Latest / College Football Addiction: A Show About All Things College Football / LSU Source SURPRISED Me in DANGEROUS Preview of Kentucky vs Tigers!
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- 0:00Speaker 1: All right, welcome back to College Football Addiction. We are
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- 0:08Speaker 1: LSU and Kentucky. A big one in the SEC this week.
- 0:13Speaker 1: I don't know that a lot of people thought this
- 0:14Speaker 1: would be a ranked matchup when this season started, but
- 0:18Speaker 1: here we are. And how dangerous is this Kentucky team?
- 0:24Speaker 1: Because they put it together for a half against Bama.
- 0:26Speaker 1: Then Bama kind of started to roll, no pun intended.
- 0:29Speaker 1: But then outside of that, they've been really good, and
- 0:32Speaker 1: they came back against South Carolina, which is apparently the
- 0:34Speaker 1: trendy thing to do these days. What are your thoughts on,
- 0:39Speaker 1: you know, can they keep up with an LSU team
- 0:42Speaker 1: that's certainly the second-best team that they've played since, other
- 0:46Speaker 1: than Bama?
- 0:47Speaker 2: Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, TJ.
- 0:49Speaker 2: This is not a ranked matchup of bench-ranked teams anymore
- 0:51Speaker 2: because the AP polls told me more odds than they were.
- 0:53Speaker 1: Oh, drop them. Yeah.
- 0:54Speaker 2: Yeah. That rewarded you for coming back down by 17
- 0:58Speaker 2: by being unranked this week. So it's not.
- 1:01Speaker 1: They're ranked in the CFA poll. I'll say that.
- 1:03Speaker 2: They're very much ranked in my poll.
- 1:04Speaker 1: I'll tell people about that in a moment, but go ahead.
- 1:07Speaker 2: There's so many things that you can look at on
- 1:09Speaker 2: one hand. Yes, there are things to like about Kentucky.
- 1:13Speaker 2: You found a way to respond. Kenny Minchie had three
- 1:14Speaker 2: passing touchdowns, including the one in overtime, the two-point conversion
- 1:18Speaker 2: to Willie Rodriguez to be able to make it work.
- 1:21Speaker 2: Their rushing attack has been one of the better units,
- 1:23Speaker 2: I think, in the SEC this season. What you got
- 1:25Speaker 2: was C.J. Baxter and Jarrett Patterson. Now, it wasn't on
- 1:28Speaker 2: full display against South Carolina's defensive front, but it certainly
- 1:31Speaker 2: could be there. Nick Anderson has finally kind of shown
- 1:33Speaker 2: on up, the former LSU Tiger. He had a big
- 1:36Speaker 2: touchdown grab in this game. You still have Gilmore, Kenny Darby,
- 1:41Speaker 2: my apologies, making big-time plays here and there. Tight end
- 1:44Speaker 2: usage has been really good. The offense, I think, has
- 1:47Speaker 2: a rhythm and an identity about themselves. They know what
- 1:50Speaker 2: was their strength and their weakness. And the one thing
- 1:52Speaker 2: I will say is that LSU has found a rhythm
- 1:55Speaker 2: in the passing attack. I think that Sam Levitt has
- 1:57Speaker 2: figured out, I don't have trade as green. I'll make
- 2:00Speaker 2: it work with Jackson Harris. I'll make it work with
- 2:02Speaker 2: Winnie Watkins. I'll finish up all those other things. But
- 2:06Speaker 2: at the same time, they're banged up right now. You know,
- 2:09Speaker 2: we know that Sam Levitt's not fully healthy. You're not
- 2:11Speaker 2: going to have trade as green for this game. Witt
- 2:13Speaker 2: Weeks is probably out for the year, and if not
- 2:15Speaker 2: for the year, he's not back until the late stages
- 2:17Speaker 2: of November. You are missing some elements of your team.
- 2:21Speaker 2: So this is an opportunity, I think, for Kentucky, who's
- 2:25Speaker 2: kind of healthy right now, like very healthy in a
- 2:27Speaker 2: lot of the key elements of their success, to be
- 2:30Speaker 2: able to kind of make this a four-quarter battle against
- 2:32Speaker 2: an LSU team that is good, very good, but we're
- 2:36Speaker 2: not saying that you'll learn anything new about them when
- 2:38Speaker 2: they played against McNeese State. Like, I'm sorry, I'm not
- 2:41Speaker 2: going to sit here and cloud you up because of
- 2:43Speaker 2: beat up against a team from the FCS level.
- 2:48Speaker 1: When you think about what Kentucky did well defensively in
- 2:52Speaker 1: that first half, um, against Alabama, obviously the crowd was
- 2:56Speaker 1: into it. You're taking picks back. You're taking, you know,
- 2:59Speaker 1: turnovers back for touchdowns. All those things help. You do
- 3:02Speaker 1: get this one at home. I do think this is
- 3:04Speaker 1: a tricky game for LSU for all the reasons you've mentioned. What,
- 3:08Speaker 1: what changed? What, was there a change in that Kentucky
- 3:12Speaker 1: game at halftime? And if so, was that change more
- 3:16Speaker 1: to do with Kentucky or Bama realizing, Hey, we have
- 3:21Speaker 1: a Keelan Russell and we can go crazy right now.
- 3:22Speaker 1: Like just thoughts around. And then I guess a third question,
- 3:25Speaker 1: three questions at once. Can Kentucky do that?
- 3:27Speaker 2: Can Kentucky do.
- 3:28Speaker 1: That for a full game? Like what was the change?
- 3:31Speaker 1: Was it just Bama? Can Kentucky adjust to do that
- 3:33Speaker 1: for closer to 60 minutes than 30?
- 3:37Speaker 2: Let's start three to one. Three, probably not. You're going
- 3:40Speaker 2: to have to do it for three quarter. I think
- 3:42Speaker 2: three quarters is what you hope for at this point,
- 3:44Speaker 2: but there is going to be a quarter where it
- 3:46Speaker 2: just hits the fan. It just is going to be
- 3:48Speaker 2: the case because the Jimmy's and the Joe's are going
- 3:49Speaker 2: to outweigh the X's and the O's. Number two, I
- 3:52Speaker 2: think it was more so Alabama starting to figure out
- 3:55Speaker 2: we can just lean on them if we want to
- 3:57Speaker 2: and we can start getting things going. Because remember... Keelan
- 3:59Speaker 2: Russell really struggled early on in that game. It wasn't
- 4:02Speaker 2: just the pick six. There was also the big fumble
- 4:04Speaker 2: that they had. He had a second interception in that
- 4:06Speaker 2: game right before halftime. But then they just said, you
- 4:09Speaker 2: know what? We have Treshawn Brown. We have Daniel Hill.
- 4:12Speaker 2: We have EJ Crowell. Let's just lean to our rushing
- 4:16Speaker 2: attack and use that to our advantage. And they did
- 4:18Speaker 2: so while they were able to go ahead and put
- 4:20Speaker 2: themselves in a position to get Keelan Russell feeling a
- 4:23Speaker 2: little bit more consistent with the passing attack. So I
- 4:25Speaker 2: think it's more so Alabama woke on up. But the
- 4:28Speaker 2: thing that made this work and was such a good factor,
- 4:30Speaker 2: which goes back to point number one, is they forced
- 4:32Speaker 2: those turnovers. Like, they were able to get that big
- 4:35Speaker 2: pick six, which was massive. They got that fumble recovery,
- 4:37Speaker 2: which personally... I thought it was a little ticky tacky,
- 4:40Speaker 2: but they got the fumble recovery that allowed them to
- 4:42Speaker 2: be able to make some plays. They were able to
- 4:44Speaker 2: go ahead and hold them to a field goal to
- 4:46Speaker 2: when it was 14 to 10. They were able to
- 4:48Speaker 2: get another turnover. And then with that turnover, when it
- 4:51Speaker 2: was 14, 13, they were able to capitalize on the
- 4:53Speaker 2: short field position and kick a field goal right before
- 4:56Speaker 2: halftime to be able to take a four point lead.
- 4:58Speaker 2: So I think that Kentucky has the ability to be
- 5:01Speaker 2: able to play up to that level. The thing that
- 5:03Speaker 2: whether you like it or not, LSU fans, Sam Levitt
- 5:06Speaker 2: is his own worst enemy. When he plays in structure,
- 5:08Speaker 2: he's looked really good. Go back to that game against
- 5:11Speaker 2: Texas A & M when he was not able to
- 5:12Speaker 2: run because he was dealing with a hamstring injury. He
- 5:15Speaker 2: threw for, what, 300 yards? He was fantastic when it
- 5:18Speaker 2: came to fighting Jackson Harris and Winnie Watkins. But when
- 5:21Speaker 2: he plays out of structure, you're going to get an
- 5:23Speaker 2: erratic quarterback who is known for having turnovers. He did
- 5:27Speaker 2: it in the Louisiana Tech game. He did it in
- 5:29Speaker 2: the Ole Miss game. Hell, he did it against McNeese State.
- 5:33Speaker 2: He is going to have some turnovers, which I think
- 5:35Speaker 2: bodes well in favor of Kentucky, but will it do
- 5:39Speaker 2: so for the entirety of the fourth quarter? Or eventually,
- 5:41Speaker 2: is there going to come a point where, similar to Alabama,
- 5:44Speaker 2: with the running backs found in Baton Rouge, with guys
- 5:46Speaker 2: that you know you can just lean on, is there
- 5:50Speaker 2: going to come that point where, hey, Dylan Jones... Just
- 5:52Speaker 2: get us four yards a clip. And then eventually we'll
- 5:54Speaker 2: start getting the passing tack going when we catch them
- 5:56Speaker 2: slipping and they're kind of exhausted in the front. Because
- 5:58Speaker 2: that's what Alabama really did. They leaned into the run game.
- 6:01Speaker 2: They forced turnovers in the second half. And they were
- 6:04Speaker 2: able to play with short field position that gave them
- 6:06Speaker 2: opportunities to be able to strike when they were playing
- 6:08Speaker 2: against a tired defensive front.
- 6:12Speaker 1: I talked about Texas, Tennessee, Georgia being some of the
- 6:16Speaker 1: better defenses in this conference in another segment that we did.
- 6:19Speaker 1: I don't think I gave enough credit to LSU and
- 6:21Speaker 1: how many playmakers they have on that side of the ball.
- 6:23Speaker 1: When they're rolling, that defense is really good too. Thoughts
- 6:27Speaker 1: on them being able to slow down what Kentucky wants
- 6:30Speaker 1: to do. You talked about Minchie getting the touchdown passes,
- 6:32Speaker 1: the two-pointer, all those things at South Carolina. Not to
- 6:36Speaker 1: just completely disparage South Carolina, because that's not the point
- 6:39Speaker 1: of the show, but that is South Carolina, and it's
- 6:42Speaker 1: a defense that's not great. And you're talking about, I
- 6:45Speaker 1: don't know, would you have LSU top five-ish defensively in
- 6:47Speaker 1: the SEC, somewhere around there?
- 6:48Speaker 2: Probably. I mean, the loss of Whitweeks is big.
- 6:52Speaker 1: Huge, yeah. Just before we go on, I will give
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- 7:52Speaker 1: right now. So that said, can Kentucky get things going
- 8:01Speaker 1: against the LSU defense? Because I struggle to see that
- 8:03Speaker 1: happening consistently.
- 8:05Speaker 2: Yeah, they can get things going for sure. I mean,
- 8:07Speaker 2: I don't think it's not possible that they can't. I mean,
- 8:10Speaker 2: you've got to look at the playmakers that they have.
- 8:11Speaker 2: They have arguably– it's not even arguably at this point.
- 8:14Speaker 2: I think that he is the second-best pass rusher in
- 8:16Speaker 2: college football. Prince won't win Manly Yellen, who has eight
- 8:19Speaker 2: sacks in the season. The only one who I'd probably
- 8:21Speaker 2: take right now over him is Colin Simmons.
- 8:23Speaker 1: Simmons, yeah.
- 8:24Speaker 2: He's been able to get a lot of plays at
- 8:26Speaker 2: the point of attack. Downfield, you still have two incredible
- 8:30Speaker 2: cornerbacks in DJ Pickett and PJ Woodland. You have one
- 8:32Speaker 2: of the best safeties in Ty Benefield that has stepped
- 8:35Speaker 2: on up Critically, at the early stage of the season.
- 8:37Speaker 2: I think that the defensive line certainly has its depth.
- 8:41Speaker 2: Maybe it's not elite, but they have depth. So they
- 8:44Speaker 2: can rotate in guys that will be able to make
- 8:46Speaker 2: Kentucky a one-dimensional offense. And make them really kind of
- 8:49Speaker 2: have to earn those hard yards. And they're going to
- 8:52Speaker 2: have to be able to play through the air. And again,
- 8:54Speaker 2: we saw last game, Kenny Minchey in the first half.
- 8:57Speaker 2: Really kind of struggled to find any consistency. Then came
- 9:00Speaker 2: the second half. Well, partially the reason in the second
- 9:02Speaker 2: half they were able to find consistency is because you
- 9:05Speaker 2: lost the winning year sales with South Carolina, which has
- 9:08Speaker 2: become a common theme up to this point this season.
- 9:10Speaker 2: On both sides of the football, short field position, inability,
- 9:13Speaker 2: three and outs, punts, and then the defense is not
- 9:16Speaker 2: able to get some critical stops. Mississippi State was a
- 9:18Speaker 2: victim to it. You'll watch it happen when they played
- 9:20Speaker 2: down in Tuscaloosa. You saw it last weekend against Kentucky.
- 9:23Speaker 2: They were able to allow them to get back right
- 9:25Speaker 2: into this game because they just couldn't put the finishing touches. LSU,
- 9:29Speaker 2: I don't think, has those defensive weaknesses. Now, the question
- 9:33Speaker 2: that I have is, does LSU's offense put themselves in
- 9:36Speaker 2: a position where somehow you face... Like, if you're Kentucky
- 9:40Speaker 2: and you are... Let's just say that you are Jay
- 9:43Speaker 2: Bateman and you're trying to come up with a game plan.
- 9:45Speaker 2: Do you sell out to play the run, take away
- 9:48Speaker 2: the mobility of Sam Leavitt, and force him to have
- 9:51Speaker 2: to throw downfield? Which, again, that Texas A & M
- 9:54Speaker 2: game says... Sam levitt throwing downfield and structure is not
- 9:58Speaker 2: a bad recipe in fact it's probably a really good
- 10:00Speaker 2: one but at the same time this is just a
- 10:03Speaker 2: stat whether you like it or not you have eight
- 10:06Speaker 2: touchdown passes and seven interceptions he is going to throw
- 10:09Speaker 2: in a double coverage and this is a secondary that
- 10:11Speaker 2: can make place too so That's, to me, where I
- 10:14Speaker 2: think is going to be the battle of this game.
- 10:15Speaker 2: Are you able to force Kenny Minchie to play not
- 10:18Speaker 2: out of structure is the right word, but play where
- 10:20Speaker 2: he is kind of having to run through his progression
- 10:22Speaker 2: as a young quarterback to find one of his open targets?
- 10:24Speaker 2: And on the flip side, if you are Kentucky, can
- 10:27Speaker 2: you make this a one-dimensional offense but enough erraticy comes
- 10:31Speaker 2: on up when it comes to playing against Sam Levitt
- 10:34Speaker 2: to force him to have to feel pressure, to force
- 10:36Speaker 2: him to have to maneuver outside the pocket, have to
- 10:38Speaker 2: make plays with his legs? Because if you do... There's
- 10:41Speaker 2: going to be a turnover that happens. Now, the big
- 10:44Speaker 2: thing is, can that turnover happen when, let's say, you're
- 10:46Speaker 2: in Kentucky territory at the 35? Not when you're at
- 10:49Speaker 2: LSU territory. I mean, when you're at LSU's 35. Not
- 10:52Speaker 2: Kentucky's 20. And then you've got to drive it 80
- 10:55Speaker 2: yards down the field. Because there's a whole lot of
- 10:57Speaker 2: difference of how you're going to game plan if you're
- 10:59Speaker 2: Joe Sloan and Will Stein with a short field position
- 11:02Speaker 2: knowing that your kicker can give you three points versus
- 11:05Speaker 2: we get a critical stop, big turnover, they don't score,
- 11:09Speaker 2: but three plays from now, we may be punting and
- 11:11Speaker 2: giving them back the ball.
- 11:14Speaker 1: Nine and a half, 10 point spread. According to Vegas
- 11:17Speaker 1: right now, I, I think this is closer for a
- 11:21Speaker 1: lot of the game. And then I think LSU pulls
- 11:23Speaker 1: away late. So I kind of like LSU on this
- 11:25Speaker 1: 10 points, bro spreads on the road in the sec.
- 11:28Speaker 1: I'm just, I've got a death wish, I suppose, but
- 11:30Speaker 1: I'm trying to not overthink it. I'm trying to just
- 11:32Speaker 1: go with my gut. I kind of like LSU to cover,
- 11:35Speaker 1: but what do you think in this one? Give me
- 11:36Speaker 1: a score.
- 11:37Speaker 2: Well, okay, number one, even if Sam Leavitt can't go,
- 11:40Speaker 2: I think there's been some things that you've seen from
- 11:41Speaker 2: Landon Clark against Texas A & M and then when
- 11:44Speaker 2: he played against McNeese State. Did feel content about quarterback play, personally.
- 11:48Speaker 2: I mean, he was 7-16, 126 yards. Didn't throw a
- 11:52Speaker 2: touchdown pass, but he did have a fumble. Let's be real,
- 11:56Speaker 2: he had a fumble, but he didn't lose it. So,
- 11:58Speaker 2: problem solved there. I agree with you on one thing.
- 12:03Speaker 2: If you're asking me, I have to pick this game. Like,
- 12:06Speaker 2: straight up, point-wise. I'm not taking LSU. I think that
- 12:09Speaker 2: Kentucky can be a house of horrors for a lot
- 12:11Speaker 2: of opponents, and especially teams that right now are a
- 12:14Speaker 2: little bit banged on that I watched last season Texas
- 12:17Speaker 2: struggle at times against, I mean, struggle with Kentucky. They
- 12:21Speaker 2: had to go to overtime to get that win. Two
- 12:23Speaker 2: years ago, I saw Georgia with Gunnar Stock, I mean,
- 12:26Speaker 2: with Carson Beck as the starting quarterback, literally go down
- 12:29Speaker 2: to the wire and Mark Stoops went for the putt
- 12:32Speaker 2: instead of the fourth down call. Maybe we would have
- 12:34Speaker 2: called that be the big upset. So like Kroger Field
- 12:37Speaker 2: is a place where if you do not play a ball,
- 12:41Speaker 2: you're going to lose the betting line, especially big betting lines.
- 12:45Speaker 2: And a part of me just feels like for some
- 12:46Speaker 2: reason Lane Kiffin was going to have a letdown game.
- 12:49Speaker 2: I don't know why. It's just a gut intuition that
- 12:52Speaker 2: there was going to be a team that shows on
- 12:54Speaker 2: up that is going to give him a taste of
- 12:57Speaker 2: what we saw two years ago when he played with
- 13:00Speaker 2: Jackson Dart and that highlight roster, the All-Americans everywhere. They
- 13:04Speaker 2: were destined to go to the playoff, and he didn't
- 13:06Speaker 2: prepare properly. I don't know why. I've had this game
- 13:10Speaker 2: circled since the offseason. If Kentucky can get something going
- 13:14Speaker 2: with this offense, they have a good passing attack, and
- 13:17Speaker 2: they were able to show me against teams like Alabama
- 13:19Speaker 2: and South Carolina. I was also a lot higher on
- 13:21Speaker 2: South Carolina, so to be fair, that's part of the reason.
- 13:24Speaker 2: But if they were able to show it against those teams,
- 13:27Speaker 2: I think that Kentucky can pull off the upset. I'm
- 13:30Speaker 2: going to go crazy here. I think Kentucky wins this one.
- 13:34Speaker 2: I don't know why. Gut intuition just says the rushing
- 13:37Speaker 2: attack is there. They were able to force a couple
- 13:39Speaker 2: of big turnovers in favor of of short field position
- 13:42Speaker 2: for Kenny Minshew to work with. And I just don't
- 13:45Speaker 2: think that you're going to be able to win with
- 13:46Speaker 2: Sam Leavitt passing downfield. I'm not saying that Sam Leavitt
- 13:49Speaker 2: won't have a good day, but damn, there's a part
- 13:52Speaker 2: of me that just thinks that Kenny Minshew can make
- 13:54Speaker 2: the fewer turnovers, be able to capitalize and get some points.
- 13:57Speaker 2: And I'm going to take the Wildcats to win this one.
- 13:59Speaker 2: I think it's low scoring. I really do. I'm going
- 14:03Speaker 2: to go 20 to 14. Very, very much a defensive battle.
- 14:08Speaker 2: But I think that you're just going to get one
- 14:09Speaker 2: field goal and one extra touchdown that leans in favor
- 14:12Speaker 2: of Kentucky in this matchup.
- 14:14Speaker 1: I'm going to go LSU. I'll take an exact push.
- 14:19Speaker 1: I'll go 24-14. LSU wins. I think that defense comes
- 14:24Speaker 1: to play. It's close at half. LSU gets a score
- 14:27Speaker 1: or two in the second half, finds a way to
- 14:29Speaker 1: do it. But he has Cole Thompson. You catch him
- 14:31Speaker 1: on the power, too. SEC unfiltered. a million times a week.
- 14:34Speaker 1: So just go check that out on college football addiction.
- 14:37Speaker 1: And again, sec unfiltered. We appreciate you call. We appreciate
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- 14:47Speaker 2: Later.