Brand new Cats

Rarely is a "season of renewal" as fitting a description as spring practice is for the University of Kentucky football team.

The Wildcats opened spring drills Wednesday on a mild, sunny morning at their Nutter practice facility.

The Cats lost offensive "skill" players Andre Woodson, Rafael Little, Keenan Burton, Steve Johnson and Jacob Tamme, among others.

On the other side of the line, leading tackler Wesley Woodyard is the biggest loss.

Coming off back-to-back Music City Bowl victories, Coach Rich Brooks has no thought of slipping in 2008.

He says the program has come a long way in the past two years, but that the journey is not over. He says he would be "very disappointed" if UK does not secure a third straight bowl trip, and if it falls shy of what the team did last year.

"The program, in my mind, is at a different level than it was four or five years ago," Brooks said. "The hard thing to do is to keep it at that level and get it better. Just like we all knew last year that it would be different for us going forward because people wouldn't take us for granted anymore, our opponents in the league.

"I'm sure that they're all looking at the graduation losses that we've suffered and they're saying, 'Well, men, Kentucky's gonna go back where they belong.' ... I'm here to say we're not going back there. Because we need to keep climbing the ladder. We need to keep knocking those teams off and making an impact in this league."

The Cats worked out in shorts and helmets, but already some players have made an impression.

Junior Curtis Pulley and sophomore Mike Hartline are 1-2 on the depth chart at what is expected to be a healthy competition at quarterback.

Brooks said he liked what he saw Wednesday, although a brisk wind made passing difficult. And he added another name to the mix: Will Fidler, a sophomore from Henderson County.

"Fidler threw the ball much better than I anticipated, coming off of a shoulder surgery," Brooks said. "I would say that he's got a chance now to be a factor this spring."

Others making a good first-day impression on Brooks were receivers Anthony Mosley and Kyrus Lanxter, as well as tight ends T.C. Drake and Ross Bogue.

Dicky Lyons, tops among the returning receivers, and DeMoreo Ford each underwent "a procedure" on their patella (kneecap) tendons last month.

"Both of them looked good," Brooks said. "In fact, DeMoreo looked quicker and faster than he's looked in over a year and a half. And they both say hopefully -- knock on wood -- the procedure has had some very positive effects on both of their patella tendinitises, so I'm encouraged there."

Brooks said the athletic ability of the 2008 Cats won't be much different than the 2007 version. In some cases, players will be more athletic.

"The thing that you never know is how are they going to replace that production ... because athletic ability doesn't always translate into play-making ability," Brooks said. "That'll be the key thing to start judging as we go through the next 14 days of practice."

The Cats are scheduled to practice Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, culminating with the Gridiron Bash on April 18 and the Blue-White Game on April 19.