First Down Kentucky: Building Confidence while Searching for Consistency

The Kentucky offensive line was skewered, both publicly and behind closed doors, following their performance against South Carolina. They learned against Georgia that they’re much better than what they put on tape in week two.

“I feel like we got the confidence that we really needed,” said offensive tackle Gerald Mincey. “We were like, ‘Damn, we can do this.’ After we realized that, we just gotta keep building on it. Every week you just gotta keep improving and improving, and if you don’t, you see it in the wins and losses.”

Even though they improved, there’s still a long way to go, particularly in pass protection.

“We took a step,” said Bush Hamdan. “Explosive plays start up front. When it was blocked properly, we were able to push the ball down the field at times. I think it’s just overall consistency at every position for four quarters. It’s assignment-based, it’s holding up, all of those things, but certainly, we need to take the next step in that category and we’re working hard to do so.”

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Kentucky has a Shark

Many Kentucky fans struggle to correctly pronounce the name of running back Demie Sumo-Karngbaye (DEHM-ee SUE-moh KARNG-bay). In print, it’s easy to simply shorten it to “DSK.” If that doesn’t float your boat, there is an alternative. In high school, he was given the nickname “Shark” by his friends for his hard-nosed mentality, one he likened to a Mamba mentality.

“It’s always running how I’m running, bringing that physicality to the game, bringing that standard to the game,” said DSK. “It’s not even just the game, in practice. Back when I was in high school in practice, I was doing extra things before practice and doing all this extra stuff. That’s a shark mentality right there.”

He’s played like it so far, doubling his carries from last year in only three games and averaging 4.8 yards per attempt.

The Art of Catching a Long Punt

Ja’Mori Maclin had a challenging task against Georgia. Brett Thorson was booming punts all over the field. Some people warn about out-kicking your coverage, so I asked Maclin if it’s more challenging to catch the long balls.

“Yes! Oh my gosh,” said Maclin. “This is my first year doing punts. I’m back there because coaches trust me to go back there and make some plays. But the punts were 10 times harder with the fricking Georgia punter. It felt like 20 years the ball was in the sky. I didn’t even get to catch one, which was crazy. He was a good punter. They’d be at the minus-45 and I’d be all the way back with my heels on the 10. Punts are scary, but I have confidence in myself.”

Even when it wasn’t a long punt, the ball bounced twenty more yards.

“I was like, ‘What do you want me to do coach?'”

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Happy Birthday to a Kentucky Hall of Famer

On this day in 1927, George Blanda was born. One of only two Wildcats in the Pro Football Hall of Fame (Dermontti Dawson), Blanda was a star for Bear Bryant as a quarterback and a kicker. He did a little bit of both in the NFL, but his leg gave him staying power, playing in the NFL for 26 seasons and ending his career with the most points ever scored by an individual.

George Blanda pictured with trophy awarded him at annual University of Kentucky (UK) football banquet as outstanding senior of 1948 team. December, 1948. · John C. Wyatt Lexington Herald-Leader photographs
-Also shown Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant (lower left), Bernie Shively, AD pic.twitter.com/LdeSEVlgC1

— Lisa (@KYChaos) September 17, 2024