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.

Kentucky 31, #10 South Carolina 28!

This isn't right, and I'm sorry. UK just had what might be a season changing game last night and a win over a top 10 team...and the best I can do to cover it for you is this video. I'm sorry, but writing for the Xavier Newswire student newspaper(which I am loving by the way), grad school, and also working on top of that is cutting into my time at wildcat wrap. I'll try to have more on the game (and SEC East Championship scenarios...yes, I'm being serious) later in the week. But for now, enjoy the video!

21 points off 3 turnovers doom the Cats

The title said it all. The Cats were the better team. They out gained Ole Miss by over 100 yards.

BUT they turned the ball over 3 times setting up an easy 21 points for the Rebels, late hits and unnecessary roughness calls set up a 4th easy touchdown for Ole Miss, and when given the opportunity to get the ball back and tie up the game, the defense couldn't hold the Rebels on 3rd and 19.

Some fans want to blame Mike Hartline, but only one of the three turnovers was on him. His phenomenal play in the 4th quarter brought us back into the game. He gives us the best chance to win. There's plenty of blame to be given all around the team on this loss and Mike Hartline doesn't deserve any more blame than Randall Cobb or Chris Mathews do for their fumbles. Mike Hartline is our quarterback.

Okay, now here is the good news: all 5 teams in the SEC East lost today and the Cats STILL have a lot more to play for and a lot to achieve. They STILL have an opportunity to finish high in the East and get to a better bowl game. With the loss to Ole Miss, these next two games are much bigger than before, however. An unexpected win over Auburn or South Carolina would essentially cancel out the unexpected loss to Ole Miss. If the Cats win one of these next two they could honestly win out the rest of the way and finish off the season better than they have in ages. If they lose these next two, they're right in the same position they were a year ago with an easier schedule the rest of the way with still a great chance at finishing as high as 2nd.

Don't give up on this team. They certainly didn't give up yesterday in the 4th quarter and they won't give up on this season. Remember when they were 2-3 last year? Then they won 5 of their last 7 including wins on the road at Auburn and at Georgia. The schedule allows a similar run this year. How many people will really be disappointed with an 8 win season and wins over Georgia and Tennessee? I think it's more likely than not to happen, but the turnovers and mistakes have to stop. The talent is there for the Cats to compete, but the mediocre competition has not prepared them for the first few SEC games. I expect a much sharper Kentucky team against Auburn on Saturday night.

I'm going to cheer up now. Big Blue Madness is less than 2 weeks away and the Cincinnati Reds are in the playoffs!!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

Computer Crashed!

I apologize for the lack of posts by myself the last few days, but we are experiencing technical difficulties at wildcatwrap.com with my laptop. Hopefully, IT Director Christian Cox can get on this immediately.

Anyway, here's my belated thoughts on the game Saturday. Make no mistake, it was a very big game and tough loss. If we had been able to come out with a win, we would likely have a 5 game winning streak going into the Georgia and Tennessee games and have a chance to play for a New Years Day Bowl Game. We still have a slim chance at that, but now we have a very little margin of error and will have to win at least one of those last two games. But consider this: Kentucky has an identical overall and conference record as Tennessee and has the same overall record as Georgia. Those last two games ARE very winnable games, and if the Cats won just one of them (or both) along with a 4th straight bowl win....would this season be a failure? My point is that there's still a lot to play for and it appears that Mike Hartline was actually the best choice all along at Quarterback and should be back for those last 2 games.

Don't get me wrong though, Morgan Newton will be a very good Quarterback in a few years and I'm very glad that he has been able to get some quality experience this year. He is a true freshman who looks at least on par with the level that Andre Woodson was playing as a redshirt freshman and sophomore. Woodson didn't blossom until his junior year which was his fourth year in the program, while Newton went to his high school prom 6 months ago.

I do, however, agree with Charlie on the strange play calling late in the game. How does Randall Cobb not touch the ball in any capacity in the 4th quarter while in the redzone twice? If you're going to run two straight quarterback drawls, than why run it with Morgan Newton instead of Randall Cobb? Cobb has the ability to win a Heisman Trophy in a few years if the coaching staff utilizes him to his full potential but they have not done that so far this season. In the Auburn game, the staff actually made ALL of the right moves. Using Fidler (more mature and experienced than Newton) and Cobb late in the game was brilliant and won the game for us. My question is, if it worked late against Auburn, why not do the same against Mississippi State? Or for that matter, why not use Cobb more often throughout the game in the Wildcat?

After the 2 point loss to South Carolina, Steve Spurrier made remarks about how he was glad they waited so long to put Cobb at quarterback. Cobb marched the Cats right down the field midway through the 4th quarter and there's no telling what he could have done under center all day long. Last season, Cobb played quarterback the entire game against a top 10 Georgia team and put over 30 points on the board. Until someone proves that they can stop him, we should utilize him the most we can without putting too bad of a beating on his 180 pound body.

But that is enough criticism for now. Next week the Cats face my alma mater, the Eastern Kentucky University Colonels, and then Vanderbilt. These are two games the Cats should win to improve to 6-4. Like I said earlier, there is still a chance to have a very good season this year and I'll wait until the season concludes to make judgements on the direction of the program. EKU is currently celebrating 100 years of football and we'll have a nice tribute to the EKU program later on in the week.

Tonight, the Cats hit the hardwood and face an opponent for the first time this season as exhibition play opens up without John Wall against Campbellsville at 7:00 in Rupp. Hopefully, I can get on a working computer again tonight and give you the official "Wildcat Wrap" of the very first exhibition game in the Calipari era.