Kentucky Must Be Patient

The mindset around the Bluegrass is that Kentucky Football is great…if it weren’t for the quarterback.

Following a rough first half by the sophomore and a instant spark true freshman Randall Cobb gave the offense, fans have wanted changes at the position. However, Head Coach Rich Brooks as has stuck by Mike Hartline as the quarterback for this Kentucky team.

He has since struggled as some thing…but if oyu look at the stats, it proves the latter. Entering the season, Hartline had never taken a colligate snap due Andre Woodson playing in front of him. This year was known to be a difficult transition for the OFFENSE as a whole. The Cats offense lost a lot of talent this past year due to the NFL draft and graduation.

There is no more Rafeal Little to run through holes, no more Keenan Burton, Stevie Johnson, and Jacob Tamme’s to bail out a quarterback. Hartline’s cast is as new and as fresh as he is and with growing competition against teams that have played together longer and are more cohesive he is going to struggle.

The harsh criticism must stop in order for this Cats team to prosper down the stretch. Hartline is the quarterback at Kentcuky and although an error was made last week in Alabama, that gave up a score, that was not the deciding factor to the loss. The offense as a unit faltered. The line could not open up holes, running backs couldn’t shake defenders and receivers could not catch ball that were thrown directly to them.

There is going to be a learning curve and with a weekly progression and maturation of Hartline and this offense the Cats will not only prosper this year, but for years to come as well. As fans we look for the instant gratification, however, Hartline can only get better and this offense will only become more cohesive as a unit with time, so be thankful Cat Nation that the defense is where it is and the offense can grow into an eventual SEC force.