OFFENSE

Kentucky coach Joker Phillips, a former offensive coordinator, has had to start over on offense before, and this season he’ll do it again. Gone are quarterback Mike Hartline, tailback Derrick Locke and wide receiver Randall Cobb, the most valuable and versatile player on the offense for three seasons.

“Obviously, we lost a lot of production at the running back, the receiver, the quarterback position,” Phillips says. “For some people it’s a concern. For us, it’s not. It’s a challenge. It’s an opportunity.”

The biggest opportunity belongs to quarterback Morgan Newton, the heir apparent to Hartline who has nine career starts but has been inconsistent in throwing the ball downfield. Newton has passed for 971 yards and six touchdowns with three interceptions his two years.

“I’m excited about the opportunity to come in and take a leadership role,” Newton says. “I expect good things.”

To get them, he’ll need help from a decimated receiving corps that will lean heavily on junior La’Rod King and hopes for breakout years from senior Matt Roark and sophomore Brian Adams, also a starter on the UK baseball team.

Sophomore Raymond Sanders should be the featured tailback, though true freshmen Marcus Caffey and Josh Clemons will have an opportunity to earn early reps.

Experience isn’t an issue on the line, where four of five starters return. The fifth spot is right tackle, where senior Billy Joe Murphy has nine career starts.
 

DEFENSE

Kentucky’s top 11 tacklers return, but the defense will have a brand-new look. Rick Minter joins the staff as co-defensive coordinator with Steve Brown, but Minter will call plays and set the defensive philosophy. The new look will be a multiple-set defense with a variety of 4-3 and 3-4 alignments, and the Wildcats will show a 4-2-5 look with several players shifting into hybrid roles. Safety Winston Guy will line up at linebacker. Linebacker Ridge Wilson will rush the passer as a defensive end.

Kentucky will look for defensive line anchors in sophomores Mister Cobble and Donte Rumph, who weren’t listed as starters coming out of spring but are the most purely talented tackles.
The star of the defense is linebacker Danny Trevathan, who passed on the NFL Draft after posting an SEC-leading 144 tackles and returns for his senior season 10 pounds heavier and hoping for an even bigger year.

The secondary was the Cats’ most consistent unit in the spring, and there are high hopes for this group with four starters returning.

SPECIALISTS

The loss of Cobb and Locke damages Kentucky’s electric return game. Burden, Guy and Jerrell Priester will get looks on punt and kickoff returns. Placekicking duties should fall to junior Craig McIntosh, who beat out heavily recruited freshman Joe Mansour last season and will look to hold off a challenge from the sophomore this year. Ryan Tydlacka returns for his third season as the starting punter.

FINAL ANALYSIS

Kentucky has made five straight bowl games, the first four under Phillips’ predecessor, Rich Brooks. With its offense so wiped out, a sixth will be a tall order.

The postseason recipe remains the same: The Wildcats need to sweep their non-conference games and find a way to win two SEC games. The margin for error shrinks if Kentucky falls to resurgent rival Louisville in Week 3.