Goal Line Stand: Brooks brings Wildcats back

The future is indeed imposing. A trip to South Carolina, followed by back-to-back visits from LSU and Florida. A game at Georgia looms. Then there is the finale vs. Tennessee, which Kentucky hasn’t beaten since 1984. Five years ago, that would go something like this: Loss, loss, loss, loss and loss.

UK might still go 0-5 against that lot, especially since two of them are top-five teams and the others are bowl clubs, no doubt about it. But with Florida Atlantic, Mississippi State and Vanderbilt on the slate, too, the Wildcats are almost assured another bowl appearance, and don’t be surprised if Kentucky manages to win one or two against the heavyweights, either. It’s already been that type of year and quite a happy chapter in a story which appeared to be ending nearly two years ago.

As the 2005 season slouched to a 3-8 conclusion, the lights appeared to be dimming for good on the tenure of Rich Brooks. The one-time Oregon offensive savant, who had built a Pacific Northwest scoring machine, had failed miserably in his return to the collegiate ranks, winning just nine games in three years. Speculation was already rampant about the identity of his successor when AD Mitch Barnhart announced Brooks would have another year to complete the turnaround he had been hired to affect. Some snickered and joked that Kentucky didn’t want a football team that could compete for the affections of fans with its storied hoops outfit, and that’s why Barnhart had chosen to keep Brooks.

Others applauded Barnhart for sticking by his man and giving him the opportunity to finish what he had started. Brooks had maintained that he needed just a little more time to turn it around, and he was right. While many were stunned as Kentucky throttled Clemson in last year’s Music City Bowl, Brooks figured his team had arrived right on time. Led by do-everything QB Andre’ Woodson, the Wildcats were a high-scoring team that created excitement and had come within one win of matching the previous three seasons’ totals. Barnhart was vindicated, and Brooks had his reputation back.

But you know how it goes when a team that hasn’t been successful gets a little bit of money in its pocket. The encore is never quite the same as the performance. One-hit wonders abound in the college football world, and many considered Kentucky the Bluegrass equivalent of Norman Greenbaum, especially when they took a look at the Wildcat defense and figured out what would happen against the SEC, not to mention high-scoring Louisville. Six wins, maybe. Maybe.

Well, look at the Wildcats now. They have not only survived the porous Cardinals. They have also made a pretty compelling SEC opening argument by throttling Arkansas and its ground attack, 42-29. UK is 4-0 heading into this week’s visit from Florida Atlantic and is ranked 14th in the AP poll, its highest climb in that rating since the end of the 1977 season.

There is plenty of opportunity for trouble in the future, as I have already delineated. Playing LSU and Florida back-to-back is brutal and the type of trauma that could be lasting. But this Kentucky team is different. Just as Texas’s 2005 team was a reflection of its leader, Vince Young, so are the Wildcats marching behind Woodson, who has now gone an NC2A record 296 passes without an interception and entered this year 20 pounds lighter than he was in ’06, the better to improve his mobility. The son of a military man, Woodson is an all-business type who triggers an offense which scores 47 points a game. He has led UK to victories in nine of its last 10 games and engineered comebacks in five of those nine, including last week’s triumph over the Hogs. His name may not have been mentioned before the year with the “top” quarterbacks in college, but he’s bound to be included with them by season’s end, particularly if he keeps completing 64.1 percent of his throws and keeps averaging 252 passing yards/game.

Kentucky is a great story, all right, one that bears watching. Will it win the SEC East and complete some storybook run to a BCS bowl? That’s unlikely, because the problems on defense are real. But let’s be patient here. An eight-win regular season, followed by some more bowl success would represent the most prosperity for UK football since 1976-77, and that would be something even hoop fans would have to notice.

Meanwhile, Brooks keeps working away, perhaps the most anonymous undefeated coach in the country. He doesn’t mind, so long as his team is getting notice. Judging by its high ranking and the respect it is earning in SEC circles, that is happening. And to think, there were those who wanted him gone. Next to that kind of pressure, games against the Tigers and Gators don’t seem too daunting.

In fact, they’re kind of fun.

GAME OF THE WEEK: Oregon at California
Some consider this the battle for second place in the Pac-10, but considering USC has to visit both the Ducks and Bears, that may be a bit premature. Besides, have you seen that Oregon offense yet? It was amazing against Michigan and has gotten even better, hanging half a hundred-plus on its last two opponents. Cal is pretty special, too, but its passing game doesn’t have the same snap as does UO’s, which is triggered by pristine Dennis Dixon. This should be a delight to watch as two great sets of athletes turn the speed up high. In the end, Oregon will have too much, especially at home.
Oregon 31, California 24

BUMP AND RUNS:
What the heck has happened to Louisville? We all knew the Cardinals were going to struggle on defense, but getting beaten up by Syracuse as a 36 ½-point favorite? That’s going too far. Guess that loss to Kentucky had farther-reaching psychological effects than we thought.

You have to love Penn State coach Joe Paterno. After watching Oregon make use of its playmakers in a rout of Michigan, he decided to close ranks and out-Schembechler the Wolverines. The result was a 14-9 loss, the Nits’ ninth-straight to U-M.

The ACC race is shaping up as a real corker. Boston College and Clemson look to be the early faves, but don’t count out resurgent Miami, Florida State or Virginia Tech, which seems to be headed the right way now under QB Tyrod Taylor. Come November, there should be some fireworks.

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