2008 Kentucky Wildcats Football Preview

The 2006 and 2007 football seasons wrote history in the Kentucky record books, as the Cats won back-to-back bowl games for the first time since 1951-52.  You might remember a famous coach that led us to this feat in Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant.

Kentucky had one of its best senior classes to ever come through the school graduate after the 2007 season.  The Cats will have to find replacements for Andre Woodson at quarterback, Keenan Burton and Steve Johnson at the receiver spot, Jacob Tamme at tight end, Rafael Little at running back, and defensive leader and captain Wesley Woodyard at the outside linebacker spot, to only name a few.

One of the biggest questions on offense for this coming season is who will replace Andre Woodson.  Well, nobody is for sure yet.  Redshirt junior Curtis Pulley originally beat Woodson out of the starting job during the spring of 2006 before Woodson made his unbelievable improvement.  After redshirting last season for personal reasons, Pulley is now back on the team and in a major battle with Mike Hartline for the starting quarterback spot.

My guess as to who will be under center for the Cats this season is Curtis Pulley.  He is a dual threat quarterback that can hurt defenses with both his arm and legs.  Don't be surprised if you see Coach Rich Brooks use Pulley and Hartline at the same time, with Pulley out wide at the receiver spot, and adopt somewhat of a dual-quarterback system this season.

Coach Brooks will look to the Cats' highly dangerous and extremely fast backfield to be the main threat on offense.  Derrick Locke, Alfonso Smith, and Tony Dixon all return at the running back spot along with Moncell Allen, John Connor, and Maurice Grinter returning at the fullback spot.

The Cats also return the majority of their starting O-Line last season, so the Cats will have one of the best and deepest rushing attacks in the SEC.

Another big question on the Cats offense is at the receiver and tight end spots.  The only starter that Kentucky has returning at these positions is senior Dicky Lyons Jr. at receiver.

Along with Lyons, look for junior E.J. Adams (who recently moved to receiver from the cornerback spot), highly touted freshman Aaron Boyd, senior David Jones, senior Demoreo Ford, and even freshman E.J. Fields to carry the reins through the air for the Cats.  Expect junior T.C. Drake to take over the tight end spot as well.

None of these players has the experience that Lyons has, but these will be the Cats' only options through the air.

The Kentucky defense returns nine starters in 2008.  Wesley Woodyard, who was the defensive leader and captain for Kentucky, has graduated, so the Cats will turn to Braxton Kelley at middle linebacker to be the leader and captain of the Cats' battle-tested and very experienced defense.

Kentucky has five All-SEC caliber players on defense in defensive end Jeremy Jarmon, nose guard Myron Pryor, shutdown corner Trevard Lindley, middle linebacker Braxton Kelley, and free safety Marcus McClinton.  Look for all five of these players to be mentioned on the All-SEC defensive teams at the end of the season.

To replace Woodyard at the outside linebacker spot, the Cats have junior Micah Johnson and Sam Maxwell.  Kelley will be in the middle, and senior Johnny Williams will be at the other outside linebacker spot.

The Cats' defensive line returns all four starters in defensive ends Jeremy Jarmon and Nii Adjei Oninku and defensive tackles Myron Pryor and Corey Peters, as well as backups Dominic Lewis, Corey Jenkins, and J.D. Craigman.

Kentucky's D-Line did take a pretty big hit in the offseason with the loss of very talented backup defensive end Jamil Paris due to health reasons.  Nevertheless, the Cats' D-Line is strong and very experienced.

The Cats' defensive secondary returns everybody as well.  Junior cornerbacks Paul Warford and shutdown corner Trevard Lindley (who will be one of the best in the nation) return.  Both are battle-tested and very experienced.

At the safeties, senior free safety and captain Marcus McClinton returns, while junior strong safety Ashton Cobb will be starting in place of Roger Williams, who graduated.

The kicking game with Lones Seiber is a bit of a concern.  He is very inconsistent with his field goals and extra points.  This could be a big dent in Kentucky's armor if he doesn't improve.  He improved somewhat last season but there is still some work to be done with him.

This Kentucky team will be in a rebuilding year, but that will not stop this very talented and well-coached team from once again making it to their third straight bowl game.  This year's team will not be as good as the past two teams, but they still return enough talent to make it back to where they have left off the past two seasons.

Coach Rich Brooks has turned this program around and has turned the corner, not only on the field, but also in recruiting.  He has given us hope and caused us to BELIEVE once again.  For that, I am truly thankful.  He is one of the greatest coaches to ever roam the Kentucky sidelines.

Once again, WE BELIEVE!