Published: October 11, 2008 10:48 pm            

MARK MAYNARD: Give it up for 'Ol Ball Coach 10/12/08

You have to hand it to the Ol’ Ball Coach. Love him or hate him — and it’s obvious how most Kentuckians feel about Steve Spurrier — the guy knows how to coach.

He chalked up victory No. 16 over Kentucky — and triumph No. 100 as a coach in the Southeastern Conference — with Saturday’s 24-17 win over the Wildcats on a picture-perfect afternoon at Commonwealth Stadium.

And, as much as you may hate to admit it, this one belonged to the Ol’ Ball Coach.

Spurrier’s decision to take out starting quarterback Chris Smelley, who was frankly living up to his name, turned the game on its heels. Freshman Stephen Garcia was inserted and his threat as a runner changed Kentucky’s defensive aggressiveness and made the Gamecocks — and Spurrier — a winner.

It could be that it’s time for Kentucky coach Rich Brooks to take a page out of Spurrier’s playbook and make a change at quarterback. Freshman sensation Randall Cobb played a few downs at quarterback and a few more at receiver. Simply put, he has game-changing abilities that Mike Hartline doesn’t.

Kentucky was 1-for-16 on third-down conversions. Compare that to South Carolina’s 8-for-17 on third down and you see the difference in the game. The Cats’ defense played well — except for third down. That’s frustrating to watch.

Garcia stepped into South Carolina’s offense and started making plays immediately. My guess is the same would happen with Cobb behind center.

Hartline has mostly been efficient through the first five games of the season, but he seemed largely ineffective against the Gamecocks. His inability to stretch the field, not to mention the inability of young receivers to make game-changing plays, has Kentucky’s offense looking like it’s running in mud. When Dicky Lyons rolled his knee in the first half, the chances of Kentucky making a big play practically disappeared.

When the Cats needed to throw the ball downfield, Hartline couldn’t do it. He doesn’t have the arm strength.

Smelley was going through a similarly frustrating game for the Gamecocks. The plays being called in from the South Carolina sideline were good ones, but Smelley mostly missed them. And even though Smelley had been mostly effective (sound familiar?) through the early part of the season and actually played very well against Ole Miss the previous week, Spurrier had seen enough. He made the change and it won the game for the Gamecocks.

Oh sure, Coach Visor still was fuming on the sidelines even much of the time that Garcia was in the game. But that’s just Ol’ Ball Coach’s way. I’m surprised he has any hair left with the way he tugs up and down on that visor.

But Spurrier sure knows how to win in the SEC and especially against Kentucky. He proved it at Florida and he’s proving it at South Carolina.

Kentucky was every bit as good as South Carolina and when that’s the case, home games in this league have to be won. The Cats are now 4-2 and facing a must-win game against Arkansas on Saturday at home. An 0-2 homestand could mean a downward spiral in which the Cats could never recover.

After the Arkansas game, the Cats visit The Swamp for a battle with Florida. They could be back to .500 in a hurry if they don’t take care of business against the Razorbacks.

It’s not panic time, but it’s getting close.

MARK MAYNARD can be reached at mmaynard@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2648.

        

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