NCAA Football: Kentucky Wildcats Season Preview

For five straight seasons the ‘Cats have gone bowling, and this year they look for a sixth under Joker Phillips. Phillips did a fine job in his first season, going 6–7, including a bowl loss to Pittsburgh, thanks in large part to their quarterback, Mike Hartline, being suspended for the game. 

Newton stepped in to start and has a bright future ahead of him. Morgan (no relation to Cam) is a big, wide body at 6’4” and 235 pounds, and in eight starts a season ago, he completed 25 of 43 passes for 265 yards. He has had limited playing time despite entering his junior year. 

The Real Deal Has Left Lexington

The real stories for this offense, which returns six starters, are the losses of the versatile Randall Cobb and running back Derrick Locke.

Cobb did everything for UK. He was the quarterback at times, throwing three touchdowns. He also ran the hell out of the pigskin (55 times for 424 yards and seven touchdowns), and he caught 84 passes for 1,017 and seven touchdowns. Accounting for 17 touchdowns is hard to overcome, but this ‘Cats offense is not putrid by any means.

Locke finished last season with 887 yards rushing and 10 touchdowns.

More Spark Needed

Kentucky was 53rd in the NCAA in rushing (158.5 yards per game) and 23rd in passing (269.3 yards per game), and despite Cobb doing most of the work, Raymond Sanders and La’Rod King have the talent to do the same.

The offensive line is going to be the real difference, as it returns four starters, including 6'3", 340-pound, All-SEC offensive guard Larry Warford. The ‘Cats will look to run it early and often behind this All-American–caliber guard.

Stretching the field and moving the chains on third downs may still be a challenge against the elite competition, but they can get by with a solid defense.

'Cats That Roar on D

Kentucky returns ten of eleven starters from a season ago, including tackling machine Danny Trevathan. Trevathan notched 144 tackles, which led the team by nearly 40. Ronnie Sneed is another solid linebacker who gets no love.

UK has had solid history of NFL and All-SEC linebackers, and Trevathan should be no exception. He may be the most underrated player in America, since nobody outside of SEC Nation knows who he is.

Winston Guy (now moved to safety) is a solid number-two linebacker behind Trevathan, which is a reason why the ‘Cats should improve upon their 85th-ranked rushing defense. It is next to impossible to rank in the top ten in the nation out of the SEC unless you are a legit BCS contender. The Wildcats can contend in the East on some nights because of this defense.

Unheralded Secondary

Kentucky's secondary brought a ton of optimism last year, as it was 14th in the country against the pass, allowing only 177 yards per game. Some of those numbers were skewed, since in their seven losses they were gashed against the run.

Still, co-defensive coordinator and former Cincinnati head coach Rick Minter looks to make the defense even better in his first year at UK, sharing the duties with Steve Brown, who has done a nice job as the lone coordinator for the past few years.

Winston Guy is the starting safety and will be joined by a slew of corners (including Randall Burden and Anthony Mosley) who are very active in the run game as well.  

Drama's Forecast

It is amazing how the Wildcats receive so much love in basketball and absolutely jack squat in football. History has so much to do with it, but Kentucky football has fielded some solid teams the past few years in Lexington.

If they can find a way to finally beat Tennessee (26 losses in a row is longest streak in NCAA) and pull off their usual upset or two, this team has the makings of a 7–5 or even 8–4 ballclub.

However, until proven otherwise, they will do just enough to sneak into their sixth consecutive low-tier bowl.

Predicted Finish: 6–7 (2–6 in SEC East)

Predicted Bowl: Music City Bowl

Predicted order of finish in SEC: fifth in East, ninth overall