The Season is Upon Us

After a disapointing season, our UK Wildcats look to have a bounce back year. WI's own Administrator Richard tries to answer key questions that loom into this season.

The Season is Upon Us
By: Richard
WI Administrator
9-26-06

As the season approaches closer and closer, the Big Blue Nation continues to get ready for another year of basketball. It is this time of the year when expectations are the highest and fans look for anything to give them hope that this could be the year that leads us to #8 or at least another Final Four. What are our expectations this year? Where do we stand as the largest group of fans in the country? Will this team live up to expectations?

This off-season has seen more fans divided than ever. On one end of the spectrum there are fans that want Tubby Smith gone from his position to the other end of the spectrum that would support him regardless of the outcome. It is kind of weird to think about how far apart some fans are on this. There where rumors of Smith leaving for the NBA, rumors of the University buying out his contract, and rumors of him being fired. None of these came true and he is here for his tenth season. He is a very solid coach but even this writer still has doubts if he is the right man for the job. With that said, I will support him as the coach of our beloved Wildcats as long as I feel confident that he can win games and improve (that did come into question this year as very few changes where made to his staff). He is the coach and I want UK to win no matter what, so I will show my support for this team and this coach.

Now that we have that out of the way, what are out expectations this year? I have a feeling that there will be a lot of surprised people out there in the big blue nation as well as the world of college basketball. I see this team as a group of players that want to prove that this is still Kentucky and that we are still the team to beat in the SEC. I think that we go into Maui Invitational and come out either as the Champion or suffer only one loss. I think that we do not lose again until we play UNC. I also think that this game will be closer than some think and if it were at Rupp, I might give the Cats a better chance. But since it is at the Dean Dome, I think that this will either be the first loss or the second loss of the young season depending on what happened at the Maui Invitational. We then kick off conference play without another loss. I think that we take care of a young but talented group of Cardinals at Freedom Hall and make it three in a row against our rivals to the west.

Once we hit SEC play, we have a very favorable early schedule which will get us off to a great start. We will go all the way to Feb 13th before we get our first loss in the SEC when UF comes to Lexington. I was torn on this game but just do not think that we have the front court personnel to compete with UF this year. I do think that this game will be much closer than last year but we will not have enough at the end to win it. Then we lose the next game at Tennessee. That will be the only time this year that we lose two games in a row. We then run the table until we meet UF in Gainesville where they take care of us again.

We go into the SEC Tournament with 4-5 losses at this point and make it to the final game where, guess what, we face UF again and they will win it again. This will not sit well with the big blue nation, as UK should never lose to the same team 3 times in one year, but I have a feeling that this UF team has our number and will win in a very close game that may even be one of the best games all year. We enter the NCAA Tournament with a 26-6 record at worse with a top 4 seed. This is where it gets iffy as anything can happen in March Madness. I believe that we will at least make it to the Elite 8, so I will go with that. After all of this we finish with a 29-7 record for the year. Now, will this happen? I have no idea but this fan likes to think in positive ways so this is my take on it.

The final part to all of this talk comes to us now. Can this team live up to the expectations that one fan has put on them? I think so. First of all, we have a very solid group of returning players. The three juniors (Morris, Bradley, Crawford) will have great years. With the new conditioning that they are receiving and the bad taste of defeat and disappointment from last year, they will finally live up to the hype that brought them to UK as the #1 overall class in 2004. You then have a senior in Bobby Perry that will want to go out in a positive light. He is our leader and is very intelligent. I really believe that he will push this team to work as a group and make them want this more than anything. These four players will be the heart and soul of this team. They will have to be as they are the leaders. UK also has Obrzut and Thomas that should also bring some leadership to the team. Although I do not think that they have the skills of the other four mentioned above, but I believe that their experience will be the key in helping this team through tough times. Woo may not have great numbers all year, but I have a feeling that he will give us something to cheer about at some point this year. As for Thomas, I think that he gets more grief than he deserves sometimes. I do not expect him to have a great year, but he will still contribute to this team and provide very valuable minutes.

This leaves us with the young guys on the team. As I talk with other fans about this team, one name continues to creep up as someone that everyone thinks could have a great season. That name would be one Jared Carter. He is the only sophomore on the team and people feel that he could be the back-up to Morris that we need. Some feel that he could be the starting Center to allow Morris to take care of the Power Forward spot. If he can get the plays down, we might see a whole new Carter this year which would give some hope that the world will not be over when Morris leaves for the NBA, as we know we will have a solid player to replace him with. Then you have the new comers (Jasper, Meeks, Porter, Stevenson, and Coury). With these young players, you have three very well know players in Jasper, Meeks and Stevenson (all of whom are 4-star recruits that can make an impact this year). Then there is Porter who most thought would be a football player instead of a basketball because of the schools that where recruiting him and Coury who no one had heard of until he decided to walk on this year. Of all of these new players on this team, the only one that I am not sure about how he will do is Coury. I think that the other 4 can and will be productive for the Cats this year as they give rest to the upperclassmen.

So, with these group of kids in the Blue and White our Cats can and (according to this writer) will be able to get the job done as I only see one weakness on this team and that is the PF. If Carter (by allowing Morris to move to the PF), Stevenson or Thomas can provide enough to keep UK from loosing games, then the other players can carry UK to wins. Points will come from the first four mentioned and I feel they will come at a rate higher than we have seen in the past. If that is the case look for a great year and some very happy Big Blue Fans as we at least reach the Elite 8 and possibly the Final Four. And remember, if you are going to dream, dream big.

2006 Heisman Contenders

Brian Miner
WI Administrator
9-19-06

After three weeks of college football, I think it is pretty clear who the top four contenders are for the Heisman Trophy. All four of them play in different conferences and likely won't see each other on the field until early January. Two of them are running backs and two of them are quarterbacks. If by this time you are still unaware of who I am talking about (the head picture may have given a clue to some folks), I am talking about Troy Smith of Ohio State, Steve Slaton of West Virginia, Adrian Perterson of Oklahoma, and Chris Leak of Florida.

Troy Smith is the leader of #1 ranked Ohio State. He already lead them to a huge victory at Texas in week 2. Ohio State still has three big games left on their season. They still have to play Penn State and Michigan at home but have to travel to Iowa to play the Hawkeyes.
2006 Season Stats:
Passing: 769 YDS | 7 TD
Rushing: -14 YDS | 0 TD
0 INT | 69.1 CMP%

Steve Slaton is the young leader of the West Virginia Mountaineers. He started the season by rushing for over 200 yards in his first game. WVU is clearly the class of the Big Least (.....oops....I mean the Big East). With UofL's Brohm and Bush hurt, look for WVU to run the table and play for the 2006 National Championship.
2006 Season Stats:
62 ATT | 503 YDS | 6 TD
8.1 AVG | 52 LNG

Adrian Peterson and Oklahoma should be 3-0 heading into the fourth week of the season. But instead suffered a last second loss to Oregon thanks in large part to a Pac-10 referee crew that has since been suspended for terrible calls. After a dissapointing sophomore season, Peterson looks to be back to his freshman form.
2006 Season Stats:
90 ATT | 515 YDS | 4 TD
5.7 AVG | 37 LNG
2 REC | 75 YDS | 1 TD

Chris Leak is living up to his high school reputation this season. He lead the Gators to a come from behind victory against archrival Tennessee last week and looks to shred apart UK's secondary this week. Look for Leak to put up alarming numbers this weekend.
2006 Season Stats:
Passing: 799 YDS | 10 TD
Rushing: -16 YDS | 0 TD
3 INT | 63.5 CMP%

Interesting Football Stats

Jmelton21
WI Senior Moderator/Football Analyst
9-18-06 12:06pm

-Dicky Lyons has 9 catches for 221 yards and 6 TD. Coming into this year he had 2 catches in his career.

-Also Dicky leads the nation in TD, 38th in Yards and 5th in YPC.

-Andre has had 9 TD passes he had 8 TD passes in his career.

-Andre is ranked #21 in Passing Yards, 11th in Yards per Attempt, 2nd in TD, and 12th in Passing Eff.

-Keenan ranked #28 in Yards, 20th in YPC.

UK is #58 in Offense Yards, #25(tied) in PPG, 27 in Passing Per Game.

NCAA Preview: Week 2

Jmelton21
WI Senior Moderator/Football Analyst
9-6-06 10:48am

Thoughts on the UL game.

Offense- I think that the QB question should have been answered. Woodson is the man. We threw the ball down field nicely. The only problem I have is that Raf only had around 10 touches or so. Between he and Keenan they should have 30-35 a game.

Defense- I plead the 5th.

Special Team was nice. Mattsay actually punted the ball good. Also the Kickoff were well.

Game Balls:
Offense: Dicky Lyons & Andre Woodson
Defense: Wesley Woodyard
Special Teams: Keenan Burton


On another note, I would like to send a get well soon to Micheal Bush. I am not a UL fan however this kid is a class act.




Now on the news of the week.


Injury notes Durrell White is questionalbe for the TSU game. Pryor is doubtful for it.

Also some depth chart changes.
Dicky Lyons Jr will start in place of DeMario Ford. Micah Johnson in for Braxton Kelley. Garry Williams and Christian Johnson in on the Left side of the Line.


Scouting Report for Texas State

Texas State (1-0) W Tarelton State 27-23
Returning Offense Starter: 4
Defense Starter Returning: 7


Depth Chart: (Returning Starter in Bold)
QB: Chase Wasson (JR) 11/17 75 Yards and 1 INT. 15 carries for 91 yds 2 TD.
HB: Daniel Jolley (SR) 13 carries for 42 yards 2 TD. 1 catch for 7 yds.
FB: Blake Burton (SR) 1 catch for 2 yards
WR: Tyrone Scott (JR) 2 catches for 16 yards
WR: Morris Crosby (SO) 4 catches for 42 yards
TE: Galen Dunk (FR) 3 catches for 15 yards.
LT: Matt Jenkins (JR) 6-3 301
LG: Ryan Miller (SR) 6-4 309
C: Buck Koalenz (SR) 6-3 304
RG: Justin Boren (JR) 6-3 336
RT: Calvin Gore (FR) 6-5 291

Key Offense Reserves:
HB: Alvin Cannady (FR) 5 carries for 59 yards
HB: Stan Zwinggi (SO) 5 carries for 33 yards.
WR: Camerson Luke (SO) 2 catches for 16 yards
WR: Adrian Thomas (SO) 2 catches for 12 yards
WR: Alex Darley (FR) 1 catch for 5 yards


Defense Starters: (They play a 4-2-5)
LE: Nick Clark (6-0 253 JR) 2 tackles
DT: Wellington DeShields (6-2 242 JR) 2 tackles (.5 TL)
NG: Ramel Borner (6-0 304 JR) 2 Tackles (.5 TL)
RE: Nate Langford (6-1 242 JR) 6 Tackles (1.5 TL) 1 sack

Mike (backside LB): Shola Obafemi (6-1 208 SR) 3 tackles (1 TL) 1 sack
Sam (strongside LB): Nate Castaillio (5-11 220 SR) 10 tackles (1.5 TL) 2 Forced Fumbles 1 Recrovery and 1 sack

LCB: Jamarqus O'Neil (6-1 192 SR) 3 tackles
WS(Weakside Safety): Epilson Williams (5-11 209 SR) 3 tackles
FS: Daniel Vervil (6-3 216 SR) 4 tackles (1 TL)
SS: Gary Shepard (5-10 214 SR) 4 tackles
RCB: Walter Musgrave (5-9 190 SR) 7 tackles

Key Defense reserves:
CB: Crenshaw (6-0 185 JR) 4 Tackles and a Fumble Recrovery
LB: Gotte (6-1 216 SR) 2 tackles
LB: Bell (6-0 210 FR) 2 tackles (.5 TL)



Top 10 games of the week:
Last week 7-3

10. Miami (OH) vs Purdue
Purdue stuggles against Indiana State last week. Will have to play better to win this week and they do. Purdue 41-31

9. Colorado vs Colorado State
Colorado will try to bounce back after a embrassing week will a loss to Montana State. They don't get it here. CSU 24-17

8. Vandy vs Alabama
Bama struggled with Hawaii. While Vandy comes in still trying to replace Cutler. Vandy offense continues to struggle. Bama 24-7.

7. Minnesota vs California.
Big game for Cal after being dismantle vs Tennessee. This is a big game to go towards saying last week was just a bad game and we aren't overrated. Cal must stop the run to do that though. Cal 31-17.

6. Washington vs Oklahoma
Oklahoma played bad without Romar last week. And last time I check he is not coming back. Washington is better than UAB. Washington 21-17.

5. Air Force vs Tennessee.
This is a "Trap Game" for UT. Comes between the big win against Cal and the rival game against UF. Remember AF runs that weird option attack. UT wins 31-7.

4. Texas State vs Kentucky.
Big game for the Cats TSU is a running team and UK sucks against the run. If the Cats want to have a chance at a bowl game and keeping there staff they must win here, period.
UK 41-17.

3. Georgia vs South Carolina
Big test early for a young UGA team. SC must show signs of improvement after a ugly win against MSU.
UGA 31-21.

2. Penn State vs Norte Dame: Great Offense vs a Great Defense. I still love ND offense. Also I think PSU doesn't have one yet. ND 38-20 (sorry Neo)

1. Ohio State vs Texas. #1 vs #2 early in the year wow. This is going to be a great one folks. If you are not at the UK game I say have a couple of friends over, crab a case and some wings and enjoy. Oh for the game a young OSU defense loses this one for them. UT 31-21.

NCAA Preview: Week One

Jmelton21
Wildcat Insiders Senior Moderator/Football Analyst


This is something new we are going to do this year. I will have a little review of any news from the football team, review from last week game, and a scouting report for the next one. Also it will have my Top 10 games of the week and with prediction.


First off I would like to say that I am sorry that it is late, I will have it out no later than Tuesday.

Another thing I would like to send my best regards and a Get Well Soon to JD from Catspause.


Now with the big news from this week of course it Andre being named starter. I can say that I am surprised I said I wanted him to start dating back to the spring. Andre I think is the best QB we have.


Scouting Report for Louisville (9-3 5-2)
Offense Starter Returning (6)
Defense Starters Returning (5)

QB: Louisville has a very good QB in has you know Brian Brohm. However this is a lot of question with the most looked at Knee in Loserville. IF he is ready physically, is one question. Question #2: Is he ready mentally?. However Cantwell is not a bad backup. He played pretty good last year when Brohm did go down. EDGE UL

RB: The three-headed monster of Bush, Smith, and Strickland is a damn good group. Bush lead the Nation is TD last year. And is one great RB. They have a good combo with the other two with the speed they bring to the table. EDGE: Noone (Uk has a darn group to)

WR: Urrita (who was a UK verbal) is one of the toughest players to defend in the nation at 6-6 with hands and speed. Other than that I question Douglas and company. EDGE UL


Offensive Line: They lost three starters from a year ago, two of whom were drafted. LeFew is starting for the Packers. They do have a great one at Center (Eric Wood). Also Renardo Foster was a starter who has had injury problems recently. EDGE UK


Defense Line: They lost one of the best DE have had seen in a while (Dumerville). You don't just replace 20 sacks. Zach Anderson though is a good one to try. They have both DT back. However there are question at both Ends. (EDGE UK)

Linebackers: Nate Harris returns and is a Butkus watch list member. He is a very good player. However they did lose alot in Johnson. So I think they will have to prove themselves. (EDGE UK)

Defensebacks: Lost only Safety Sharp. They should be better as long as the DL gets pressure.


Predictions UK 24 UL 21.


Top 10 games to watch this long weekend.

10. Marshall at #5 West Virginia (-23)
The reason I but this here is can WVU live up to the hype. They have unheard of hype in Morgantown this year. I say at least yes for one week. WVU 31-10

9. Vanderbilt at #14 Michigan (-26.5)
Michigan is trying to bounce back from a horrible year at 7-5. With Carr's job possible on the line. Vandy tries to replace Cutler. Michigan starts of good. UM 34-7

8. Stanford at #21 Oregon (-12) This is interesting game. The Pac-10 every team plays each other with the 12th game this year. Oregon tries to replace Clemens. Stanford tries to get to a bowl game for the first time in 5 years. Oregon starts of right. Oregon 21-10

7. Washington State at #4 Aurburn (-15) The Tigers starting hunting for a national title. It going to Starting with a bomb. UA 44-10.

6. UAB at #10 Oklahoma(-21) A lot of eyes will be on Norman to see the QB. Last year the Sooners lost to TCU. This year they might have it happen again. Oklahoma 21-17.

5. #6 USC at Arkansas (+8) Again the nation will watch to see how you replace over 6,000 yards and over 60 TD. Can Carrol reload or will he rebuild? USC 34-17.

4. #2 Norte Dame at Georiga Tech (+7.5) Norte Dame is ranked in the Top 10 for the first time since 96. The Irish fans and the nation will be watching the Defense. ND 34-24.

3. Kentucky at #13 Louisville (-22.5) The battle for the bluegrass. Uk will pull the upset. UK 24-21

2. #9 California vs #22 Tennessee (-2). This is going to be a great one. Can UT bounce back? Can Cal live up to the Hype? Cal 21-20.

1. #11 Florida State vs #12 Miami (-3.5) This is almost always a great game. Wide Right 1,2, and Wide Left. The two used to be a national title type game. It is going to be again. Canes 13-9