Sunday, January 31, 2010
Monday, January 4, 2010
Top Five: Closing the Book on the Rich Brooks Era
Today, Rich Brooks officially stepped down as the head football coach of the University of Kentucky Wildcats and Joker Phillips, the "head coach of the offense," was named head coach pursuant to the coach-in-waiting arrangement announced a couple of years ago. I could write at length regarding my ambivalence toward Joker Phillips as our head coach, but that is another post for another time (probably following his first loss). It's hard to believe that I'm writing a tribute to Coach Brooks when, as recently as the beginning of the 2006 season, people were passing out bumper stickers reading "Ditch Mitch [Barnhart, Athletic Director] and Rich" during home games at Commonwealth. Although Coach Brooks' record at UK was sub-.500, the last four years are a high water mark not before seen in Lexington (a 30-22 record, four straight bowl appearances with three straight bowl wins) and the period stands as the reward for long-suffering Kentucky football fans everywhere. He took a football team saddled with probation to four straight bowl games, a Kentucky football record. Therefore, I present you with the top five games, win or loss, from the Rich Brooks Era:
5. 2006--at LSU (Loss, 49-0). While it seems almost inconceivable that a brutal loss could be included in the top five of anything, a) this is Kentucky football we're talking about, after all, and b) this game marked the turning point of the Rich Brooks Era. Kentucky went into the game with a record of 4-2, with losses to a Louisville team that would go on to the Orange Bowl and Florida, the eventual national champion. Whatever Rich said after that game (I'm assuming it involved a lot of swearing) gave the team a much-needed boost in the back half of the season. Somehow, after suffering a drubbing at the hands of a vastly superior team, Kentucky told itself that it could compete in the SEC. Kentucky went on to beat Georgia for the first time in ages, post a 4-4 record in the SEC and go on to win Game No. 4...
4. 2006--Music City Bowl versus Clemson (Win, 28-20). Clemson came into this game having lost three of its last four, but at one point in the season was ranked #11. The experts gave the 'Cats no chance, but Kentucky pulled out a gritty win in its first bowl since 1999. Rich took a page out of Les Miles' Iron Cojones: Using Them on the Football Field and called a fake punt deep in UK territory, which converted. The team didn't look back en route to its first bowl win since 1984.
3. 2009--Auburn (Win, 21-14). Prior to the 2009 season, most experts believed that it would be a rebuilding year for the Auburn Tigers. In the end, they were right, but Auburn entered this game with a 5-1 record which included a win over West Virginia. Kentucky's ability to play on the road in the SEC (5-20 on the road in the SEC at this point in Rich Brooks' tenure) was--to put it mildly--in question. Plus, Mike Hartline, the starting quarterback, had gone down with a knee injury in a close loss to South Carolina the week before. However, with three players taking snaps at quarterback--including one true freshman whose redshirt was removed for the occasion--Kentucky pulled out a hard-fought road win over a team not named Vanderbilt or Mississippi State.
2. 2007--Louisville (Win, 34-40). As mentioned in Game No. 5, Louisville played in the Orange Bowl following the 2006 season. If you believed fans of "The 'Ville," that bowl win (over Wake Forest, universally acknowledged as the best football program of all time) was going to catapult Louisville to heights never before seen in college football. Steve Kragthorpe, who replaced the departing Bobby Petrino and was virtually unknown outside of Tulsa and Tom Jurich's office, was to be Bear Bryant, George Patton and Jesus Christ all rolled into one. However, Kentucky had other plans, which involved beating the Cardinals on a deep strike from Andre' Woodson to Stevie Johnson in the final minute. There's nothing like completely crushing the hopes of a rival, (Louisville went on to lose to Syracuse, one of the worst teams in college football, AT HOME). Especially one whose fans use the phrase "L Yes" without any sense of embarrassment. I guess irrational hopes never die, though--one law school classmate and Louisville fan told me that Louisville would go on to a BCS bowl after the Syracuse loss. I laughed in his face. It felt good.
1. 2007--LSU (Win, 37-43 3OT). LSU was undefeated and the consensus number 1 in the nation heading into this game. Kentucky improbably beat them by stopping Jacob Hester cold on 4th and 2 in the third overtime. This is unquestionably the highest point of the Rich Brooks Era, as Kentucky was ranked #9 following the win. I haven't looked it up, but I feel comfortable in stating that this was Kentucky's first time being ranked in the top 10 in my lifetime. This was unquestionably the most tense and exciting game I've ever attended in person (but, as we were there with die-hard LSU fans who made the trip from Baton Rouge for the game, I felt bad in celebrating too much). LSU went on to win the national championship that year (despite having two losses), so the victory is that much sweeter.
Honorable Mentions--Georgia 2009 (even though Georgia was rebuilding this year, this was a huge come-from-behind SEC road win); 2008 Liberty Bowl over East Carolina (third straight bowl win, an unprecedented feat in UK history); 2007 Music City Bowl over Florida State (I attended this one)
Toughest Losses--Tennessee every by God year (this year especially--a late fumble gift-wrapped the win for us and terrible playcalling by our new head coach cost us the win in regulation)
I had an idea that I would return to any time that law school or my subsequent professional life had me down. It was to get full access to Rich Brooks and the UK football team and write a book chronicling an entire season. In my head, it would transcend the "follow a team around for a year" genre typified by Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer* and Dixieland Delight and be about whether a perennial doormat could ever hope to compete in the best football conference in the nation, and what it would take to do so (quite a goal for someone whose blog has approximately two readers). So, was Rich Brooks able to bring Kentucky out of the SEC basement? Yes and no. Admittedly, Kentucky's season was annually made in its out-of-conference schedule, and Coach Brooks' general record against the SEC (16-39) left a lot to be desired. On the other hand, Kentucky ceased to be a team that opposing teams would automatically chalk up as a win when going over the schedule at year's beginning. This year, Kentucky was one win away from second place in the (admittedly down) SEC East. Recruiting has steadily improved and is one area in which Joker Phillips' prowess cannot be doubted. In the end, I think Rich Brooks got Kentucky banging against the basement door with both fists and it shouldn't be too much longer before South Carolina, Tennessee and the other middle-to-upper-middle teams in the SEC won't be able to keep us down there.
Which brings us to the end of the Rich Brooks Era. I've enjoyed it and I know he has left this program in much better shape than he found it. I'll miss having that crusty old bastard prowling the sidelines.
Goodnight, sweet prince.
--Walter Sobchak or Horatio, depending on your tastes
*which is actually a great book and a lot of fun to read--I don't want to sound like I'm putting it down
5. 2006--at LSU (Loss, 49-0). While it seems almost inconceivable that a brutal loss could be included in the top five of anything, a) this is Kentucky football we're talking about, after all, and b) this game marked the turning point of the Rich Brooks Era. Kentucky went into the game with a record of 4-2, with losses to a Louisville team that would go on to the Orange Bowl and Florida, the eventual national champion. Whatever Rich said after that game (I'm assuming it involved a lot of swearing) gave the team a much-needed boost in the back half of the season. Somehow, after suffering a drubbing at the hands of a vastly superior team, Kentucky told itself that it could compete in the SEC. Kentucky went on to beat Georgia for the first time in ages, post a 4-4 record in the SEC and go on to win Game No. 4...
4. 2006--Music City Bowl versus Clemson (Win, 28-20). Clemson came into this game having lost three of its last four, but at one point in the season was ranked #11. The experts gave the 'Cats no chance, but Kentucky pulled out a gritty win in its first bowl since 1999. Rich took a page out of Les Miles' Iron Cojones: Using Them on the Football Field and called a fake punt deep in UK territory, which converted. The team didn't look back en route to its first bowl win since 1984.
3. 2009--Auburn (Win, 21-14). Prior to the 2009 season, most experts believed that it would be a rebuilding year for the Auburn Tigers. In the end, they were right, but Auburn entered this game with a 5-1 record which included a win over West Virginia. Kentucky's ability to play on the road in the SEC (5-20 on the road in the SEC at this point in Rich Brooks' tenure) was--to put it mildly--in question. Plus, Mike Hartline, the starting quarterback, had gone down with a knee injury in a close loss to South Carolina the week before. However, with three players taking snaps at quarterback--including one true freshman whose redshirt was removed for the occasion--Kentucky pulled out a hard-fought road win over a team not named Vanderbilt or Mississippi State.
2. 2007--Louisville (Win, 34-40). As mentioned in Game No. 5, Louisville played in the Orange Bowl following the 2006 season. If you believed fans of "The 'Ville," that bowl win (over Wake Forest, universally acknowledged as the best football program of all time) was going to catapult Louisville to heights never before seen in college football. Steve Kragthorpe, who replaced the departing Bobby Petrino and was virtually unknown outside of Tulsa and Tom Jurich's office, was to be Bear Bryant, George Patton and Jesus Christ all rolled into one. However, Kentucky had other plans, which involved beating the Cardinals on a deep strike from Andre' Woodson to Stevie Johnson in the final minute. There's nothing like completely crushing the hopes of a rival, (Louisville went on to lose to Syracuse, one of the worst teams in college football, AT HOME). Especially one whose fans use the phrase "L Yes" without any sense of embarrassment. I guess irrational hopes never die, though--one law school classmate and Louisville fan told me that Louisville would go on to a BCS bowl after the Syracuse loss. I laughed in his face. It felt good.
1. 2007--LSU (Win, 37-43 3OT). LSU was undefeated and the consensus number 1 in the nation heading into this game. Kentucky improbably beat them by stopping Jacob Hester cold on 4th and 2 in the third overtime. This is unquestionably the highest point of the Rich Brooks Era, as Kentucky was ranked #9 following the win. I haven't looked it up, but I feel comfortable in stating that this was Kentucky's first time being ranked in the top 10 in my lifetime. This was unquestionably the most tense and exciting game I've ever attended in person (but, as we were there with die-hard LSU fans who made the trip from Baton Rouge for the game, I felt bad in celebrating too much). LSU went on to win the national championship that year (despite having two losses), so the victory is that much sweeter.
Honorable Mentions--Georgia 2009 (even though Georgia was rebuilding this year, this was a huge come-from-behind SEC road win); 2008 Liberty Bowl over East Carolina (third straight bowl win, an unprecedented feat in UK history); 2007 Music City Bowl over Florida State (I attended this one)
Toughest Losses--Tennessee every by God year (this year especially--a late fumble gift-wrapped the win for us and terrible playcalling by our new head coach cost us the win in regulation)
I had an idea that I would return to any time that law school or my subsequent professional life had me down. It was to get full access to Rich Brooks and the UK football team and write a book chronicling an entire season. In my head, it would transcend the "follow a team around for a year" genre typified by Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer* and Dixieland Delight and be about whether a perennial doormat could ever hope to compete in the best football conference in the nation, and what it would take to do so (quite a goal for someone whose blog has approximately two readers). So, was Rich Brooks able to bring Kentucky out of the SEC basement? Yes and no. Admittedly, Kentucky's season was annually made in its out-of-conference schedule, and Coach Brooks' general record against the SEC (16-39) left a lot to be desired. On the other hand, Kentucky ceased to be a team that opposing teams would automatically chalk up as a win when going over the schedule at year's beginning. This year, Kentucky was one win away from second place in the (admittedly down) SEC East. Recruiting has steadily improved and is one area in which Joker Phillips' prowess cannot be doubted. In the end, I think Rich Brooks got Kentucky banging against the basement door with both fists and it shouldn't be too much longer before South Carolina, Tennessee and the other middle-to-upper-middle teams in the SEC won't be able to keep us down there.
Which brings us to the end of the Rich Brooks Era. I've enjoyed it and I know he has left this program in much better shape than he found it. I'll miss having that crusty old bastard prowling the sidelines.
Goodnight, sweet prince.
--Walter Sobchak or Horatio, depending on your tastes
*which is actually a great book and a lot of fun to read--I don't want to sound like I'm putting it down
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