Latest / Bluegrass State of Mind / TOP 10 IN, NO TURNING BACK! | Kentucky Football Is For Real & Basketball Takes a Step Forward
Transcript
- Dillon Geralds: What's up guys? Welcome back to another episode of Bluegrass State of Mind. Got another fun one for you all. Big weekend of not only college football, but specifically Kentucky sports in general. We are coming off a big Kentucky basketball exhibition game, winning that game over Texas Tex, which we'll get into after we discuss another Kentucky win from yours truly, your University of Kentucky football team taking Down the Vanderbilt Commodores. So got a lot to unpack tonight. An exciting time to be a Kentucky fan. let's get right into it though, Coton. see you are ripping the Bluegrass Elite sweatshirt. I'm repping my shirt. We are repping a little bit of bluegrass state of mind though. I like that thought process there. If you've not had a chance, go give give our partnerships over there at Bluegrass Elite, give them a follow and visit them and go ahead and if you want some Kentucky gear. They are rooted in the Bluegrass State veteran-owned company. Looks good, feels good. We've been saying it. 15% off. Go get you some UK gear. I know we were ripping the Will Stein going for two shirt. I've seen a lot of those out there lately. but I bet you won't get a better price and better feeling shirt than one over at Bluegrass Elite. So go ahead and go go go there and get you some Kentucky gear with our friends at Bluegrass Elite. So Cotton, over the weekend. The Kentucky football team took down the Vanderbilt Commodores of a score of 34 to 17. This is a Kentucky record now of 7-1, 5-1 in SEC play. Kentucky rallies from 10-0, a 10-0 deficit to beat Vanderbilt of the score. Like we said, 34 to 17, extending its winning streak. There's a lot of talking points we can go through. Kentucky didn't have its best stuff early. Yep, they still find a way to win by 17 points against an SEC opponent. seems to me like they made adjustments, they controlled the ground game, created turnovers once again, and just took over in the second half. But I do want to throw out some stats to you that I think that some people have probably heard, but it's just groundbreaking stuff that you're just sitting here thinking, like, what are we talking about? This is the University of Kentucky football. So here we go. I want everybody to look to just unpack this. Just listen to these stats. Kentucky is now 7-1 overall and 5-1 in the SEC. This is the best start since 2018. Kentucky is 7-1 for the first time since the 2018 team opened up with that same record. They are first undefeated October since 1977. This is the first time that Kentucky football has been undefeated in the month of October since 1977. That is wild. Kentucky went 4-0 during October. This is five straight SEC wins for Kentucky. Kentucky has won five consecutive SEC games for only the third time in program history, matching the milestone achieved by the 1950 and 1977 teams. We'll stein. Just making history. Here we go. Keep going. Stein is the first Kentucky head coach to start 7-1 in his first season in 117 years since 1970. E.R. Sweetland in 1909. He is also the first Kentucky coach to begin his first season 5-1 in SEC play. He is currently on an also a six-game winning streak. And this is this is kind of odd to say, but you know, in all these games, Kentucky has been down as well in those games. Colton, I mean, this is just I don't think we're ever gonna see, I don't know that we will ever see anything like this again. And if we do, I I'm not gonna say I would be shocked, but it's just it's wild. So hearing those stats, can you believe what we are what we're talking about right now? I let's just say, not even dating it back to the beginning of the season, let's just say, I don't know, six weeks ago. Could you have ever imagined that we're sitting here at seven and one and also at the number one, we are number one in the SEC now that Georgia had their bye week. Thoughts. Kolton Myatt: Yeah, no I mean yeah, I mean it just continues to be crazy and you just find yourself in this weird spot. I or at least I do, where I'm I'm like, man, like I we can win this game, which is weird, right? Going into every single one of these games, it's like, man, we can win this game compared to old school where it's like, hey, like if we won, it'd be a big surprise. I expect us to probably not win this game. I mean, and that's that's where it was always kinda at. And now it's a weird place where I think we can w Like we should be able to win this game, but you kinda wanna hold back because you're like, okay, don't like don't pull an old Dillon Geralds: Is it too good to be true? Kolton Myatt: don't pull an old Kentucky football on me here and go, you know, lose these last few games or or have a letdown game when you had a big win. Don't don't do that to me. And so it's a weird place to be, but you're right. I mean, six weeks ago, right? I mean, when we beat Texas A and on the road, we've seen those wins, even in the Mark Stoops era, right? We went on we went to the road and and we won at Ole Miss. We we beat Florida on the road. during his time. We won some big games throughout Mark Stoop's era. But what would always happen, right? You won that game and you kinda get hype and then we went to a Texas A and or a South Carolina and and we end up losing, right? You kinda go into those games, you're like, yeah, now now we've got a chance to win, like show that we are really are elite and then you lose those type of games. But we've won so far. All right, we went to Dillon Geralds: Mm-hmm. Kolton Myatt: South Carolina on a trap game after a big win. You win the game. Same thing same thing against, you know, Vanderbilt coming off the win you did at Oklahoma, right? You finally are favored in one SEC game, a ten and a half point favorite after being an underdog in every single game. And you start out slow and you're kinda like, no, here we go. But then you continue to grow back. And I I can't praise the coaching enough because that's the difference in having a group that is completely after the same go, that is locked in together. that is that understands how to make adjustments, that understands how to to get players motivated in times when maybe they're a little lackadaisial. And man, you just see these adjustments being made. I mean we've started out slow a couple games. We've got behind, like you said, in every single game. And yet there's fight there. There's adjustments being made to to dominate second halves or especially quarters to get us back in the game. And I mean it's just it's fun to watch and it gives you that belief that, you know, if you get down Maybe you know, we can still have we can still come back. you know, if we if we get up or if we get tied, can we make an adjustment to put away? Can we kind of take off like we did against Vandy? Can the defense take over Dillon Geralds: Yeah. Kolton Myatt: and and offense? And it's just a man, it's a matter of of seeing all these things. You're just not used to seeing and man, it's it's it's teetering on that don't let me down, but I really want to believe, but it's more going to the belief side. And Dillon Geralds: Yeah. Kolton Myatt: that's a fun place to be. Dillon Geralds: No, I you know, even whenever we were all watching the game together, you know, talking about the slow start, you know, Mason, we all kinda and I don't know that we if we were just saying this, you know, we l you know, sometimes people just say something, you know, in the sense of like making it kind of, I'm gonna say this in hopes of I don't really mean it, but like, this could be a this could be trouble. This could be a a bad game. And we're we're looking at a 10-0 deficit. And then Mason looks at me and is like, what are we talking about? We we were down 17 to 0 at South Carolina on a road game. Like when we still felt like maybe we were still trying to prove ourselves. What are we talking about? We're okay. And you know, I even whenever I was saying that I I don't know this is this could be right. I don't think I actually meant it deep down. And I don't know if you did either, if we all were just saying that kind of just to like kind of, you know, play reverse psychology in a sense but I think that we we keep saying that but I do internally like I truly believe like even when we were down I was like okay we'll we'll we'll turn it up and I don't know when it's gonna be but it's going to happen. So as we unfold this game you're looking at quarter one. Vanderbilt strikes first, kicks to field goal held him to another field goal huge. you know that we we always seem that going back to that bend don't break mentality. But then in quarter two you have Vandy they do take the lead 10 to zero, but I do think that you know, with Kentucky, their offense was struggling. Colton, they only gained 14 yards, recording zero first downs in the opening quarter. But transitioning into that second quarter, Kentucky did answer with Kenny Minchy connected with DJ Miller for a nine yard touchdown just before halftime. Willie Rodriguez scored on a direct snap rushing play from the one yard line. So even with the slow start that we did have, we do go into the half. With a lead 14 to 10 and getting the ball back. Colton, I think that that is it goes back to what you just stated with the with the coaching. That's a huge, huge drive there with about two and a half minutes left when we got that ball. Not only do we need to score, but let's get a touchdown. Let we at that moment, that's whenever we started gaining momentum. And it wasn't momentum from our defense really. We hadn't created a turnover yet, but we finally got we got going on the offensive end. did have CJ Baxter go down, but then you have Patterson who comes in and picks up where he left off. But just talk about, you know, that first half, how crucial it is for us. And then we'll we're gonna get into this a little bit. So if you was gonna mention anything about the middle eight, which is if you don't know what we're talking about there, the middle eight, that is the last four minutes of the second quarter and the first four minutes of the third quarter. Because I do want to talk about that later on, but for Just as a fan perspective, when looking at that, how crucial was that for us getting the lead, knowing that, okay, what's on the line here? This is a chance for us going the bye week, number one overall. This is just after Tennessee just lost. There's a lot lot holding on this game. That no bull or the bull mentality, bull don't care. Kolton Myatt: Yeah, I mean it means a lot, but it's I mean, because those type of games, the longer you let drag on with the lead and the longer you let play with momentum, Dillon Geralds: Mm. It is true. Kolton Myatt: th it it they they just gain confidence, right? And then all of a sudden you start having to fight, you start trying to press, and that's not always a good place to be. And so when you got down like that, you know, you that that was the biggest worry I had after seeing us get down. It wasn't the fact that I'm like, Okay, we haven't done anything early, it was that They were having long sustained drives. And they took I mean, they they at one point had like twenty five or almost thirty plays that are like six plays. And I'm like, Man, we just didn't even have a chance. I know we didn't do much early, but I mean we didn't we ain't had a chance to get the ball back. And I like, If we you know, we get down so much and er we can't stop and those are those type of those are type of recipes for V but you you got the stop, you got the touchdown and the touchdown before half to put you in that position. I mean it's huge because it's it takes a lot of momentum away from them 'cause they feel like they've controlled the entire first half. They look Dillon Geralds: Yeah. Kolton Myatt: up going into halftime, they're down, and you're getting the ball back. And that's and you're they're on the road. You Dillon Geralds: And you feel like you've done everything you could to stay it Kolton Myatt: you feel like you you felt like you did everything. You controlled the ball, you moved it down the field, you kept it away from them, you didn't l allow a lot of explosive plays. You you did your what your recipe like I'm sure what they drew up, if they could have envisioned it with you know how however long nine minutes left in the second quarter, they they couldn't have played a better first, you know, twenty minutes of the game. But then you go into halftime with the lead and you can't tell me that they're not kinda like, crap. Like we've done everything and here we are. We're at the end. And so I just feel like momentum completely switched to where Kentucky started out slow, was kind of asleep. They they gained the momentum. You got to halftime with the lead and it's kinda like in halftime we've seen all season long. the on the uncut videos, the speeches that are going on, the focus, the adjustments that are being made. And then Kentucky comes out and seems to control the second half in most of these games. And so it was a it was huge to get that touchdown right before halftime because I just think once you got the halftime with the lead, you you knew the adjustments and were gonna be made and that you were going to be in pretty good shape coming out. Dillon Geralds: So in quarter three, this is kind of where Kentucky takes its control. you know, right off the bat, take it downfield. Mr. Brennan Ward enters on the opening possession of the second half and runs a 10-yard touchdown on his first career rushing attempt, first time being in the game. I think we were all sitting there, and when this happened, I'm sure it was the same exact reaction as you are who are listening to this. Who is this guy? Who are you? I thought it was hilarious. We're all kind of like, who is this guy? And then we're all like, okay, well, welcome to welcome to Kentucky football, Mr. Brennan Ward. at that moment though, Cotton, I think that we're all like, okay, now we're gonna get going. but then you have Vanderbilt does answer the call. Vanderbilt comes downfield. they had a third and it was like third and 17, I believe. and they thought That he didn't make a catch, whoever it was, the guy that caught it, but they ended up getting it, which moved them closer to it was a really close fourth and something. And you see a long touchdown pass making it thin to 21-17. but then you know we go down, we do have Mr. Adam Zwagi out on a field goal, and then finally the turnover happens. I think we're all waiting, you know, like it's like eventually it's going to happen. You know, this is just who we are. It's in our DNA. later, McQuis Humphrey Grace does force a sack fumble that Tavion Gatson did recover. We did capitalize with another field go to take the lead, 27-17. And then entering into the fourth quarter, the defense just delivers the knockout punch. Ty Bryan intercepts Curtis, returns it for 18 yards on the Vanderbilt 47-yard line. we turn that opportun opportunity into a one-yard Minchy rushing touchdown to exceed to 34-17. And you know, I I just think that You you never can count out our defense. Like it it it it's just like they they're so patient, Colton. They wait for the exact moment to rip your heart out, and when they do, they do. I I go back to the Oklahoma game. You know, Oklahoma felt like they had they had all this momentum, and then the h the fourth quarter, we just take it and we rip the heart out. when looking at the some of the statistical categories. So total yards. Kentucky had 376 to Vanderbilt's 267. Kentucky had 173 rushing yards to Vanderbilt's 15 net yards. Passing 203 yards for Kentucky to Vanderbilt's 247. Third down conversions. Kentucky was 8 for 13. And then Vanderbilt was seven for 12. And then turnovers. Again, we had zero. Kentucky had two. Coin, I do want to ask you about these third down conversions. I think that's something. You know, we talked about we've been talking about it all weekend, you know, me and you we was talking about how, you know, we're ranked last in the SEC, letting teams get down and, you know, convert on third and long or third and short. And also we're also not very good on third downs, but we but we are ranked at the top in first and second down. Do you think that that's gonna come back and bite us or do you think that that's just kind of our identity right now? being eight games into the season and and six games or s six games into the SEC play. Kolton Myatt: Well, I think that's our identity because our strength is running. Right? Our b er our strength is running the ball. When we're running the ball, then you're controlling the game, but you can't really run the ball on third and eight and third and twelve. Right. So then you're forced to pass. And it's not that our passing game is that bad, but our passing game is more effective when we're running the ball because play action and it causes the defense to have to kind of press down because they if you know the the linebackers or the corners may need to help on the run and they don't know which one's coming. But when it's third and twelve, you know what's coming and w like I said, we have I've been very impressed with their receivers on how they've stepped up a hundred and ten percent. But it's we still just it's not like we have those Jeremiah Smiths at Ohio State, right? We don't have or you know, Coleman's or any of these guys that are just elite one on one, it don't matter who they're facing on the other side, they're gonna win their matchup. We don't have those guys, but when you get yourself into automatic, like obvious passing situations. You're not going to be very good. But it's also why we're so good on first and second down, because we're getting so many yards on our first and second down, because we're running the ball so well and we're being creative on the early downs. So yes, our third down efficiency is kind of scary because you don't want to become a predictable team. You don't want to get in those situations where where you are an obvious pass situation. But at the same time, it's kind of skewed because of what our strength is is running the ball. That yeah, if you're you're goal is to dominate the line of scrimmage with the offensive line you have. You don't really give them that chance on a third and twelve compared to a, you know, a second and four or something like that. So I I it is a little skewed. I it's not my biggest concern because I think the recipe is that we continue to build off the line and and that's their strength and we're gonna play to it. Dillon Geralds: You know, I think also though, you're talking about strengths. I think that that's something that is so unique about this team is that it just depends on who you talk to. I think that the everybody's first thought, their strength may be a little different, which is a great thing to have because you know you talk about the running game, but somebody else might be, hey, our strength is our big blue wall. We have a top three offensive line in the country. but somebody else might say, Well, no, our strength is that we don't turn over the ball. We we take care of the football. There's so many different strengths to this team that I don't think one stands out dramatically versus another. I think that they're collectively all equally as important, which is what you want to have. You know, you got to have that balance, right? And that's with any sport. but specifically what we're talking about though, the balance of having all these strengths combined is a recipe for a winning football team, which is what you're getting and has resulted into a seven and one you know football team and six and one. in SEC play being ranked first. So I got, hey, I got five stats that I that I want us to choose from here. And I want you know there it's an emphasis on these five and I want you to pick one or two to to discuss and I may pick one. So here here's our five for tonight. So Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt rushed for just 15 net yards. That's the defensive headline. Kentucky effectively took away Vanderbilt's ground game forcing the Commodores to rely on their passing attack. Colton, this is also Vanderbilt's fewest rushing yards against Kentucky since the Commodores in 1996, and the fewest by any Kentucky opponent since Southern Miss in 2024. Okay, that's first point. So the Vanderbilt rushing for just 15.8 yards. Pretty impressive, too. Kentucky had 173 rushing yards, which is what you just were you know, you talked about. Kentucky's ground game, including quarterback, was the major difference. Wildcats, we averaged 4.4 yards per carry on 39 attempts. Number three, the turnover margin was plus two. Kentucky did not throw in interceptions or lose a fumble. Vanderbilt lost two turnovers, including a Bryan interception and a sack fumble. We are eight games through. And Kenny Minchie has only through one interception. I think we have, is it one loss fumble, maybe? I mean I can never recall a team in Kentucky history that I know watching that I'm like, I'm just amazed by that. So that's number three, the turnover marge. Number four, Kentucky committed just three penalties. I mean, that's something small, but that's huge. Vanderbilt committed nine penalties for 75 yards. This is a disciplined team, which helps us from giving away possessions and take control of field possession. And then the last thing, Colton, is kind of what we talked about that I said I want you to hold off on. And that is that is Kentucky is outstanding in the middle eight. For those who are listening, you don't know what the middle eight, I'll say it again. So the middle eight, that means the final four minutes of the first half and the first four minutes of the second half. Kentucky scored with a Rodriguez touchdown before halftime, and then Ward touched down after halftime. That's a 14-0 advantage in a stretch that really often decides football games of just eight minutes. That's a 14-0 swing. So Those are the five points, Coach, and I want you to pick two, and I'm going to pick one since I laid that foundation out for you. So I'll I'll say it one more time. You are looking at the final eight minutes, what we just talked about, the three penalties that we committed, the turnover margin, Kentucky rushing for 173 yards, and Vanderbilt just rushing 15 yards. If you had to pick two that stood out to you, we talked about strengths. That's a lot of strengths. What two maybe stick out to you? And let's take out the rushing because you've already mentioned that somewhat. So I want you to pick two new ones. Kolton Myatt: yeah, then I mean the other ones would definitely be the the turnover margin and the to me I mean turnover margin and the penalties probably to me are your two things and that's just because how many times is it we always said, you know, it's Kentucky it would be a third and fifteen and all of a sudden we got a holding penalty or we got some some something something like that happened and or, you know, you you had a turnover in a timely situation where y you were marching downfield and all of a sudden you threw a pick or you had a fumble in the red zone and you look back and you lost by three but had three turnovers compared to their zero. And we just was so were used to witness those things, but then that's been the whole season. I mean a turnover margin's been unreal. Once again, I I credit the offensive line and Kenny Minchie both. Kenny Minch's a great poised quarterback. He's also not getting sacked very much. He's not getting as much pressure on him. like he is the the running backs aren't taking immediate hits in the backfield because they're getting momentum going down the field. So I mean that's that's huge on that. But also you take the the penalties. I mean that's just a disciplined, well coached team. we we were listening to K S R the other day, Dylan, when you t when they talked about how how impressive it is to get such few penalties with all the motion that we do, right? All the different things that are going on before the play and yet it seems like we always get it correct. How I mean I've watched the NFL game tonight and all and a couple today and how many times I've had to see so many, you know, false start penalties or illegal shift penalties 'cause these guys are are fine. And it's not happening with us. And that just tells you how well coached we are and how disciplined they are and what they're being taught. And it starts in practice and it starts from the head coach up. And so I to me those are two huge things because if you're not beating yourself, you're giving yourself Dillon Geralds: Mm. Kolton Myatt: a chance. Dillon Geralds: And you see that happen a lot. You see teams, you know, I one team that I think of instantly they didn't beat themselves, but they had the recipe to do it was Texas. You know, we talked about that before. Archie Manning, I think Archie Manning does have the talent. For those listening, I I you may disagree totally. I think he does have the talent. I think his decision making is where he really, really brings it down. and he you know that that's just hurting yourself. that doesn't mean anything i just that that was that was a a little example for me i'm gonna pick the middleweight i think that's that's so crucial because when you look at that's a 14-0 turnaround and that that little stretch it it's so important to yes you want to put points on the board and that's really what it comes down to but more so than anything it's all about momentum like in football basketball baseball They all have their own little ways of how it works out, but in in in any sports, it's all about momentum and runs. Like you're you're gonna go on a run. How do how do we get to that run? Like how do we get there? Because when we're there, we're there, but how do we get there? And and you get there, and then when you're there, you can stay there. And I look at that middle eight and I think of okay, the last two and a half minutes, two-minute drill. Are you practicing that every single day? You know they are. I mean, look at you just talked about the scheming and how we we're not gonna be able to hurt ourselves on penalties. So you know that they're doing that. But then are you capitalizing on it? Once you do have the ball with that two minute warning, and then leading into that, okay, we just got that points on the board coming out of the half. Keep the momentum, keep it up. And that's whether you are away or home. I think the middleweight is one of those That eight minute time that it does decide a lot of football games because you know we got the crowd. You know, couldn't you think of it this way? Had we not went down and scored, we go into the half down 10 to 7. How are we feeling about that? Because we didn't really up until that last two and a half minute drive, we didn't really look the best. I mean, we did score, but you you capitalized on that, have the momentum. We just talked about like, okay, let's get rumbling. Let's let's let's get going. And then on top of that, you come back out, you score on your first drive. Like it it's such a key moment for that game is that midway. So for me that that would be my my choice. Let's get into some individual player stat sheets. We talked about Kenny Minchie, let's go to him, the bus driver himself on the football field for this team. he's he's nineteen for twenty six, two hundred and three yards, one passing touchdown, zero interceptions. Coe, do you think that this was Kenny Minchie's most impressive game? Thus far. He's had a lot of But as far as efficiency goes, rushing, he got on his legs a little bit more than he than he has, it seems, decision making, taking it all you know, f what for what it is. Do you think that this was one of his more impressive games? Kolton Myatt: Yeah, I mean you could say that. I mean I just from that standpoint for sure. Mainly because I mean we saw a couple of throws, a couple of throws where he was being pressed, you know, and he was running backwards. Yeah. Right, Dillon Geralds: there's one they threw on his back foot. Kolton Myatt: he threw on his back foot and all it was was like a seven yard pass that ended up getting the first down when we thought we were gonna you know, we were in trouble. Dillon Geralds: But he didn't take the sack. Kolton Myatt: But he didn't take the sack. he didn't turn the ball over again. you know, yeah, I mean I th I think it was calm, cool, collected coming from behind You know, it's hard to top. I I say that because yes, like a Texas A and air run game kind of took over against Texas AM. South Carolina, I think was a really good performance from Kenny Minchy. we had we made some big throws down the stretch there against South Carolina. So it's hard for me to say that maybe this is the best one that he's had. Dillon Geralds: Mm-hmm. Kolton Myatt: but yeah, I mean each game it just continues to show, right? It's not just a one game performance now. He's doing this week in and week out and that gives you a lot of confidence as a fan. You're sitting there thinking, Dillon Geralds: Yeah. Kolton Myatt: Hey, I'm ready for him. I mean, we're we're ready to take on. I don't as when we've got that type of offensive line, we've got the coach in the right place and we've got a quarterback with that type of poise. It's nice to know that and look you're going into a big game against Nealan, right? In Nealand Stadium against Tennessee, where it's the loudest stadium possibly in all of college football. having someone that you feel confident in being poised and being able to kind of block that out, it makes me feel better about going in a deal and and having a chance to do that compared to, you know, past time. So I'm I'm very impressed. Yes, it could have maybe been his best game, but regardless, I mean, he's just continuing to do it over and over again. Dillon Geralds: Well, I think though too, another thing to add on to that though, Coton, is it goes back to I think you had brought this up. It was either you or Mason that said it but you brought it, you didn't say it, but you brought it up to light. Will Stein, before the season started, his message to Kenny Minchie was like, hey dude, listen, we don't need you to be a Tom Brady. We don't need you to be a Michael Jordan. We don't need you to be a LeBron James. We need you to be Kenny Minchie. And I think that that is exactly what gives you. The confidence you're talking about from the fan perspective of going into Nealand Stadium. I don't have a fear that Kenny Minchie is going to lose us the ballgame because of his decision making. I don't have a fear that Kenny Minchie is going to make costly turnovers. Now, I knock on wood. He may go in there and he may have a turnover, but it's going to be definitely uncharacteristic and it's not something that we've seen and that is where we're used to it and it's a habit. You know, it that gives me a lot of confidence as well. Kenny Darby. Kenny Darby has four catches for 71 yards. Willie Rodriguez, six catches for 67 yards, one touchdown. DJ Miller, five catches, 49 yards, one touchdown. Colton, I think that, you know, looking at our wide receiving core, they're they're finally starting to not that they haven't, but you can see them getting more confident as the year goes, years go by. You know, you think of DJ Miller. DJ Miller was struggling early in the season. And really the only person that we was relying on was was was Kenny Darby, which we still are, but you see big time plays. I mean, I think of the first half in general, it was all DJ Miller. It was Miller time. that you know, Kenny Darby really didn't do much that first quarter at all. DJ Miller was the only one who was really making some catches. I and not saying that he couldn't have that Kenny Darby couldn't have caught it. I guess he just wasn't finding the places to be open. Javante Barnes, though, 15 carries, 68 yards, Brendan Ward. Did have that 10 yard rushing touchdown. Colton, do you think that going into Neeland Stadium, which we don't want to unpack this, but how important is it going to be for our run game to be on point to then allow for the wide receivers and our our tight ends to get involved as well? Kolton Myatt: I mean it's probably the most important thing because they love to run the ball too. They have a top, you know, rusher in the SEC and Dylan Bishop. We you know, we want to be the ones that control the clock. So you want to be the ones that have the ball. If you're the more the easiest way to take the momentum out of the fan base is to have long sustained drives. And that starts with the run game. Right? They're getting ready to be like, yeah, we we can't wait to get the ball back, get a stop here. And then you get another first down and you get another first down and they see the clock ticking, and you're like, Man, like if you you go on down, you get a score and find kinda like what Vanderbilt did to us for the first twenty minutes of the game Dillon Geralds: Yeah. Kolton Myatt: is the recipe really to make those type of upsets. They really are. And so it's just hard to sit there and and express like how important the run game is, but it will be as important as has ever been this season at Nealin for sure. Dillon Geralds: Just to add on top of the last offensive little stat here, so Kenny Minchy, he has thrown 232 passes to start the season with only one interception. His streak of 200 consecutive attempts without an interception was the second longest in school history as well. Getting to the defensive side, the bend don't break. Ty Bryant. I think Ty Bryant, Colton, is looking at I think I said to you too, is either you or Mason. I wouldn't be shocked if he is not an all American. I mean, he he is really making a strong case. had six tackles, interception, pass breakup. He has four interceptions over three games. Jordan Castell, eight tackles. He led Kentucky in tackles. McQuiz Humphrey Grace, five tackles, two tackles for loss. And Tavion Gatson had a fumble recovery. Jamar Harkless had one sack. I never counter defense out. I'll say that. I want to throw it over to you. Kolton Myatt: Yeah, no, I mean their our defense th I will say they they definitely start out slower. And maybe Dillon Geralds: They do. Kolton Myatt: they start out slower. They allow a lot of yards. And I don't know if we could start out more in zone to s kind of see what they're like. And then all of a sudden we adjust, which is, you know, once again great coaching if that's the case. However, you don't want to get into a situation continuously where you're giving these yards up because we have been fortunate to kind of stop and and cause field goals, which is huge. 'Cause you can't afford to get down fourteen, twenty one, you know, where we're having to all of a sudden pass the ball all over the field. That's not what you can do. But so we're I do think we gotta clean up a little bit early starts at least. but we'll see. I I just can't express how much the defense plays such a huge role. And it's gonna play a huge role in in the game against Tennessee just because of their Dillon Geralds: Yeah. Kolton Myatt: with their running game. If they have long sustained drives. But if you have long sustained drives, can you hold it to a field goal? Can you cause their run game to not, you know, can you get into forcing passing situations because their cu their QB situations kind of iffy. I but the defense has showed up, showed at I mean, we we were we were upset with them early in the Oklahoma game. The reality is they gave up thirteen total points on the road, right? To a team that was projected to be in college football playoff. They they continue to show up at the end of the game. They've done their job every single time. They did their job against Alabama. They did their job, you know, in every game this season. And so I you know, you can't say enough about those guys. They have multiple guys that have stepped up. Once again, not a not a side of the ball that we just are rattling off a bunch of star names. Ty Bryant has played like a star, but we're not rattling off these five star guys and these Dillon Geralds: Mm-hmm. Kolton Myatt: these these future NFL draft picks that are going to be first, second round. They're just doing their job. And a lot of team a lot of this team is, and that's what's fun to watch. Dillon Geralds: You know, I think you're sitting here talking about those slow start. just real quick, wanna you know, you s talking about how we that that we we've gotta find that early momentum. And I get to thinking that with our defense you said that, you know, we have this tendency to start off slow. I don't think really that we can afford to do that at Nealem playing against Tennessee for multiple reasons. One of those reasons being that we're at Nealin, Tennessee. We we do not have a good history there. Also, two, they're gonna be very hungry. They're coming off a bye week. They're gonna get healthy, but they just lost, which really hurt them in the playoff picture. And if we were to beat them, that would kind of doomsday for them going to have that head to head matchup. So I thought although we did have a nice recovery at South Carolina, I think it's gonna be two different teams, two different environments. Cannot allow to to start slow there when when when facing the Tennessee Volunteers. That Yuckie team. Colton, let's talk about this. Huge headliner today. Kentucky comes in on the AP poll number nine in the country and number eight in the coaches poll. This is the first time Kentucky has been ranked in the top ten in week nine since nineteen seventy seven. And this is still wild considering that we have the number one strength of schedule leading the SEC pretty much. I I i it is absolutely bizarre to me. Guys, let me say that again. Your Kentucky football team is number ranked number nine in the country. Con I would you've ever dreamed? Kolton Myatt: No, I mean that's that's a crazy stat. I mean that you just couldn't never have, especially this season given the schedule. Right. I I think I Dillon Geralds: Yeah, that's what it comes down to. Kolton Myatt: think every single one of us has these hopes of like, hey, we saw us get to a essentially a top ten, top twelve type of team with Josh Allen and Benny Snell Jr. and Willet like we saw us get to about that stage. And I think that's the envision, right? We're like, hey, okay, how can we consistently be a type of team like that? Where we're playing in that top twelve to eighteen. 'Cause we we thought the college football playoff would expand. There was talks going on and now it has. Right? It's gonna be a twenty fourteen playoff next year. And so you just kinda thought, man, if you can get to where your team is that consistently year in and year out, you're gonna be in the playoffs. That's what we were after. But n none of us could have envisioned where we would be at eight eight games into the season with a schedule that we had. I mean you just you can't you There's no way to really describe like that there's no man I mean, I don't know. Maybe everyone maybe someone saw something else. I the guys in that locker room believed, which is all that Dillon Geralds: Mm-hmm. Kolton Myatt: matters. It don't matter what we are, it makes us look foolish, but man, it's it's unreal to see just because I mean they're the get the schedule, man, was unreal. Dillon Geralds: Yeah. Kolton Myatt: I know somebody I don't care where Texas A and is at now. That game on the road they played Alabama to a tough game. I had an Alabama. Right. Dillon Geralds: That was early. We're the reason why they are the way they are. Kolton Myatt: Right, they could have very well just fell off right. They I mean they they had they they lost a lot of momentum after that game. But it don't matter, right? The South Carolina game. you say, that wasn't that good. South Carolina wasn't as good and then they turn around and go on the road and beat Florida. Then they beat Tennessee. Then they Okay, right now now it's looking a lot better. And I mean, you're you've got some win Oklahoma that you took down, took down Texas, who just took down Ole Miss. I'm just saying, like these wins her they mean something and they're not Dillon Geralds: Yeah. No. Kolton Myatt: just scrub wins. Dillon Geralds: We're living in weird times, brother. Bulldog I never thought I would ever see the day that I am on X and I am seeing Alabama fans complain about Kentucky football. I was like, what in the world? So they're they're making the case that because of their was it twenty eight points? W their their their win against us at home, although they are six and two. To our seven and one that they are deservingly supposed to be ahead of us. I just I I then this I think it is hilarious because like when have we ever thought that that would happen? On top of that though, Cotton, I do want to add when looking at the AP Po top 10, you got Miami at one, Ohio State two, Georgia three, Indiana four. I don't think there's really any you can if you're if you're looking at, okay, let me put it this way. If you're matching schedule to schedule, taking out the logos of the teams, I think you could have a case that Kentucky deserves to be top four. I think maybe you could take out Indiana, maybe. but I think number five's kind of where I have an issue. Notre Dame. Notre Dame is ranked number five still. And then also you have BYU, UCLA, and Utah. Those are the teams that are ranked above us. But Cody, if you take out the logos of those teams and then insert just the schedules, do you think that we are a number nine team ranked in the country or do we do you think we deserve more credit than that? If people were Kolton Myatt: Yeah. Dillon Geralds: doing their real job and just saying, look in the schedule, not looking at who you are, your history, who have you beat, where has it been at? Where do you know it deserved to be? Kolton Myatt: Yeah, th this deep into the season for sure. I mean you've had enough you've had enough like Dillon Geralds: Intel. Kolton Myatt: sample size to be able to rank because every team s have has had a chance eight games into the season to play a decent team. If you haven't, then then then you don't but the one decent team that they played, Dillon Geralds: Except for Notre Dame. BYU. Kolton Myatt: they got beat to. So you've had a chance to have a pick up a decent win by this point in the season. And they have zero decent wins. And the one decent win they just had Just went on the road and got beat to Central Florida. Right? That I mean, so the how how good is that win gonna look now or that loss gonna even look now? Right? You're like, it was on the road two BYU. It was it was close at the very end. You still lost and and your best win right now is maybe a North Carolina team that's three and three. I mean, I get it. Miami is coming to your your place in a couple of weeks. Same the same day as that we played Tennessee. So you're gonna have a chance to make a big w the get a big win. If you don't win that game, how can you put another Dame over anyone in the top twelve? you know, I mean that how how can you possibly do it? They're they would legit probably finish their season with their best win being probably against someone that th like is ranked probably, you know, forty five to fifty. I mean, that's there's no way that you put them in over that. Dillon Geralds: Yeah. I agree. I think that it's bogus. I've all never liked how Notre Dame was their own whatever you want to call it. and they they they don't play in a conference. And then also when they add it on top of that, that if they are ranked in the top twelve, they get the automatic bid. I think that that is just crazy. But we'll see how it goes. So that that that's the end of our Kentucky talk. We don't really want to unpack Tennessee. We two weeks, we got the bye week coming up. you Colton I'll finish this with the Kentucky football segment and then you can go. I just I keep on finding myself thinking about nothing but Kentucky football. And it's it's just so wild because I've never ever had that. Even like when you're reflecting back to that 2018 team, you know, with with Josh Allen and and you know, when thinking of Benny Snell and that team right there, but I just this is just different. I don't know what it is, but I love Every minute of it, I'm waking up thinking when's Kentucky play and when they play, and when that clock hits zero and we've won, and they play in your mind, like I'm sitting there thinking, okay, when are we playing again? When are we playing again? But it's a very fun time to be alive for as a Kentucky football fan. It's also a great time to be a Kentucky basketball fan. Colton, big, big, big exhibition game. Don't want to overreact, but I do think. We do need to talk about this because this was definitely a step in the right direction. So number 23, Kentucky hosts number 19, Texas Tech. Kentucky beats the ranked Texas Tech team of a score 76 to 65 in its second exhibition game of the season. This was an early test for Mark Pope and his Wildcats. Now, there is a little cherry on top of that. JT Toppin, Texas Tech's best player who did have the ACL injury did not plane. However, though, we still saw a lot of good signs. Kind of I want to throw out a couple stats for you, Colton, I'm going to throw it over to you. What you saw, what you liked, and we'll get into a little bit more. But when looking at player stats, Milan Momchilovic has 15 points with two three-pointers. Malakai Marino had also 15 points. he also Had six rebounds on top of that. Mason Williams, the freshman, true freshman, 14 points. He went five for eight shooting with two threes. Alex Wilkins, 13 points, seven assists, and three steals. Usmain Uzi had 10 points, seven rebounds. And let's see here. Is there anybody else? Let's just finish at that. But those were just a couple of little stats. What kind of stood out to you about this game? Early. Where do you want to start with? Kolton Myatt: Yeah, well, I think it just it looked like they were definitely they didn't have as many jitters. I know we started out slow. You still had a couple of players that starting out slow that you're expecting big things from. You know, I think D'Allo kinda started out slow. I think Wilkins started out slow. these are a couple of guys that, you know, probably some of your higher paid guys on the team. So early on it was like, Okay, you know, we're we're hoping that these are still just new jitters, new, you know place and getting adjusted to the team and and new philosophy and everything. But as the first half went on, right, what I love to see is that we really started playing to what I think are going to be our strengths. Right. I think we started being more disruptive on defense with the using our length. We started causing some turnovers. We started making some tough shots happened. And then what that caused is that I think we used that length to run the court. We we used that length to push the ball up the forward to use the speed. to be able to kick out to to get shots and and breakaways. And suddenly you saw yourself different guys making shots, different guys having opportunities to step up and and do something. And and so I you know, early on I was very pleased with how especially how we finished the first half because there were times there in that first half where you you started out slower and you had a chance to kind of let the game get away from you, but you never did. And you hung through until you really finally started to catch on. And that From that moment on you really got a more of a glimpse of what we thought we would see, a chance of what we thought we hoped we could see. And it really took over after that. Dillon Geralds: Yeah, I agree. That there's a lot of different things I'd like to talk about. I think that looking at early, did start off a little slow, but if there was any spark to that, it was Uzmane, Nadaya Uzi, we like to call him. I think that he did bring that little spark. He he wo now let me tell you, that dude ain't scared to shoot. I know that. He's gonna get him up. And you know what? I think that it's just gonna be one of those things that it kind of be similar. To Wilkins, even though I don't really want him shooting it as much, but you may just have to live with it. we'll have to see. I've got to see more of that. But I talking about the defense, I really liked our defense. I thought that we looked much better. and I think we're actually a little better than what we expected to be. We're very active. we we got bodies moving everywhere, we are closing out now, but that's also a little issue. And I talked to you about that too, Coton. When looking if there was only one little critique that I would like to see us be better is you know, and we we've had this issue a couple years, but at times when we have great defensive possession, shot caught getting late, we close out and we don't finish the play. And what I mean by finishing the play could mean two different things. Finishing the play as if we don't get the rebound. I thought that we did struggle a little bit with rebounding. I would Malachi Marino, I I gotta see him translate that into the big time power five schools. and the but also it's not just him though. We can't rely on just Malachi to be our rebounder. I'm talking about the team collectively though has to finish the play. You have such good defense, and that that's kind of one of those things that's it's a it kills you. It's a it's it's a killer. You can play such good defense, then you just don't get that rebound. I thought we gave up too many of those. And then also closing out. I think that a lot of times you see our guards specifically, if you watch them, if you go back and watch the game, when they close out, we're very active. But we are active as in we go for shot fakes, we jump, and when they shoot it, if the ball were to ever come back to them, we would have nobody there. Our rotations looked good, I thought. Overall, I was pleased with our defense of game. I thought that more importantly, I felt like they were active and there was energy. That's what you want to see on defense. You have to bring that because that doesn't build itself. A lot of times offensively, you can make a couple of shots, and then that's what gets you going. Defense, you got to bring it. You have to set the tone there. Colton, when looking at this team, field goals, we went 25 for 51. Our field goal percentage was 49%. We hit seven three-pointers, free throws. We were 19 for 22. We had 18 assists, but we had 11 turnovers. So we did improve on the turnover margin there. More importantly though, Colton, we got to the line 22 times and made 19 out of the 22. That is a that is going to win you ball games right there. You, if you can get to the free though free throw line, that's step one, but you got to make them. You go 19 for 22 on free throws, 86.4 percent. That's gonna win you a lot of ball games. And there's been times that we haven't been able to rely on that. Cone, I do want to talk about though this point guard situation. Let's get into that a little bit, okay? So you have Zoom Diallo coming from Washington. I don't know how much he's getting paid, but He had seven total points, three assists, but he had three turnovers. You have Alex Wilkins, who had 13 total points, seven assists, three turnovers. Then you have our true freshman come in, Mr. Mason Williams, with 14 total points, no assists, but zero turnovers. I'll share my thoughts. I've talked a little bit. I want to throw it over to you. What is your thoughts on this whole trio between Wilkins, Diallo, and Williams? Early thoughts. Not over reactions, just thoughts. Kolton Myatt: I think if you look at the three, because of depth issues and because of where we're at right now, I think all three are gonna have to play a significant amount of time. And so maybe it's just a matter of how can we use their strengths to coordinate together and right and w and win games because looking at Diallo I and you talked about the rebounding aspect. To me, he's gotta help out on rebounding. He's a physical guard. He's a bigger guard. He's a one that can get you into the lane a little deeper because of his physicality. Then you have Wilkins, is who's really going to be your main offensive threat of those guards. He's got the ability to have the the big moments, the tough shot making, the the flash. But then you have Mason Williams who's kinda the combination of both of them, right? He's going to have a little less experience than both of them, but he seems to be playing above his age. He's in more control. He's shown the ability to shoot the other night. He's got a good body frame as a freshman point guard. He seems more poised and in control. So then how can how can you all feed off each other? So is Mason Williams needs to become the main floor general with the Allo being a, hey, we need you to come in, get to the go with your physicality, make sure you're getting rebounds, you know, be physical with the opponent with the opposing guard on defense. Alex Wilkins, we need you to do your scoring. We need you to, you know, cook your guy. And let Mason Williams be the floor general. Maybe that's how it is. But I think you are gonna have to play all three of a significant amount of minutes. And I think they all have three different strengths to what they're really good at so far, what we're what we've got to see in a small sample size. So my thing would be how can you make a combination because mo most likely two of are on the floor a lot of the times together, how can you take both of and really build Dillon Geralds: Mm-hmm. Kolton Myatt: off each other rather than being like, Hey, this guy needs to be here, this guy like It's just gonna be a one and one. No, we just need multiple guys to come together and and use their strengths at the same time. Dillon Geralds: No, I like that. I didn't think about that, about the comparison of, you know, Mason Williams. He he could be a a little bit of both, you know, when looking at what they have to offer. You know, looking at the game itself, though, Zoom Diallo, he he played 22 minutes, Alex Wilkins 28 minutes, and Mason Williams 27 minutes. When looking at Mason Williams, the true freshman, he actually played five more minutes than Zoom Diallo. It's like you said, we have three guards. We were we're out, Alex Mort or Alex Mort, we're out. in Morton right now. Wait, is that his first name? What's his f I can't even remember what his first name is, the Morton guy. Kolton Myatt: Sherrell Morton. Dillon Geralds: I I yeah, Jerome Morton. So he he's not available. Kolton Myatt: I think it's Jerome, isn't it? Dillon Geralds: I don't even know when his when he's gonna be able to return. Yeah. But we do have those three. So you know they gotta play. Like they are going to play plenty of minutes. But you are seeing a lot of, I think, overreactions on Zoom Diallo. But I also wanna give my thoughts on on that whole situation. So let l I Let me start with this. Has Zoom Diallo played well his first two exhibition games? No. I I I I don't think. Am I concerned? I'm not really concerned. I gotta see more of the sample size. Has Mason Williams been the best guard of the two exhibition games in both Williams and Wilkins? I think so. I saw I think yes. But here is what I think looking at Mark Pope Colton. You brought in Zoom Diallo. He's proven himself at Washington. You prayed him, I don't know how much, but I know he's making more money than Mason Williams, who was ranked above 100 in his class. I'm not saying in the sense of, well, that doesn't matter. You're going to play him over. No. But I think that if you go ahead and be like, okay, we're going to start Mason Williams, I think that could be very detrimental to your team. I think that it could send the wrong message to Zoom Diallo. Because apparently he is the leader right now on the court. That from everything that I hear and read, he is the vocal leader. Is he playing like it? No. However, though, we're only two exhibition games in. Let us get a little bit more of a sample size. Now, how with all that being said, though, Coton, here's what I do not want to happen. And I and this is why I'm not the coach. And I don't want to be the coach. You have to tread very, very carefully and very lightly on that. Because What you can't do is you can't owe Zoom Diallo anything. And I also told you this the other day. My I what I do not want to happen, I want to hear your thoughts on this as well. I don't want another Caliperi instance where you feel like you owe the Harrison twins something over Booker and Tyler Ewlis. I I I I don't want that. I don't want another thing where you feel like you owe it to DJ Wagner to play and start over. reed Shepard or Rob Dillingham. I don't want that. We owe Zoom Diallo nothing. Now, I think he deserves a chance and he's going to continue that. I don't think you pull it yet. But at the end of the day, it goes back to what we ended with our last segment, Code, and I don't care who our starting point guard is. I'm not going to be repping no Mason Williams shirt. I'm not his parent. I'm not a family member. I'm a fan of Kentucky. Same with you. I want whoever's going to give us The best opportunity to be successful and win. And it's not to say that these guys are not going to get minutes. There's only three of them. They're going to get plenty of minutes. I just think right now it could be too early, but I will say this and I'll throw it over to you, and I'll hear your thoughts on the whole situation. Is Mark Pope, he can't, he, he can't get this wrong. He's got to figure this out because again, the seat is hot. Like it can't happen. So what are your thoughts on that? Kolton Myatt: I I think I mean based on what we've seen on Mason Williams so far, I think he's definitely exceeded expectations, right? I think everyone's just seeing and maybe it's because we had higher expectations for Zoom and we haven't seen it and we ha and Dillon Geralds: But are you for the crowd that's saying, he's not as good, Zoom DL is not as good. Kolton Myatt: we had some No, no, absolutely not. Because I think he's gonna have a just a different strength, right? I don't think that he come in. I don't think we recruited Zoom to come in and be a twenty a game scorer. Like I don't think that that's what we did, but I think Dillon Geralds: I don't either. Be a floor general. Kolton Myatt: I'd so I I think Correct. I think looking at that, I think that's you can't be thinking of it that way. So here's my thing, if Zoom Diallo can come in, play elite defense, be a good r rebounder for a guard, and also give you seven to twelve points a game with four to five assists and no more than two turnovers, you take that every game probably from Zoom Diallo. So if he's if he's that for you, then he's done his job and I think he's definitely got that capability. Like I don't think that I don't think that that's like in question as far as capability. I think it's just early on. Maybe he's finding his footing, but at the end of the day, the depth issue until Morton gets back, especially and even when he comes back, guys. I mean he's maybe he's a surprise too, but it's not like he's been he's been in college a long time too. It's not like he was known for like being an elite you know, point guard. So like Diallo should be expected to play. He's gonna get twenty to twenty five minutes at the very least. We're gonna have to have him. So we might as well get behind him and figure out. Now, yes, there might be games. I agree, Dylan. I think that you've got to figure out early on that is Mason Williams the guy that you're going to stay with longer than Diallo. If Diallo does struggle longer, is if he hits a rough stretch Dillon Geralds: Yeah. You gotta figure it out. Kolton Myatt: or you you can't allow it to just continue. I'm not saying don't let the guy work it out. I'm not saying that give up on him if he's if he continues playing rough throughout the season. But you've got to decide who's gonna be your go to guy. And right now, early on, small sample size, it looks like Mason Williams controls the floor a lot better. That's right now. That don't mean that that freshman isn't gonna hit a away crowd in a Tennessee or a or a Auburn or something h Florida and all of a sudden you're gonna need a veteran experience that seems to pull through more than what Mason Williams does. It's gonna be give or take, but I I definitely think you've got to give Zoom time. Dillon Geralds: Yeah. And you know, it may be one of those cases that a switch would be better for both. You know, maybe you do see a Zoom DLO thrive in that position. I'm not saying that that's going to happen or needs to happen. And then that's why I think it's very important for us to get on here and talk about this because you know there is the crowd that's already stating that. And you just you can't do that over two exhibition games. Mark Pope knows that. I'm not worried about Mark Pope calling the trigger and be like, hey, all right, Miss Williams, you're in the starting lineup. No. That that's why we're that's why fans that talk like that. Typically have never coached, don't really know how that happens or why like just because, like you said, Coton, this guy looks good for two games and the other guy doesn't, doesn't mean hey, let's throw him in right there. That's not how it works. you know, Coton, when looking at our three-point field goal percentage, this is supposed to be our a team that can can light it up. We we only shot 24 threes and we only hit seven of them, shot 29%. That is going to be something that if we're going to hang our hat on, we've got to improve on. I know it's just an exhibition game, but you gotta be better in that category. When looking at the what I think was the turning, what really made the big turnaround for this team is our 15-0 run. So Texas Tech, they led by as many as seven in the first half. We then went on a 15-0 run to take control, turning a 23-16 deficit to a 33-25 lead. And then we kind of took care of business from there. It did get cut to, I think, maybe six points toward the end. But then we got to see Alex Wilkins being Alex Wilkins. You saw two back-to-back threes, one that was pulled deep, and then the other one was a little stepped back. You kind of like that's what we talked about the roller coaster ride. Even where Pope, you know, we talked about Cope. And he said you like, there's gonna be times where you're thinking this guy could be the best player in college basketball, but then there's also gonna be times. That you're like, I don't know about this dude. That's why you have those type of players, though, Cotton. More times than none, those guys are going to win you ball games more than they will lose you ball games. And you got to have those type of players. You look at any any really good college basketball team, there is that one guy that it probably typically is the best player. And sometimes it's just not their night, but they're still going to get their shots up. Shoot or shoot. It's what they that's that's the that's the the slogo. Shooters will shoot. I will say though, Colton, I was a little surprised with Alex Wilkins. Whenever him and Mason Williams was running that, he those two were in the second half. Ma Mason Williams wasn't the primary ball handler. It was Alex Wilkins who was the primary ball defender. Was you shocked by that? I I I was a little off I I didn't expect that. Kolton Myatt: Well, I think it's just one of those where I think it's obvious that Wilkins has to have the I think he's going to thrive more with the ball in his hands. Right. I don't think he's a guy that when he doesn't have the ball in his hands, he's going to find a different role. Right. Like he's I don't think he's his body frame's not meant for rebounding. He's not I don't know that he's gonna be an elite defender. So I think he's one of those that he's gonna affect the team most when he has the ball in his hands. And yeah, he's gonna you're gonna run into games, especially on the road, and it may be at somewhere like a Mississippi State or a a game that you probably should win, right? But the crowd's gonna be crazy. And you're gonna need a random big performance from a guy because you're probably gonna have guys that have a off Dillon Geralds: Yeah. Kolton Myatt: nights, the crowd's getting to a little bit, and you have to have that special performance from somebody that that shows up and and does that. And to me, that's him. he's g he's gonna have to do that. And so I You saw glimpses of it there at the end of the game. I think if he the more confidence he gains, especially on this team and finds his role, the more that we can get the ball in his hands, the more that you're just gonna have to live with the bad moments because you'll have a lot more good moments than those. Dillon Geralds: Two more things, Colton. I think that's something that really stood out is that we had five Kentucky players scoring in double figures. You had Usme Nadia, 10 total points, Milan 15, Malachi 15, Wilkins 13, Mason Williams 14. All but Zoom, all your starters had double figure scoring. I that that is also going to win you a lot of games. That balance across the board. And that goes back to, you know, Colton, what we talked about earlier on an episode a couple weeks ago. Like, what if this Kentucky basketball's identity is just creative? You know, Mark Pope's talking about this word creative. What if, what if that is our identity? You know, we're we're we're just creative in general. But on top of that, though, Colton, we talked about Usme not being scared to get shots up. This sticks out to me. Uzi had 11 field goal attempts to Milan Momchilovic just five attempts. Malikam Reno only had nine attempts. Wilkins had nine attempts. Mason Williams, eight attempts. If anything, it just tells you how efficient Milan Momchilovic is. Guys, he only had five field goal attempts and had 15 points. His plus minus was 20. Like that that that that's a pretty high efficiency right there. But Colton, we he he I I love how he is so poised. We had that comparison of him and and Kenny Minchie, but he's gotta get up more than five shots. Kolton Myatt: yeah. For sure. He's gotta be a guy. He's gotta be a guy that he's gotta average double digit shots. He really needs to average probably at least twelve a game. now granted his comes in a little different way, right? His is not the Alex right Dillon Geralds: It does. Perspective. You gotta talk about it. Kolton Myatt: his his right his his aren't gonna come from just randomly. He's not dribbling the ball up the court and he's taking his guy one on one from the moment he crosses half court. That's not how he's getting his shots up. His are strategic, his are matchups, his are finding the you know, the holes in the defense and being able to get up the shots. That's that's where his are gonna come. So those aren't gonna you're not gonna see him average, you know, he's not gonna have those twenty twenty field goal games. Like that's just not who he is and that's not the style he plays. But yes, it is big to have multiple scoring. It's big to be able to get creative and find different ways to win. You know, Milan definitely definitely gotta get up a few more shots because he's he is that efficient. I mean, he is a a great shooter. I think he's slowly gonna become obviously one of our leaders. I think him and Malachi have to be the leaders on the court. so I think when Milan's Dillon Geralds: Yeah. Kolton Myatt: playing well and he's getting up shots, I think it should only build momentum in the rest of the team. But yes, I mean the creative you're but you're gonna have to have games like that where he may only have fifteen and be very efficient. But if you can get eight to twelve out of four other guys, it goes a long way. And I I do think we have a very well balanced scoring opportunity with the team. I think we have multiple guys that can Dillon Geralds: Mm-hmm. Kolton Myatt: shoot it. I do think that our I think this is their in the three years he's been there, I think that this is Pope's best like shooting you you got your tall your best tallest shooters you've had. I think we've got v guys that have Dillon Geralds: Yeah. Kolton Myatt: some height on and length on that shoot the ball. I mean, Milan can play the four if he needs to. He's a three, but he's a big guy. you know, what's what's his name? Usan, right? Like but we were talking about h him getting up eleven shots. I Dillon Geralds: Mm-hmm. He's like six nine. Kolton Myatt: mean, long wingspan, man. Right. R I mean, l long wingspan. I mean, we talked we didn't even talk about Braden Hawthorne. He didn't play that whole lot. So, I mean, but they they thrive about him. We heard Malachi and Milan talk Dillon Geralds: Yeah. Kolton Myatt: about how they think we'll be surprised with him. He's long, lanky. Like these guys and shoot McBride, who we thought was gonna be more like a a Mo Diabate, seems to have a pretty good jumper on him. These guys that are able to shoot and that would have that length, I mean, that makes a big difference. I think that they're it's it's gonna be a very interesting. But I like what I saw in the last game. Dillon Geralds: And you know, I think also, Coton, to the point that we're talking about Milan's guy getting more shots up, that's just a testament of how good he is, though. He's able to draw the attention, which is going to leave these other guys open that you're talking about, these shooters, and being able to have that balance of shooters on the floor. Whenever you have a guy like Milan Mopchilovic, who is a pretty much knockdown shooter, he is going to draw so much attention, whether he has the ball in his hands or not. that it's going to open up so much for these other guys. And I think that's why you find that up that that people love playing with shooters. And they love playing with these type of players because it not only allows for that guy to thrive, but it also allows for yourself, your own game to thrive because it gets you open shots and you're able to not have to kind of force things. It it comes easier and it just comes to you. Colton, we we do host our another exhibition game this Wednesday night on October 28th. We will be hosting UCF University of Central Florida. Not going to talk about that, but I do want to get your closing thoughts on this exhibition game and moving forward about a minute and then I'll give my minute and we'll get off here. Kolton Myatt: Yeah, I would say it's an exhibition game. It's your last one though before the real thing starts. you'll have a I think there's what, one to two easier games or one, two, maybe three, before what should be wins, kind of warm up games also, but they'll be real games before you go play Kansas. But look, it's the same thing. We look better in the second exhibition game than we did the first. Continue to build off this past exhibition game and and continue to, you know, make Make up for mistakes. You know, learn from your mistakes of the previous games and build off that. This is what exhibitions are for. no one's gonna it doesn't matter what your record is in exhibition games, it only matters about getting better each day. And they got better from game one to game two, get better from game two to game three. Dillon Geralds: I couldn't have said any better. I just like that there was an improvement. That's all that I was looking for. I was looking something to feed off of heading into the last exhibition game. And then, like you said, the real thing starts then and there. Don't overreact. I think that the huge talking point, everybody, right now, is the guard play. Just give it time and let's wait and see. And let's put the trust that Mar Pope is going to make that right decision and that deciding, okay, who's going to put me in the best spot to be the head coach. next year and for years to come, which then means if that's to happen and that's the case, then that means we're winning ball games. so ultimately I was pleased with the outing. I thought we looked much better. My biggest thing going into that game too was like let the game come to you. I thought we started off a little but then we finally let the game come to us. That's the biggest thing in these types of games when it's new environment, a new team, you got all different players who's never played together. Let the game come to you. Hey guys We are currently at 222 YouTube subscribers. If you enjoy our stuff and you know somebody who else will, our goal we're going to set is 250 by the end of next week. So go ahead and send this over to a friend. Share it with just anybody and everybody that loves Kentucky. We appreciate you all. This has been another episode of Bluegrass State of Mind. And as always, go cats. Kolton Myatt: Cats.