‘He’ll do a phenomenal job.’ Hall of Fame UK quarterback confident in Sawyer Smith.
Andre Woodson never beat Florida, but the University of Kentucky Athletics Hall of Famer got close in 2007.
Woodson went 35-of-50 for 414 yards and five touchdown passes — passing numbers that dwarfed eventual Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow, who threw a career-high four TDs himself — in a 45-37 loss to the Gators that year. It was the North Hardin graduate’s final game against Florida, and until 2014 was the last time a UK-UF game was decided by a single-digit margin.
Kentucky in Woodson’s final two years went 8-5 each season and won consecutive Music City Bowl titles. He was MVP in both games and finished his career with 9,360 yards and 79 TDs; until 2017 he held the single-season record for passing TDs (40) by a Southeastern Conference player, and is still third on that list.
Woodson, along with five others, are being inducted into the UK Athletics Hall of Fame this weekend and will be recognized during the Kentucky-Florida game Saturday.
“It was pretty remarkable, the fact that we had an opportunity to sort of revitalize the program, and really get to heights we’d never seen before,” Woodson said. “To finally get an opportunity to compete with some of the great talent in the SEC, so it was a fantastic time for us.”
The Wildcats last season snapped a 31-game losing streak to Florida with Terry Wilson under center. Wilson last weekend in UK’s 38-17 win over Eastern Michigan suffered a season-ending tear of the patellar tendon in his left knee.
Enter Sawyer Smith, a former backup at Troy who replaced an injured starter there last season. He transferred in the summer to UK, where he’s now in an eerily similar set of circumstances. Florida wasn’t on the other side of the line of scrimmage when he made his first start at Troy, though.
Woodson provided some perspective on UK’s new starting quarterback, and offered advice to him as he steps into what could be the most-watched game of his career.
“It’s not an ideal situation but at the end of the day, he’s come in here to play football and he knows it,” Woodson said. “... I think he’ll do a phenomenal job. Just continue to be poised, take what they give him and when the opportunity presents itself, go for it.”
DeMarcus Cousins not attending
The University of Kentucky is inducting six new members into its athletics Hall of Fame this weekend, and former Wildcats basketball star DeMarcus Cousins is one of them despite a recent domestic violence charge pending against him.
Cousins was one of Coach John Calipari’s first one-and-done standouts in the 2009-10 season. He is being inducted as part of a 2019 Hall of Fame class that also includes shooter Henri Junghanel, basketball player A’dia Mathies, runner Vic Nelson, track and field coach Don Weber and Woodson.
UK said Cousins would not be present for the induction ceremony but would instead accept the honor by submitting a video.
An arrest warrant for the Los Angeles Lakers center was issued last month in Mobile, Ala., for a misdemeanor charge of domestic violence. Cousins was accused of recently threatening to shoot a woman with whom he had a prior relationship. Accusations in court papers obtained by the New York Times also said Cousins choked the woman on a previous occasion. Christy West was granted a protective order forbidding Cousins from contacting her.
“We are aware of the allegations made against DeMarcus Cousins since we announced our Hall of Fame class in April and take them seriously,” UK Athletics said in a statement released to WLEX. “We will let the legal process run its course, but will proceed as planned with our induction ceremony this weekend.”
Cousins was a 2010 NCAA Consensus Second Team All-American and averaged 15.1 points and 9.9 rebounds He was the fifth overall pick in the 2010 NBA Draft.
Junghanel was a four-time All-American and the leading shooter on UK’s 2011 national champion rifle team. He won the gold medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics in the 50-meter prone event.
Mathies was SEC Player of the Year as a junior and senior and a two-time All-America honoree. She was the first player in UK history (men or women) to accumulate over 2,000 points, 600 rebounds, 300 assists and 300 steals in a career.
Nelson won seven SEC individual championships, at least one in each cross country, indoor track, and outdoor track.
Weber was track and field head coach from 1984-2012 and was an assistant and athlete himself prior. In all, he spent 34 years on UK’s staff, including earning National Coach of the Year honors in 1988 when women’s cross country won the national championship.
Athletes he coached earned 10 individual NCAA championships, 225 All-America honors and 92 SEC individual titles.
UK has honored athletes with its Hall of Fame since 2005.
Herald-Leader staff contributed to this report.
