Kentucky Football: Recapping the Wildcats' Spring Game

The goal for Kentucky head coach Joker Phillips in his third season is simple: find an offense. The Wildcats finished last in the SEC in total offense (259.8 ypg), scoring offense (15.8 ppg) and passing offense (135.6 ypg) in 2011.

If Saturday's Blue/White Spring Game is any indication, wide receiver Demarco Robinson may be the spark plug to help Phillips reach that goal.

Robinson caught nine passes for 146 yards and two touchdowns, establishing himself as the primary target for quarterback Maxwell Smith. The 5'10", 159-pound Robinson can be a solid playmaker for the Wildcat offense this fall, along with senior wide receiver La'Rod King.

Phillips was in search of playmakers on offense, and he knows he found one with Robinson:

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We gathered an idea of who some of our playmakers (are). There’s something to be said – and I worked a training camp one year with Joe Gibbs, and I can remember in one of our coach’s meetings, there’s something to be said for a guy every time you have a scrimmage he makes a play. Demarco Robinson is that guy. Every time we came into this place he made a huge play for us and today he made a lot of big plays for us. We think he is one of our playmakers.

"

Smith and senior Morgan Newton are battling for the top spot at quarterback on the Wildcat depth chart. But with Newton out this spring recovering from a shoulder injury, the door was open for Smith to take a commanding lead once fall practice starts. 

Smith walked right on through the door.

The sophomore completed 29-of-45 passes for 353 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. To put those numbers in perspective, Smith accounted for roughly 22 percent of Kentucky's entire passing offense from 2011 in the 2012 spring game.

Yes, it's a spring game and they don't matter. But in Kentucky's case, seeing any kind of production through the air qualifies as big news.

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