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Cats hoping to strut into postseason By Pat Forde Special to ESPN.com |
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Kentucky Wildcats
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Coach: Rich Brooks (1st season) 2002 overall record: 7-5 Conference record: 3-5 Returning starters Offense: 7, Defense: 4, Kicker/Punter: 1 2002 statistical leaders (* - returners) Rushing: Artose Pinner (1,414 yds) Passing: Jared Lorenzen* (2,267 yds) Receiving: Aaron Boone (706 yds) Tackles: Quentus Cumby (87) Sacks: Dewayne Robertson (5) Interceptions: 3 players tied (2 each) Outlook: In classic cursed Kentucky fashion, the Wildcats arose from extreme adversity (NCAA probation, scholarship cuts) to have one of the nation's most surprising seasons last year, going 7-5. Of course, a school that has been to just three bowl games in the past 18 years did it while banned from postseason play. For good measure, the coach who weaved the magic, Guy Morriss, promptly skipped town for Baylor. And if you don't think bad luck runs in threes, then you clearly missed the tortured end of the Kentucky-LSU game last November. Next to cross the black cat's path is Rich Brooks, who rides in from semi-retirement out west. Though he was about the ninth alternate for the job, Brooks was the man who built the foundation of Oregon's rise to national prominence and won national Coach of the Year honors there in 1994. And the former NFL coach has brought a spectacularly experienced staff with him. The players he inherits aren't bad, either -- at least on the first team. All-America candidate Antonio Hall leads a veteran offensive line. Receivers Derek Abney and Tommy Cook combined for 62 catches. And quarterback Jared Lorenzen, his famed weight again cycling back down at the coach's insistence, is coming off a career-best season. The big question on offense is running back, where Artose Pinner racked up more than 1,400 rushing yards, scored 15 touchdowns and made a serious case to be named SEC Player of the Year. Without Pinner the best tailback might well be the backup quarterback, Shane Boyd, who will see playing time alongside Lorenzen. Sometimes he'll line up at tailback, sometimes as a slot receiver, sometimes in a shotgun look where the ball could be snapped to either Boyd or Lorenzen. Offensive coordinator Ron Hudson, who came from Kansas State, has almost unlimited options with the 6-foot-2, 220-pound junior. On defense, veteran coordinator Mike Archer is the latest to try and shore up Kentucky's eternally porous secondary. The Cats surrendered a league-high 23 touchdown passes last season, including the unforgivable miracle bomb by LSU. A couple of decent defensive backs return in senior safety Mike Williams and senior corner Leonard Burress, but Kentucky still will be hard-pressed to single-cover some of this league's wideouts. Up front, Archer is switching to a three-man front that should actually be a team strength, despite having to replace the No. 4 pick in the last NFL draft, tackle Dewayne Robertson. Ends Vincent "Sweet Pea" Burns and Jeremy Caudill flank talented nose tackles Lamar Mills and Ellery Moore. Keep an eye on: Special teams, the reason a team can rank 87th in the nation in total offense, 83rd in total defense and still win seven games. This was a huge reason why the Wildcats were the surprise team of the league -- scoring on returns, blocking kicks, covering punts relentlessly. Kentucky won big in the hidden-yardage game almost every week, averaging a whopping 12-yard advantage over its opponents in average starting field possession -- best in the league by far. But special teams coach Mark Nelson left with Morriss for Baylor and ace punter Glenn Pakulak graduated. Without Nelson's schemes, will All-American return man Abney be as effective? The blocking walls he had were often things of beauty, giving the fearless Abney just one or two tacklers to beat. Key game: Given the second-guessing of the Brooks hire, the Aug. 31 opener against Louisville easily rates as Kentucky's Game of the Year. Few Big Blue football fans expect their team to beat the Floridas, Georgias and Tennessees -- but they do expect them to beat the annoying neighbor from Conference USA. A victory over the archrival earns the new coach a new legion of converts (probably including some on his own team). A loss -- at home, with a more experienced team and a more experienced coaching staff than Louisville -- would reinforce the doubters (again, probably including some on his own team). It's a good year if. . .: Kentucky is again eligible to play in the postseason. Nobody on the roster has played in a bowl game, though a few were redshirts when the Wildcats lost to Syracuse in the 1999 Music City Bowl. For a senior group that is now on its third head coach, any postseason game would be a happy reward for enduring a lot of turmoil. Problem is, three of Kentucky's annual "swing" games that tend to decide the season -- Indiana, Vanderbilt and South Carolina -- are on the road. The one "swing" game at home is against Louisville, and the Cats haven't beaten the Cardinals in Commonwealth Stadium since 1997. Given the depth concerns, staying healthy is a must. Pat Forde covers college football for the Louisville Courier-Journal.
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