Jones does it all as Cats beat ETSU, 88-65.

It's been awhile since I've last posted, and a lot has happened.

• UK won their two exhibition games easily as expected
• This Wednesday, Marquis Teague, Michael Gilchrist, and Kyle Wiltjer all signed their national letter of intents to play for the Cats on the first day of the signing period.
• On Thursday, there was bad news. Enes wasn't freed, and was declared permanently ineligible by the NCAA for receiving $33,000 more than "necessary expenses".
• This afternoon, we have found out that $20,000 of that was used for education, which could be a major implication in the appeal process later this month, leaving only $13,000 to be re-paid or accounted for.
• And tonight, without Enes Kanter, the Cats took care of business and beat ETSU 88-65.
  

East Tennessee State isn't one of the best teams the Cats will play this year, but they were a veteran team that made the NCAA Tournament a year ago and a major upgrade in talent from Pikeville, Dillard, and the Canadian teams that they have played this summer. They were a very good test for a young team in their opening game. I expected the young Cats to fall behind early in this one, but eventually come back to win rather easily. I thought the new guys would be overwhelmed by the difference in talent compared to what they've faced in the preseason. I expected a similar sloppy performance as what we were accustomed to early on last season with a young team. I was wrong.

It was an all around excellent opener, and I must say, they're ahead of where they were a year ago. They're also a much better shooting team than a year ago as they shot 50%, 13 of 26, from the field. Brandon Knight made 4 0f 7 from behind the arc, Doron Lamb made 3 of 5, DeAndre Liggins and Darius Miller each made three, and even big man Terrence Jones, the star of the game, made 2 out of 3 three point attempts. It's safe to say that this team probably won't shoot like this every game, but they probably won't ever go 0-25 from 3 ever again, either. Jones finished with 25 points, 12 rebounds, 2 blocks, and 3 steals. There didn't seem to be anything that he couldn't do. The other scoring leaders for the Cats were Lamb (20), Knight (17), and Liggins (14).

Darius Miller also had 8 points and Josh Harrelson played well in limited playing time. Harrelson started the game and grabbed the first rebound and scored the first basket for the Cats but was called for 2 quick fouls which put him on the bench the rest of the 2nd half (one of those fouls seemed questionable). Harrelson also picked up a third foul early in the 2nd half and finished with 2 points and 7 rebounds in just 16 minutes to play. With the absence of Kanter and Harrelson on the bench, Eloy Vargas had to fill the void but was unable to get into the scoring books. It didn't really matter because Terrence Jones did just about everything, inside and out. Jon Hood, who came off a 17 point performance in the previous exhibition game, only got into the game for 6 minutes and scored 2 points.

With or without Enes Kanter, this is going to be a very good team. It's not life or death on this decision. He'd be a huge addition, but they've been preparing all off season to play without him and they will be just fine without him. Kentucky fans need to have perspective. Remember Billy Ball? This team will be, at worst, the 2nd best team we've had in 5 years. Then, next year, we'll be even better and perhaps even better than last year. I don't expect this team to accomplish everything that happened a year ago; but they are a better shooting team, they are playing better early on than they did last year, and I do believe they could go further into the tournament. "Enjoy the path", as Calipari says, it's going to be another great year!

The Cats take the football field tomorrow in a must win game against Vanderbilt. Bowl eligibilty and momentum going into Knoxville are on the line. It's been reported that, finally, Derrick Locke will play.

(Photo Courtesy of UKathletics.com)

Cats fumble away opportunity, again.

It was another impressive night from a numbers perspective for Mike Hartline and the Kentucky passing offense. The running game looks to have a solid future but certainly missed not having Derrick Locke. The defense also was not great, but at the end of the day- all Kentucky had to do was hold on to the football and they would have likely escaped with another victory and stay in the SEC East race. For the second time this year, they simply gave away a victory. You simply can't expect to turn the ball over and give up a short field in the SEC. Good teams take advantage of that and even mediocre SEC teams will usually not let you get away with it. First at Ole Miss, and now at home against Georgia...if the Cats had not fumbled themselves out of these two games, they'd be atop the SEC East standings with a 6-2 overall record and a 3-2 conference record.

Once again, an opportunity to make that next step forward in the SEC ended in disappointment. Things don't get any easier next week in Starkville, either. Dan Mullen's 6-2 Bulldogs are for real. They've already knocked off Georgia and Florida and they have a major New Year's Day Bowl within their grasp. The Cats can still position themselves for bowl season nicely with winning these last three games(and honestly, who would be disappointed with ending the season with a win in Knoxville?). But hopefully the Cats bounce back resiliently again this week and play spoiler to the great season MSU is having in a similar way that the Bulldogs did to the Cats in 2007.

And good news...Tuesday night is the Blue/White basketball scrimmage! Cheer up, Kentucky! Thanks to allkyhoops.com for this photo of Wall and Bledsoe going at it in last year's scrimmage.

Missed Opportunity

Kentucky had a chance to bring their program up to the next level on Saturday in the Swamp. They failed; but clearly, all is not lost in the 2010 season. The Cats are still 3-1 and have a very favorable remaining schedule which appears to give them an opportunity to still be a major factor in the SEC East. It was a very big weekend all around the SEC. A couple of outcomes should give Kentucky fans reasons to still be optimistic.

Division contender South Carolina lost to Auburn, Georgia fell to 0-3 in the league, and it took double overtime for Tennessee to defeat UAB. Ole Miss, however, looked impressive in a relatively easy win over Fresno State. A win next week at Ole Miss is crucial to get things going in the right direction again for the Cats. It's a game that Kentucky may be favored to win, but Ole Miss seemingly is getting their act together based on Saturday's performance, and won't be an easy win on the road.

If the Cats can take care of business, it puts them in a position to still compete in the East. Remember, South Carolina has a conference loss and games remaining with Alabama and LSU. Florida still has games with South Carolina, Alabama, and Arkansas. The winner of this division could lose 3 conference games. Finishing first would be a long shot, but finishing 2nd remains a distinct possibility which would come along with it a trip to a warm weather New Years' bowl game.

There's plenty of negatives to take out of Saturday's loss to Florida, but they can pretty much be summed up by penalties and turnovers that we knew couldn't happen if the Cats wanted to stand a chance. Limiting mistakes was an area that the Cats had excelled at previously but the Gators were hungry and ready to prove their doubters wrong. It's also perplexing why Randall Cobb was not utilized in different formations like we expected him to be. Kentucky's star player did not touch the ball enough times for UK to stand a chance. With less talented overall players, UK needed to dig deep into the playbook and didn't. Florida, on the other hand, was not afraid to use Randall Cobb impersonator, Trey Burton, in the Wildcat offense as he scored 6 touchdowns (5 rushing and 1 receiving).

There were also some positives to take out of the game. Minus the two costly interceptions, Mike Hartline put up a respectable 242 yards in the air and a touchdown pass (he is still our best option at quarterback). Chris Mathews had 6 receptions for 114 yards and 2 touchdowns, while Randall Cobb caught 7 passes for 67 yards but only was given 2 rushing opportunities. Derrick Locke also gained 108 yards on the ground. The offense moved the ball well but turnovers and penalties cost them and opened up the game for the Gators. It should be noted that the game was within reach until later in the 3rd quarter. Had Hartline not been picked off for a touchdown on the other end which could have essentially been a 14 point swing, things could have been very interesting going into the 4th quarter.

I know competing for 2.5 quarters was not the result that UK fans were looking for, but if you remember, the Cats didn't even compete for 1 quarter in the last 2 meetings with Florida. It's easy to go from bad to good, but it's a long process to go from good to great in the SEC. It takes more than just a few stud recruits to win big in year 1 on the football field, it is a numbers game and it takes time. South Carolina was mediocre for a long time under Steve Spurrier and is just now on the brink of becoming elite and it will probably take time for Joker as well. With a top 20 class coming in next season, Kentucky is still on the right track. There's a lot more football to be played this year and a lot on the line to still play for. I think this season still has the potential to be a great one, but either way, Cats fans need to be patient. This program is on the right track and our time is coming.

The only thing UK fans don't need to be patient about is beating Tennessee. That needs to happen this year and it SHOULD happen!

I still have faith in this season's team. But if you've already lost it, Midnight Madness tickets go on sale Saturday! Tents will be allowed to be set up as early as Wednesday.

Cats start slow, but Locke up another win.

(Photo Courtesy of Kentucky.com)

The clock was winding down to the end of the 1st quarter. UK had only a 3 point lead over Akron. It was 4th and 1, and an offsides penalty pushed back the Cats an extra 5 yards which set up a missed 51 yard field goal attempt by Craig McIntosh. Joker Phillps had seen enough. He called a timeout and gathered ALL 112 PLAYERS around a huddle and had a choice words for his Wildcats, scolding them for their lack of intensity and focus.

"We looked like we were sleepwalking during the warm-up," Phillips said. "I challenged them before the game to play with intensity, to play with excitement and to play with passion. I didn't see that out of us the first quarter. They will see next week that you can't relax. You play like that, like we did in this quarter next week, you'll be down two or three touchdowns."

Phillips was right on in his assessment. Even though the defensive starting unit only gave up 3 points the entire game, the UK secondary played poor. The corners and safeties got beat down the field too many times, there were too many penalties, and the offense was asleep until the 2nd quarter. If Akron had SEC-caliber receivers, ALL of those balls thrown down field would have been caught for touchdowns. The run defense, on the other hand, was fantastic after giving up a lot of yards on the ground the previous week against Western Kentucky. The Cats gave up only 67 yards on the ground to the Zipps. The kicking game also improved (but wasn't perfect) this week with McIntosh taking the FG and PAT duties and freshman Joe Mansour kicked off 9 times to the Zipps, with 5 of them going into the end zone for a touchback.

The offense woke up after Phillips' 1st quarter "pow-wow" and was led by another great performance by Mike Hartline and a career day by Derrick Locke. Locke had 166 yards on the ground with 2 touchdowns and reached the 2,000 yard career milestone. Hartline was 21-for-29 passing for 250 yards and 0 interceptions. Not only has Hartline not thrown an interception this season, but the entire UK offense has yet to turn the ball over. This is something that MUST continue going into SEC play. They must continue to take care of the football and they will also need to limit penalties next week if the Cats want to have a chance of winning in the Swamp.

Another thing the Cats may need is a lot more of Randall Cobb next week. Last night Cobb had a "quiet" 5 receptions for 43 yards and a touchdown. He only lined up in the Wildcat offense one time on a 4th and short conversion and he left the game after experiencing "heartburn problems" after receiving an IV at halftime. Phillips said Cobb could have returned if necessary. "By the time they had checked him out and cleared him we had just scored, and we just thought we'd keep him out the rest of the game," Phillips said.

As the Cats continued to roll towards a 47-10 rout of Akron, it became evident that this team has depth at all the key offensive positions unlike any UK team in recent history. Donald Russell and Raymond Sanders both ran the ball very well once again when the reserves came into the game. Even 4th string tailback CoShik Williams scored on a 16 yard touchdown run. Derrick Locke is unquestionably the Cats' primary running back, but look for some of the younger guys to get a few carries in a similar way that Locke did as a freshman in 2007 when he backed up Rafael Little. The Cats didn't really miss a beat at all going from the starters to the younger reserves, which is a testament to the solid foundation that was laid by Rich Brooks and the rest of the UK staff.

Speaking of 2007, the Cats came up short in a 48-40 shootout between Andre Woodson and Tim Tebow that season in Lexington. The Cats look to have the same kind of offensive firepower that they had in 2007 but Florida clearly does not in the post Tim Tebow-era. It will be a matchup of a great Kentucky offense and a great Florida defense. If UK can limit their penalties and continue to play turnover-free, the offense can score enough points to keep it close in Gainesville. In order to win the game, Kentucky's defense will have to step up and make new quarterback John Brantley beat them. They must stop the run and force the inexperienced Brantley to win this game. If the Cats can do that, I like their chances.

Four in a Row

Admittedly, while in St. Louis I was watching two different games on two different screens Saturday afternoon. I watched the Reds beat the Cardinals on one screen and Kentucky roll to a 4th straight win over Louisville on the other. I was extremely impressed with the Cats first half performance in nearly every facet of the game. Cobb was unstoppable in whatever he did, Locke ran through holes pretty easily, Hartline was surprisingly very solid with his feet and his arm, and the depth of the wide receivers looks to be the best group we've seen since the 2007 group led by Keenan Burton and Stevie Johnson.

After week 1, here's what Cat fans can feel good and bad about looking forward a few weeks ahead and into SEC play.

The Good

• First half aggressive play calling that fully utilized the abilities of Randall Cobb and Derrick Locke.
• Depth at the WR position. We knew Chris Matthews was pretty good, but La'rod King and Matt Roark stepped up big. Two years ago, Randall Cobb was the only capable receiver on the field. Now, the Cats have 4 capable receivers as well as a couple of RB's that catch and run well with Locke and newcomer Donald Russell.
• The play of Mike Hartline. He was 17-26 for over 200 yards and 0 interceptions. He started the game red-hot, completeing 9 of his first 10 passes.
• Florida, Ole Miss, and other SEC teams on the Cats' schedule played very poor in Week 1, and you HAVE to feel much better about the Cats' chances of competing in the East. No team that Kentucky plays this season looked unbeatable in week 1.

The Bad

• The 2nd half conservative play calling kept UofL in the game. UK had the chance to blow the Cards out, but instead they went back to a "managing the game" type of offense for Mike Hartline. Randall Cobb was not involved in the offense until later in the game when the Cats needed a first down to clinch the win. Until teams find a way to stop Cobb, keep calling his number.

The Ugly

• Kicker Ryan Tydlacka cost the Cats' 4 points on a missed chip shot FG and a missed extra point. Against a good SEC team, that could cost us the game. The kicking game must be more effective for the Cats to make that next step up to a run at an SEC Eastern Division Title.

But all around, Joker's debut as head coach was a great day and the Cats showed a lot of potential in the 1st half. They certainly look a lot better than they did a year ago when they faced the Cards. With the rest of the conference appearing to be a bit down, this could be the year for the Cats to win 9 or 10 games.

QB Race: too close to call after Spring Game

Senior QB Mike Hartline started out shaky with an interception in his opening drive, but settled down and finished throwing for 124 yards and a touchdown in today's Blue/White Scrimmage. In an offense vs. defense scrimmage, the Cats' offensive unit rotated all three competing quarterbacks in each drive. Hartline started the game in the first drive, then Redshirt Freshman Ryan Mossakowski followed him and immediately impressed with his arm and his legs, and then Sophomore Morgan Newton came in for the third offensive drive. The Cats kept this 3 man rotation throughout the entire scrimmage, and all three quarterbacks impressed.

Newton started off quiet, but showed flashes of brilliance towards the end as he completed the longest pass of the day (41 yards) to Senior Wide Receiver, Chris Matthews, and also eluded two rushing defensive lineman in the same drive before completing a 19 yard strike to another Senior WR, Gene McCaskill. The UK Defensive Line pressured the Quarterbacks all day long, but all three of them did a good job moving around under pressure and finding open receivers. Newton and Mossakowski each also made big gains on the ground, but the running game today belonged to Sophomore TB Donald Russell, from West Palm Beach, FL.

After today's performance (9 carries for 118 yards and 2 touchdowns, including a 65 yard run), Russell looks to be the Cats' secondary tailback behind Senior, Derrick Locke, whom did not see much action today. Another star from last season who didn't get his name called much was Randall Cobb. Cobb played receiver and was thrown to a couple of times and made a couple of catches, but was not used in the Wildcat formation. Coach Phillips insisted that Cobb will be used often in the Wildcat next fall, but that there were other areas of the offense that needed more work today in the scrimmage and the three primary Quarterbacks needed more repetitions. As a Senior, Hartline appeared to be a very slight favorite for the Quarterback race at the beginning of Spring Practice, however, both Newton and Mossakowski closed ground on him this spring and the race is currently too close to call. Phillips sees this as a positive and believes that we can win with all three of them and that a stater would not be named until fall camp.

(Pictured above is UK President Lee Todd and Denver Broncos' LB and UK great, Wesley Woodyard checking out the UK Spring Game)

A reflection on the possible ending of the Rich Brooks era

The Cats came up short Sunday night as they were defeated by the Clemson Tigers and All-American Running Back, CJ Spiller, 21-13 at a frigid LP Field in Nashville. The three straight bowl win-streak has come to an end, as well as the nation's longest non-conference winning streak. The game started out great for the Cats as they seemed to control most of the first half in time of possession, 1st downs, and yardage. They were also doing a very good job of slowing down Spiller. However, the Cats' offense could only come up with 10 points in the first half, despite moving the ball into Clemson territory in six of their first seven possessions.

In a disappointing loss which could have been the last game of the Rich Brooks era, it should be noted that Clemson should have been placed in a bigger bowl and was a heavy favorite by most experts. If Bobby Bowden didn't get his wish to play in the Gator Bowl for his last game, UK would have played a weaker FSU team instead of Spiller and the Tigers, and probably would have won their fourth straight bowl game. It wasn't fair for Clemson to have hopes of going to an Orange Bowl and lose a competitive game with Georgia Tech to fall all the way down to the Music City Bowl. It also wasn't fair that Coach Brooks didn't get the same special treatment as Bowden with an Outback or Peach Bowl in what could have been his last game. After the game, Coach Brooks said there's about an 80% chance that he will not return but will take some time (as early as 4 or 5 days, but no longer than a week) to reflect with his family before making a decision.

This was a game the Cats could have won and the opportunities to win were certainly there, but I think it's safe to say that the better team won and there is not much shame in losing to a team with possibly the best running back in the country that just missed an Orange Bowl appearance. With the news that Rich Brooks was likely leaving we also heard the news that Derrick Locke is likely returning along with the rest of the Cats' offensive weapons. The team has also found a sense of direction with the Quarterback situation, which is a very positive result of this season. There seems to be no more Quarterback controversy, and Morgan Newton has established himself as the guy while getting some very valuable experience. A seven win season with the invaluable experience that Newton has had this year as a true freshman quarterback, in my mind, is more satisfying than an eight win bowl victory with Hartline still playing under center. Hartline is not our future, and it's good to see that the Cats made a step forward with some progress towards the immediate future this season with Newton at Quarterback.

Hopefully, the young Cats will take this loss and use it as motivation for next season. Maybe, instead of celebrating another 8 win season and mid-level bowl victory, it's best that the Cats think about this loss as they go through off season workouts. Maybe, with this loss in their minds, and the returning talent that we have coming back, this loss will motivate us to reach above and beyond a seven or eight win season next year. Hopefully, our eyes will be on a prize much bigger next season. With the uncertainly of the Florida program, the SEC East is very much up for grabs for anyone to take. I hope that Coach Brooks will be around for what could be a very special season, but I also understand that the timing might be right for Joker to take over. I'm confident that Coach Brooks will unselfishly make the right decision for Kentucky Football, and not for himself, because that is the type of man that he is. We will keep you updated this week on the status of Coach Brooks and whether or not Joker Phillips will be taking over the program in 2010.

The Cats face Hartford on the hardwood tomorrow night in Rupp, and I heard there's a pretty big game coming up on Saturday too. Look no further than WildcatWrap.com for coverage of the football coaching situation and this kinda big basketball game on Saturday.

P.S. Either myself or IT Director, Christian Cox (or maybe both of us), will be providing a write up in the coming days of our experience in Nashville along with pictures from the trip.

Congratulations Coach Brooks: SEC Coach of the Year!

Despite having the least amount of returning starters from 2008 in the entire conference, an unexpected loss of All-SEC Defensive End Jeremy Jarmon, only three healthy games from All-American CB Trevard Lindlay, both starting cornerbacks injured and unable to play against South Carolina, and then Mike Hartline getting knocked out of that same game in Columbia after a stellar first half against the Gamecocks, the Cats' season looked to be spiraling out of control loss after loss and injury after injury. And I haven't even mentioned the injuries of Randall Cobb, Derrick Locke, and Micah Johnson which sidelined each player for at least one game.

True Freshman third string Quarterback, Morgan Newton, was literally thrown out to the wolves when he made his first career start and first ever college appearance on the road at Auburn. Somehow, someway....the Cats left with a win, and continued to finish 5-2 with a true Freshman third string Quarterback. Michigan was 5-7 with a true freshman quarterback, Southern Cal was 8-4, and Kentucky played a tougher schedule than each of those teams and faced more injuries, but managed to be 5-2 with road wins over Auburn and Georgia, despite starting a third sting Freshman Quarterback and numerous other injuries throughout the season.

The above reasons make Rich Brooks the obvious choice for every SEC coach of the year award. Today, he was awarded the honor by Collegefootballnews.com, who also placed Derrick Locke on the 1st Team All-SEC team as a return man. Look for Coach Brooks to be in the running for his second career National Coach of the Year Award next season, if he is successfully able to replace his offensive line and his playmakers stay healthy. Those two things could mean ten or more wins for the Cats next year.

Even though Hartline could be healthy by the time the Cats face Clemson in the Music City Bowl on December 27th, Coach Brooks as well as Joker Phillips have indicated that Newton will most likely be the guy and stay the starting quarterback going into next season. Newton should emerge as a star playing with Sophomore sensation, Randall Cobb, in the next two seasons.

UK Basketball Notes:

• The UK WOMEN'S hoops' team is also undefeated with a 9-0 record and hosts defending national runner-up Louisville at Memorial Coliseum on Sunday.

• Seth Davis has picked the Cats to be the last team to stay undefeated this year. He says they will stay unbeaten at 19-0 before getting upset in Columbia to South Carolina.
  
• Wildcat legend Jamaal Mashburn will be broadcasting the 2,000th win on ESPN U with Jimmy Dykes


• UK Athletics has announced that they WILL continue to sell eRUPPtion Zone tickets to the general public while the students are away on Christmas Break for only $5. Classy move by UK Athletics- they could make so much more money for those tickets if they wanted to.


• The tickets will be sold an hour and a half before gametime for all games during the break except, of course, the Louisville game. Something tells me there will be another campout for the 2,000 win game against Drexel (I wish work didn't prevent me from having much of a chance to get out there early enough to get tickets).

Last but not least, it's time to start to get into the holiday spirit!

Oh....... the weather outside is frightful, But the Cats are so delightful. And the Louisville fans should know. 10-O, 10-O, 10-O They’re showing no sign of stopping. Two thousand wins we’ll soon be topping. While beating every top-10 foe, 10-O, 10-O, 10-O The Louisville season is... dying, and their fans will...... allll start crying. But the record of the CATS, although, 10-O, 10-O, 10-O!

KENTUCKY 34, GEORGIA 27

Need I say more? Scoreboard says it all...what a day!

(Courtesy of Kentucky.com)

What a Weekend for the Big Blue...and oh yeah, WHO DEY!

FRIDAY: KENTUCKY 75, MOREHEAD STATE 59

What a weekend it was for Kentucky sports fans. It all started on Friday night when the Calipari era officially began with a solid 16 point win against an NCAA tournament team that returned four starters and an NBA Draft prospect. They did it without John Wall, and once again, Eric Bledsoe played fantastic at the point and even made the #1 play on Sportscenter. Eric Bledsoe is about the best back-up point guard I've seen since Wayne Turner backed up Tony Delk in 1996. I can't wait to see these two guys play together for the first time tomorrow night against Miami University. If Bledsoe sticks around, this kid is going to be very special. He set a new record for the most points for a UK freshman in thier first game ever with 24 points. Kentucky basketball is back in every way imaginable.

Morehead had the talent to pull another Gardner Webb or VMI, but those days are over. This was a game the Cats could have lost in the past two years playing nervous and mentally stressed from the mind games and coaching tactics of their former coach. This year, you can sense that everyone is just having fun and playing loose, and letting their talent simply take over. They know that the pressure and expectations are as high as they possibly could be, but it's just not bothering them in any way. The expectations of having to win every game is not anything new to Calipari's teams. At Memphis, his teams were expected to win every conference game, and they did. They were circled on every team's calendar in Conference USA as the biggest game of the year. Things are obviously no different at Kentucky. And not once, after UofL, Cincinnati, Marquette, Depaul, and South Florida left the league, did Memphis ever get beat by an inferior team in the conference. Not even a solid UAB or Houston team ever walked away with a victory over Memphis during that stretch, even though those same two teams were good enough to beat a Kentucky team filled with 4 and 5 star recruits in 2007.

It was also great to see Patterson stepping up and scoring 20 points and grabbing 12 rebounds after struggling in two exhibition games. He must have seen that I picked Jarvis Varnardo over him in my 1st Team All-SEC selections. If true, I actually feel like I had an impact on his play for motivating Patrick to prove me wrong! You know when he recently said that KSR was his most visited website, he was actually probably confused and meant to say that it was Wildcat Wrap.

SATURDAY: KENTUCKY 24, VANDY 13

For the fourth straight year, Kentucky football will be playing in a bowl game. That statement has never been made in the history of this program until Saturday when the Cats reached bowl eligibility for the fourth straight year with a win at Commonwealth Stadium Southwest. There was a sea of blue in Nashville to watch the Cats make history against the Commodores. With a

couple of big but attainable wins over Georgia and Tennessee, the Cats could even be playing in a very large and meaningful bowl game. If they're able to win one of the last two, the Peach Bowl is a likely destination on New Years Eve for the Cats in Atlanta. If they win both, it's possible that they could be packing their bags for Tampa for the Outback Bowl against Penn State or Iowa. To even be in this position is impressive with everything that this team has gone through. They went through a brutal 3 week stretch early on against Florida, Alabama, and South Carolina and came out of the first five games with a 2-3 record.

They had one of the worst quarters you could ever imagine against Florida, but they battled back to make it a respectable final outcome. The next week, there were more than a few questionable calls that went in Alabama's favor that if not made, would have been a totally different game. The week after that, the Cats' led almost the entire game and Mike Hartline was playing his best game of his career. Then, he got hurt and the Cats let one slip away in a devastating 2 point loss to South Carolina. Just as Hartline had finally solidified himself as "the guy", he gets hurt and the Cats are forced to switch to a three quarterback rotation. Amazingly, the three headed quarterback of true freshman Morgan Newton, Will Fidler, and Randall Cobb each had a rushing touchdown and shocked a 5-1 Auburn team on the road. Morgan Newton would eventually emerge as the primary quarterback as a true freshman and has struggled at times like a true freshman in the SEC should struggle (remember when Matthew Stafford lost to UK and Vandy as a true freshman in 2006?).

But, in the end, Newton has won 2 out of 3 SEC games with the help of Randall Cobb doing just about everything except kicking field goals. Cobb and Derrick Locke combined for 144 rushing yards after the duo both sat out last week's game against EKU. Locke even completed a pass for a gain of 41 yards to Morgan Newton who was lined up as a receiver while Cobb was under center. Cobb made a reverse handoff to Locke, and then Locke found Newton wide open down field. On the very next play, Cobb was in the "Wildcobb" formation again and ran it 21 yards into the endzone to give the Cats a 7-0 lead. Plays like these are ones that need to be called more often from Joker Phillips for the next two years with Randall Cobb. If he's utilized to his full potential, he will emerge as college football's best player by his senior year.

Along with the heroics of Randall Cobb and Derrick Locke, Newton has stepped up when his number was called as a freshman quarterback and put UK in a position to possibly play in a very big bowl game. With the announcement that Hartline will have season ending surgery, Newton has the chance to do something that hasn't been done in Lexington in a very long time: beat Tennessee.

"It is a huge step and you can't downplay that in my mind because it's never happened," UK coach Rich Brooks said about reaching a fourth straight bowl game. "But at the same token we're not happy with where we are at this stage. We had a close one get away at South Carolina and we didn't play as well as we're capable against Mississippi State. We'd be looking a lot better right now if we had won one of those. Those were very tough losses but I'm proud of how the team has bounced back. Now we just want to climb the ladder a little higher."

Beating Georgia and Tennessee to cap off the regular season would certainly help the Cats climb up that SEC ladder that Coach Brooks keeps on talking about. In a few years, when Newton is a junior and Randall Cobb is a senior, hopefully the tandem will take this program to the unimaginable next level: the BCS.

"It's significant. We won't be satisfied with a 6-6 finish but we've taken one step from the bottom of the SEC to the middle of the pack and now we've got to build toward the top," senior defensive tackle Corey Peters said.

SUNDAY: BENGALS 18, STEELERS 12

(Photo courtesy of Cincinnati.com)

Last but certainly not least, I absolutely have to give a shout out to WHO DEY NATION! The Bengals completed the sweep today against the defending Super Bowl Champs, and it is in no way delusional now to start talking about the Lombardi trophy coming to Cincinnati. With games coming up against Oakland, Cleveland, and Detroit...the Bengals could be looking at a 10-2 record. Yes, 10-2, (could be 11-1 if not for the immaculate deflection in week 1 against Denver). They could also complete an undefeated season in the AFC North with a win against Cleveland. Then, if they're able to knock off Brett Favre and the Vikings, the Bengals could seriously win out.

Wildcat Wrap x2, featuring John Wall's debut and a nice win in Commonwealth.

In the exhibition opener against Campbellsville, the Cats put together a dazzling first half performance but looked tired and sluggish in the 2nd half. This week, Coach Calipari addressed the conditioning issue with two-a-day practices beginning at 6:15am each day. It apparently worked after the Cats put together two fantastic halves of basketball in a 65 point win over Coach Cal's Alma Mater, Clarion. John Wall made his debut with an unselfish 27 points, 4 rebounds, and 9 assists. Wall could have scored a lot more if he wanted to, but he's a team player and his presence made everyone play better and that is why he's a favorite to win National Player of the Year as a freshman. Demarcus Cousins added 20 points, as he and Wall combined for 47 of the team's 117 total points.

Eric Bledsoe sat out for precautionary reasons after a minor ankle injury that occurred against Campbellsville. With Wall ineligible for the regular season opener against Morehead State, the Cats didn't want to risk anything with Bledsoe. As good as this team looks right now, we still haven't even seen our two best guards playing together and that will be quite a treat to watch in the second regular season game against Miami (Oh). Daniel Orton also left the game early with chest pains, but is listed as day-to-day.

The only other player who did not see action was DeAndre Liggins, who also didn't play against Campbellsville. One of the top point guards in the country from the class of 2008, Liggins started a significant number of games for the Cats last season and led them with 18 points in a loss to Miami (FL), but the guard seems to be in Coach Calipari's doghouse. Liggins, Stevenson, Harrelson, and Harris all started a lot of games last season and are having to earn their minutes this season. Everyone except Liggins have made the most of their opportunities and Stevenson has gotten back into the regular rotation of substitutes. Mark Krebs has also impressed in the limited time that he has seen.

We may not see another 65 point win this season, but with the incredible depth of this team it's safe to say that there will be many 30, 40, and even some 50 point wins against decent competition. Just think about this: four of our so called "mop up" players started games for us last season. Teams better start off well against Kentucky this year or it could be a very long day for them as very experienced former starters will come in later in the game and not make things any easier for them at all.

Not much can be said during exhibition play, but I will say this....this team's best player (John Wall) is better than anyone on the 1996 team, arguably the best college basketball team ever assembled. This team also has much more depth at the bottom of the roster than the 1996 team did. If this team wants to win a National Championship and be compared to the 1996 team, it all depends on how all the role players develop.

Who will become this year's Mark Pope? We know Wall, Cousins, and Patterson are going to be great just like Walker, McCarty and Delk were. We also know we're solid all the way down the roster. Mark Krebs is a lot better than Steve Massielo and a few others on that team. But it will be the guys that average 10-15 minutes a game that will make the difference. Guys like Jon Hood, Darnell Dodson, Josh Harrlelson, Daniel Orton, Darius Miller and Ramon Harris will determine where this team will stand in history. Those guys all have a long ways to go, but if they can contribute in a way like Mark Pope, Jeff Sheppard, and Anthony Epps did, than this team could go in the history books as one of the best. Unfortunately, the one thing that most of those guys lack is experience, which could be the difference of these 2 teams. But as Coach Cal says, "I'll take talent over experience any day of the week". At least when you're talking about this kind of talent, I think he might be right.

We've talked about the Cats' performance against John Calipari's alma mater, now lets talk about the football Cats and their performance over MY alma mater, Eastern Kentucky University.

WILDCAT WRAP

UK VS. EKU

Throughout the first half, it looked like the Colonels were about to put another scare on a Division 1 FBS team for the second time this season. With three minutes left in the 1st half, they only trailed the Cats by a score of 10-6. The Cats didn't come out as mad as I thought they would after losing to Mississippi State. They did march down the field in their first possession but then turned it over on downs when Coach Brooks elected to go for it on 4th and 1 in the EKU redzone. It also should be noted that they were without their two best players on offense, Randall Cobb and Derrick Locke, who usually account for about 90% of the Cats' total offense. The Colonels played with a lot of heart and passion, and at least in the first half, seemed to have wanted this game a lot more than some of the lackadaisical Wildcats.

However, the Wildcats came to play in the second half and wore down on the Colonels as the game went on. True Freshman QB Morgan Newton ended the day with 20 completed passes in 29 attempts for 187 yards, two touchdowns, and zero interceptions. Newton threw his first career touchdown pass to tight end Maurice Grinter and later found Chris Matthews in the corner of the endzone. It was great to see Newton make some progress just before next week's SEC matchup with Vanderbilt. The future looks brighter than what some people may think, in my opinion. Mike Hartline is expected to possibly return and take over as the starting quarterback against Vandy. A win on Saturday in Nashville would make the Cats bowl eligible for the fourth straight year, with two games remaining with Georgia and Tennessee.

In the end, the game ended up exactly how I thought it would and how I hoped it would. EKU played tough and kept it close for a while in a pretty well played game by both teams. They showed a lot of heart and made me a very proud alum out there today. I honestly think Eastern might just be the 2nd best team in the state. I certainly think they would at least give UofL a very good game. If UK had committed the amount of turnovers that they did against UofL today, it could have been very close just as the UofL game ended up being. I also definately think Eastern looked better than two FBS schools on UK's schedule, Miami (Oh) and Louisiana Monroe. The Cats looked sluggish in the first half, but without their two best players on the field, ended up with a 37-12 victory and now find themselves one game away from bowl eligibility with three games remaining.