Kentucky 2007 Preview

Kentucky had just wrapped the most successful season in the Rich Brooks era when the Wildcats’ coach decided to rain on the parade. It was only minutes after UK had beaten Clemson in the Music City Bowl when Brooks stood in front of his celebrating team and told them to get back to work. “What we did this year isn’t going to be good enough next year,” Brooks told his team. “We have to do everything better, because the people we play are going to take us more seriously.”
It’s a safe bet he was right.

After finishing 9–25 in Brooks’ first three seasons, the Wildcats had a breakout in 2006, finishing 8–5, winning four of their last five regular-season games and grabbing the school’s first bowl win in 22 years.

Kentucky returns seven starters on offense and eight on defense from that bowl-winning team, and with three of the Southeastern Conference’s most electric offensive players — quarterback Andre’ Woodson, wide receiver Keenan Burton and tailback Rafael Little — among that group, there’s a newfound optimism in Lexington. “Just doing what we did last year isn’t going to satisfy us,” Burton says. “We all want to win more games. We all want to be better.”

To do that, the Wildcats will have to maintain their offensive momentum from a year ago, when they averaged 26.7 points and 375.3 yards per game. And they’ll have to make major strides on defense, where new coordinator Steve Brown — promoted from defensive backs coach to replace Mike Archer, who left for NC State — inherits a unit that ranked 118th out of 119 Division I-A teams in total defense.

Quarterbacks
Woodson has no delusions about the Heisman Trophy, saying this spring, “Playing at Kentucky, I probably won’t get a lot of consideration for that,” but his numbers make a case for his candidacy. Last season, he completed 63 percent of his passes and threw for 3,515 yards with 31 touchdowns and seven interceptions. Woodson was spectacular again in the spring, but he never took a hit. He was off-limits to contact, thanks to an unsettled backup situation. Last season’s backup, Curtis Pulley, left school in the spring for academic reasons. Pulley is expected to return this fall and redshirt, leaving redshirt freshmen Mike Hartline and Will Fidler to compete to be Woodson’s understudy. Neither established a foothold on the job in the spring.

Running Backs
The difference on offense during the late-season surge was the emergence of a running game. The Wildcats averaged 79.4 rushing yards per game in the first seven games, but rushed for an average of 121 per game during the 5–1 finish. Little was big in that resurgence. After missing four of the team’s first seven games with a knee injury, he averaged 96.8 rushing yards per game in his last four games, despite playing at less than 100 percent. “There were guys easily running me down from behind last year,” Little said. The hope is that a healthy Little can return to the form he showed as a sophomore, when he ran for 1,045 yards and nine touchdowns. He’ll have help in the backfield from junior Tony Dixon and sophomore Alfonso Smith, a burner who the coaching staff hopes will find a physical presence to match his speed.

Receivers
The star of this show is Burton, who flirted with the idea of the NFL Draft, then after submitting his name to the league’s draft advisory board, elected to return for his senior year. The 6'2" Burton — a big play specialist with a staggering 431⁄2-inch vertical leap — is motivated to improve on a season in which he solidified himself as one of the SEC’s top receivers with 77 catches, 1,036 yards and 12 touchdowns. “He’s a better player than he was last fall,” Brooks says. “And that should scare some people.” The attention defenses give Burton has helped the rest of the receiving corps develop, and none has been a bigger beneficiary than Dicky Lyons Jr., who had 50 catches for 822 yards and nine touchdowns. Coaches are predicting a big year for senior Steve Johnson, who came on late last season, his first after transferring from junior college. Jacob Tamme led SEC tight ends in receptions with 32, but even after 386 receiving yards and two scores, some considered his season a disappointment. Last offseason, shoulder injuries prevented Tamme from so much as attempting a bench press. This season, he’s healthy and expecting to post bigger numbers.

2007 Schedule
S. 1	Eastern Kentucky	W
S. 8	Kent State	W
S. 15	Louisville	L
S. 22	at Arkansas	*
S. 29	Florida Atlantic	W
O. 4	at South Carolina	L
O. 13	LSU	L
O. 20	Florida	L
O. 27	Mississippi State	W
N. 10	at Vanderbilt	*
N. 17	at Georgia	L
N. 24	Tennessee	L
Games in bold represent swing games. W or L indicates a projected win or loss.

Offensive Linemen
This, by a wide margin, is the biggest area of concern on offense. Injuries and departures left the offensive line shorthanded in spring practice, and only two starters return from last season — left tackle Garry Williams and left guard Christian Johnson, and Johnson was suspended for spring practice. Senior Eric Scott, a converted tight end, was the talk of the spring at center. Offensive coordinator Joker Phillips said Scott could be the best offensive lineman Kentucky has had in Brooks’ tenure. Assuming everyone’s healthy and reinstated this fall, junior college transfer Jess Beets and senior Jason Leger should compete for the right guard spot, while Josh Winchell should push Justin Jeffries at right tackle. “I don’t have any doubt that our linemen have the ability,” Brooks says. “The question is their experience.”

Defensive Linemen
Kentucky returns its top two in sacks, Jeremy Jarmon at left end and Myron Pryor at right tackle. Pryor has generated buzz when healthy. Though he battled injuries last season, he totaled 42 tackles, five sacks, four forced fumbles and an interception. Jarmon had four sacks in UK’s last four games. The rest of the spots on the line are up for grabs. Coaches are excited about a pair of young tackles — sophomore Corey Peters and redshirt freshman Ricky Lumpkin — and the Wildcats have a slew of defensive ends who will battle for playing time, including seniors Dominic Lewis, J.D. Craigman and Travis Day and junior Nii Adjei Oninku. Jamil Paris showed tantalizing speed at defensive end last season but was suspended for the spring for violating team rules.

Linebackers
This spot was expected to be a strength for the Wildcats in 2006, but his linebackers’ inconsistency frustrated Brooks until late in the season. Now Kentucky is hoping last season’s momentum will carry over. The Cats’ best defensive player is senior weak-side linebacker Wesley Woodyard, who had 122 tackles as a junior — a team-high 9.5 for loss — and finished second in the SEC in tackles per game. “I’ve set a goal to be the best linebacker in the SEC and in the country,” Woodyard says. He’s the leader of a unit long on experience. Middle linebacker Braxton Kelley had 82 tackles last season but should be pushed by Micah Johnson, who had an up-and-down rookie season after arriving with immense fanfare. Johnny Williams, a returning starter, should lock up the strong-side linebacker spot.

Defensive Backs
There’s one big-play guy at safety and another at corner. The Wildcats will look to fill in the blanks from there. The anchor in the secondary is Marcus McClinton at free safety, an emotional leader and playmaker on the defense. In addition to 65 tackles last season, he had four interceptions, forced five fumbles and broke up six passes. Meanwhile, Trevard Lindley emerged as one of the SEC’s top freshmen at cornerback. He was among the league leaders with 12 pass breakups, and he added two interceptions in a Freshman All-America season. Senior Roger Williams returns at strong safety, though he’ll be pushed by sophomore Ashton Cobb. That leaves one cornerback spot up for grabs.

Specialists
Lones Seiber returns after making 11-of-19 field goals and 33-of-34 PATs. Punter Tim Masthay is back after a sophomore season in which he remained inconsistent but averaged 39.2 yards per boot. And with Little, Burton and Lyons back to return kickoffs and punts, Kentucky is a good bet to have one of the nation’s best overall return games for the third consecutive season. So the biggest question mark on special teams might be at long snapper, where the Cats are without four-year starter Jason Dickerson. Among the candidates for that role is Tamme, who worked in that capacity this spring.

Del.icio.us | Digg it | Athlon Sports RSS Feeds