: be Clemson in football. So you know, if they were
Speaker 2: able to somehow go to Boston College this Friday, pick
Speaker 2: up a good road victory, get to feeling good about themselves,
Speaker 2: coming with a good game plan on the roady Clemson.
Speaker 2: I mean, again getting ahead of myself here obviously, but
Speaker 2: like that would absolutely be a big time win for
Speaker 2: this program. It's just you know, expecting it to happen.
Speaker 2: I mean, I can't say that I do, but you know,
Speaker 2: we got a couple of weeks before we get there.
Speaker 2: But don't forget this Friday. It'll be It'll be you know,
Speaker 2: a weeknight game or like I said, Friday night game.
Speaker 2: I mean, I guess, I guess technically Friday night is
Speaker 2: a weeknight, is it? Friday is a weekday, but Friday
Speaker 2: night is not a week night. That's a weekend night
Speaker 2: in my opinion, Okay, I mean, I'm with you as
Speaker 2: far as like, I mean, I think we're all on
Speaker 2: the same page. But like, technically, what would it be called?
Speaker 2: I mean, it's not a weeknight because the next like
Speaker 2: the week's over when it's Friday night, right, like your
Speaker 2: work week's over. But Friday, the day is still technically
Speaker 2: a weekday. I mean it's the weekend, but it's not right.
Speaker 2: It's like it's why we say five o'clock on a Friday, Yeah,
Speaker 2: the weekend. Yeah, like your weekend starts on a Friday.
Speaker 2: So some of it is weekends, some of it is not. Yes,
Speaker 2: but the game will be on Friday night and that
Speaker 2: means we're going to have a late night for the
Speaker 2: postgame show. And obviously they need to win, right because
Speaker 2: this would be a loss that would easily be your
Speaker 2: worst loss of the season, I think, And you don't
Speaker 2: want to drop too in a row, because I mean,
Speaker 2: this is a game that there's not a whole lot
Speaker 2: for you to gain other than you know, picking up
Speaker 2: a road wind, getting another acc victory, avoiding what I
Speaker 2: think would be a bad loss. But as far as
Speaker 2: what you have to lose here, like I mean, I
Speaker 2: think a loss here, And then you look at every
Speaker 2: game left on the schedule and start to think, okay, like,
Speaker 2: how many of these should we say we feel really
Speaker 2: good about winning? There's not one right now? I say
Speaker 2: that you know you should be just expecting to lose,
Speaker 2: no doubt, But they're also they just haven't really, they
Speaker 2: haven't even gotten up big on anybody this year, like
Speaker 2: they haven't put anybody away, Like I would love to
Speaker 2: see this team come out and get get a get
Speaker 2: a decent lead to start the game, because that's one
Speaker 2: of those things in football that really I don't think
Speaker 2: it's talked about enough. Maybe I'm not consuming as much
Speaker 2: football content as some of you guys out there are,
Speaker 2: but where you are in a game as far as lead,
Speaker 2: time of possession, like it changes how you play. We've
Speaker 2: yet to see what Louisville would look like as a
Speaker 2: team against you know, decent competition that has somewhat of
Speaker 2: a decent lead, and I think you can call things differently,
Speaker 2: especially from an offensive standpoints, you can certainly call things
Speaker 2: differently defensively. We just haven't seen that yet. And you
Speaker 2: know it's because that they don't. That's not their identity.
Speaker 2: They're not a team that has has been able to
Speaker 2: get a big on anybody. And I know on Saturday
Speaker 2: it might have been more of a of a text
Speaker 2: line thing. We might have had a call or mentioned
Speaker 2: it at one point, but when it comes to you know,
Speaker 2: you just want to be able to keep the defense
Speaker 2: on the on the on the sideline as long as possible.
Speaker 2: And you know, when you have that quick score by
Speaker 2: Colin Lacy where he takes a kickoff return for a touchdown,
Speaker 2: I mean that was huge. That's a big momentum. Play
Speaker 2: it quickly, you know, it quickly tied things up when
Speaker 2: you just went down a touchdown. But then again, it
Speaker 2: also puts your defense right back out there. So you know,
Speaker 2: I said this at the beginning of the show, and
Speaker 2: I'll say it once more. I've never been comfortable questioning
Speaker 2: somebody's effort. Sometimes it's obvious, but even then, like somebody
Speaker 2: who's sitting on my couch watching or sitting at the
Speaker 2: game watching, I mean, I just know that I have
Speaker 2: no way to know the exact amount of effort somebody's giving,
Speaker 2: especially in football. So you know, again, I'm not saying
Speaker 2: these guys aren't out there trying, because even whenever they
Speaker 2: do have some momentum going against them, like this team
Speaker 2: has found ways to, you know, get it within a
Speaker 2: score and potentially have a chance to maybe hold on
Speaker 2: and tie it up or maybe win. Right, It's just
Speaker 2: they haven't been able to fully get it done. But
Speaker 2: to see so much arm tackling, to see so much
Speaker 2: of those Miami running backs just trucking you. I mean,
Speaker 2: that's that's pretty demoralizing. And if it's demoralizing for you
Speaker 2: as a fan, imagine what it feels like for these guys.
Speaker 2: You know, they don't work on tackling a whole lot
Speaker 2: in season because they want to keep everybody fresh and healthy.
Speaker 2: It's a big part of it. But I could certainly
Speaker 2: tell on Saturday that they don't do a whole lot
Speaker 2: of practicing that kind of stuff. And you shouldn't have to,
Speaker 2: right because it's I mean, these are some of these
Speaker 2: dudes are twenty one to twenty two years old. They
Speaker 2: played a lot of football. It shouldn't have to be
Speaker 2: in mid October of their third or fourth season playing
Speaker 2: college football. Be told and reminded technique angle and you know,
Speaker 2: be ready to make contact. Don't just assume somebody is
Speaker 2: going to go down because you hit them. I mean,
Speaker 2: these guys were getting run over out there at times.
Speaker 2: So again, a pretty pretty demorlized number to see how
Speaker 2: much again, it was one hundred and fifty five yards
Speaker 2: on the ground after contact was made with Miami when
Speaker 2: it comes to their rushing attack, and that's just that's tough.
Speaker 2: All right, louis of basketball. I mean, can we say
Speaker 2: that they officially get the Pat Kelsey era started tonight?
Speaker 2: I think we kind of have said that many times
Speaker 2: with the games and the Bahamas. I mean, they did
Speaker 2: have Louisville Live, but that wasn't really a game, that
Speaker 2: was an event. But tonight they will be playing an
Speaker 2: exhibition game at the UM Center against a different team,
Speaker 2: and that's exciting. It's not a real game. But Pat
Speaker 2: Kelsey was not joking or exaggerating when he said that
Speaker 2: they're going to treat this team young Harris, which schets,
Speaker 2: that's that's their name. They're gonna treat this team like
Speaker 2: their duke because that's I think that's that's just Pat
Speaker 2: Kelsey's way of going about things. He's very big on routine,
Speaker 2: and I think he's got a system. You know, I
Speaker 2: guarantee you whoever had the scout if they even do
Speaker 2: it that way, or if it's a collective thing with
Speaker 2: his staff, like just knowing how organized and detailed they
Speaker 2: are from top to bottom as a staff, I mean,
Speaker 2: I think he's quite literally telling you the absolute truth
Speaker 2: when he says that he that he he's gonna prepare
Speaker 2: for this game as if they're playing Duke or a
Speaker 2: team that's you know, not an exhibition opponent or not
Speaker 2: a team that you've that you've never heard of. All right,
Speaker 2: let's go to the phone. Well, bone lines are open
Speaker 2: if you guys wann give us called FIBO two I
Speaker 2: have seven one seventy nine hundred is the number you
Speaker 2: can also text in on the on the Ellen and
Speaker 2: Federal Credit Union text line faboh two six five three
Speaker 2: zero seven ninety The Texas nick big Kentucky fan here,
Speaker 2: And I mean it when I say it. I want
Speaker 2: you guys to put us out of our misery. Stoops
Speaker 2: loses to Louisville this year, that's when the pressure really
Speaker 2: gets put on Barnhardt to get rid of them. Yeah.
Speaker 2: I'm not surprised to hear uh Kentucky fans say that,
Speaker 2: But they're not firing Mark Stoops like it. It's not
Speaker 2: an exaggeration to say this. They're in the exact same
Speaker 2: position that they were in with Cali Perry. It's just
Speaker 2: not I mean, it's not the same because well, I
Speaker 2: don't know, maybe I was gonna say it's not the
Speaker 2: same because with Stoops, you know, he doesn't have a
Speaker 2: national championship like Caliperi did, and the thought of like
Speaker 2: firing John Calipari as your basketball coach, even with his
Speaker 2: losses to Oakland and Saint Peter's in the tournament, it
Speaker 2: still just seemed unrealistic that he gave you fireable results
Speaker 2: despite serious upsets in the tournament. It just, you know,
Speaker 2: as much as we make fun of Cal like he's
Speaker 2: him getting fired, is just it was never realistic, mostly
Speaker 2: because of the monetary situation there right where you'd have
Speaker 2: to pay him like an ungodly amount of money. So
Speaker 2: Cal in Arkansas finding each other was really the best
Speaker 2: case scenario for everybody involved, at least as of now.
Speaker 2: Like maybe down the line, Arkansas realizes they paid too
Speaker 2: much money for a guy who whose best days of
Speaker 2: coaching are way, way way in the past, or maybe
Speaker 2: Kentucky realizes, hey, we should have kept that guy around.
Speaker 2: He was a headache and he annoyed us with talking
Speaker 2: down to us as fans and just being cow but
Speaker 2: you know what, he was a really good coach. Like
Speaker 2: who knows. But at least as if now that thing
Speaker 2: worked out beneficially for everybody with stoops, you know, like
Speaker 2: maybe you could say that he would give you like
Speaker 2: a like if they like Kentucky the rest of the way,
Speaker 2: They've got Auburn coming up this Saturday, and then they'll
Speaker 2: play Tennessee at Tennessee I think it is Murray. Then
Speaker 2: they go to Texas and then they'll play Louisville. So
Speaker 2: they're gonna beat Murray. But every other game on their
Speaker 2: schedule is is certainly a game that they that they
Speaker 2: you know, could easily lose. I mean, their favorite against
Speaker 2: Auburn because they're at home, but like Kentucky's is not
Speaker 2: very good at home against Auburn or against anybody. I mean,
Speaker 2: what are they two and ten in their last twelve
Speaker 2: home SEC games? Anytime I hear that or see that number,
Speaker 2: I'm thinking that can't be real, but I think it is.
Speaker 2: It's either two and eight in their last ten or
Speaker 2: two and ten in their last twelve meaning games at
Speaker 2: home in the SEC. So like if Stoops finishes, what
Speaker 2: do they have three wins right now? They're three and four?
Speaker 2: I believe yes. So if they finish four an eight
Speaker 2: where they only beat Murray and they lose it to
Speaker 2: everybody else, even if that was viewed as like a
Speaker 2: fireable season, you still can't do it because of the money.
Speaker 2: And I still don't think Mitch would do it because
Speaker 2: Stoops is this guy, and I'm not even really sure
Speaker 2: like that you should. I mean, so yes, the whole
Speaker 2: thought of like firing him is just not It just
Speaker 2: doesn't seem realistic at all. The scenario that you would
Speaker 2: hope for, if in fact you really do want a
Speaker 2: new coach would be that he just walks away, and
Speaker 2: maybe that does happen, like maybe he does just decide, yeah,
Speaker 2: I don't want to do this anymore. One thing I
Speaker 2: did not realize about Stoops is that his I mean,
Speaker 2: I knew that he got a divorce and that happens,
Speaker 2: that's not I mean, I don't think that's a factor
Speaker 2: and what's happening with Kentucky football. But like, his kids
Speaker 2: don't live in Lexington. I don't believe. I could be,
Speaker 2: I'll be, I'll stand corrected, But I think he actually
Speaker 2: has his kids living and like I mean, I think
Speaker 2: I think his kids live in like Colorado, which is
Speaker 2: nowhere close to here, So you know, maybe he maybe
Speaker 2: he would want to be closer to family and he realizes, hey,
Speaker 2: I don't you know, his brother retired really really really
Speaker 2: early at a young age. But I think his brother
Speaker 2: had health problems and also his brother like has. I mean,
Speaker 2: his brother has done a lot more as a coach
Speaker 2: than than than Mark has. Therefore, you know, maybe his
Speaker 2: brother just didn't want to be out there, like he
Speaker 2: wasn't chasing anything, trying to prove anything. And maybe that's
Speaker 2: the way Stoops is too, just because you know he's
Speaker 2: burnt out. Who knows, but that's how you get a
Speaker 2: new coach sooner rather than later. Is Mark Stoops just
Speaker 2: deciding he wants to move on, and maybe he does that. Again,
Speaker 2: he's probably made a whole lot of money. I mean,
Speaker 2: I've heard that he's a very successful investor like he's.
Speaker 2: He's made some investments into companies. He's got his own
Speaker 2: bourbon line, which I don't know anything about how much
Speaker 2: money he's made from that, but I've always heard that
Speaker 2: he's a he's a pretty like he's. He's connected with
Speaker 2: some other wealthy people now that he's wealthy with his
Speaker 2: situation at Kentucky, and he's put money towards things that
Speaker 2: have made him a lot more money. So I doubt
Speaker 2: he'll be needing money. But who walks away from nine
Speaker 2: million dollars a year, nobody, I mean you, It wouldn't
Speaker 2: be the craziest thing ever, because again, he's not needing money.
Speaker 2: But I don't care how rich you are, how wealthy
Speaker 2: you are, walking away from nine million dollars knowing that
Speaker 2: you will be able to make that money regardless if
Speaker 2: you win a football game. Like that's crazy, is it not?
Speaker 2: And again, I can't relate to people who have a
Speaker 2: whole lot of money because I'm not in their position.
Speaker 2: But I do think like there are some Kentucky fans
Speaker 2: that are just it's a wishful it's wishful thinking on
Speaker 2: their end that if things get things get worse and
Speaker 2: there's really not a humongously you know, positive outlook moving forward,
Speaker 2: but he'll just walk away like that. Coaches don't do that.
Speaker 2: I mean nine MILLI year, I mean that. I mean
Speaker 2: that's setting up for generational wealth. And look, maybe he
Speaker 2: already has that. I don't know. I mean, but he
Speaker 2: could lose every game, including Murray, and it wouldn't shock
Speaker 2: me if he doesn't just quit and walk away, because again,
Speaker 2: like coaches aren't wired to do that. And I think
Speaker 2: the only reason that Kentucky fans kind of think that
Speaker 2: that could potentially happen is because one his brother did it,
Speaker 2: and because he does seem burnt out, but it's because
Speaker 2: he's losing. And you know, also, I guess he's seen
Speaker 2: burned out before he coached the game this year because
Speaker 2: of his comments, and look, maybe that's a bigger factor
Speaker 2: than Kentucky fans wanted to acknowledge. It was never a
Speaker 2: good look whenever you're going into a season and your
Speaker 2: coach at media day when he's there to promote and
Speaker 2: really lift up his team and really just be a
Speaker 2: guy that's you know, doing the pep rally stuff, right,
Speaker 2: You're here doing the you know, the media day stuff,
Speaker 2: going from interview to interview because you're there to promote
Speaker 2: your team and talk about the upcoming season. And I'm
Speaker 2: sure he did a little bit of that, but you
Speaker 2: know what else he did, and he did some bitching
Speaker 2: and complaining about like what the job is now. And
Speaker 2: I can respect him because I think he was just
Speaker 2: being honest, like I can respect the full transparency, but
Speaker 2: he also just sounded like a guy who's not really
Speaker 2: happy doing what he's doing anymore. And maybe that's why
Speaker 2: the results are what they are, because Kentucky should never
Speaker 2: lose by twenty eight to this Florida team, and they
Speaker 2: got demolished in a game they never led in a
Speaker 2: game they never seemingly had any momentum. They got killed.
Speaker 2: And it's coming off a loss to Andy, and they
Speaker 2: got blown out by South Carolina earlier this year. And yes,
Speaker 2: they did beat ole Miss, but like, at this point,
Speaker 2: you got to look at that as a real outlier.
Speaker 2: I guess it'd be nice to know if you're a
Speaker 2: Kentucky fan that you've seen your team beat a really
Speaker 2: good team in ole Miss, but one Ole Miss doesn't
Speaker 2: look as good now as they did at the time
Speaker 2: you beat him. And does that win even I mean,
Speaker 2: when you're considering, okay, a win against ole Miss on
Speaker 2: the road at the time they're ranked number six, does
Speaker 2: that outweigh Does that have more value than the embarrassing
Speaker 2: losses you have with blowouts to teams that nobody thinks
Speaker 2: is good in Florida and South Carolina and a Vandy
Speaker 2: team that like still is not expected to be you
Speaker 2: I mean, Vandy's still gonna finish in the maybe the
Speaker 2: you know it's at the end of the season. The
Speaker 2: worst teams in the SEC are gonna be Mississippi State,
Speaker 2: and then in some particular order Vandy, Kentucky, and Auburn.
Speaker 2: That'll be it. Maybe Arkansas, I don't know. I mean,
Speaker 2: so to go back to the text, if Louisville does
Speaker 2: beat you, I can certainly see that being like the
Speaker 2: loudest that Kentucky fans have been about being upset with
Speaker 2: Mark Stoops, because even if you are limping into that game,
Speaker 2: you're gonna feel confident because you know you've dominated this
Speaker 2: rivalry lately, and you can be down on Stoops and
Speaker 2: you can be thinking because you were like that last year.
Speaker 2: I mean, they were down on their team last year
Speaker 2: in a major way. They were coming off of embarrassing
Speaker 2: loss at South Carolina, and that South Carolina team won
Speaker 2: what four games? So you know, I think you can,
Speaker 2: you know you can, you can already be down. But
Speaker 2: I think a lost to Louisville at the end of
Speaker 2: the year would make it to where they're probably as
Speaker 2: loud as they've ever been as far as wanting some
Speaker 2: kind of a change. But again, I just think it's
Speaker 2: wishful thinking because you're not firing him, and who really
Speaker 2: would walk away from a job that you can be
Speaker 2: bad at and continue to be unhappy with. But yet
Speaker 2: you're making nine million dollars a year. Like, I know,
Speaker 2: he's already rich, so maybe he'd I mean, in fact,
Speaker 2: I'm sure he didn't view nine million year the way
Speaker 2: someone like myself would. But like, how many coaches have
Speaker 2: ever just walked away from that? Not many or maybe any?
Speaker 2: All right, quick break, we'll come back on the other side.
Speaker 2: Keep it rolling along. We'll let you hear what Jeff
Speaker 2: Brom had to say as well. We've got some sound
Speaker 2: from his pres conference. Keep a locked right here on
Speaker 2: Sports Talk seven ninety. All right, welcome back. It is
Speaker 2: coffee and company, fuel byth Thornton's here on Sports Talk
Speaker 2: seven ninety. Don't forget. We will have Louislle basketball post
Speaker 2: game coverage tonight as soon as the game ends. The exhibition,
Speaker 2: that is, as Pat Kelsey and the Cards will take
Speaker 2: on young Harris. That is a team, a school, not
Speaker 2: a not a person. Nothing political either, by the way,
Speaker 2: which already seen some you know, Harris comments, jokes whatever.
Speaker 3: Of course.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, it's we're that close to election. I
Speaker 2: guess I can't be I can't say that I'm surprised,
Speaker 2: but let's hear Jeff Bram earlier today. I don't know
Speaker 2: if we're I don't want to play this in its entirety,
Speaker 2: but I think when you are hit, you are at
Speaker 2: a point in the season where Louisville is. Right now,
Speaker 2: I'd say there's a little more interest from people wanting
Speaker 2: to hear what your coach has to say about where
Speaker 2: his team is week.
Speaker 3: So it's, uh, we're back back to work. A lot
Speaker 3: of things to work on, to find ways to improve.
Speaker 3: That's what we're addressing now. And uh yeah, that's uh,
Speaker 3: that's a football season. So you got to adjust to
Speaker 3: what's happening. You got to improve on weaknesses, and you
Speaker 3: got to work through it. So we're gonna work hard
Speaker 3: to get better this week. Got a good opponent as
Speaker 3: playing some good football. They started off really hot, and
Speaker 3: I had a couple of close wins that they didn't
Speaker 3: end up winning that easily could have. So we got
Speaker 3: to go on the road and find a way to
Speaker 3: win and it'll be a really good ball game.
Speaker 4: Jeff kind of a two part question, guess how much
Speaker 4: live tackling do you guys do in practice? And also
Speaker 4: are some of the things that you're seeing in games
Speaker 4: showing up in practice far some of those defensive mistakes.
Speaker 3: Well, we've worked a lot of tackling the last couple
Speaker 3: of weeks, to be quite honest with it. Now, we
Speaker 3: don't do a ton of live tackling during the season
Speaker 3: to the ground, you know, you can't roast too many injuries,
Speaker 3: but we do numerous drills to simulate that. Obviously, we
Speaker 3: need to continue to emphasize that and tweak it and
Speaker 3: try to work on as much as we can. It
Speaker 3: showed up late in the game for sure, if getting
Speaker 3: guys to the ground and wrapping up, and so we
Speaker 3: got to continue to address that. Your next question was
Speaker 3: what again, You know what, We've actually practiced pretty well,
Speaker 3: to be quite honest with They've been into it. We've
Speaker 3: worked hard at talking and addressing the things that we
Speaker 3: think we have not been as good at as we
Speaker 3: need to be. We've got to continue to get better
Speaker 3: at it. And you know, we're a little banged up
Speaker 3: from this past game with some guys not being able
Speaker 3: to go. So we got to just continue to work
Speaker 3: through it and have good practice this week. But for
Speaker 3: sure we'll address it and work on it this week again, Yeah, what.
Speaker 5: Approach can you take to try to head off any
Speaker 5: lingering effects on that lost Saturday?
Speaker 4: What do you do to combat that?
Speaker 3: Well, the only thing you can do is, uh, you know,
Speaker 3: we address this situation all year long, and when you
Speaker 3: go through a football season, if you're not prepared for
Speaker 3: the ups and downs going into it, then it's going
Speaker 3: to catch you off guard and you're not gonna be
Speaker 3: able to address. So we talk about simple things. That's
Speaker 3: got to be a one game season. Once we get
Speaker 3: to the season, no matter whether you win or lose,
Speaker 3: you've got to learn from it and move on and
Speaker 3: get better and you got to get ready for the
Speaker 3: next one. And no matter what your record is, you're
Speaker 3: expected to win the next game. So you kind of
Speaker 3: have to have that mentality going in. I think we have.
Speaker 3: We've talked about it. We've had chances to win the
Speaker 3: games that we've lost, and we've had chances to win
Speaker 3: a couple of games and we found a way to win.
Speaker 3: So being better each week is the goal. Improving on
Speaker 3: some things that show up every week that stand out
Speaker 3: is the goal. So we will address it and you
Speaker 3: can continue to try to improve and try to win
Speaker 3: by one point. This week, we're going to go on
Speaker 3: the field, but we want to try to play as
Speaker 3: clean a game as we can and be better at
Speaker 3: some of the mistakes we've made.
Speaker 6: Jeff, do you have an injury update on Jamar Johnson.
Speaker 3: He'll be out for the year. Yes, Jeff.
Speaker 5: When you look at Boston College offensively, what challenges do
Speaker 5: you see that they're going to present for you guys?
Speaker 3: Well, they've done a good job. They started hot with
Speaker 3: a big win against Florida State. They played Missouri right
Speaker 3: down to the wire. They had the lead on Virginia
Speaker 3: and let us slip away. You know, they're well coached.
Speaker 3: Coach of Brown's been there and done that, coach at
Speaker 3: the highest level. They play hard and knows football. They've
Speaker 3: got a quarterback that can run and throw that's presented
Speaker 3: us problems. They've been better on defense than they have
Speaker 3: been in the past. So it's a it's a good
Speaker 3: football team and you know, a lot of guys, we
Speaker 3: got to contain. It starts with the quarterback and we've
Speaker 3: got to find ways to have some balance on offense
Speaker 3: and score points.
Speaker 5: Jeff, it seems like after a couple of these games
Speaker 5: you have felt like the plan was to be aggressive
Speaker 5: going in that wasn't executed in the game as far
Speaker 5: as play calls. Is that from a player standpoint? Is
Speaker 5: that from a from a call er standpoint?
Speaker 3: I think it's a combination of everything. We all need
Speaker 3: to be better to a certain degree. You know, we
Speaker 3: talked about being aggressive on on on a certain side
Speaker 3: of the ball, and maybe we weren't as much as
Speaker 3: we would like. Sometimes you get in the game and
Speaker 3: you see what's happening and you just pull back. Uh
Speaker 3: So we just kind of have to continue to work
Speaker 3: on having that mentality of putting our players in the
Speaker 3: best position to succeed having aggressiveness when we do it.
Speaker 6: Uh.
Speaker 3: No one went to, you know, maybe pull back on
Speaker 3: the aggressive, but yes, we want to We want to
Speaker 3: be as aggressive as we can in all three segments.
Speaker 3: And and and we've got to just continue to execute
Speaker 3: it better. And we've got to continue to uh uh
Speaker 3: carry through with that plan once the game starts, and uh,
Speaker 3: you know, we'll work hard this week to get that done.
Speaker 3: It's a combination of a lot of things, a lot
Speaker 3: of things we've discussed already, but I you know, we
Speaker 3: we want to make sure, you know, an offense. Uh,
Speaker 3: we're being aggressive, we're executing, we're uh moving the football,
Speaker 3: We're not having a bunch of negative plays and penalties. Uh,
Speaker 3: and we're trying to score points. And you know, somewhat
Speaker 3: we've had, you know, some good moments and others we've
Speaker 3: we've been okay. Uh, special teams, I thought we we
Speaker 3: found a way to to to gain an edge. We
Speaker 3: faked a punt, We've got to return for a touchdown.
Speaker 3: There's a huge advantage defensively. You know what we didn't
Speaker 3: We didn't play our best and uh, I think it's
Speaker 3: a you know, you've got to be aggressive in your calls.
Speaker 3: You've got to be lined up and set when the
Speaker 3: ball snap, and you got to let those guys play.
Speaker 3: And uh, we got to be sharp in our sharper
Speaker 3: on our execution and when we do make certain calls,
Speaker 3: you know what it is, we need to be in
Speaker 3: the right spot at the right time. Sometimes that doesn't happen.
Speaker 3: We've got to have some vocal leadership on defense and
Speaker 3: some guys that are communicating taking the bull by the
Speaker 3: horn and saying we're going to get this done. So
Speaker 3: I just think all of us need to continue to
Speaker 3: work through some things that have not gone well, address it,
Speaker 3: work hard at approven on it, because every little thing matters,
Speaker 3: and uh, we just you know, and some of the losses,
Speaker 3: we haven't been good enough overall to get it done
Speaker 3: and that falls on me, and we've got to be
Speaker 3: better at it.
Speaker 6: Jeff, you had had a bunch of these last year.
Speaker 6: This is your only week night game this year. Does
Speaker 6: that add any juice to a week when you know,
Speaker 6: you know you're going to be the only game on
Speaker 6: and other recruiting advantages to it, you know, everybody getting
Speaker 6: to see it. I know it's not of high school football, but.
Speaker 3: Still, well, you know what, I don't mind playing during
Speaker 3: the week. We used to do a lot here. We
Speaker 3: had a lot of success whether it was a lot
Speaker 3: of fun. You know, you're on TV and and it's
Speaker 3: a fun, fun time to play. So for us going
Speaker 3: on the road, it'll it'll be a challenge, a shorter week.
Speaker 3: And like I said, we were a little more nicked
Speaker 3: up in this game than we have in a while.
Speaker 3: It's a physical game and they found a way to
Speaker 3: win in the end. But you know, every game is important.
Speaker 3: Every game You've got to try to win every game matters.
Speaker 1: Uh.
Speaker 3: And no matter what your record is, every game matters,
Speaker 3: So this is an important game. Uh and Uh, really,
Speaker 3: you can be judged all you want during your season.
Speaker 3: That's fine. You're gonna be judged in the season of
Speaker 3: where you're at, what your record is, and how you've done.
Speaker 3: Can we continue to grind this thing out and work
Speaker 3: hard and and and that'll have to display some toughness
Speaker 3: to get it done. Mental toughness and physical toughness. But
Speaker 3: that's that's why you play, That's why I coach. And
Speaker 3: you know, this will be a good challenge and we're
Speaker 3: looking forward to, uh seeing how we stack.
Speaker 4: Up about Thomas Costianos. What have you seen from him?
Speaker 4: And you know, how are you guys? I guess working
Speaker 4: to another mobile quarterback.
Speaker 3: Well, he presents challenges and we we've got to have
Speaker 3: a really good plan. We've got to execute it.
Speaker 1: Uh.
Speaker 3: We've got to be conscious of of his athleticism with
Speaker 3: the ball in his hands, and they do a great
Speaker 3: job with him. No run him, He'll pull it on
Speaker 3: the zone read he can scramble. Even though we had
Speaker 3: one of our better games last year against BC just
Speaker 3: because we were we were hitting on all cylinders own offense.
Speaker 3: He made a lot of plays. If the game is closer,
Speaker 3: it would have been a different story. And he definitely
Speaker 3: keeps him in the ball game. And they rely on
Speaker 3: his strengths, and he's a really good weapon, and he
Speaker 3: will be tough to defend. And so we gotta we
Speaker 3: got to step up to the plate, and we got
Speaker 3: to play a good football game and try to limit
Speaker 3: his effectiveness. Effectiveness this excuse me, I kind of didn't
Speaker 3: say that, right, But we gotta limit how good he
Speaker 3: plays against this and and and we got to get
Speaker 3: better on defense. And this is a game that will
Speaker 3: challenge us to do that, and I'd like to see
Speaker 3: us improve.
Speaker 5: In addition to Johnson, Is there any other guys that
Speaker 5: aren't going to be able to play this week?
Speaker 3: Oh, it's probably easier if you ask me names. Yeah,
Speaker 3: they're gonna be some guys that are out and you
Speaker 3: know we're yeah, yeah, I'll be so yep.
Speaker 6: Place he at the point where kind of you're starting
Speaker 6: to see now what you expect to see from him
Speaker 6: this season. I mean, he's he's kind of close to
Speaker 6: one hundred percent.
Speaker 3: Well, we did want to be a little castous getting
Speaker 3: him back because he came back early from a collar
Speaker 3: bone surgery that was against Notre Dame when he was
Speaker 3: just cleared, So we were a little casts of using
Speaker 3: him too much. We got him out, uh, returning a
Speaker 3: lot of the kicks. He's done a great job. He
Speaker 3: just really is a strong runner. Uh, he's fearless, he
Speaker 3: goes hard. He has a good knack of catching the
Speaker 3: football when it's around him, and uh, he's somebody we
Speaker 3: just got to utilize. And I just think every game,
Speaker 3: if we could continue to make sure the balls in
Speaker 3: his hands numerous, he can help us win. He competes,
Speaker 3: he plays hard. Uh, and I think he's done a
Speaker 3: really good job and now I can see him continue
Speaker 3: to get better for us.
Speaker 2: Okay, all right, So that was Jeff rom earlier today.
Speaker 2: You know, I'm hearing him discuss some of the things
Speaker 2: that they have to get better at and the things
Speaker 2: they've been working on. You know, it's all you can do.
Speaker 2: But I mean, you can just tell with his tone
Speaker 2: and just you know, even if you can't tell, and
Speaker 2: maybe I'm imagining him having a tone that seems frustrated.
Speaker 2: It's not ideal to be focused on those kind of
Speaker 2: things at this point in the season, but you know,
Speaker 2: you got to start somewhere. They got to work on tackling.
Speaker 2: I mean, they were clearly really bad at it on
Speaker 2: Saturday against Miami, and yes, Miami was a factor in
Speaker 2: that too, But you know, Boston College, it's it's it's
Speaker 2: back to the Virginia game for me as far as okay,
Speaker 2: you know, this is one that if you somehow slip
Speaker 2: up and lose, that would be your first one that
Speaker 2: you can't really say, well, what are you going to do?
Speaker 2: The team you played is really good, and I'm not
Speaker 2: sure people are saying that about notreed AMSMU or Miami.
Speaker 2: Clearly those are good teams, all top twenty teams, but
Speaker 2: Boston College is not. They're coming off back to back
Speaker 2: losses and it's a chance for Louisvale to bounce back
Speaker 2: on Friday night, and I'm hoping they do exactly that.
Speaker 2: All right, quick break, we'll come back on the other
Speaker 2: side of wrap of the four o'clock hour talk a
Speaker 2: little basketball, because yes, we've got Louisville basketball tonight, first
Speaker 2: exhibition game for Pat Kelsey and his team, and we'll
Speaker 2: have postgame coverage, postgame calling show as soon as it
Speaker 2: ends right here on Sports Talk seven to ninety. But
Speaker 2: we got a lot of time before we get there,
Speaker 2: so stick with us as we take you up until
Speaker 2: six o'clock right here Coffee and Company. Fiel about Thorton's
Speaker 2: on Sports Talk seven ninety. Some big news in the
Speaker 2: NFL scary situation yesterday Jade and Daniels leaving with what
Speaker 2: appeared to be a rib injury. Got some x rays
Speaker 2: done during the game, and I know this was as
Speaker 2: recent as the last hour or so. That he's listed
Speaker 2: as week to week, which I guess doesn't give you
Speaker 2: a whole lot, but clearly it's serious enough to where
Speaker 2: they've got to monitor it. I think if you're a
Speaker 2: Commander's fan, then you probably were hoping it was you know,
Speaker 2: go get some pictures done and you know, maybe he
Speaker 2: feels a lot better than next day. But obviously the
Speaker 2: Commanders have proven to be one of the better teams
Speaker 2: in the league. Probably not you know, a team that
Speaker 2: is realistically going to compete for a Super Bowl. But
Speaker 2: Jade Daniels has been sensational and obviously, you know, he's
Speaker 2: better than Marcus Marriott. Although Mariota came in yesterday and
Speaker 2: played well for them in the in the second half.
Speaker 2: But yeah, Jade Daniels a guy who I think even
Speaker 2: if he doesn't play the rest of the season, he'd
Speaker 2: probably still be deserving of Rookie of the Years. That's
Speaker 2: a little bit of a stretch, and I'm sure he
Speaker 2: will be back. But I'm not even sure who would
Speaker 2: be considered the second best rookie in the NFL right
Speaker 2: now because of how good Jayden Daniels has been. I
Speaker 2: know Brock Bauers to tie end for the Raiders got
Speaker 2: off to a really good start, but I'm not sure
Speaker 2: if that was sustained. So and I don't know any
Speaker 2: Commanders fans. I'm sure they have some, but yeah, your
Speaker 2: franchise quarterback or the guy that looks to be the future.
Speaker 2: It doesn't sound like it's too serious, but obviously anytime
Speaker 2: without him is probably something you know, you want to avoid.
Speaker 2: We don't have a whole lot of time left here.
Speaker 2: In the four o'clock hour, we will shift to hoops,
Speaker 2: not you know, not exclusively in the five o'clock hour,
Speaker 2: but it is game day. Young Harris will talk a
Speaker 2: little bit about them, because it is in fact a
Speaker 2: real team and they're from Georgia, a D two school,
Speaker 2: and I'm not sure of the connection. Somebody asked this
Speaker 2: on the text line earlier, and I don't know the
Speaker 2: answer to the question is there's some kind of a connection,
Speaker 2: because usually these games are again like, for example, the
Speaker 2: reason we played Leanne Rimes a couple of years ago
Speaker 2: Leonora Ryan is because their coach was Everick Sullivant, who
Speaker 2: played here at Louisville many years ago. And the other
Speaker 2: exhibition opponents are typically schools that are local. This year
Speaker 2: they're playing Spalding, which is in fact the Division III
Speaker 2: school they had a couple of years where they played Simmons.
Speaker 2: They are I'm not even sure if they're NAI or what.
Speaker 2: But yeah, I don't know, you know, as far as
Speaker 2: like why Louisville picked this school, I'm not sure. Maybe
Speaker 2: there's some kind of connection, but if there is, I
Speaker 2: don't know about it. All right, let's talk about the
Speaker 2: Jefferson Animal Hospital, shall we. That's who you need to
Speaker 2: keep in mind. In fact, don't just keep them in mind.
Speaker 2: That's who you need to turn to. That is who
Speaker 2: you should be going to when it comes to any
Speaker 2: medical situation with your pet. Now, I keep mentioning the
Speaker 2: fact that if there's an emergency, they're there for you,
Speaker 2: because you know, not many are open twenty four hours
Speaker 2: a day like they are. I mean, they don't really
Speaker 2: have competitors because they are above all the competition, the
Speaker 2: so called competition. So yes, keep them in mind. If
Speaker 2: in fact, something happens and you're worried and you know,
Speaker 2: maybe maybe middle of the night, maybe a holiday, they're
Speaker 2: going to be there. They've been open since nineteen eighty
Speaker 2: forty four years. They've had a doctor on staff on
Speaker 2: site twenty four hours a day in case of an emergency.
Speaker 2: But no better time than now to find a provider
Speaker 2: when it comes to somebody that can, you know, can
Speaker 2: help you. When it comes to the health of your pets.
Speaker 2: Your pets are family members. You love them, you want
Speaker 2: to keep them healthy, and you know they can't communicate
Speaker 2: with us the way you know your kids can. I mean,
Speaker 2: I guess they can in their own way, but you
Speaker 2: know what I mean, right, they won't tell you if
Speaker 2: they're sick, if they if they seem like they're you know,
Speaker 2: something's bothering them, make an appointment, go bring them into
Speaker 2: the Jefferson Animal Hospital and they'll get you taken care of.
Speaker 2: So you can visit Jefferson Vets dot com to get
Speaker 2: more information, or you can give them a call at
Speaker 2: five to nine hundred pets. All right, just as we
Speaker 2: reset here at the top, we got another hour to go.
Speaker 2: I'm kind of scrolling through the text line here today
Speaker 2: and it's it's not as pessimistic as maybe I would
Speaker 2: have expected. And I'm not saying that like I'm you know,
Speaker 2: bummed that people aren't more pessimistic. It's just, you know,
Speaker 2: I I was curious if today would be the day
Speaker 2: where I got the sense that those reacting here on
Speaker 2: the show, rather it be callers or people texting or
Speaker 2: people tweeting during the show like they have, they kind
Speaker 2: of not checked out, because saying checked out means that, like,
Speaker 2: you don't care anymore, and we're all going to be
Speaker 2: tuned in on Friday night watching this team blay Boston College,
Speaker 2: hoping that they went. Of course, if you are a
Speaker 2: Louisville fan, it just felt like Saturday for me was
Speaker 2: a you know, not a big missed opportunity as if
Speaker 2: you blew it, because I mean, Miami played you, they
Speaker 2: were better. I just wish that that was one you
Speaker 2: could have let get away, and you wouldn't be looking
Speaker 2: at the earlier losses and just reminding yourself, damn, like
Speaker 2: we shouldn't have these three losses. But hey, maybe I'm
Speaker 2: maybe I'm giving this team too much credit, right because
Speaker 2: I still look at every loss they have as a
Speaker 2: game they could have won. But I'm also well aware
Speaker 2: that could have, would have, should have doesn't mean anything.
Speaker 2: It's it's a results based thing here. You win or
Speaker 2: you lose. And they lost again on Saturday, and it's
Speaker 2: a bummer, but they did play a really, really good
Speaker 2: team that wouldn't I mean, I think Miami. I don't
Speaker 2: know if they're going to win the national championship because
Speaker 2: I still think there are teams that clearly look to
Speaker 2: be in a better position. But if a team wants
Speaker 2: to try to get in a shootout with them, I
Speaker 2: think Kim Ward looks like he's more than capable of
Speaker 2: doing his part. All right, quick break, We got the
Speaker 2: five o'clock hour coming up next. Right here, it's Coffee
Speaker 2: and Company fieldbrouth Thorton's on Sports Talk seven to ninety