Hartline says he's 'the guy'

Expected starter at QB isn't fazed by freshman competition

By Chip Cosby / ccosby@herald-leader.com

The summer buzz surrounding the Kentucky football camp has almost exclusively been directed at freshman quarterbacks Morgan Newton and Ryan Mossakowski.

The buzz is understandable. It's a rarity for Kentucky to welcome in two highly touted prep quarterbacks to one class.

But while Newton and Mossakowski are on campus getting acclimated to college, Mike Hartline is in the trenches trying to put his stamp on the 2009 team.

Hartline, a junior this fall, knows a lot of Kentucky fans are just counting the days until one of the freshmen takes control of the Wildcats' offense.

But he doesn't sound like someone who's ready to hand over the job.

"My goal is to get everybody to feel that I'm the guy," Hartline said. "I want it to be a situation where there's no doubt I should be the guy."

Hartline's tone and body language didn't suggest any cockiness or disrespect toward Newton or Mossakowski. He acknowledged the tremendous talent of both quarterbacks and admitted he wasn't totally satisfied with his performance in the spring.

But when Hartline looks at where he was a year ago and sees the roller-coaster ride he managed to survive, it's hard for him not to feel as if he should be the guy.

Hartline went from a projected backup to a starter seemingly overnight, led Kentucky to a surprising 4-0 start, lost his best wide receiver and tailback to season-ending knee-injuries, was benched after a humiliating 63-5 loss at Florida, and resurfaced to play well in a Liberty Bowl win over East Carolina — all while serving as a constant whipping boy on Internet message boards and sports talk-radio shows.

"I never really had time to sit down and think about everything that had happened; I was just trying to make it through the season," Hartline said. "But no doubt the experience made me stronger. Now I know what it takes to make it through an entire SEC season physically and mentally, and I know what the coaches want out of me. Experience like that helps."

Hartline is putting that experience to use this summer as the unquestioned leader during offseason workouts. That was hard for him to do last summer considering the circumstances.

After spring practice, Brooks decided the quarterback competition between Hartline and Curtis Pulley would continue into the fall. Most assumed it was Pulley's job to lose, but it was Hartline who showed more reliability and accountability over the summer.

When off-the-field issues officially ended Pulley's UK career at the start of fall camp, Hartline was immediately thrust into the limelight.

"I'm being a lot more vocal this summer," Hartline said. "I was thrown into the leadership thing, and we really didn't know who the quarterback was going to be. I was just trying to make the best out of it. But I had never really played, so I didn't want to step on anybody's toes. Now that I've been there, I can be more vocal and get on top of guys and make sure they're working. And I have to make sure I'm taking care of my business, which I am."

When the UK coaching staff turned to freshman Randall Cobb at quarterback for the last four regular-season games, many wondered whether Hartline had seen his last start in a Wildcats uniform, knowing Newton and Mossakowski were on board.

But Cobb's heavy workload (part-time quarterback, part-time receiver, full-time punt returner) eventually caught up with him, and he missed the Liberty Bowl after hurting his knee in the regular-season finale against Tennessee.

In stepped Hartline, who shook off the flu — "Every step I took before the game, I felt like my stomach was going to explode," he said — and threw for 204 yards and a touchdown to earn Most Valuable Offensive Player honors in UK's 25-19 win.

Hartline said it's games like the Liberty Bowl and the Arkansas game (in which he threw two late touchdowns in a come-from-behind win) that make it easier to deal with fans who called, and are still calling, for Brooks to pull the plug on him.

"I don't really read the newspapers or message boards too much," he said. "My mom does, and it upsets her, but some of the things I've heard people say about me are the same things they said about (ex-UK quarterback) Andre (Woodson). The next thing you know, he blows up.