The Bottom Line on… Kentucky

It was pretty difficult not to notice Kentucky’s ascent to SEC credibility last season. The 8-4 season the Wildcats tallied last season was enough to revamp excitement about the program in Lexington and throughout the state and earned head coach Rich Brooks a new four-year deal. Despite returning what has to be one of the most promising and exciting offenses in the conference, 2006 will prove to be a tough act to follow.

Offensively, you can’t say enough about this team. They have the SEC’s best quarterback, that’s right best quarterback, in senior Andre Woodson, an explosive returnman/tailback in Rafael Little, second-team all SEC wideout Keenan Burton and first-teamer tight end Jacob Tamme. But then there’s that offensive line, which is a frightening assemblage of new players and transformed players. Just how bad is it for UK’s O-Line? The line’s only two returning starts, junior tackle Garry Williams and junior left guard Christian Johnson, were suspended in the spring because of academic difficulties. But it’s Andre Woodson, one of the Bottom Line’s Top 5 breakout stars for the ‘07 season, that makes this offense worth watching. Woodson is returning from a season where he threw just seven interceptions and 31 touchdowns. With just 13 picks in 760 career attempts, the senior signal-caller currently owns the lowest interception ratio in SEC history. Rafael Little returns at tailback and will be a versatile and complex scoring threat and defenses will need to know where he is on the field at all times. He could line up in the backfield, in the slot or out wide. One of Brooks’ favorite formations is to go empty backfield with Little and Burton lined up on the shortside and letting them run option routes. UK returns an underrated crew of receivers led by Burton and Dicky Lyons, who caught 50 balls for 822 yards last year. But Lyons may not be a sure thing at that no. 2 receiver spot. Senior Steve Johnson, Jr. came on towards the end of last season and impressed during the spring and had offensive coordinator Joker Phillips singing his praises, saying the 6-3 receiver was actually better off press coverage than Keenan Burton. Expect Phillips to stretch the field with senior tight end Jacob Tamme, who was the Wildcats third leading receiver last season. Initially recruited to Kentucky as a receiver, Tamme’s speed and hands mimic that of a wideout and make him a deep threat. If the offensive line can mature and find some cohesion, the Kentucky offense could be hands-down the best in the conference.

While the offense was spectacular last season, the defense was anything but. Bluntly put, the defense was hideous last year. Finishing second to last in all of Div. 1-A football in pass defense and total defense and surrended more than 200 yards a game on the ground, good for 108th in the country. The area that the defense did excel in was creating turnovers. The Wildcat D forced 32 turnovers (18 of which were fumble recoveries) making for a 1.15 turnover ratio that was good for second best in the country. But to expect any defense to repeat that feat would be wishful thinking. The defensive line is a mess, returning only two starters on a defensive line that was pushed around and dominated for much of last season. (The UK defense surrendered 351 yards on the ground last year to Louisiana-Monroe). D-Line coach Rick Petri will need young guys to step up and step up fast. At linebacker, the team returns SEC-first teamer Wesley Woodyard, who had a team high 122-tackles last year at Will linebacker. Junior Braxton Kelley returns at middle with junior Johnny Williams returning at Sam. If the Kentucky front seven is to be anything close to respectable, it will have to improve on their 46.5 percent success rate on third down, which ranked worst in the conference last season. Sophomore Trevard Lindley could become one of the SEC’s best young corners this season shoring up the right cornerback spot. The battle for the starting left corner spot is anything but steady with sophomores E.J. Adams and Paul Warford battling for the start. After an explosive offseason, Marcus McClinton returns at free safety after almost being kicked off the team. In March, McClinton was temporarily suspended from the team after being arrested for setting off homemade explosives in his apartment (one of the aforementioned explosives injured the safety), reportedly consisting of dry ice inserted into bottles of water. McClinton and returning strong safety Roger Williams are experienced if not unspectacular and will need to be leaders on a unit that gave up 270 yards per game through the air. In a conference where Early Doucet, Percy Harvin, Marcus Monk and Earl Bennett line up wide, this relatively young unit will be put to the test early and often. Expect to see some track meets.

Grueling. That’s what comes to mind when you look at Kentucky’s schedule. The Wildcats travel to Arkansas, Vandy, South Carolina and Georgia. And play host to Florida, Tennessee and LSU. The Wildcats also play host to their Commonwealth rivals, Louisville in Week 3.

Bottom Line prediction: 5-7. Chalk up losses against Louisville, Florida, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Arkansas and LSU. I would not be at all surprised if UK tallies an upset or two (maybe against South Carolina or Georgia at home) but I wouldn’t bet on it. A game of interest for me will be the Sept. 15 matchup against Louisville at home. My guess is that Kentucky will give the Cards all they can handle but the Louisville offense is just too much with Harry Douglas and Mario Urrutia.