Could it be that the SC loss is a blessing in disguise?

[BigBlue75]

Let me say from the outset that I'm disappointed that we lost last Thursday night as much as anyone and it would certainly have been nice to put one over on Spurrier. But, that game is history and there's nothing we can do to change the outcome now. Now, that being said, I'm wondering if when it's all said and done this season we might look back on the SC game as the catalyst that put us over the top in victories this season?
The game has already been dissected enough so there's no point in me adding to what has already been said. At the very least, I think we would all agree that we were our own worst enemy. However, of the "Big Five" SEC opponents we play this year: SC, Florida, LSU, Georgia, and Tennessee, I would much rather have a bad game and subsequent loss to Carolina than to the rest of them. To use an overworked cliche', I would rather lose one battle in exchange for winning the war outright.

I think last week's loss and the nine day period prior to the LSU game will give the team time to regroup and to get refocused on the task at hand. We have an extra couple of days for the players to rest and take care of nagging injuries. Further, with some of their own comments as proof, the media was already projecting a "clash of unbeatens" between UK and LSU as early as two weeks ago. There's no telling what the media buildup would have been this week and the demand on Andre, Rafael and the rest for interviews and such would have been tremendous. I'm sure they'd have handled it well but it would have been a distraction.

As it is, we have LSU coming into Commonwealth as one of only five unbeaten teams left, and they are coming off an emotionally draining game with Florida. They're the ones with the "undefeated bulls-eye" on their backs. UK, however, is coming off a disappointing but eye-opening loss that again, I believe gave them a reality check and a chance to get back in gear.

This weekend is the first game of the rest of the season and I like our chances, both this Saturday and on. I honestly believe that at the end of this season when we're all making our arrangements for the UK bowl appearance, we'll look back at the South Carolina game as a bump in the road that jolted us back on track.

Sorry if I rambled a bit but that's how I see things. Take it for what it's worth.

GO CATS! :widcat:;):icon_mrgreen::thumbup:

[The Old School JPS]

It could be a blessing if the mistakes that Andre and Rafael had result in them avoiding the same mistakes the rest of the season. I assume they're experienced and mature enough that the undefeated record and hype didn't make them overconfident and contribute to those mistakes. If it did, though, maybe they'll be more focused now.

Any team left on the schedule is good enough to play a game well enough to beat UK. Avoiding errors, especially turnovers, will be immensely important from here on out.

[I. Melvin]

I was hoping to save that "learning experience" for LSU or Florida - not South Carolina.

We're gonna rue the missed opportunity big time. And, I'll believe we were the better team last Thursday until the day I die.

[SBCatMan]

I don't know. I do not think there is ever a loss in football that is a "blessing in disguise." In basketball, maybe. But not in football. There are just too few opportunities to win games, and you cannot let any of them get away.

Now, there are those who would argue that last year's LSU game was a "blessing in disguise," and they would probably be correct. But, the "blessing" last year against LSU was not that we lost, but that we lost so badly. We were not going to win that game, no way, no how, and everybody knew that. So, by getting trounced as we did, it gave the coaches a real opportunity to call out the players and put the proverbial "gut check" on them.

That was not the case with this year's USC game. If we had played even close to our potential, even close to it, we would have won that game. I do not see any "blessing" at all in having lost.

Now, that is NOT to say the loss means the end of our season or that we are in serious trouble as a result of it or that we cannnot learn from it and be a better team. I think we can and we will. But I would still like to have that game in the win column and be 6-0 at this point.

So, disater? No, not at all. but I do not see it as a blessing, either.

[RaleighCat]

I think it may help reinforce that it takes your A game every week in conference play. I have the feeling that some of our guys might not have been as prepared as they could've been (Woodsen's and Little's mistakes perhaps?). Starting the season 5-0 and reaching #8 in the polls HAD to have an affect on our guys. That would only be human.

However, I don't like giving up a winnable game anytime. SC did manage to rattle Woodsen into some mistakes and LSU will only double that intensity Saturday. The Tigers may be in for a letdown after the FL slugfest, but they're the most athletically talented team we'll face all year. Their B game is enough to beat most teams.

It's going to be a tough task on Saturday. No doubt about it.

[UedK]

I was hoping to save that "learning experience" for LSU or Florida - not South Carolina.

We're gonna rue the missed opportunity big time. And, I'll believe we were the better team last Thursday until the day I die.

I agree 100%.

I wish we didn't need a blessing in disguise. I wish we had come out last Thursday with focus and with an aggressive winners attitude. And I wish we had protected the ball and marched out of Columbia, SC with a big W!!!!!

Three years ago, with our three turnovers in a row, we handed SC the game on a silver platter and we did a very similar thing this past Thursday. Last year LSU was our wake up call, a call to go forward with pride or to lay down. We have grown leaps and bounds since then but we are not 100% ready for prime time if we can shoot ourselves in the foot like last Thursday.

What can we take from the SC game to help us gain future success? Be focused on the game from the second you run on the field. Treat every snap as if the game is on the line, protect the ball and play mistake free football. We will need this to have a shot these next two games.

[Wildcatcrazy11]

Two responses:

1)Turnover margin in a big game is almost always in favor of the team that wins.

2)I would much rather have a win over LSU or FL and a loss AT USC on my resume than a win at USC and two losses to LSU and FL at home. Reason being a win against either of those teams puts us in the elite of college football whereas a win against USC followed by two losses says that we are a good team but not up there with LSU, OSU, and FL.

We must face reality here. UK had a very poor chance to win three games in a row against USC, LSU, and FL. It might be the hardest stretch of three games for any team in the country when its all said and done.

[leroybyrd]

I was hoping to save that "learning experience" for LSU or Florida - not South Carolina.

We're gonna rue the missed opportunity big time. And, I'll believe we were the better team last Thursday until the day I die.


I disagree 100%. You have a "learning experince" against LSU or Florida and you are getting beat 45-3. You have a "learning experience" at South Carolina and you are still in the game late and come away with a tough SEC road loss because of your own mistakes. That is something you can build on. This year's team needs to have all the kinks worked out to get home victories against LSU and Florida, which they are capable of getting. An in conference loss at #11 should not hurt in the long run with huge home games coming up that we should be able to give ourselves a chanc of winning.

[Matt Dillon]

As much as anything, I feel we need experience playing in big games (big for us as well as for the other team). We aren't use to having as much on the line as we had in the So. Car. game and, I feel, it showed. I felt some of the players were playing tight from the get go. Playing tight will cause the types of errors seen in the So. Car. game in my opinion.

[UedK]

As much as anything, I feel we need experience playing in big games (big for us as well as for the other team). We aren't use to having as much on the line as we had in the So. Car. game and, I feel, it showed. I felt some of the players were playing tight from the get go. Playing tight will cause the types of errors seen in the So. Car. game in my opinion.

Maybe we need to figure out how to play when we have such high expectations. The Music City Bowl was a huge game but we went into it with a nothing to loose attitude. We were also loose as a goose and really aggressive. I wish we'd of had that attitude last Thursday.

[bleedbluelady]

I don't know. I do not think there is ever a loss in football that is a "blessing in disguise." In basketball, maybe. But not in football. There are just too few opportunities to win games, and you cannot let any of them get away.

Now, there are those who would argue that last year's LSU game was a "blessing in disguise," and they would probably be correct. But, the "blessing" last year against LSU was not that we lost, but that we lost so badly. We were not going to win that game, no way, no how, and everybody knew that. So, by getting trounced as we did, it gave the coaches a real opportunity to call out the players and put the proverbial "gut check" on them.

That was not the case with this year's USC game. If we had played even close to our potential, even close to it, we would have won that game. I do not see any "blessing" at all in having lost.

Now, that is NOT to say the loss means the end of our season or that we are in serious trouble as a result of it or that we cannnot learn from it and be a better team. I think we can and we will. But I would still like to have that game in the win column and be 6-0 at this point.

So, disater? No, not at all. but I do not see it as a blessing, either.

Pretty much the way I feel.

[poodoo]

I agree 100%.

I wish we didn't need a blessing in disguise. I wish we had come out last Thursday with focus and with an aggressive winners attitude. And I wish we had protected the ball and marched out of Columbia, SC with a big W!!!!!

Three years ago, with our three turnovers in a row, we handed SC the game on a silver platter and we did a very similar thing this past Thursday. Last year LSU was our wake up call, a call to go forward with pride or to lay down. We have grown leaps and bounds since then but we are not 100% ready for prime time if we can shoot ourselves in the foot like last Thursday.

What can we take from the SC game to help us gain future success? Be focused on the game from the second you run on the field. Treat every snap as if the game is on the line, protect the ball and play mistake free football. We will need this to have a shot these next two games.

In relation to focus, I agree with what matt dillon says. In regard to the three turnovers in a row, I believe you mean two years ago, Ed, and you are SO RIGHT. We were driving to tie the game at the time, late in the game, and it ended up looking like a blowout. :icon_sad:

Actually, we should hsve beaten South Carolina and Coach Spurrier last season. Joker said just that at the women's clinic. Some missed assignments killed us that time. Remember when Spurrier gambled way back in his own territory. It should not have worked, according to the coaches. Coach Spurrier ended up looking good AND got the win when our last pass didn't connect. IF we had not messed up earlier, THEN it's a different story.

The point is that we have shot ourselves in the foot--and given them gifts--THREE straight years. Go figure. :icon_sad: Yes, it still makes me sick, and I could tell it was the same for Coach Brooks from hearing his voice on his radio show.

[poodoo]

As much as anything, I feel we need experience playing in big games (big for us as well as for the other team). We aren't use to having as much on the line as we had in the So. Car. game and, I feel, it showed. I felt some of the players were playing tight from the get go. Playing tight will cause the types of errors seen in the So. Car. game in my opinion.

I agree, matt. I am also afraid that these guys felt that they had a lot to lose in this game--and perhaps that was related to their #8 ranking. Everything the ESPN announcers were discussing prior to the game was about proving we deserved such respect, our being possibly the "eighth-best team in the conference" or the conference's "doormat" in the past.

They did lose more than the game itself. By the way, in my opinion, playing not to lose is not the way to win. That is what I saw.:icon_sad:

[poodoo]

FWIW, the Cats' Pause's Matt May just said that he thought our guys may have been trying TOO HARD to PROVE themselves to the viewing audience--that we deserved our ranking, etc. I obviously feel the same.

By the way, how obvious it was to us women at the women's clinic, before the season ever began, that the coaches, especially Joker and Coach Brooks, had BADLY wanted that one, especially after they had so felt we should have won last year. :icon_sad: I wish I could see the loss as some type of blessing, but I can't. It still hurts too much, and especially when we are playing such outstanding teams these next two weeks.

I am so thankful that #1 LSU won Saturday, though. Hopefully, our players will be FIRED UP and playing with mostly NOTHING TO LOSE--but everything to WIN by upsetting the top team in the nation. :)

[UedK]

FWIW, the Cats' Pause's Matt May just said that he thought our guys may have been trying TOO HARD to PROVE themselves to the viewing audience--that we deserved our ranking, etc. I obviously feel the same.

By the way, how obvious it was to us women at the women's clinic, before the season ever began, that the coaches, especially Joker and Coach Brooks, had BADLY wanted that one, especially after they had so felt we should have won last year. :icon_sad: I wish I could see the loss as some type of blessing, but I can't. It still hurts too much, and especially when we are playing such outstanding teams these next two weeks.

I am so thankful that #1 LSU won Saturday, though. Hopefully, our players will be FIRED UP and playing with mostly NOTHING TO LOSE--but everything to WIN by upsetting the top team in the nation. :)

When I sad three years ago I meant it to be taken as three games ago. South Carolina is getting better each and every year, next year it will be a big challenge for us to get the win in Lexington.

ON to LSU and another national TV audience. The nothing to loose attitude can be worth a lot in a game like the one we will have Saturday.

From the outside looking in, the spread for this game is around nine points for out Cats. Some would think it would have started higher, given our recent game against SC and the LSU blowout last year.