This past weekend was one of my favorite weekends ever in terms of sports. It had to be my favorite weekend ever that didn’t involve Kentucky.

*Auburn vs. LSU was the best game of the young season.
*Bobby Petrino got his teeth kicked down his throat.
*So did Phil Fulmer.
*Notre Dame lost.
*The Packers lost.
*The Vikings won.
*The White Sox won.
*The United States won back the Ryder Cup and Kentuckians Kenny Perry and JB Holmes earned four of the team’s 16.5 total points.
*Isiah Thomas is still unemployed.

All of these things make me happy, but it’s time to move on. First things first, it’s time to focus on the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers. WKU scares me for two reasons. For one thing, consider Kentucky’s last game. I realize that Kentucky left 26 points on the board with four missed field goals, a dropped touchdown and a touchdown erased because EJ Adams took a step out of bounds. 46-14 sounds a lot better than 20-14, but unfortunately, 20-14 is what we got. Once again, thank God for Robbie McAtee. Kentucky didn’t play well, but after the game, people got the idea that Middle Tennessee was legit and would probably win the Sun Belt. Well, either that’s completely untrue or MTSU was completely spent from their effort against Kentucky, because Arkansas State destroyed the Blue Raiders on Saturday. I believe 31-7 was the final score. The situation certainly isn’t as reassuring as it was a week ago.

The second thing I worry about when it comes to Western is the roster. I won’t do a detailed breakdown until later this week, but if it’s like any other Western Kentucky athletic team’s roster, it’s full of a bunch of guys from Kentucky who are ticked off that they didn’t get offered by Kentucky. Remember Patrick Sparks? Yes, I know it’s basketball, but look at how crazy he was in 2003 when he won Sun Belt POY as a sophomore. You get a whole team of those guys and they can do things they usually aren’t capable of doing against any other opponent. The most dangerous underdog team is an angry one, and I think that’s what we’ll see out of WKU.

Coach Brooks has made some changes to the depth chart for this week. At wide receiver, apparently Kyrus Lanxter didn’t have a good bye week. Depending on which chart you look at, he might be behind EJ Adams, Matt Roark and maybe even Gene McCaskill or Eric Adeyemi. When Randall Cobb comes back, Kyrus will most likely be behind him as well.

On defense, the biggest surprise is that Braxton Kelley is moving back into the middle to play for the injured Micah Johnson, rather than staying on the outside and having Johnson’s backup play inside. I don’t know if this is because Coaches Brooks and Brown like what they’ve seen out of Michael Schwindel (replacing Kelley on the outside), or if the middle backups just haven’t gotten the job done. The optimist in me wants to believe that they’re really happy with Schwindel.

In the secondary, Matt Lentz is replacing Ashton Cobb at strong safety. This is a little surprising, because both guys are solid tacklers. I think Cobb blew a couple spots in coverage against MTSU, so maybe that’s the reason why Lentz is getting the nod. I know one thing’s for sure – this is a good position competition to have. I like both of these guys. Lentz is one of those freshmen who you just want to see in some capacity. He is without question the hardest hitter on special teams, and Cobb is without question the hardest hitter in the secondary, so who knows how this will play out? Either way, a good player will start at strong safety against Western, so that makes me happy.

I’m Seth Stogsdill, and I can only hope that this week is as good to me as last weekend was.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8Gs2EqcIRw&hl=en&fs=1]

27-2.

Just let that sink in for a minute, people. 27-2. Doesn’t it just sound swell? It’s as if Kentucky gave Louisville the safety out of sympathy. “Well, we at least want to make it look like you earned a score, so let’s call a play action pass when we’re inside our own 5. There you go.” I know Louisville is a shell of its former self, but I don’t care. You could say the same thing about Kentucky after losing so many guys to the NFL. By the way, I want to offer congratulations to Wesley Woodyard for making the cut on the Denver Broncos and to Keenan Burton for being named a starter for the St. Louis Rams. That’s just awesome, guys. But back to this game, considering how much Kentucky lost, I might actually be more impressed with this year’s win than I was with last year’s win.

I want to start with the offense. People will say the offense was terrible, and that’s fine. That’s their right. I’ll say that the offense wasn’t one that can win a lot of games in the SEC, but I also think that the playcalling was different than what we’re used to seeing from Joker Phillips. When Phillips took over for Ron Hudson, there was one game left on the schedule – Tennessee. Kentucky didn’t win that game, but Joker took a lot of chances on offense at that game with Shane Boyd at quarterback. I think Mike Hartline has a higher ceiling than Boyd.

Fans want quarterbacks to be Superman all the time Andre Woodson was Superman in last year’s Louisville game. Mike Hartline was Batman. Batman isn’t as flashy. His superpowers aren’t as flashy. He’s just as efficient, and his movies are better. All Batman does is get the job done, and that’s what Mike Hartline did. Mike just managed the game as well as you can ask a guy starting his first college game in a relatively hostile environment with 107-degree heat on the field. You could count on one hand the number of bad passes Mike threw. One was an overthrown ball to TC Drake that had a good chance of being a touchdown. There were also several drops by the receivers, but I think when Aaron Boyd comes back from mono and Kyrus Lanxter gets over his wrist injury, this will improve. None of the receivers made any catastrophic mistakes. They ran solid routes, and to Louisville’s credit, the coverage was much better than last year.

The running game was probably the biggest disappointment of the day – or was it? I know the statistics don’t look good, but I honestly think that Coach Brooks and Coach Phillips saw an opportunity after Ashton Cobb scored on a fumble recovery. They realized that on this day, the defense wasn’t going to let Kentucky lose, so the gameplan got a lot more conservative. I can imagine people getting frustrated at Phillips for continuing to run right at Adrian Grady and Earl Heyman (the two best Louisville defenders), but it was done with a purpose. That purpose was to wear out the Louisville defense. As time progressed, they were able to turn the corner on Louisville with Locke and Smith whenever they ran to the outside. Had Louisville been able to do anything against the Kentucky defense, I think Kentucky would have called more outside running plays. Going up the gut wasn’t working for any purpose other than attrition. I do wish that Dixon and Locke hadn’t gotten happy feet so many times on those runs, but I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt and attribute it to first game jitters. The line did seem to struggle, but there were a couple of first time starters, so it isn’t something that’s impossible to fix.

The real story of the game was how defense and special teams dominated. The Kentucky front seven was as dominant as I’ve seen since they destroyed Dave Ragone back in 2002. Louisville couldn’t get anything going. The linemen didn’t hit Cantwell as much as when Ragone got destroyed, but they did deliver some shots. The secondary was extremely active against the pass. Cantwell has absolutely zero touch on his throw, but he did have Josh Chichester at 6’8”, which is enough of a height advantage to create a mismatch against anybody. It didn’t matter, because David Jones locked up Chichester all day long. Trevard Lindley was his usual awesome self. He didn’t get many balls thrown his way, which is really the mark of a lockdown corner. Every single defender on the team wrapped up when they had to make a tackle one on one. All three linebackers laid some lumber. Micah Johnson stopping Brock Bolen on 4th down was like two tanks colliding. On special teams, the Cats used the feet of Tim Masthay and Ryan Tydlacka to dominate field position. Louisville couldn’t get off a decent return all game long, especially when Masthay was booming most of his kickoffs into the endzone. Lones Seiber made both of his chip shots, so I can’t complain much about that Matt Roark got his fingertip on a field goal attempt when it was 0-0. With the way the offense struggled, who knows how things would have turned out if Louisville had drawn first blood with that FG?

The big star of the game was Myron Pryor. I haven’t seen a game like that from a Kentucky defensive lineman since Dewayne Robertson single-handedly beat Indiana back in 2000. I understand why Louisville never doubled him because they focused more on Jeremy Jarmon – a good strategy against the Myron Pryor from 2007, but this isn’t 2007. Pryor burned Eric Wood on the line more often than not, and Wood’s one of the best centers in the country. He forced the first fumble that led to the Cobb touchdown. He made the push on the line that allowed Johnson to make his 4th down stop. He tipped a couple passes at the line. He returned a fumble for a touchdown (a picture of him outrunning Wood to the endzone is my current desktop background). Credit Johnny Williams for making the hit on Cantwell and jarring the ball loose on that play as well, but Myron was the man yesterday. If he stays healthy, he could very well be all-SEC.

The “bend but don’t break” defense of the Mike Archer years is dead. Steve Brown is in charge now, and his guys are attacking. That is an SEC defense, folks. And it will win some more games for the good guys, just like it did yesterday.

27-2.

I’m Seth Stogsdill, wishing a happy Labor Day to everybody and a happy Rosh Hashanah to Louisville fans. I know it’s a few weeks away, but Louisville will be the last thing on my mind then. Enjoy the death spiral, Cards.

Louisville’s offense is significantly better than its defense. Hunter Cantwell has backed up Brian Brohm for three years, and it is his time to shine. I’m not as high on him as some of the Louisville fans who say he’s even better than Brohm and use some weird Mel Kiper formula to make that deduction, but he’s more battle-tested than Mike Hartline. Cantwell is about the same size as Brohm, and while he isn’t Tim Tebow, his mobility should not be underestimated. Hopefully I’m thinking of Cantwell and not Stefan LeFors. The biggest thing about Hunter than worries me as a UK fan is his leadership and experience. He has started a few games when Brohm was injured, and he didn’t fare badly at all. He is without question the leader of the Cardinals’ offense, and if Louisville is going to win this game, Cantwell will most likely be the most outstanding player in the game.

One thing that both John L. Smith and Bobby Petrino did exceptionally well at Louisville was recruit running backs. Eric Shelton, Lionel Gates, Kolby Smith, Michael Bush, Anthony Allen, Jujuan Spillman and George Stripling were all extremely talented backs, and most of those guys were bulldozers. Brock Bolen is another one of those bulldozers. As the Cardinals’ roster became more and more depleted last season, Bolen got a workman’s load of carries, and his bruising style led to a 4th quarter comeback against Rutgers. He’s listed as a fullback, but he gets more carries than the average fullback. The other running back that got lots of carries against Rutgers was Bilal Powell, who I honestly have never seen before. He didn’t get one carry against Kentucky, and I didn’t recognize him on special teams either, so I’m sorry, but I can’t tell you anything about his running style. The Cards will still be decent at RB, but they’ll definitely be a notch below their previous teams at the position.

At wide receiver, Louisville is in trouble. At least Kentucky has Dicky Lyons. Louisville was supposed to have Scott Long carrying a similar load as Lyons, but he broke his foot last week and is out. Without Long and Trent Guy, The Cardinals are woefully inexperienced. Doug Beaumont had lots of special teams tackles in 2007, but no catches. The only returning receiver who has any career catches is Chris Vaughn, and he’s listed as second on the depth chart. Troy Pascley starts alongside Beaumont, but once again, I have no idea if he’s a speed guy or a possession guy. At tight end, Pete Nochta has the unenviable task of replacing Gary Barnidge, and just like Kentucky’s tight ends with Jacob Tamme, I feel sorry for the backup tight ends from Louisville who have to replace Barnidge, because Gary was a good one.

Louisville has two outstanding offensive linemen. Tackle George Bussey and center Eric Wood are three-year starters, and both are legit. I can definitely see Wood in the NFL someday. Bussey may have to put on a little weight, as 306 is getting lighter and lighter for a tackle. At the other three positions, the Cards are very inexperienced. Tackle Jeff Adams and guard Mark Wetterer are sophomores with zero experience. Guard Abdul Kutayeh is a junior, but like the others, has next to no experience. Bussey and Wood can block pretty much anybody. I don’t think any of Kentucky’s sacks in last season’s game were on them, but if I were a Cardinal fan, I’d be a little worried about the other three positions.

This should be the best Kentucky defense in the Rich Brooks era. It improved greatly in Steve Brown’s first year as DC, and with almost everybody returning, it should be even better this season. It all starts on the line. Jeremy Jarmon is the most underrated defensive lineman in the SEC. His motor never stops running, he wraps up well against the run and is one of the best pass rushers I’ve seen at Kentucky. Fellow end Ventrell Jenkins is no slouch either. Both guys are capable of getting the big sack on 3rd down. Myron Pryor and Corey Peters are returning starters at defensive tackle. Injuries have slowed down Pryor since his awesome freshman year, but both he and Peters can clog the lanes well. Ricky Lumpkin comes back from injury at tackle, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see a lot of Josh Minton and Shane McCord either. Between those guys and Nii Adjei Oninku backing up the ends, this is one of the deepest defensive lines I can remember at UK.

At linebacker, Wesley Woodyard is gone. No one player can replace the skills or heart of Wes, but a team effort can get the job done. Braxton Kelley is moving to Wesley’s spot on the weak side. Normally it’s a tough transition to go from the middle to the outside, but I feel like Kelley is both physically and mentally tough enough to get it done. Kelley moving to the outside opens it up for Micah Johnson to move to a permanent spot on the inside. Micah has finally been given the opportunity to live up to his potential. He’s shown flashes of brilliance in a backup role, but for whatever reason, he was never able to take the starting job away from Kelley. Nothing against Johnson, because Kelley is very good. Johnson’s time is now, and I hope he makes the most of it. Johnny “Hitman” Williams will line up in the other outside slot, but there have also been rumors that his pass rushing ability will enable him to line up on the line, similar to what Lawrence Taylor used to do with the New York Football Giants. Not saying Johnny is LT (nobody is), but the roles may be similar. Sam Maxwell backs up Williams on the strong side, and he’s a super athletic player. There’s a guy who can just fly to the ball.

In the secondary, Cantwell had best not throw to Trevard Lindley, or else the ball will get picked off. Lindley is one of the top cover corners in the country, and I don’t feel like a big homer when I say that. He just does everything well, and I’d say he’s the best player on the Kentucky roster. It hurt when we lost Paul Warford on the other corner for the year, but I think that a healthy David Jones can prove to be a great remedy. Shomari Moore and Robbie McAtee provide experience in nickel and dime packages. At safety, the explosive Ashton Cobb replaces the reliable Roger Williams. This has benefits and drawbacks. Roger wasn’t as athletic as Cobb, but he didn’t take as many risks either. Nothing sucks worse than when a safety gambles on a pick or a big hit and gets burned. Marcus McClinton comes back for his senior year at SS, and he’s nothing but solid. Calvin Harrison started a few games last year when Marcus got hurt, so the secondary is also very experienced and deep.

Louisville is decent at QB, good at RB, weak at WR and questionable at three of the five OL positions. Kentucky is good at DL, very good at LB and good at DB. I still worry a little bit about David Jones lining up opposite lindley in the secondary, and I think both safeties go for the big play too much at the expense of making the sure play. Still, that isn’t enough of a concern to prevent me from saying advantage: Kentucky.

As for the prediction, I’ll take care of that tomorrow.

I’m Seth Stogsdill, and if Tommy Beecher can start for South Carolina, so can I.

Earlier, we made a list of the top 10 impact freshmen this season. Guys who thought were going to see significant playing time or do something important. Now, we bring you the top 10 returning players. These guys are upperclassmen who should know it’s their time to shine, possibly after playing second fiddle.

1. Dicky Lyons Jr.
There’s no doubt that Lyons is essential this year. If Lyons shows his 2006 form, the wide receiver position will be solid. If he hides like he did last year, the offense could be in trouble.

2. Braxton Kelley
Kelley has big shoes to fill since Wesley Woodyard left, but has shown that he can do a good job after sliding over.

3. Alfonso Smith
Tony Dixon is the current starter and everyone knows about Derrick Locke, but Smith will be the key to the running backs. Forgotten by the fans, Smith is hungry as the spring game showed. Smith was the speedster before Locke came on the team and he’ll remind everyone of that.

4. Jeremy Jarmon
The dude is a beast. If he can disrupt half of the line and create pressure, things get easier for everyone.

5. Micah Johnson
After two years it’s Micah’s time. His success at middle linebacker could really made UK’s linebacking corps really really good.

6. Garry Williams
This tackle protects Mike Hartline’s blindslide. And Williams needs to make sure Hartline doesn’t end up on his backside often.

7. Trevard Lindley
If Mr. Lindley continues to improve and virtually lock down half the field, both on the run and the pass, it makes things a whole lot easier to scheme your defense. Would be higher, but we know Trevard will bring his A-game.

8. Kyrus Lanxter
Coming off injury, Lanxter is a tall WR with potential. If he can lock down the No. 2 spot, that allows UK to send all of it’s talent freshmen into the slot and no. 4 receiver roles, creating havoc for opposing secondaries. Lanxter is the second part of the WR puzzle.

9. Ashton Cobb
The strong safety could play an important role if Marcus Clinton shows lingering effects of his injury last year. A hard-hitter in the defensive backfield, the more he makes a TE or WR think about coming over the middle, the better.

10. Mike Hartline
C’mon, you knew I had to put the QB on the list. Although I will say this, if Hartline is less than stellar, it won’t kill the offense. Give it the old SEC QB approach son: just don’t cost your team the game.

By now, we’ve all seen the pre-season All-SEC teams that were voted on by the coaches and released by the SEC yesterday, in advance of SEC media days.

If you haven’t seen the lists, go here.

The Cats landed 5 players on either the second or third team. No Cat made the first team. Which is a BIG snub.

Even ESPN’s Chris Low agrees: Trevard Lindley deserves to be a first-teamer in the SEC. Instead, a three-way tie for two of the four DB positions on the first team pushes Lindley to the second-team.

Sure, there are other good corners in the league.. but as good as Lindley as been as a freshman and sophomore? I’m not so sure. Lindley has key interceptions in multiple games the last few years. He is closing in on breaking UK’s career pass break up record. And he was a big help in run support last year.

But the snub is nothing new. Lindley has been under the radar the past two years and he’s starting under the radar last year. But go back and watch some tapes, coaches stayed away from Lindley. No.1 receivers would suddenly turn into slot guys when playing UK. He’s UK’s best kept secret.

DE Jeremy Jarmon, is a good pick as a second-teamer. So is OT Garry Williams for the second-team offense.

And linebackers Braxton Kelley and Micah Johnson as third team LB’s. Well, that’s just interesting that they are paired together. With both of them on the field, I see a lot of pair activities. Those two are going to wreck havoc on offenses this year, together, and it’s only fitting that how they land on the third team All-SEC defense.

The five players were good enough for seventh in the 12 team SEC. Finally, the summer snubs against the Cats lift…if only for a little bit.

This is a topic I’ve bounced around with some of my friends who also cover UK football: how can a defense that lost their best defense playmaker and emotional leader for the past two years actually be considered better this year?

In effect, how do you replace Wesley Woodyard and his production? And my answer was simple: in order to have a GOOD defense, you need more than just one playmaker carrying your defense.

Yes, it’s possible to have a great linebacker that can get 10-12 tackles a game in a defense that is just as good. You can have a superstar on a superstar unit. But more often than not, if you have a linebacker consistently making 10-12 tackles a game, you have a superstar on a bad unit.

Although it’s nothing new in the SEC. Patrick Willis carried the Ole Miss defense. And he’s not the only example.

But I think ESPN’s Chris Low, who now runs a not-half-bad SEC blog has touched on two of the reasons why UK will have a better defense next year.

1. Trevard Lindley is one, if not THE number one, underrated player in the league. The man’s highlight tape is endless. Crucial pick to seal a 2006 Georgia win as a freshman. Pick against LSU last year. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. He’s the quietest lockdown corner in the league. And he can tackle.

2. Jeremy Jarmon is ready for a breakout year. The guy is a monster and if he stays healthy, tackles everywhere will be hurting. The guy has a good motor and is a beast. If Corey Peter and/or Myron Pyror stay healthy and clog the middle like they can, watch out.

3. Braxton Kelley and Micah Johnson will make the best outside-inside combo UK has seen in a while. No offense to Sam Maxwell or Johnny Williams, the other linebacker, but Johnson is a beast that everyone has been waiting to get on the field. And Kelley is a solid player that has improved the last two years. Together, they should be pretty sick.

4. We have more depth than in years past. The secondary is deep, especially safety. Linebackers have some wiggle room, as does defensive line. That’s never happened before.

5. If healthy, Marcus McClinton will team with whoever lands at strong safety (and whoever grabs it, they will be good Calvin Harrison or Ashton Cobb) to produce a hard-hitting combo that will scare any receiver going across the middle. And McClinton has pretty good hands too.

Those are just five reasons I can think off the top of my head. Yeah, Wesley Woodyard was a great player. And I don’t think anyone person can replace him, but even in spring practice I had numerous defensive players say the same: “it’s a team effort now”.

And I sure do like the team effort put together, post Woodyard.

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 50-26.The top 25 will be released tomorrow.

50. Chanting AWWWWW C-A-T-S CATS CATS CATS.
49. Every game’s opening kickoff when tension is high
48. The band circling Commonwealth Stadium playing before a game
47. Speed. We have it.
46. The collective gasp in Commonwealth before a big play breaks
45. (Hopefully) a total blue out.
44. MORE OVERTIME PLEASE!
43. Night games.
42. The newfound depth UK has
41. Commonwealth rocking after every touchdown
40. Recruits at games.

39. A seven win season
38. When everyone realizes our offense won’t be terrible.
37. Naming a QB, finally.
36. Being undefeated before facing ‘Bama.
35. Revenge on Croom
34. The eventually upset: UGA, LSU in the past… who’s next?
33. Singing football players
32. Creating turnovers
31. Post-win celebrations across Lexington
30. Long touchdowns

29. The Turtle
28. Braxton Kelley proving someone can fill Wes Woodyard’s shoes.
27. Trevard Lindley locking down half the field
26. IT’S FOOTBALL TIME… IN THE BLUEGRASS!

Remember last year, when the UK athletics marketing department went all out with the “Believe in Blue” slogan, putting up billboards in Lexington, Louisville and other Kentucky cities?

Well, they are at it again. This year’s billboard stars? Dicky Lyons Jr., Derrick Locke, Braxton Kelley (with his stop on that fourth down against LSU), Rich Brooks and Jeremy Jarmon.

And this year’s slogan is still “Believe in Blue”, but it seems UK is trying to convey the sense that UK football matters now on the billboards.

My favorite is the one at the top of the post, where UK celebrates having the first ever College Gameday on campus. I said from day one that I stepped foot on campus that I don’t want to leave until the original Gameday, not the basketball one, came to Lexington. I can now die a happy student. But a few more of the billboards are below. You can find all of the billboard designs on UK Athletics.

If you read the sidebar, you realize that I work for the independent student newspaper at UK, The Kentucky Kernel. If you don’t read the sidebar, well you now you know.

And knowing is half the battle.

That being said, Here’s my story out today about Saturday’s spring game. http://media.www.kykernel.com/media/storage/paper305/news/2008/04/21/Sports/Qbs-Still.Even.After.Annual.Scrimmage-3337068.shtml

Both Pulley and Hartline pretty much stayed equal during the White squad’s 23-22 win. Both used their arms and legs to make crucial play. Pulley benefited a lot from WR Dickey Lyons Jr., while Hartline’s receivers dropped a lot of passes.

The defense was amazing early on and for most of the game. The coverage and linebacking play was great. Braxton Kelley is already settled in at the weakside linebacker spot.

Players of the Game: Lyons–White squad, Alfonso Smith–Blue squad.

Play of the Game: Moncell Allen’s halfback pass on the White squad’s opening drive.

Surprise of the Game: Quarterback turned backup Safety Matt Lentz picking off Hartline.

Thank God Moment of the Game: No one was injured!

Also, the UK baseball team FINALLY won another SEC series by defeating Florida in extra innings yesterday on a bases-loaded walk. The Cats head to Louisville tomorrow to complete their home and home series with the rival Cardinals and then head to Western Kentucky for an away game on Wednesday.

Quick Saturday Update on all things UK Athletics:

UK Bat Cats (that’s the baseball team for those not in the know) lost last night 3-2 to the No. 11 Georgia Bulldogs.

And I’m currently watching those same Bulldogs just smack heralded pitcher Scott Green across Athens, Ga. Five runs in the first, runners on second and third with no outs in the top of second. Ouch!!! (update: both of those runners just scored. 7-0 Dawgs.)

And in today’s second scrimmage of the spring, the UK football team finally showcased what will be it’s bread and butter this season–the defense. Led by senior linebacker Braxton Kelley, the Cats allowed only one field goal, zero touchdowns during 11 offensive series. Depending on your viewpoint, this is either a good or bad sign for the Cats this fall.

Now, back to your regularly scheduled viewing.. Which should be UK-UGA on Fox Sports Net South.