The Next Step

We're less than 48 hours away until the Cats take the field in Gainesville in search for their first win over Florida in 23 years. Over the course of the last three or four seasons, Rich Brooks and Joker Phillips have both talked about taking that "next step" up the ladder of the SEC. This is that opportunity! Florida is beatable this year and the Cats are on the upswing. A win Saturday could be the biggest regular season win in the history of Kentucky football.

Yes, I'm aware that the Cats beat the #1 team in the country and eventual National Champion, LSU, just a few years ago. This win would be bigger because of the ramifications it would have on the advancement of this program as a national power under Joker Phillips. It's also bigger because the Cats have positioned themselves as an "upper-echelon SEC team", according to Florida head coach Urban Meyer. This win could propel them to the top of the SEC East standings and a legitimate chance at making it to Atlanta for the SEC Championship Game.

In comparison to the 2007 win over LSU, what is different this time around? Why would this win be able to catapult the Cats up to the top of the final SEC standings unlike in 2007?

Here are the circumstances of the 2007 win over LSU:

• The Cats went into that game off of a Thursday night loss at South Carolina. They already had an SEC loss under their belt going into that win.


• The Cats played Tim Tebow's Florida team the very next week after that LSU win. The Cats came out of that tough stretch with a 2-2 record in the SEC


• They still had tough games to play against a Top 10 Georgia program and a Tennessee team that was still pretty good.


• Kentucky lost heartbreakers by single digits to UF, UGA, and UT. They also suffered a lot of injuries going into the Mississippi State game and were upset by the Bulldogs.


• If things went their way here and then, UK could have won the East that year, but the SEC was incredibly tough. The Cats could have won just about any other league in the country fairly easily in 2007.

And here is where UK currently stands going into this Florida game:

• The Cats are 3-0. A win over a "down" Florida team could make them 4-0.
• The Cats then play Ole Miss after Florida, who has lost to Jacksonville State and Vanderbilt. A win over Florida likely means the Cats could start at least 5-0.
• Following Ole Miss, the Cats will host an Auburn team that they defeated on the road a year ago. Auburn is improved, but this is certainly a winnable game. The Cats could be 6-0 at this point.
• Perhaps the toughest game the rest of the year would be against South Carolina the week after Auburn. The Gamecocks, Gators, and Cats seem to be the biggest contenders for the SEC East Crown. But this competition is a far cry away from what the Cats stood up against in 2007.
• After South Carolina, UK will be favored in every game the rest of the season in a down SEC East.
• UK also benefits from uneven inter-division scheduling this season. UK avoids playing the top three teams from the SEC West. They don't play #1 Alabama, #10 Arkansas, or #15 LSU.
• After playing UK, Florida has consecutive games against Alabama and LSU. South Carolina plays both Alabama and Arkansas.

Above all, the biggest difference this season could be the attitude and winning culture that Joker has created with "Operation: Win". They expect to win every game and they aren't afraid of anyone. With a win, there should be EXTREMELY high expectations for where this season will end. And even with a loss to the Gators on Saturday, the Cats could still be in a position to win the division. With UF and USC each with a couple of very tough games on their SEC West slate, I think it's fair to say the winner of this division could lose at least 2 conference games. The stars seem to be aligned to give the Cats a great opportunity. And with Joker already bringing in a top 20 recruiting class next year, a signature win like this could boost that class even higher for next year and years to come. That is why I think Saturday could be the biggest regular season win in the history of Kentucky football. It could be the one win that finally pushes the Cats over the hump.

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.

Cobb, Hartline continue to shine. Cats roll again

Many fans were hoping this offseason that one of UK's younger talented quarterbacks could beat out Senior Mike Hartline for the starting job. Hartline had to start the season off exceptionally well to quiet the doubters, and he's done just that. Against the Hilltoppers on Saturday, Hartline passed 213 yards and three touchdowns on 16-of-20 passing. In both of his games combined, Hartline is 33-of-46 on the season for 430 yards with three scores, a rushing touchdown and no interceptions. Hartline came into the season with mixed reviews, but there's no question that everyone had extremely high expectations for Junior WR/QB/PR Randall Cobb.



The Legend of Cobb continued last night when he threw a touchdown pass, caught a touchdown pass, and returned a punt for a touchdown all in one game for a combined 192 all-purpose yards. Against Louisville, Cobb had a rushing touchdown. In 2 games, he has 4 touchdowns (1 passing, 1 rushing, 1 receiving, and 1 special teams) on only 24 touches. He's scoring a touchdown every 6 times he touches the ball. To this point, if you think another player in the country should win the Heisman trophy, you're ignorant. He hasn't played against the best competition yet, but neither have most players at this point. As a Junior, Cobb is only 6 touchdowns away from tying Craig Yeast's all-time TD record at Kentucky.

For Cobb to get serious Heisman consideration, he'll have to have a lot of other guys making plays all around him to keep the defense honest. He'll also have to play on a team that wins 10+ games and competes for an SEC Eastern Division Title. So far in the young season, all of these things seem very possible of happening. In 2 games, Hartline has thrown for over 200 yards in both outings with 0 interceptions. Kentucky has also ran for over 200 yards in each game. Against Western, UK had 8 players catch a total of 19 passes and another 8 players rush for positive yardage, led by Derrick Locke's 105 yards on the ground.

Kentucky had a big lead for the 2nd week in a row going into halftime. The Cats scored 42 points in the first half. Reserves came into the game midway through the 3rd quarter and performed well on route to a 63 point offensive performance. Sophomore Morgan Newton was 2 for 2 passing for 48 yards and Redshirt Freshman QB Ryan Mossakowski made his college debut. Freshmen Raymond Sanders and Donald Russel also impressed on the ground in the 2nd half. There's no question that the Cats are stacked at nearly every position on offense and they have depth that has never been seen here at UK on the offensive side of the ball. Kentucky's 2007 team had plenty of offensive weapons, but they didn't have 2nd and 3rd string backups that were capable of filling in after an injury like this team does.

One of the few question marks for the Cats continues to be the kicking game. Kicker Ryan Tydlacka has missed a field goal in both games this season. The defense is also still a work in progress and must improve before the Cats face the Gators in Gainesville in 2 weeks. Kentucky has a very young and inexperienced defense that simply has given up too much in the first two games of the season. WKU running back Bobby Rainey ran for 187 yards against the Cats. Granted, Rainey also ran for 150 yards against Nebraska, but if there's areas the Cats need to improve: it's kicking and defense.

Despite these issues, the Cats have looked awfully good overall in the first two games of the Joker Phillips era. He has become the first UK head coach to start his career 2-0 since Bear Bryant. Other SEC East foes seem to have plenty to work on themselves and the East is up for anyone to grab. Florida trailed South Florida at halftime, Georgia only mustered 6 points against South Carolina, Vanderbilt lost to LSU, and Tennessee was blown out by Oregon last night. South Carolina and Kentucky might just be the two teams to beat at this point, but I'd never bet against Urban Meyer's Gators to get things going eventually. Kentucky will have one more tune-up this coming Saturday against Akron before the Cats' SEC slate begins at the Swamp.

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.

Who is Zeke Pike?

Last night I got the chance to see the biggest quarterback prospect in the state of Kentucky while watching Dixie Heights' Zeke Pike play against Class A power, Beechwood, in a Northern Kentucky battle for Dixie Highway bragging rights. Pike has gone from relatively unknown to one of the hottest recruits in the country. Based on the schools that are already recruiting Pike as a junior, he might be the biggest prospect out of the state since Brian Brohm graced the cover of Sports Illustrated. Until this year, he played Tight End and Defensive End and never took a varsity snap at Quarterback. Because the position is new to him and he has so much potential to improve, he's already drawing offers from Alabama, Auburn, Boston College, Cincinnati, Florida, Iowa, Oklahoma State, Purdue, Tennessee, Texas A&M, and yes- of course, Louisville and Kentucky. Also, Notre Dame sent scouts to watch him play his first varsity game at quarterback last week. Clemson, Michigan State, South Carolina, UCLA, and USC are also taking a strong look at Pike, the son of former Buffalo Bill, Mark Pike.


Just by looking at the kid, there's no question he's got the physical ability to play major college football, although he is still learning the position of quarterback. He ran the ball over and over again, and Beechwood had no answer. He's quite simply a football player. Think of Tim Tebow. He didn't even get great protection from the Dixie Heights' offensive line as Beechwood pressured him all game and he was able to stay on his feet all but just a couple of times. He got roughed up and limped off the field after he was sacked once by the Tigers as they were threatening to come back into the game, but he re-entered the game and finished Beechwood off with a 35-21 win. If he can develop an arm to go along with his size and running ability, he will be a great college quarterback. If he doesn't end up playing quarterback in college, he'll find a way to get on the field at any school that he chooses with his size and speed.
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I'm not sure what UK's chances are of luring Pike to stay in-state and play for the Cats, but Joker's recruiting philosophy is to not back away from any recruit, no matter how many big time schools are going after the guy. He will not back down to Florida, Alabama, Notre Dame, or USC- especially with an in-state kid. Joker's goal is to either sign every kid, or get a definite "no" answer from each recruit. We can trust that he'll do everything he can to get him here until one of those two things happen. If Pike does or does not sign with the Cats in the 2012 class, it's good to know that ESPN still has Kentucky's 2011 class ranked in the top 25 in the nation. From what I am seeing and hearing up here in Northern Kentucky, the high school talent looks to be about as good as it's ever been- another positive sign if the Cats turn some of their focus to this area as they have in Louisville and the rest of the state. Highlands (like always) is one of the best teams in the state this year at any level, Ryle competed with Highlands last night and will compete for a 6A state championship, and Newport Catholic (who beat Pike's Dixie team in week 1) seems to be very talented as well.

Hartline Named Starting QB

"We feel like we have three quarterbacks we can win with in this league, we really do," Phillips said. "We told them that. That's a good problem to have but right now we feel like Mike Hartline gives us the best chance to win. He's been more efficient. He's playing faster than the other two and at this point he gives us the best chance to win. He was slightly ahead at all times, no question about that but not far ahead enough that we felt like we had to make a decision. It was very difficult, it really was. He gives us the best chance at this point in time, he might not in a couple of weeks, but he does now." - Joker Phillips

So, there you have it. Hartline is once again the starting Quarterback in his Senior campaign. Although Coach Phillips indicated that there will NOT be a rotation of Quarterbacks like we sometimes saw last season, he left open the possibility of another Quarterback taking over the position in "a couple of weeks". I tend to agree that Hartline gives us the best opportunity to win "right now". He's 2-0 against Louisville in his career including a win on the road, while the other two quarterbacks have not played against Louisville.

Hartline has proved that he is able to consistently beat all the teams that he is supposed to beat, and UK should beat the first three teams on their schedule. Kentucky fans also must not forget that Hartline threw for 139 yards and a touchdown in just one half against South Carolina before his season ending injury last year. He had the Cats going into the locker room with a lead and the Cats couldn't get it into the endzone without him in the second half, eventually falling 28-26 to the Gamecocks.

Once the Cats get into SEC play, on the other hand, I'm not sure Hartline gives us the best opportunity to win big in the SEC. He will get us to a fifth straight bowl game, but Joker obviously has higher goals and aspirations moving forward for this program. Morgan Newton won 2 SEC road games last season at Auburn and at Georgia. I'd expect Newton to get some quality second half PT against Western Kentucky and Akron. That will be his opportunity to prove that he could be the man going into SEC play, if things aren't clicking with Hartline. Talented Redshirt Sophomore Ryan Mossakowski appears to still be third on the depth chart.

Calipari: Not the only UK coach doing a tremendous job recruiting.

Matthew Mitchell's performance as UK Women's Basketball coach so far has been possibly more impressive than the job that Calipari has done at UK. Both have done remarkable jobs, but Mitchell has done it without the spotlight and publicity that Cal gets with the Men's team. Both hoops' teams made it to last year's Elite 8 and both have very high ranked recruiting classes coming in.

Calipari's is #1, and Mitchell's incoming class is ranked #13 by ESPN (unheard of and unparallelled for the UK Women's program), one spot ahead Pat Summit's Lady Vols!

Joker Phillips is also recruiting at a level that has never been done with the UK football program. Although it's early and a lot can change, his 2011 class is ranked Top 20 in the country, which is also simply unheard of for Kentucky football. UK has been competing with the best of the SEC for four years now with less talent on the field. Now that they are recruiting at a "middle of the pack" level in the nation's best conference, they will get closer to FINISHING at the middle or even top of the conference sooner than you may think. "Operation Win" is not about competing and being relevent anymore, it's about winning and being at a top level in the SEC in all aspects.

Expect Mitchell and Phillips both to continue to build on their respective programs for years to come in Lexington.

2010 ESPN Women's BBall Recruiting Rankings

2011 ESPN Football Recruiting Rankings

P.S.- Check out Kentucky Sports Radio TONIGHT for the start of the blogger contest entries, and possibly my entry on Brandon Knight.

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)

Lamb signs with Cats, who's next?

Doron Lamb is the newest Wildcat, joining Stacey Poole, Enes Kanter, and Brandon Knight in John Calipari's 2010 recruiting class. Lamb made his decision during a timeout of the Jordan Brand All-Star game Saturday night in Madison Square Garden. Lamb, a shooting guard, joins Brandon Knight in a backcourt that will try to live up to the show that John Wall and Eric Bledsoe put on this past year.

I actually believe that Knight and Lamb could possibly be a better combination that Wall and Bledose were. Instead of two point guards playing with each other next year, the Cats will have Knight running the point, and they will have a traditional spot-up, "catch and shoot" Shooting Guard in Doron Lamb, something that had been missing since the loss of Jodie Meeks. Lamb, a good outside shooter with a fantastic mid range shot, can also put the ball on the floor and is a tremendous defender. He seems to fit every quality of a player that excels in Calipari's system.

Knight is also a much better outside shooter than Wall, and displayed his clutch ability a few weeks ago when he nailed down the winning shot in the McDonald's All American game. Neither player may be quite as flashy as Wall or Bledsoe, and neither may be a "one and done" player, either. It's actually probable that one of them, along with Stacey Poole and Enes Kanter, will return for another year. These are very good college players, but not freakishly as good as what we had last season.

However, this class looks to actually be better in some aspects than last season's class, which was probably the best recruiting class in the history of college basketball. They probably won't guide this team to a 35-3 record, but they may bring some strengths to the table that could make this team more suitable to reach the Final Four. Two of three losses last season were because of horrendous three point shooting. Those kinds of shooting performances will likely not occur from this bunch next season. The likelihood that every one of them will most probably not be leaving after a year is what could ultimately make this year's class more successful.

If just a few of them come back for their sophomore seasons (which is expected to happen), this class could certainly be more productive if they join would-be Seniors' Darius Miller and DeAndre Liggins in 2012, as well as top 2011 recruit Michael Gilchrist and possibly Marquis Teague. Teague is choosing between UK and UofL and will make that choice on Wednesday. If Teague picks the Cats, it would almost certainly make Kentucky the pre-season favorite to win the 2012 National Championship and would be a MAJOR letdown for Rick Pitino and the Cardinals.

After Teague makes a decision on Wednesday, the next two players to look at in the next few weeks are Terrence Jones and C.J. Leslie, both of this year's class. Leslie looks to be choosing between N.C. State and Kentucky, but Terrence Jones seems to be a lean towards the Cats. He recently spoke very highly on the fans and excitement around the UK program, his chance of winning a National Championship here in Lexington, and the ability of John Calipari to develop NBA talent. If all the domino's fall, Calipari will bring in another #1 recruiting class to Lexington. Stay tuned.

And also don't forget about Spring Football. Mike Hartline seems to be leading the way this spring and we'll let you know how all three quarterbacks look in the inaugural Blue/White Scrimmage of the Joker Phillips' era this Saturday.

Has UK Athletics Ever Seen Better Days?

On Thursday, Kentucky basketball fans have the privilege of watching four straight hours of UK basketball. Of course, ESPN will have the Cats' re-match at Rupp with Devan Downey and South Carolina at 9:00. But that isn't the only big game for the Blue and White which will be televised that night. At 7:00 on Fox Sports Net, Matthew Mitchell's 16th ranked UK Women's Hoops team brings their 23-4 record into Knoxville to face Pat Summit and the 5th ranked Lady Vols. The UK Women are firmly in 2nd place in the SEC Standings, behind only Tennessee. They were projected as a 4th seed in this weeks' ESPN Bracketology. With a win over the Lady Vols, they could break into the Top 10 and be in a pretty good position to earn a #2 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

It's unfortunate that the Women's team has risen in a year like 2010, when the success of Coach Cal's Cats grab all the attention in Lexington. Could you imagine the attention the Women's team could have had LAST SEASON if they were playing this well while the Men's team fell apart and missed the NCAA Tournament? It's also unfortunate because if they were this good about a decade ago, they might have a legitimate shot at a National Title. However, UConn's current Women's team is proving to be one of the greatest dynasties in the history of college sports and they show no signs of losing a single game anytime soon. Perhaps, the UK Women can luckily find themselves in the opposite side of the bracket as the Lady Huskies and be the 2nd straight team from the Commonwealth to lose to them in the National Championship game (The Louisville Lady Cards were the runner-ups a year ago).

When you think about Thursday's double header of two nationally ranked UK basketball programs, as well as the current nationally ranked and undefeated UK baseball team (with three wins in three games thus far over Virginia Tech, West Virginia, and #12 Coastal Carolina), and of course the unprecedented fourth straight Bowl appearance last December in Nashville for the football program, it makes me ponder whether or not the University of Kentucky Athletics' program is currently at an all-time high. The man responsible in leading this Athletic Department, Mitch Barnhart, found himself in jeopardy of losing his job at this time just a year ago despite the progress in virtually every sport at UK except one.

The one sport that was not making progress was Men's basketball, and every Athletics Director that has been here knows that the success of any A.D. in Lexington lingers directly on the state of Kentucky basketball, undoubtedly the premiere team of the school and of the entire Commonwealth. Mitch Barnhart knew that despite the success his teams have had across the board, that in order to keep his job, he couldn't afford to hire another Billy Gillispie. Last spring, he was able to preserve the Kentucky basketball program at a time that if it had continued under the same path it was taking, had the potential to lose it's elite status for a significant period of time if he did not make the necessary changes and hire the absolute right man for the job. Remember, it was not a popular decision at the time amongst the national media who blasted Barnhart and Kentucky for getting rid of an "up and coming" coach after just two seasons and they doubted his ability to bring in anyone else that would make UK basketball a Final Four contender anytime in the near future. Obviously, the media critics could not have been more wrong. Barnhart needed a slam dunk hire, and he hired the absolute right man for the job in John Calipari.

Yes, Barnhart made a terrific hire to restore the legacy of Kentucky's Men's basketball program. But let's not forget that he also stood by Rich Brooks through the two and three win seasons to eventually go to a school record four straight Bowl Games, and winning three of them. Let's not forget either that Matthew Mitchell was a slam dunk hire as well for the Women's program, that he appointed Joker Phillips as a "head coach in waiting" back in 2007 and the football program is now more stable than it has ever been since the Bear Bryant days in the 1950's. Do not look past the fact that the baseball program won the SEC Championship in 2006 and has been a contender ever since in college baseball's best conference. And what about the programs you might not even know about? Did you know Kentucky's Volleyball team won 29 games last year and was ranked as high as 7th in the nation? The Men's Soccer Team was nationally ranked as well. For years, UK has been known as a school that has won in absolutely nothing except in Men's basketball.

Currently, the Men's basketball team is enjoying one of their best seasons in its storied history while all of the other programs are enjoying very rare success as well. Big Blue Nation should be proud of Coach Calipari and his Cats, but they also should applaud Mitch Barnhart and the tremendous job he has done with every one of his programs at Kentucky. Thursday night should be a night in which the Cats take care of business in Rupp Arena against the South Carolina team that upset them in Columbia earlier this season, but hopefully the Women's team will come out of Knoxville with even a bigger win; a program changing win which would match the significance of the football team's win over #1 LSU in the 2007 season. I encourage all of Big Blue Nation to stand behind both Blue and White basketball teams this Thursday, starting at 7:00. Go Cats!

(Photo Courtesy of ESPN.com)

National Signing Day Recap

With the Cats playing against an LSU team tomorrow that is winless in the SEC, I think it's fair to say that the Cats should handle LSU tomorrow rather easily granted that Tasmin Mitchell doesn't go "Devan Downey" on us.

With that being said, it's time to talk some football. All off-season long, Mike Brown has kept us updated on Wildcat Wrap of the coaching carousal in college football. The biggest names taking over programs include Brian Kelly at Notre Dame, Lane Kiffin at USC, and Jimbo Fisher taking over for Bobby Bowden at Florida State. All of these coaches did very well on signing day, living up to their hype and huge contracts. The state of Kentucky has three new head coaches of their own in all three major college football programs and all are African American. Charlie Strong game to Louisville with the most hype, but could he deliver? Could Willie Taggard give the Hilltoppers any chance at all to finally win a game or two in D-1A (FBS) football? And could Joker Phillips continue the move upward for Kentucky football on National Signing Day?

Joker's first recruiting class as Head Coach of Kentucky was highlighted by a few surprising last second commitments. A few weeks ago, it wasn't looking very promising for the new coach- but he promised surprises, and he delivered. One of the biggest surprises was stealing Miami, FL Running Back, Brandon Gainer, away from Florida State and the Seminoles' new Head Coach, Jimbo Fisher. Gainer was also recruited unsuccessfully by new Louisville head coach, Charlie Strong. The Cats added another solid RB in Miles Simpson from Simon Kenton H.S. in Northern Kentucky. Simpson was also being recruited by Louisville and turned down a total of 11 schools including Cincinnati, Michigan, Nebraska, and Purdue.

The additions of both Gainer and Simpson at RB gives Kentucky's incoming backfield a ranking of 15th in the nation by Rivals.com. Both are SEC-caliber Running Backs that will more than adequately replace Derrick Locke as he graduates after the 2010 season. Look for one of these guys to also step up to be a 3rd down, short yardage option in their freshman seasons for the Cats. The Cats incoming linebackers are also ranked 3rd in the SEC only, behind only Auburn and Florida, and could see a lot of playing time as freshman. Other holes on defense should be filled by Junior College recruits such as DB Mychael Bailey from the Cats' recruiting pipeline from LaGrange, GA and South Carolina DL, Donte Rumph.

The highest ranked individual player for the Cats is TE Alex Smith from Cincinnati's Lakota West H.S. Smith is the 11th ranked TE in the country and will give the Cats an instant threat at the position that has been absent since the graduation of Jacob Tamme in 2007. He picked the Cats over the hometown Bearcats, Ohio State, Purdue, Michigan, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. With two strong commitments from Greater Cincinnati, maybe last season's opener at Paul Brown Stadium paid off in Recruiting in the area the way that the Cats hoped that it would.

Perhaps the biggest surprise was taking away the #1 recruit in the state that appeared to be a "lock" for new Louisville coach, Charlie Strong. Louisville Central LB Tim Patterson was a self-proclaimed "life-long Louisville Cardinals fan" and the Cards were so confident that he would sign with them that it was reported in Louisville as a done deal less than 24 hours before Signing Day. Although Strong's first recruiting class at Louisville is better than it has been the last few years under Steve Kragthorpe, the hype over Strong's hiring didn't deliver the results that Card fans were hoping for in his first recruiting class as he was clearly out done by new Wildcats' coach, Joker Phillips. The basketball and football supremacy in the state is secure and unthreatened for the Big Blue Nation, at least in the near future..



This seems to be an example that supports the idea of naming a "Head Coach In-Waiting" as opposed to hiring out of the program and starting from scratch in recruiting. This class isn't by any means one of the best in the nation, nor in the conference, but Kentucky is taking more and more "baby steps" each year on the football field and also on the recruiting tails. The class as a whole is ranked around 10th out of 12 teams in the conference, which isn't bad considering that the Cats return A LOT of young talent from last year's team as it is- and 10th in the SEC is honestly sometimes good enough to be Top 15 or 20 in the entire country. Even with a new head coach, Kentucky continues to close the gap on the majority of the conference as this year's class looks to be about even with Bobby Petrino's class at Arkansas.

If the 2010 Cats can turn a few more notorious annual close losses into victories (Tennessee and South Carolina) and continue to make progress on the field in Phillips' first year as head coach, then recruiting will continue to improve. This staff has proven that they can compete with Top 40 recruiting classes that rank high in speed, length and athleticism (which is what this class is made of). If the Cats can close out on the close games this year and they bring the program to the next level that it is capable of this season, Top 20 recruiting classes will come to Lexington under Joker Phillips. If this staff is competitive with Top 40 classes, they can win (and win big) with Top 20 (middle of the pack SEC) Recruiting Classes. The Cats are slowly, but steadily, rising.

And in case you were wondering, WKU new head coach, Willie Taggart, has recruited the #1 ranked recruiting class in the Sun Belt Conference, a very impressive feat for a first year coach taking over a team that was winless in their first two seasons of D-1A (FBS) football. The Cats have a 4 year series scheduled with the Hilltoppers, playing two games in Nashville and two in Lexington.

Weekend Wrap-up!

The Cats narrowly escaped the Georgia Bulldogs Saturday and are now one of only two undefeated teams in college basketball. It was a great week for the SEC as Georgia beat #17 Georgia Tech and a depleted Tennessee team shocked #1 Kansas. Purdue was also defeated which should give the Cats a #2 ranking this week behind the nation's only other undefeated team, Texas.

The UK women's hoops team is also rolling. After losing by one point in overtime, on the road against #8 Georgia, the Cats knocked off #16 Vanderbilt this weekend to improve to 15-2. Can somebody explain to me how this team is still not ranked? They ought to definately be ranked tomorrow!

And in football news, Joker Phillips is already making a big splash in his first week on the job as Head Coach. He has aleady made a few key staff changes and already has made a big impact on recruiting. He is saying all the right things, bringing new life and excitement to the program, and is gathering this fan base in a similar way that John Calipari did last summer. Say what you want about his play-calling the last few years with a young and inexperienced offense, but Joker has all the qualities of being a terrific Head Coach and is already impressing me on his first week at the job. I'll write more later this week on all the new changes, new staff, and incoming transfers and potential recruits that Joker is already bringing in, in just the first week on the job.


This weekend I was fortunate enough to see UK recruit C.J. Leslie and North Carolina's Word of God Academy (John Wall's old school) face Cincinnati Roger Bacon at Lexington Catholic on Saturday night. Roger Bacon pulled off the huge upset in a thriller which featured four or five lead changes in the last few minutes of the game but Leslie still impressed the Big Blue crowd, UK players, and Coach John Calipari whom were all in attendance. Leslie was the tallest guy on the floor for either team, but he didn't play like a big man at all. He is quick, explosive, a great shot blocker, and a great passer as well. He can play like a guard when asked to and should fit in very well in Calipari's Dribble Drive Offense. If he can improve his outside shot, he could be another Patrick Patterson next season. His game also reminds me some of Kevin Garnett. When asked about the likelihood of playing with his former high school teammate next season, John Wall, Leslie smiled and said that we would have to just wait and see and that Wall has been talking a lot to him about UK and luring him to come here.

You would think there would be no chance of Wall returning next season, but, who knows? With Leslie likely committing with the Cats, I wouldn't say that there isn't any chance at all of it being a possibility, even if it's a small chance.

I also got my first glimpse of the Bluegrass Stallions this afternoon. The Stallions feature a roster comprised of UK products Wayne Turner, Bobby Perry, Ravi Moss, Lukasz Obrzut, and Head Coach Kyle Macy, as well as EKU's Darnell Dials and Jason McLeish and also Justin Taylor of Georgetown College. Unfortunately, today was the last game for the ABA franchise at the Kentucky Horse Park Arena built for the upcoming World Equestrian Games. The facility is world class, but has become too expensive of a venue for the Stallions to rent out. I hope that this arena is still used for basketball in the future. It would be a great facility to host a high profile high school tournament, such as the one played this weekend at Lex Cath.

The Stallions will be playing the remainder of their home games in Lexington high school gyms and likely touring the Bluegrass region with games in the new civic centers in Corbin and Frankfort until they find a permanant home for hopefully a second season of basketball next year. The Stallions won today over a team from Louisville, by a score of 129-60. They play a very entertaining brand of basketball and it was great to see well known and adored ex-cats and other local players have the chance to stay around Lexington and play professionally. I hope they find a way to stay in town.

(Photos courtesy of highschoolhoop.com and the Bluegrass Stallions)

Introducing a new segment: Tweets of the Day!

All of us stay pretty busy here at Wildcat Wrap with full time jobs and graduate school, so I've decided to start a new segment that I'll try to do on a pretty regular basis. One that is quick, and to the point, and can be updated to the site on a daily basis. I will still provide full length articles several times a week, but I hope that by sharing "Tweets of the Day" each day we will keep you up to date on a daily basis what is going on around UK Athletics and the entire sports world.

I'm going to actually flash back to the last few days to start my first "Tweets of the Day" (a couple days late I guess) because the retirement of Rich Brooks and the formal announcement of Joker Phillips as head coach of Kentucky football yesterday sparked some good tweets that actually gave me the idea to do this.

With Coach Cal's 12 tweets a day, there should never be a dull segment and we hope to keep you up to date on what coaches and players are saying and thinking each and every day while saving you the time of having to make your own Twitter account. Without further ado, here are your first ever "Tweets of the (past few) day(s)"!

P.S. Since a lot happened the last few days, I am including more tweets than I would on a normal day.

UKCoachCalipari: It's been my distinct pleasure 2 get 2 know Coach Brooks during my time at UK. Click here for my video thank you 2 him. http://bit.ly/7ZxxFT
3:25 PM Jan 4th from TwitterBerry

danielorton33: Team Bowling night at southland tonight at 7:30!!!
6:06 PM Jan 4th from Echofon

UKcoachbrooks: Thanks to the coaches &players for 7 great years. Also thanks to the big blue nation.
6:58 PM Jan 4th from Echofon

UKcoachbrooks: Looking forward to joker taking over and seeing some games next season. Go cats!
8:26 PM Jan 5th from Echofon

UKcoachbrooks: Joker has a hiring press conf at 3 today. Great thing for Kentucky moving forward. I'm really excited for him. He has earned it.
1:39 PM Jan 6th from web

rcobb18: Just talked to the "NEW" ball coach! Coach Phillips is abt to drive this thing to the next level! Put ya seat belts on!!!!!
6:16 PM Jan 6th from UberTwitter

jokerphillips: I want to thank everyone for their support and I am very excited for the Wildcat Football team. I look forward to "Operation Win!"
6:26 PM Jan 6th from web

UKCoachCalipari: Congratulations to Coach Phillips. I’ll be here supporting him and his staff and we'll do whatever we can to help him continue to build on what Coach Brooks was able to get accomplished.
6:56 PM Jan 6th from TwitterBerry

rcobb18: OPERATION WIN! One thing on my mind.... I'm tryna enjoy this break but I got so much more on my mind!
about 23 hours ago from UberTwitter

UKCoachCalipari: Today ends Camp Cal. Time will tell how much we learned during the extra time together.
about 2 hours ago from TweetDeck

Rich Brooks Announces his Retirement

It's official, Rich Brooks announced this morning that he is retiring as Head Football Coach at the University of Kentucky and leaving the program in the hands of Joker Phillips.

"I have decided that it's time for me to step away and turn this program over," Brooks said, "Hopefully it will not only be competitive but reach the heights that I failed to get to. That is my biggest regret is not having broken more of the streaks that needed to be broken. We did get quite a few of them. We did achieve some things, and I can't leave without saying thank you to a great group of players who dedicated themselves to coming here and making Kentucky football respectable on a yearly basis, to a great group of coaches who have really done so much for this program, not only on the field but off the field."

This time, he is certain that he will not coach again, however, he plans to stay close to the program and help it in any way that he can. Of some of the improvements that he would like to help with, he specifically mentioned the expansion of Commonwealth Stadium and a new weight room. He didn't go into too many specifics, but he said that he would help the program in any capacity that Joker wanted him to, but did not want to stand in Joker's way, either.

Nobody wanted him to go. Coach Brooks said that he received many text messages and phone calls from players, friends, and family urging him to stay. "None of them wanted me to give it up," Brooks said. "They all thought that I would miss it a lot, that I could come back and ride out on the white stallion next year and have victories over all those teams we hadn't beaten and everything would be wonderful."

When asked, what was it that made his mind go from 80% sure he wanted to retire to 100% sure, he replied, "I just felt that it was time to make the change," Brooks said. "The losses take their toll. It's very, very frustrating to be close to something and not be able to grab it. I didn't want my frustration to change the direction of the program. I think a younger person that has been through it can be a better position to take the program forward."

And there you have it. Rich Brooks made the decision that he thought was best for Kentucky football. If he did what he really wanted to do, what was best for him, I think that he would have came back and rode that white stallion next year and be a part of that magical season that he envisions that Kentucky is very close to achieving. But Brooks felt that the youthfulness and positive energy of Joker Phillips was the best option for this program to succeed at reaching the next level and unselfishly passed the torch to Joker Phillips.

You will be dearly missed, Coach Brooks, and thank you very much for everything you've done for Kentucky football. Thank you for coming out of retirement and taking a job at a time that nobody else wanted it, going through the hard times, and building this program into something that Kentucky can be proud of. On the day that Kentucky finally beats the pesky Gators, Steve Spurrier, and our neighbors to the south in Knoxville, and finds themselves in the middle of an SEC Championship race, you deserve all the credit for the foundation that you built and left behind for the chance of our dreams becoming a reality some day. Thank You once again, Coach Brooks.

(Photos courtesy of Salem-news.com and NBC Sports Media)

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.

Coach in Waiting? What a Joke-r!

I am as big of a UK football fan as there is, but I will be the first to say I am not excited AT ALL about the program's future.  My looming disappointment began in January of 2008 when Joker Phillips was anointed the Head Coach in waiting.

After UK's successful 2007 season led by Andre Woodson, many programs were interested in obtaining the services of Joker Phillips.  The team didn't want to lose him, so they made the move they thought was necessary.  That move being overreacting and crowning Phillips as the next Head Coach.  The success of that team should be directed at Randy Sanders who turned this offense from a joke to a top-10 one with the same personnel.  

People claim Joker to be a helluva recruiter, but I don't understand why.  Over the past 3 years, we have signed only four 4-star players.  Aaron Boyd, DeQuin Evans, Ryan Mossakowski, and Chris Matthews.  Our 2010 class is comparable to EKU's.  Our average recruit is a 2.06 star with no 4-star players.  Some of the teams with a better recruiting class are Louisville, SDSU, Vandy, Duke, Temple, and Akron.....all powerhouse teams, of course.  

For the past 2 years, UK's offense has been absolutely horrendous.  Fans want to blame that on the play of our quarterbacks, but that is Joker's job.  He is responsible for assessing his players,  helping them improve on their weaknesses, and then to put them in a situation that allows them to succeed.  Luckily, we have been blessed with a beast of a man-child named Randall Cobb.  I don't even want to know where the team would be at this point if it wasn't for him.  This year, we are ranked 90th in total yards per game after finishing ranked 106th last year.  His play-calling is beyond questionable.  Take tonight for example.  Trailing by 7 inside the redzone late in the 4th quarter, he calls for 2 consecutive QB draws with Morgan Newton.  Well, they went for negative yards and the drive later ended with an embarrassing interception.  Cobb didn't touch the ball one time in the 4th quarter while the Cats were trying to rally for the W.  

I just don't see how the program can succeed under Phillips.  I think we would be better off trying to acquire a coach with a name, preferably from the NFL ranks.  The last thing a team trying to maintain a winning trend needs is to hire a coach with a record of 0-0.  I understand it helps when recruiting by letting the recruits know there won't be major changes when Brooks steps down, but by that time, a change is something we may need.  The head coaching position at UK should be a very attractive one.  We are in the best conference in the sport, and have been to and won 3 straight bowl games.  I am sure there are at least 20 guys looking for a coaching job that are head and shoulders better than Joker Phillips.

I hope Joker proves me wrong.