A look at Florida's Tim Tebow getting knocked out after being hit by Kentucky's Taylor Wyndham during Saturday's game in Lexington. Wyndham's hit sends Tebow crashing into left knee of tackle Marcus Gilbert, and the quarterback suffers a concussion. He was hospitalized overnight and released. Southeastern Conference officials have ruled that the hit was clean.
One always hates to see players get hurt, but with the Gators leading, 31-7, deep in the third quarter, you have to wonder why Tebow was in the game. It's even more curious when you consider Tebow was suffering from flu-like symptoms late in the week and flew to Lexington on a plane separate from the team.
Kentucky's Ventrell Jenkins, all 285 pounds of him, rumbles down the sideline with a game-winning fumble return in the Liberty Bowl. In the process, he rings the bell of East Carolina's Patrick Pinkney with a stiff arm that sends the quarterback's mouthpiece flying. Pirate defensive coordinator Greg Hudson says some "knowledgeable" people claim Jenkins' knee had touched the ground before his rumble with the fumble.
Rich Brooks says Middle Tennessee State is the latest team stealing Kentucky's signals, a trick the Blue Raiders likely learned last season from Tennessee.
The Wildcats held off the Blue Raiders, 20-14, last Saturday, despite a coaching blunder by Brooks that nearly allowed Middle Tennessee to win the game. But Brooks said his (foolish) decision to attempt a field goal with 20 seconds left (it was blocked, setting up a Hail Mary by the Blue Raiders) had nothing to do with the game being close. Instead, it had to do the stealing of signals.
"They were either getting them from the field or the press box," Brooks said. "They might have gotten some help from Tennessee. Tennessee had them last year."
Tennessee defeated Kentucky, 52-50, in four overtimes last Nov. 24. During that game, towels were placed around members of the Kentucky staff in order to cover up signals.
Middle Tennessee coach Rick Stockstill says his team is innocent.
"We didn't steal his signals. We didn't even try," he said. "They won the game. They beat us, fair and square. We didn’t steal any signals and didn’t try to steal any signals. I wish we could've stolen a signal. Maybe we could've been able to beat them, but no, we didn’t."
He added: "We didn’t call Tennessee and talk to them, and [Kentucky] changed so much from last year to this year that we didn’t call Tennessee and ask them for any advice on what they were doing."
Is Brooks paranoid? Perhaps. If he is, there's an easy solution to this. Use the offseason to change your signals.
If you missed the finish of the Middle Tennessee State-Kentucky game, here it is. This brings back memories of the Wildcats' loss to Louisiana State in 2002 on a tipped pass. Why Kentucky's Rich Brooks was attempting a field goal with 20 seconds remaining has us dumbfounded. It was blocked, of course, setting up the dramatic final play.
