With crazy loss on Saturday, Troy football coach Jon Sumrall experiences a UK déjà vu
Random notes:
▪ Jon Sumrall could say he had never seen anything like Appalachian State’s “Hail Mary” pass that beat the Troy Trojans 32-28 last Saturday, but the painful truth is the first-year Troy head coach had seen it before.
Sumrall was a member of the 2002 Kentucky football team that lost to LSU on a tip-drill pass at the end of the game in what Tigers fans call the “Bluegrass Miracle.” In fact, UK’s safeties coach that day, Larry Hoefer, gave Sumrall some advice over the weekend.
“(Hoefer) reminded me that at that next team meeting we had on Sunday, (defensive coordinator) Coach (John) Goodner got up in front of the team and said, ‘Hey guys, it’s not your fault.’ He asked us if we wanted to know whose fault it was,” Sumrall told the Troy Messenger. “He pointed over and said, ‘It’s Coach Hoefer’s fault.’ Coach Goodner had a funny way about him.
“He did that to lighten the mood. We all hurt. It stinks, but I think maybe having some experience with that helps me understand how to work through it, too. I might tell the team that it’s Coach Hoefer’s fault, but I don’t think they’ll know what it means.”
The stunning outcome had to be tough for Sumrall, the former UK assistant who in his third game as a head coach nearly beat an Appalachian State team that had upset then No. 6-ranked Texas A&M 17-14 the week before in College Station.
This Saturday, Troy (1-2) plays host to Marshall, who lost Saturday to Bowling Green after upsetting Notre Dame the week before.
▪ Kentucky football’s next opponent, Northern Illinois, led Vanderbilt 28-21 last week until some questionable decision-making by NIU head coach Thomas Hammock.
Facing a fourth-and-1 from NIU’s 34-yard line, Hammock decided to go for the first down with just under five minutes left in the third quarter. Alas, the play resulted in a 3-yard loss. Vanderbilt promptly scored on a 31-yard pass to tie the game at 28.
Early in the fourth quarter, with Vandy up 35-28, Hammock rolled the dice again on fourth-and-3 from the NIU 35. Again, the Huskies failed as a pass play gained just 2 yards. The visiting Commodores capitalized by kicking a field goal for the final 10-point margin.
The previous week at Tulsa, Northern Illinois led 35-31 when the Huskies faced a fourth-and-4 at the Tulsa 48-yard line with 1:58 to go. Hammock decided to go for it, but quarterback Rocky Lombardi’s pass to backup tight end George Gumbs fell incomplete. Tulsa responded by driving 52 yards for the game-winning touchdown.
“We had an opportunity to win the game on offense on fourth down,” said Hammock, according to the Daily Herald. “I told my staff this morning, ‘If we’ve got a chance to go win this game on offense, we’re going to do that.’ We just didn’t make the play.”
▪ In Florida’s 26-16 loss to Kentucky on Sept. 10 in Gainesville, new Gators coach Billy Napier went for it on fourth down from his own territory twice in the fourth quarter during a one-score game. Florida failed both times.
UK cornerback Carrington Valentine broke up a pass on fourth-and-3 at the UF 40. Next possession, the Gators threw an incompletion on fourth-and-6 from the UF 24. After the second turnover on downs, Kentucky kicked a field goal to seal the victory.
▪ During the preseason, guard Kenneth Horsey was considered Kentucky’s best offensive lineman. Injuries curtailed Horsey’s practice reps during fall camp before the senior was moved to left tackle for the Florida game.
How’s the change working out? Head coach Mark Stoops was happy with the way Horsey and redshirt freshman left guard Jager Burton played in “The Swamp.” Not so, last Saturday against Youngstown State.
“I’m not going to put it all on him, but not as good as we need to this game,” Stoops said Monday. “He comes out in the Florida game and the whole left side, we bragged on the left side with him and Jager after that game. We didn’t play to our standard this week on that side at all.”
