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Back to Square One

Posted September 15th, 2008 by Kenny Colston

Wow, what a game right?

I just love when a kicker misses four field goals, when the running game stalls and wide receivers don’t know the routes. So when Papa Brooks says it’s time to open some positions back up to competition, I rejoice.

Let’s face it, Lones Seiber has been a problem for a while. I’m sure Lones is a great guy in real life. But he can’t kick worth a nickel. Time for you to go.

Tony Dixon, it’s not your time either. I know you’ve waited your entire career, but you aren’t a feature back. Alfonso Smith and Derrick Locke bring more to the table, namely speed and ability. You’re a great guy Tony, but time to step aside.

And all of you wide receivers, learn the darn playbook. This is silly. Learn the checks. You want to know what made Andre Woodson good? His wide receivers. Dicky Lyons Jr. can’t do everything, so step it up. I’m looking at you E.J. Adams, Demareo Ford, Aaron Boyd and Kyrus Lanxter. Step it up.

Rich Brooks needed to make some changes and I’m glad it’s looking like he will. The defense can’t hold up all year, as MTSU showed, and the offense can’t keep putting the defense in bad situations.

Change was on the horizon and now, it’s time for change. And now we can’t wait a moment later.

Posted in Aaron Boyd, Alfonso Smith, Derrick Locke, Dicky Lyons Jr., Kentucky Football, Kyrus Lanxter, Rich Brooks, Tony Dixon, UK football No Comments

Who Is Norfolk State?

Posted September 4th, 2008 by Kenny Colston

With the upcoming game against Norfolk State right around the corner, I decided to gather a little information about this team from Virginia.

Norfolk State was founded in 1935 on land previously occupied by a golf course (FORE!!!). It has a predominantly African-American enrollment of 6,200 students. The Spartans compete in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. Although they have no big names as famous alumni, they have sent several players to both the NFL and NBA. Their colors are green and gold so don’t think the Packers are in town when you see them on the field Saturday.

This year’s Spartan football team started the season like Kentucky with a win over an in-state rival. The Spartans beat Virginia State 47-7 on Saturday using a strong rushing attack and a stiffling defense. Sophomore DeAngelo Branche rushed the ball 20 times for 96 yards and three touchdowns against Virginia State while the defense held VSU to 103 yards and scored 9 points of it’s own. Behind center, the Spartans relied on the arm of Connecticut transfer Dennis Brown, who threw for 126 yards on 12 completions and one touchdown.

It’s funny, I compared stats from both NSU and UK’s opening games and came up with a lot of similarities. The only staggering difference was that NSU gained over 300 yards in their opening game while UK only gained just over 200. Hopefully, Louisville was a little tougher competition than Virginia State. We will find out on Saturday night at 6:00 at Commonwealth Stadium.

I look for the game to be another low scoring one with a couple of defensive touchdowns again this week. I don’t think it will be a blowout but I don’t think NSU will be in the game going into the fourth quarter. I think we will see the offense take a few more chances throughout the game and maybe attempt a few more big plays. I would like to see Randall Cobb a little more behind center and have a feeling we may see Aaron Boyd on the field at some point during the game.

Prediction: UK 27-NSU 10
Posted in Aaron Boyd, Randall Cobb No Comments

Questions To Be Answered In The Next Ten Days!

Posted August 21st, 2008 by Kenny Colston
With kickoff just 10 days away, several questions have popped into my head over the past couple of days. I’ll give you my thoughts but really want to hear yours.

1. Will Mike Hartline finish the Louisville game as the quarterback? No disrespect to Mike Hartline, I think he will be a great player if he can stay healthy. Apparently, from practice observations, the o-line is struggling and still hasn’t quite developed a good unit chemistry yet. Going into game one, a questionable o-line can mean bad things for your quarterback, especially one that has never started before. Ask Dave Ragone how a bad offensive line can hurt your season’s hopes and goals. Here’s to hoping Mike can take some hits (if UL’s D doesn’t suck even worse).

2. How will the defense play? Louisville’s offense lost a lot of players off of last years mediocre team. Logic says our defense should be able to dominate the Cards but logic is not something that describes UK Football. Strange things seem to happen just when you don’t expect them to. Hopefully the defense plays up to my hopes. They should be the best unit on the field, offense or defense.

3. Who will be this year’s Stevie Johnson. I look for the Cats to pull out a victory on the 31st but I don’t think it will be easy. We all know the offensive star of the team is Dicky Lyons Jr. but as we saw last year, someone else needs to step up and make some big plays if the Governor’s Cupis going back to Lexington with the boys.. I look for one of the incoming freshmen to maybe become that player. I see Aaron Boyd (if healthy) or maybe even Randall Cobb filling the role.

4. How blue will the pizza pit be on August 31st? It’s no secret to anyone who lives in Louisville or happens to watch Louisville home games, but the Kentucky game every other year is the only game that actually fills Papa John’s Stadium. The stadium has a deep shade of blue on those days. Good thing they’re making it bigger so we can maybe make it half and half in two years. So my question is how many Cat fans will be in attendance for the game? I know I’ll be there, four rows behind the UL bench at the 45 yard line clad in blue. Where will you be?

5. What’s on the grill on gameday? It’s by far the most important gameday question. What’s the preferred cuizine for tailgaiting? I like some sort of meat (chicken, burgers, etc.) on the grill along with some chips or other kinds of finger foods.

Posted in Aaron Boyd, Mike Hartline, Randall Cobb No Comments

The Top 10 Impact Freshmen This Year

Posted August 12th, 2008 by Kenny Colston

In an effort to prepare you for kickoff on Aug. 31, we’ll be previewing the heck out of the UK football team for the next 19 days. Because hey, what else is there to do? Today we’re bringing you what we think are the top 10 impact freshmen this year.

Brooks has already said he’ll play 7-10 freshmen this year, but in the interest of fairness, we’ll include redshirt freshman as well. Some of these picks are obvious, others may not be.

1. Randall Cobb–Athlete
Backup-QB, part-time wide receiver, full time punt returner. Basically, Cobb is going to see the field this season from game 1 to game 12. The kid is better than originally thought and seems to be giving a big finger to Tennessee. Can’t argue with that.

2. Aaron Boyd–Wide Receiver
If he stops kissing so many pretty girls around campus and catching mono, he’d be number one. Boyd is good, knows he’s good and wants to make an impact NOW. Kyrus Lanxter better watch his back.

3. Randall Burden–Corner
With Paul Warford gone this season and David Jones/Shomari Moore as career backups, Burden could make the same type of impact shutdown corner Trevard Lindley did two years ago as a freshman. While technically a redshirt, we aren’t penaltizing for that.

4. Stuart Hines–Off. Lineman
Hines just barely was redshirted last year and could make an impact this year in the rotation. Zipp Duncan is likely to take most of the time if Christian Johnson doesn’t return anytime soon, but Hines could see time and position himself to be the guy if the injury bug strikes.

5. Matt Lentz–safety
I dig the mohawk Lentz. I really do. And I like how you’ve taken your knowledge as a quarterback and applied it to playing safety. Ashton Cobb is definitely starting at strong safety this year, but you’re looking at some playing time. And keep the hawk.

6. Cartier Rice–corner
Like Burden, you have a chance to come in and make an impact. You’ll probably only be seen in nickle and dime packages, unless you really explode. Which we hope you do.

7. Danny Trevathan–linebacker
Micah Johnson isn’t moving from the middle linebacker spot, but sometimes he might need a breather. And this is looking like your spot to take, kid. We hear good things about you, how you’re already in the mix at middle linebacker. So keep up the good work.

8. Matt Roark–athlete
Randall Cobb pretty much made sure you weren’t playing QB anytime soon, but that’s okay since you’re 6-6 and a pretty good receiver. If you’d like to line up in the slot or as a fourth-receiver and just run a post to the middle of the field, we’d be very happy.

9. Ryan Tydlacka–Kicker/Punter
What? A kicker? Yeah, because I’m sure you all have just as much confidence in Lones Seiber as I do. If the offense sputters early, we’ll need a kicking game. And this kid may actually make grown men at Commonwealth be able to watch extra points and field goals without cursing.

10. Anthony Mosley–wide receiver
Before all these fancy freshman arrived, Mosley was seen as a darkhouse to create some havoc at wide receiver… and I don’t see why he still couldn’t. You write this name down, Anthony Mosley, and see if he pans out.

Posted in Aaron Boyd, Cartier Rice, Danny Trevathan, Kentucky Football, Matt Lentz, Matt Roark, Randall Cobb, Rich Brooks, Ryan Tydlacka, Stuart Hines, UK football No Comments

Star Freshman Sidelined For Who Knows How Long

Posted August 8th, 2008 by Kenny Colston

It was announced Friday by Coach Rich Brooks that the football Cats will be without highly touted freshman wide receiver Aaron Boyd for an unknown amount of time. Boyd was diagnosed with mononucleosis and will be held out of all activities for at least a week but probably even longer. Normally with mono, a rest period of a month to six weeks is required to get healthy again. Rest is the only cure for the illness. The good news is that it was diagnosed before the Cats began full contact practice on Saturday. Mono is a condition that enlarges the spleen and would have put Boyd at a high risk of serious injury, a la Chris Simms a couple of years ago in Tampa Bay.
For those who don’t know much about mono, like me, here are some links about the disease:

Boyd was a standout wide receiver at Henry Clay High School in Lexington, the top rated prospect in the state of Kentucky in 2008 and the younger brother of former Cat quarterback Shane Boyd.

On a lighter note, here are a couple of Daily Dicky clips to raise your spirits:

Posted in Aaron Boyd No Comments

Top 50 Things To Look Forward to Before UK/UofL Kickoff Part 2

Posted July 15th, 2008 by Kenny Colston

This is a list of the top 50 things I’m personally looking forward to before the Aug. 31 kickoff between the Cats and Cards. Feel free to post your suggestions in the comments or e-mail me. Today is numbers 25-1.Numbers 26-50 were released yesterday.

25. Beautiful Kentucky girls in jerseys, blue shirts and shorts.
24. Pre-game intros, hype music and fireworks.
23.3rd down stops
22. Sneaking friends into an overcrowded student section
21. The basketball team sitting five rows behind me.
20. ANOTHER FIRST DOWN KEN-TUCKY!

19. Keeneland opening for their fall meet.
18. Sundresses. Miniskirts.
17. Drumline outside Gate 1 after a win.
16. Cat Walk.
15. Talking to the dance team during tailgating
14. Tailgating.
13. Making fun of the Wildcat when he cheats his pushups.
12. Hugging randon girls in the student section while singing My Old Kentucky Home.
11. Aaron Boyd.
10. Buying from Jimmy Johns in Alabama (guess which one! haha!)

9. Going to Tuscaloosa.
8. Going to Gainesville
7. Dicky Lyons Jr. interviews
6. The stacked backfield
5. Micah Johnson roaming the middle.
4. Bone-crushing knockouts.
3. Finally beating Tennessee
2. Punking out Louisville

1. Winning a third straight bowl game.

That’s my list and yes, we will make a bowl game. Anything I missed?

Posted in Aaron Boyd, Derrick Locke, Dicky Lyons Jr., Kentucky Football, Louisville, Micah Johnson, Moncell Allen, SEC football, UK football No Comments

UK Football Gets Zero Respect, Still.

Posted May 16th, 2008 by Kenny Colston

This is usually one of my favorite times of spring/summer. When the college football magazines hit the stands, I rush to my neighborhood Walgreens/Kroger/Walmart/Anywhere to get a magazine.

This year, I was especially happy to race out to get the Lindy’s College Football Magazine, thinking that finally, after everything UK football has accomplished, we’d be rated a little higher than normal.

Ha. How naive I was.

That’s right, according to Lindy’s (and I’m sure the rest of the magazines will follow) UK is still one of the bottom two teams in the SEC. The bottom team is of course Vanderbilt. Mississippi State (a team that is the easily a one-year wonder) is ranked eighth overall by Lindy’s. UK is even below Arkansas, who lost everything and returned hardly nothing.

Did the U.S. government legalize drugs? Or is the Lindy’s team just taking them anyway?

Lindy’s put two Cats on All-SEC teams, DE Jeremy Jarmon and CB Tevard Lindley–on the second team defense. In the SEC position rankings, UK ranked no higher than eighth in any category. That ranking is shared by the wide recievers, running backs and defensive lines.

Lindy’s, you are out of your damn mind. Florida and their non-existant running game is ranked higher than UK’s. The UK linebackers rank 10th. So does the secondary.

In it’s report on UK, Lindy’s also says that it must win two of it’s four “coin-flip” games. Those games are At Louisville (Haha, coin-flip? Be serious. Did you see the spring reports?), South Carolina, Arkansas (who’s left? Casey Dick? Bring ‘em.) and at Mississippi State.

I see at least two wins there, probably three. Anyone else agree? Lindy’s also poops on UK’s biggest recruit as well, keeping Aaron Boyd out of their top incoming wide receivers rankings.

Obviously, UK football still has no national respect. Why is that? Is beating LSU, Florida State and Clemson the past two years meaningless? Everyone (including Lindy’s) is saying that replacing the offense will be too much.

Name me one SEC school besides Florida that wins with something other than a strong defense and a decent offense. Auburn hasn’t had a offense in years. LSU’s offense was no superpower last year. In fact, the number of good SEC QBs is lower than the number of wheels on a tricycle. And I’m still not sold on Matthew Stafford.

SEC schools run the ball and play defense. That’s what UK will do this year. Lindy’s expects UK to go 6-6 and miss a bowl, at best. I’ll say right now that UK will go at least 7-5, if not 8-4. They will make a bowl.

Here’s your wins this season: At Louisville, Norfolk State, Middle Tennessee, Western Kentucky, Arkansas, Vanderbilt. (six wins)

Losses: At Alabama, At Florida, Georgia. (three losses)

“Coin-flips”: South Carolina, At Mississippi State, at Tennessee

When will UK football get the respect it deserves? If this were any of the big SEC schools facing this problem, they would still be highly ranked. It’s about time UK received that same respect. Until then, I can’t wait for UK to continue to punch teams in the mouth and dumb, national correspondents at the same time.

Don’t buy Lindy’s College Football Magazine. It’s not even good toliet paper.
Posted in Aaron Boyd, Jeremy Jarmon, Kentucky Football, NCAA, NCAA football, SEC football, UK football No Comments