UK, Ole Miss football programs connected in several ways. They collide Saturday.
Random notes:
▪ Interesting nugget for Saturday’s Kentucky-Ole Miss football game at Kroger Field. Ole Miss defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin and UK head coach Mark Stoops both hail from Youngstown, Ohio. In fact, as head coach at Maryland, Durkin hired two former Stoops assistants in defensive line coach Jimmy Brumbaugh (now at Tennessee) and defensive coordinator Andy Buh (now at Arizona).
▪ Kentucky offensive coordinator Eddie Gran served on Ole Miss Coach Lane Kiffin’s staff when Kiffin was the head coach at Tennessee in 2009.
“It was interesting because I had just gone 14 straight years with Coach (Tommy) Tuberville,” Gran said Tuesday. “It was one of the scariest times in my life, if you will. I left, I didn’t know anybody real well on that staff. I knew a couple of people — Ed Orgeron I had coached with at Miami — so I really didn’t know anybody else. Jim Chaney, a little bit. I didn’t know what to expect.”
As for Kiffin?
“His organization, his play-calling ability, he’s really good. He’s one of the best I’ve ever been around. I coached with Bobby Petrino and Noel Mazzone, some really good coordinators and play-callers. He’s up there I would say with the top two or three in the country. His mind is different. I learned a lot. It was good for me to get out of a comfort zone. And it was good for me to go out and learn. I learned a lot in a year.”
▪ Interesting to hear UK’s Josh Ali be the stand-up guy and admit he was the wide receiver who ran the wrong route on quarterback Terry Wilson’s interception in last week’s 29-13 loss at Auburn. Stoops had said Monday that the interception was not Wilson’s fault, that a wideout had gone to the wrong area, bringing an extra defender into the play. Tuesday, Ali admitted he ran a route toward the pylon when he was supposed to be in the back of the end zone.
▪ I was also surprised to hear Kentucky say it wasn’t ready for Auburn’s pooch punts last week when the SEC Network announcers basically called them before quarterback Bo Nix put his foot to leather.
▪ We shouldn’t be surprised that there are still tickets available for Saturday’s 4 p.m. kickoff despite the attendance being limited at Kroger Field. We are still living in the middle of a pandemic, after all.
▪ I wasn’t as amused as some with Louisville basketball coach Chris Mack’s Twitter video on Tuesday taking a shot at Kentucky over the tiff concerning the playing of this year’s game. “I just want to do whatever is most convenient for Coach Calipari,” said Mack sarcastically. The Xavier-Cincinnati rivalry got to be pretty nasty when Mack (Xavier) and Mick Cronin (UC) were the coaches. We don’t need that.
▪ I watched a replay of Mississippi State’s 44-34 upset win at LSU last Saturday and I don’t remember seeing MSU Coach Mike Leach wearing a mask. Not once.
▪ Considering its quarterback problems in its first game, Georgia is certainly capable of losing to Auburn in Athens on Saturday. Auburn has the better signal-caller in Bo Nix and the Tigers’ Seth Williams will be tough for the Bulldogs’ secondary to cover. Just ask Kentucky.
▪ Give me Art Collector to win Saturday’s Preakness Stakes at Pimlico in Baltimore over Kentucky Derby winner Authentic. Then all three will be headed to the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Keeneland in November.
▪ My pre-NBA Finals prediction — I promise I made it before Wednesday night’s opening game — has the Heat beating the Lakers in six games.
▪ Another sign we are living in the year 2020: At the start of his Zoom meeting with the media on Tuesday to discuss former UK players in the NBA Finals, John Calipari had to excuse himself to go quiet his barking dogs in another room.
