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Sunday, Jun. 15, 2008

UK's Brooks expects to prove pundits wrong

The pre-season college football magazine circuit is in full swing, and the consensus is that the University of Kentucky will come back to earth a bit after back-to-back eight-win seasons and Music City Bowl trophies.

Phil Steele's College Football Preview, Athlon Sports and Lindy's all have the Wildcats pegged for fifth in the SEC East Division after they finished third in 2006 and fourth last year.

UK Coach Rich Brooks said he's gotten used to the slights. An article in Nashville newspaper The Tennessean earlier this month even suggested that Brooks was on the hot seat.

“I really don't feel like I have to answer to the magazines, but that's how they always pick us,” Brooks said. “Last year, we were coming off an eight-win season, beat Clemson in the Music City Bowl, had most of our team back, and the magazines still picked us fifth.”

On paper, it's understandable why the pundits placed Kentucky where they did. The offense was the staple of the past two season's successes, and six players from that unit (quarterback Andre Woodson, receivers Keenan Burton and Steve Johnson, tight end Jacob Tamme, center Eric Scott and running back Rafael Little) will be in NFL training camps when UK starts practice in August.

But Brooks is banking on what should be the best defense he's had at UK along with an influx of new faces to keep the program above water.

“I'm not expecting to fall off at all,” he said. “Our overall talent level is a lot higher now than it was a couple of years ago. I thought that was pretty evident in the spring. And while we lost a great group of seniors, we've got some talented and experienced lettermen returning and then some young guys who are ready to step up to the plate.

“We're just going to have to keep beating people and proving the magazines wrong. Then maybe they'll rank us higher in the pre-season.”

You do have to give Brooks credit for one thing: not only is he brutally honest when assessing his club, but his pre-season assessments are on the mark more often than not.

His only miss came upon his arrival at UK in 2003, when he said he expected to guide a veteran squad led by Jared Lorenzen and Derek Abney into a bowl game.

The Cats played like a bowl-caliber club at times, but close losses to Florida, South Carolina and Arkansas (the epic seven-overtime classic) led to a disappointing 4-8 finish.

To the dismay of many fans, Brooks predicted that the next couple of years could be rocky while UK fought its way through probation. Sure enough, the Cats went 5-17 during that two-year stretch, and it nearly cost Brooks his job.

Brooks finally began to see light at the end of the tunnel and set his sights on a bowl bid in 2006, and the Cats earned their first post-season trip since 1999. And while Kentucky didn't have as big of a breakthrough last fall as Brooks would have liked, they did fulfill one of his pre-season prophecies and were a factor in the SEC race until the end.

Future Wildcats compete in East-West All-Star Game

Incoming UK freshmen Winston Guy, E.J. Fields, Dave Ulinski and Matt Smith all competed in Friday's East/West All-Star Game at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium.

Guy led the East with nine tackles, and Ulinski's play at tackle helped pave the way for the West's 291 rushing yards and 441 yards of total offense.

Incoming receiver Aaron Boyd was scheduled to play in the game but decided against it, instead focusing on classes and summer workouts at UK. Boyd, a consensus four-star recruit who is viewed as the top member of Kentucky's recruiting class, is expected to compete for major minutes at an extremely thin wide-receiver position in the fall. Playing in the game also would have presented an injury risk that neither Boyd nor the Wildcats could afford to take.

Fields will also be in the mix for playing time at wideout and played only a limited role Friday night. Fields saw spot duty at defensive back but didn't return punts, kicks or play on offense.

Guy, Fields, Ulinski and Smith each said they will be enrolling at UK for the second summer session, which begins on Tuesday.

Future Wildcat walk-ons in action

Several future University of Kentucky walk-ons also competed in Friday's East-West All-Star Game in Louisville. Expected to join practice this fall and try to earn a spot on the roster are: Steven Ferguson, a 6-foot-1, 195-pound defensive back from Eastern; Nathan Dutton, a 5-11, 175-pound wide receiver from Trinity; Jake Stephens, a 6-foot, 220-pound kicker from Lafayette, Clay Cecil, a 6-1, 180-pound quarterback from Highlands; Mikey Benton, a 6-foot, 180-pound defensive back from Russellville; and P.J. Hernandez, a 6-1, 294-pound offensive lineman from Christian County.

Bowling Green Coach Kevin Wallace, who coached Benton on the West All-Stars Friday night, thinks the Wildcats got a hidden gem.

“He's a guy that I really thought should have been signed by somebody,” Wallace said. “He looked great all week. I wouldn't be surprised to see him go to UK and turn out to be a player.”

Stephens made his only field-goal attempt, a 23-yarder in the first quarter. He also had five punts for a 35.2 average, with a long of 45, including one that pinned the West All-Stars back at their own 1-yard line.

Denham trying to become a Cat

UK could potentially add another walk-on who participated in the East-West game. John Hardin running Matt Denham, who was named the game's Most Valuable Player after rushing for 147 yards with a touchdown on the ground and a TD catch, hopes to join the Wildcats in the fall.

There's a catch, however: Denham, also a track standout, originally signed with Kentucky State. UK offered Denham an academic scholarship after he signed with KSU, but Denham told the Elizabethtown News-Enterprise that his initial request to be released from his letter of intent was denied by the school about a month ago. If Denham, who also plans on joining the track team, is not released, he'd be ineligible to compete in any sports at UK until his sophomore year. Denham plans on taking his case to the NCAA for an appeal.

“It's always in the back of my mind,” Denham told the paper. “After a while, you just want an answer. It's been a frustrating process. My dad is pretty mad about it. He doesn't understand why they won't release me.”

Burden, Smith to start on defense

Chandler Burden and Matt Smith, who were originally recruited by UK as offensive linemen, will start out on the defensive side of the ball when practice begins in August.

The 6-foot-4, 270-pound Smith played defense for four years at St. Xavier and showed that he could have an extremely high ceiling as a defensive lineman. He showed good explosion off the line and led the West with 6.5 tackles, including 3.5 tackles for loss and a sack.

“I really prefer defense,” Smith said. “At first, they thought they'd need more help on the offensive line, but they're in pretty good shape there now, and they need depth on defense, so I was more than happy to make the switch.”

The 6-foot-5, 280-pound Burden won the state title in the discus and shot put at the Ohio Division I track championships in Columbus last weekend. Burden will start out at defensive end when camp begins.

Lyons, Jarmon to Media Days

Kentucky should win the award for the most entertaining media session at this year's SEC Media Days. Brooks has chosen two of the more loquacious members of his team, senior receiver Dicky Lyons Jr. and junior defensive end Jeremy Jarmon, to represent the squad on Friday, July 25 in Birmingham.

Lyons and Jarmon are both personable and quotable, with Lyons being downright zany at times. Lyons, and to a lesser degree, Jarmon, earned spots in Brooks' doghouse a couple of years ago for popping off in the Monday news conference prior to a pivotal road game at Mississippi State. The Wildcats won the game 34-31, with Lyons making a highlight-reel catch in the end zone.