KERRI BROOKS: Kentucky is no fluke

I listened to sports talk radio shows on my 6 hour drive from Atlanta to Lexington Thursday. There was one common theme I kept hearing about our game against Florida Saturday; that we wouldn’t have enough time to recover from the battle against LSU to pull it together for Florida.

Station after station reiterated the same theme: the bruising LSU lands on a team is too tough to get over in a week’s time. Since Florida had two weeks to recuperate from their game against LSU, they would certainly have the edge. There was no way Kentucky would be able to get it together after such an intense long game.

Well, after having that pounded into my brain for the entire trip, the first question I posed to my father when we sat down for dinner was; “Has the team recovered from the game against LSU? Every one talks about the toll that playing a physical team like LSU takes on the team.”

My Dad had a smirk on his face and said “What are you talking about? I think the better question would be; have they recovered from us!”

Touche. I saw the game. You saw the game. Did any of these sports personalties that are experts on our team see the game?

I saw us pounding them play after play. I didn’t see our team taking too much of a beating. LSU is hands down, one of the most talented teams in college football history. However, I didn’t really see our team getting beat down, and beat up. Of course there was the very cheap punch thrown on Andre’ Woodson which should have resulted in the player (Tyson Jackson) being thrown out of the game, not just a personal foul. That was ridiculous.

Florida may very well have needed the two weeks to recover, but I think our Wildcats are going to be just fine this weekend.

With Rutgers knocking off South Florida this week, the stakes keep getting higher and higher for each and every game we face.

Kentucky needs help from other teams, like it would be great to see South Carolina get knocked off by Vanderbilt this weekend; but we do hold a large part of our destiny in our own hands.

HEY WORLD! The Kentucky Wildcats are not a fluke. Every time you have challenged us by saying we are not legitimate unless you beat this team or that team; we do it. We beat our biggest rival when they were ranked 8th in the nation. We knocked off NUMBER ONE last week. Our strength of schedule is much more difficult than a team like South Florida who was ranked number two! Kentucky is for real, and I for one would like to see us be given a little more credit when credit is due.

The arrival of Game Day this week is one step in the right direction, but the bigger step would be for some of the so called “Sports Know-it-Alls” around the nation to start recognizing the force that is: Kentucky football.

We believed in ourselves, and look what it has done. Now it is time for some others to step out of the dark and into the light.

We are certainly facing a formidable foe this weekend, but if we could handle a Heisman candidates like McFadden from Arkansas, and Brohm from Louisville, not allow any sacks from LSU’s top ranked defense, continued to win games without first stringers in all positions, and even gone to our fourth string in some cases (Oh how we love you Mr. Locke!) I think we can safely say that Kentucky football is a real football team deserving real respect.

This weekend should prove no different. This team is a tight knit group of GOOD GUYS, who keep digging deeper and deeper.

The fans played their role as 12th man in Comonwealth last weekend as good as any stadium in the country could have, and with everyone back in place this weekend, let’s continue to climb up the ladder of the BCS rankings. Let’s continue to prove to the nation that this Kentucky football team deserves more respect than they are getting. Most of all, lets enjoy one of the most unbelievable seasons in Kentucky football history. Oh wait, I always did believe it was possible.

BOOM!

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Editor's Note: Kerri Brooks, also known as "BrooksDaughter" on the KSR message boards, is Coach Rich Brooks' daughter. Kerri writes a special guest column for KSR during the football season, and can often be found interacting with the Kentucky Sports Report members on the football board and especially the premium message board. Come visit Kerri today!