There were no tickets to be found for Saturday’s UK/FL match-up and believe me I tried!! 71,024 fans filled Commonwealth Stadium to watch the Kentucky WildCats lose a heartbreaker to the Florida Gators 45-37. The Cats never quit, they have no quit in them. I continued to believe we would win the game until the Gators scored with 1:33 left on the clock bringing the score to 45-31. This game broke an 8-game home winning streak for UK.  Even after losing, Kentucky should be seen as valid adversaries.  After last week’s battle against LSU, the WildCats could have folded and fallen flat on their faces. We lost the game but we certainly didn’t fall flat on our faces. Although I am brokenhearted, I am extremely proud of my team.

Here are a few tidbits from the game;

* This made Florida’s 21st straight win over Kentucky. They are 16-10 in Lexington.

* On 3rd down conversions Florida was 7 out of 11.

* First half the Cats had the football longer and out-gained the Gators but did not outscore them.

* Kentucky gained 512 total yards. This was the most against Florida so far this season. For the game the WildCats had 512 total yards to Florida’s 427.

* Andre Woodson was 35 of 50 for 415 yards and tied his career high with five touchdowns. His pass efficiency rating was 172.7. He has thrown for at least 2 TDs in 9 straight games.

* Florida's Tim Tebow was 18 of 26 for 256 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions. His pass efficiency rating was 202.71.

* Jacob Tamme became the 10th player in Kentucky history to have 100 career catches.

* Lyons’ 3 touchdowns was a career high for him.

* Injuries or sickness for the Cats - Keenan Burton suffered a strained knee in the second quarter, but returned. Tony Dixon left the game with a sprained ankle. Linebacker Johnny Williams could not finish the game because of an injured foot. Tamme has been bothered by turf toe, and suffered a bruised shin. Jason Leger did not finish the game because of a bout with the flu.

* Urban Myer on the Cats: "We made a couple of comments throughout the week that we saw this Kentucky team a couple of years ago. Rich (Brooks) is a very good friend of mine and that's one of the best-coached teams. Obviously, that offensive personnel is greatly improved as well as the entire team personnel, so we saw that coming two years ago when we played them here. That was a big win against a quality football team, a very quality football team."

Here is what the SEC East standings look like now:

South Carolina  3-2

Georgia  3-2

Florida  3-2

Kentucky  2-2

Tennessee  2-2

Vanderbilt  2-3

The Kentucky WildCats have no time to pause and lick their wounds. They must prepare for Mississippi State this Saturday. The much needed rest will come the following weekend and UK will need it for the upcoming back-to-back road games at Vanderbilt and Georgia. Then comes the season finale with big-time rival Tennessee. GO BIG BLUE!

On this HE SAID SHE SAID, we have decided to write a fictional conversation between the two of us concerning THE game on Sat. Of course I am talking about the Kentucky WildCats vs the Florida Gators. You, the reader, must decide if SHE SAID is closer to the truth or if HE SAID is more believable. This should really be fun! Hope you are ready!! 

My Mother decided she wanted her attic emptied so guess who was called upon to assist her? Yep, her only daughter, ME! It was 8A.M. when I arrived home from taking my daughter to school. I walked to Mom’s house and worked until approximately 5P.M. I returned to my house tired, dirty and hungry! 

I felt better after a long hot shower and thought I should check my caller I.D. before eating. One number appeared time after time after time! “OH NO!” It was Rev. As I dialed his number, I wondered if I had the energy for this call. You will understand why once you read the transcript of the dialog. I dial the dumber but before it could even ring, Rev Answers… 

REV – “Hey! What’s up?” (breathing kind of heavy.) 

BGL – “Hi, Dear. I saw where you had called several times and thought I better call you back!”  (laughing.) 

REV – “Sorry about stalking you…he he he. What do you want to do with HE SAID SHE SAID this week?”

BGL – “With the game between Kentucky and Florida coming up, I think we should do something on that. Don’t you?”

REV – “What will you be wearing?” (again, breathing kind of heavy.)

BGL – “REV!” (trying to ignore the statement I go on) “Last week we switched roles but it was obvious my heart wasn’t into it. So, let’s switch back this week. What do you think?” 

REV – “Do you have different sundresses? Are you wearing one right now?”  

BGL – “REV! Try to focus! Did you see the AP poll? That #### from ESPN, Craig James voted Kentucky 24th! Oh well, he played for SMU and that is in Texas…need I say more?” (laughing) “We could do a poll of our own for HSSS. We couldn’t do any worse than this guy!”

REV – “That sounds good! Do you want to be on top or the bottom?” (yep, you guessed it, heavy breathing)

BGL – “For now I would rank FL just above the Cats but after we beat you my Cats should move ahead of both the Gators and Tigers!”

REV – (cannot repeat)

BGL – “Remember, this is for HSSS? Kentucky leads the SEC in scoring at 42.7 points per game and total offense at 460.0 yards per game. Even so, did you know that the Gators are picked to win by a touch down?”

REV – “Yeah, I saw that. Know what else I saw?”

BGL – “What’s that?”

REV – “A cute little blue and white sundress! I thought about you when I saw it. I bet you have one don’t you? Being a WildCat!”

BGL – “Rev, what is it with you and sundresses?”

REV – “Why don’t you go put it on?”

BGL – “Now!?”

REV – “Yes, I’ll wait on the line!” (gasping for breath)

BGL – “Alright, hold on.”

At this point I laid the phone down. I had to eat, wash the dishes and do some laundry. Once this was done my daughter yelled at me to come watch “Wild Hogs” with her. We really enjoyed the movie and the couple hours of rest! I got ready for bed and decided to check my email real quick. That’s when I saw the phone laying beside my PC. OMG!! I forgot about Rev!!

BGL- “Rev? Are you still there?”

REV – “Do you have it on? (scary breathing)

BGL – “Good night Sweetie…love ya!”

REV – “I’ll admit Kentucky will beat Florida!!”

BGL – “You will?”

REV – “Sure!! Tebow is a wimp anyways! Everyone knows The WildCats are going to win. You guys have Woodson and you beat LSU, we couldn’t do that! So... are you wearing it?”

BGL – “Okay Rev. Yes, I have it on.”  (   ;) I lied  )

REV – “I’ll write it now! UK by 6.”

BGL – “Nite nite, Rev.”

REV – “WAIT! Can I use your avatar this time?”

CLICK…

Now it is up to you. Read HE SAID and make your decision. Whose conversation would be closer to reality? PLEASE leave your answers on both blogs so Rev can get the tally correct this time! Hope you all had as much fun as I did!!

He Said: Florida Invades Lexington With A Single Phone Call

My how the tide has changed in Florida!! Billy Donovan leaves Gator-Land for greener pastures and by “greener” I do mean “GREENER!” to the tone of 27.5 million dollars for a five year contract. According to ESPN, Billy the Kid will hold a press conference tomorrow, 6-1-07, at 11 A.M. to announce his intention of moving to the pros as head coach of the Orlando Magic. On May 23rd, Orlando fired Brian Hill after 2 losing seasons and this year’s first round sweep in the playoffs.

Gator fans were practically crowing when Donovan turned down Kentucky to stay in Florida. With 2 back-to-back National Championships under his belt and 2 McDonald All Americans heading his way next year, it looked like FL would begin a new tradition. However, when the Orlando waved their Magic wand, Donovan found their offer too sweet to turn down. Apparently the location played a role in his decision as well. (sure Billy!!) The ESPN source reports former Florida assistant, Anthony Grant will take over the head-less program. Grant, if you remember, led VCU to the second round of the NCAA tournament beating Duke along the way.

"Billy Donovan has been here 11 years and has won two national championships," Florida president Dr. J. Bernard Machen told ESPN.com's Mark Schlabach. "We'll always love Billy Donovan, whether he was here 11 years or 21 years. I don't think the University of Florida has to worry about who their next coach is." It had been reported Donovan would remain at Florida and was negotiating a 7-year extension which would pay him around $3 million in the first year rising to $3.75 by 2013-2014. This was presented to Billy May 17th but by the 25th the contract was yet to be signed.

It will be interesting to see if 6’5” shooting guard Nick Calathes and 5’10” point guard Jai Lucas will honor their intentions to wear the orange and blue seeing that Billy’s favorite color is now GREEN!! Let's hope he hasn't made the same mistake Pitino made!