Season on the Brink

Joker has made up his mind, drum roll please, trumpets please! Mike Hartline is our starting QB. No surprise here and no complaints either. Sure he isn’t the man I wanted as our starting quarterback but he is the man with the most experience.

Its up to you now Mike, seize the moment and show us how you have improved your passing game. Make us forget game management. Give us a laser light show every game. Thrill us beyond our wildest dreams. Set your sights on Louisville and fry us some bird with the secret spices you’ve used twice before. Then set your sights higher and go for it.

As Hondo said in another story. This is a Season On The Brink. This is your year Mike, your on the brink. This is the year you’ve been playing for.

The Hartline Evolution

Or maybe that title should read revolution instead?  I can not remember a player moving so far on the popularity scale in the off season than that of Mike Hartline.  I am actually very happy for the kid.  I thought he took way too much heat last year.  He can probably thank Woodson, a lot.  After all, EVERYONE is looking at the changes Woodson made between his Sophomore and Jr years when they look at Hartline today.  He can thank Brooks who has gone to great lengths to keep the positive vibes flowing where his starting QB is concerned.  Brooks usually shoots it straight and there is absolutely no player that is going to please him every day in fall camp.  Yet Brooks has been very careful to avoid any critical remarks and I am sure I know why.  He has two very gifted players that simply are not ready and rightfully so.  He doesn’t need another season where the fans are ready to throw Hartline under the bus on the first dropped pass.  The need to throw Cobb in the mix last year underscores the dire need UK had at QB much more than Cobb’s ability to run an SEC offense.  That isn’t a knock on his talent by any means.  The kid is extremely special.  But the demands of running a pro style offense in college requires experience and repetitions far and away above what would be possible with an incoming true freshman.  And you simply do not tell the other 80 something players that you are going to change your system for a freshman.  Will Fidler was suppose to be ready to compete last year but several factors like shoulder surgery and an off the field situation set him back.   
 So how much further along will Hartline be when he takes the opening snap?  Its hard to say at this point but my guess will be that he hasn’t come that far at all.   He may be a little stronger, a little smarter and a little more accurate.  But I thought last year that all he needed was to be a little stronger, a little smarter and a little more accurate.  He was already quite smart and managed the game much better than any other QB in recent history.  The smarter part would be dealing with the other players and the media.  He had a decent arm and was able to thrown the out pattern.  He had major issues with his release point when trying to throw the same distance down the field so he would have done himself a major favor by working on his down field form.  He was actually quite accurate on his mid range passes.  His biggest issue last year was dropped passes.  Passes that should have been caught.  Passes to places that receivers should have been at but were not.  It could very well be that the biggest part of the Mike Hartline evolution could come in the form of receivers. 

While I do think Brooks may be holding up a tad when talking Hartline, I am quite certain that he is much more pleased with the offense at this point than he was last year.  The line is more solid, the runners are gifted, the receivers are producing and the QB position is set.  Now all they have to do is show us in a game.

Preseason All-SEC Team

Kentucky has six players named to the Preseason All-SEC Team. The surprise player might be Mike Hartline being named 3rd team. If he lives up to this billing we might be in good shape especially now that the flap over the rumble with the Tennessee players has proved to be less than what was spread about on the blogs and boards. Congratulations to the players for representing UK so well.

1st Team
DB Trevard Lindley

2nd Team
LB Micah Johnson

3rd Team
DL Corey Peters
QB Mike Hartline
OL Zipp Duncan
C Jorge Gonzalez

http://www.secsports.com/index.php?s=&url_channel_id=2&url_article_id=12867&change_well_id=2

Cats in preseason top 25

The Cats are ranked 25th by Vegas Insider in their Preseason Top 25. SEC teams Florida #1, Ole Miss #6, Alabama #8, LSU #10 and Georgia #18 are also ranked.

25-KENTUCKY…Rich Brooks has been looking for a playmaker in Lexington and might have found one in versatile soph Randall Cobb, who sparked the Wildcat “O” on occasion at QB last fall, but appears ready to make a bigger impact in ’09 at WR or perhaps in direct-snap situations. Cobb’s presence might also make it a bit easier for mechanical QB Mike Hartline to become involved in more big plays this fall. But it’s on defense where the Wildcats ought to excel, with several honors candidates still in the fold (including potential NFL draftees LB Micah Johnson & CB Trevard Lindley) despite star DE Jeremy Jarmon being declared ineligible in spring. A forgiving non-conference slate makes a fourth straight bowl trip very likely.

http://www.vegasinsider.com/college-football/story.cfm/story/871681

Mike Hartline Starts The Season, But For How Long?

Mike Hartline has that experience and knows the playbook and there is no substitute for that. I’m all for him starting the season, and integrating the freshmen QB’s as they learn the system. The roster is better from size, speed, and skill standpoints.

Kentucky has two blue chip QB’s joining the program this year. What impact will they have on the ’09 season? Will Ryan Mossakowski redshirt and play baseball?

Will one of the Freshmen QB’s eventually transfer due to lack of playing time?

How long before Joker does what he did last year, and replaces Hartline with one of the Frosh, or does Hartline start all year? It’s impossible to say right now.

Which one of the newcomers, Newton, Moss, will be called upon should Joker make a change?

From watching the film of the newcomers, it is plain to see that either one of them can hit a receiver in full stride deep down the field. At some point in the season, just as happened last year, I think Joker will bring in one of the freshmen to try and stretch the field. He has a more experienced set of receivers this year, and a better offensive line. There is no fall off in the running back position with Smith, Locke and Turtle, and the fullback is one of the best in the business.

Once opposing defenses stack the LOS, and that becomes a problem for the offense, Joker will again call on another QB to loosen things up, and that QB will be Morgan Newton, IMO. He is the best athlete and can do everything, including hurt you with his legs, (4.5 forty), as well as his arm. Even if he calls on Ryan Mossakowski to run the offense, the “PRO STYLE” will not suffer, as his arm has been rated as the 2^nd strongest in the nation as a high schooler, and he can hit any receiver going down field. Let the best man win.  

Never to early to go out on a limb

With a little over two months left till the football season starts its time to talk about what sort of season the Cats will have this year.

Starting off the season with Miami of Ohio 2-10 last year should give the Cats an easy win although the hiring of Notre Dame offensive coordinator Mike Haywood as head coach should put a little spunk in the Redhawks offense. Haywood has worked as an assistant at Texas, LSU, Ball State, Ohio, Army and Minnesota and in 2005, he was named NCAA Division I-A assistant coach of the year by the American Football Coaches Association. Kentucky 1-0.

Louisville 5-7 last year should be another win but this is a rivalry game. With Hunter Cantwell’s back up Matt Simms transferring Louisville has no experience at quarterback making it a little more difficult for Louisville to come away with win. Kentucky 2-0.

The third game of the season brings Florida 13-1 to Lexington. The best we can realistically hope for is that the Gators stomp Tennessee the week before and the Cats play the Gators much better than they did last year. A good game could be a launching board for a great season. Kentucky 2-1.

Alabama 12-2 last year is the next visitor to Lexington. Last year with one or two breaks the Cats could have beaten the Tide. Having them in Lexington and without an experienced quarterback they can be beaten. If Mike Hartline can connect with our receivers and couple of defensive stops go our way and this could be a big upset. Kentucky 2-2.

OK the Really Ole Ball Coach thinks he’s finally found his quarter back at South Carolina 7-6 last year. The Cats are due to win this game. Kentucky 3-2.

Auburn 5-7 last year had a problem the Cats use to have. According to Gene Chizik “Depth is an issue at this point, and I think that’s glaring”. Their offense also stinks so this is close but another winnable game. Kentucky 4-2.

We then get Louisiana Monroe 4-8 last year at home. The Warhawks beat Alabama in 2007 but wont beat the Cats in Lexington. This will be the game where a freshman quarterback gets a decent amount of playing time. Kentucky 5-2.

Mississippi State 4-8 last year doesn’t come to Lexington and win. Kentucky 6-2.

Eastern Kentucky 8-4 won the OVC last year but don’t look to match up with the Cats although they might play them better than people expect. Kentucky 7-2.

Vanderbilt 7-6 came into Lexington and beat the Cats. Mackenzi Adams is a good quarterback and running back Jared Hawkins should be much improved as a senior. This game is a toss up but I think injuries will be starting to plague the Cats by this time of the season. Kentucky 7-3.

Georgia 10-3 last year will be a tough game for the Cats. If they can go thru the season without as many injuries as last year they should beat the Cats. Kentucky 7-4.

The final game of the season is against Tennessee 5-7 last year. With Lane Kiffin bringing the Vols to Lexington the Cats welcome him to Kentucky. I’m gonna get out on my limb and say the Cats win with Morgan Newton running for a touchdown and tossing a touchdown to Cobb with little time left in the game. Kentucky 8-4.

Receivers Need to Step It UP

Most folks will tell you that a football team with a Big-Armed QB and a couple of good receivers can beat you on any given day…Such was the luxury that the UK Wildcats enjoyed when they had the arm of Andre Woodson, throwing to the arms of receivers such as Keenan Burton, Dicky Lyons and Stevie Johnson.

Given that UK has two big arms coming in the fall, there is a possibility that could happen again, given the circumstances. I don’t think circumstances will present themselves until the Florida game. Let’s face it, Florida is the favorite to win the National Title this year, notwithstanding the SEC. They return their Entire Defense, not to mention terrible Tim Tebow. Mike Hartline should perform well enough to have us at 2-0 going into that game, but this is the one where I think we see Rich Brooks making some moves…

If the Florida defense is swamping Hartline, Rich Brooks will want to put in someone who can move in the pocket, AND see over it…That would be Morgan Newton. Regardless of how he plays, I think this will be a pivotal moment for UK football next season. UK will not play an opponent better than Florida all year and this game time experience will do wonders for Morgan’s confidence. Nothing against Mike Hartline, but I think that Brooks wants to have both Morgan and Randall in the same backfield before the season plays out. Mike Hartline is entering his second year as starter and has a wealth of experience. That will win games, but his arm is not strong enough to stretch SEC defenses.

In order for any QB to excel, one of the following needs to join Randall Cobb and catch some passes: Aaron Boyd, Eric Adeyemi, Gene McCaskill, Kyrus Lanxter, Matt Roark, E.J. Fields. If they don’t I expect these 2, along with Cobb, to be our receivers in the fall.

Nick Mellilo, a walk-on, has already shown he can be a force during the spring game and remember, it only takes a couple of good ones to make a difference. His play was not an anomaly, he had a great spring.

Chris Matthews, at 6’5” and a recent 4.4 forty under his belt, is impossible to cover man-to-man according to his JUCO coach. He can step right off the JUCO fields, where Rivals has him a 4-Star WR, and onto the one at Commonwealth, given his skill set, and the state of our receiving corp….UK coaches are more that excited about the incoming junior college wideout, given he is rated in the 9^th best JUCO out of the top 100!

That makes three receivers, Cobb, Mellilo and Matthews, and these are my picks to catch the football this fall. What are yours?

Fidler leads Blue Team to Win over White….28-23

Randall Cobb caught four passes for 70 yards, and his 26-yard TD reception on the game’s first drive, set the tone for the Blue team, which held off the White 28-23 at Commonwealth Stadium. “If that guy is on the bus you’ve got a chance,” UK offensive head coach Joker Phillips said.

The UK staff has been disappointed that none of the young receivers have stepped up this spring, but a “walk on” made the most significant contributions for a squad that has been thin on kids who can catch a football.

Nick Melillo, made a name for himself yesterday…The 6’2”, 215 lb, former Trinity star, caught 4 passes, 2 of which went for touchdowns, to help keep the game close. Rich Brooks was effusive in singing his praises, “One guy stepped up from nowhere and made some plays and that was Melillo, so guess what, he’s going to move ahead of some scholarship players right now. He deserves a look and deserves to move up the depth chart.”

Mike Hartline had a sub-par performance missing on 8 of his first 9 passes, but in all fairness, the Blue Team was stacked with such defenders as Jeremy Jarmon, Trevard Lindley, Micah Johnson, and Danny Trevathan, and the offense had Cobb. Between missing the long passes, and seeing the short ones dropped by the receivers, Mike had a difficult day with his playmaking, even though he would wind up with superior numbers on paper to Fidler…

Will Fidler, the oft forgotten backup to Hartline/Cobb, had his best day ever as a wildcat, leading the Blue team on a 12 play 93 yard scoring drive on the Blue’s first possession, that set the tone of the game, and contrasted with the difficulties that Hartline was having completing a pass early on, even though Fidler competed only 4 more passes the rest of the way.

Brooks reportedly had a meeting with the Newton family this weekend, whose son, Morgan, is one of two high profile QB’s recruits the cats have signed for the fall. Brooks is said to have stated: “GET READY” when speaking to Morgan and his dad, which indicates that Rich has no problem throwing the freshman signal caller into the thick of the QB race.

Brooks told the Newtons that Morgan absolutely had a chance to be the starter in the fall.

PLAYER STATISTICS:
RUSHING
White – A. Smith, 18-67; Conner, 10-33; Bowland, 1-4; McCaskill, 1-minus-11
Blue – Allen, 16-96; C. Williams, 7-56, TD; Cobb, 1-6

PASSING
White – Hartline: 17-33, 208 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT
Blue – Fidler: 10-24, 110 yards, 2 TD, INT

RECEIVING
White – Melillo, 4-43, 2 TD; A. Smith, 3-54; Drake, 3-22; Bowland, 2-17; McCaskill, 2-17; Conner, 1-29; Adams, 1-18; Boyd, 1 -8
Blue – Cobb, 4-70, TD; Grinter, 2-26; Roark, 1-9, TD; Bogue, 1-7; Allen, 1-0; C. Williams, 1-minus-2

UT 28- UK 10

So there you have it. Another year, another UT victory. It is the streak that will not go away. The game this year wasn’t about UK or UT anyway, anyone that watched could see it was the goodbye Phil Fulmer show. It was the story book ending for him and UK was more than happy to play the victory cigar pansy.

I have to say that I have been hard on Fulmer. I probably will continue to be. After all, he has more wins against UK than any single coach. But today I’ll take a moment and commend Fulmer for mostly being about what I think college sports should be about and that is loyalty. Yes he is the biggest tattle tale in all the world while being one of the dirtiest there is. But he is UT. He played there, he assistant coached there and he head coached there. He would still be there if they would have him. I feel strongly that UT is the only high profile place that would have him and he knows it, but that is mildly beside the point today. So I congratulate him on his stay at UT and all those wins over UK. Now don’t let the door hit you in the hum d hum on the way out.

As for UK; That was the most uninspired effort I have seen in a long time all the way around, but especially on offense. It got to a point that everyone in the world knew UK was going to run another draw. Draws are great when the other team isn’t expecting them. I guess the same can be said for any play. All year long the talk has been of the QB position. All year long I have said that is the last position that should have had any talk. The lack of execution at ever position other than QB is the very reason UK had to ditch its pro style offense for.. well… that. While I HATE the triple option, and I despise the full time multi threat QB, there is one thing I HATE and DESPISE more. And that is a team that loses its path and veers in another direction simply because the players fail to execute. Mike Hartline came in and gave UK a boost. When that was Cobb, the “Cobbies” were very quick to say, “see”. So it would be very easy for “Harlinies” to do the same, right? No it would not. Just because he came in and gave UK a spark by providing something UT wasn’t prepared for doesn’t mean it’s time to go back to Hartline. Not for that reason anyway. I think UK should go back to him simply because that is what UK’s offense is supposed to be about. The players, coaches, trainers and water boys ALL need to rededicate themselves to what UK is about. I love Cobb to death but he simply is not a pocket passer. And its been proven over and over and over that one guy can not win a game by himself. The QB needs help and lots of it no matter who it is and the next four weeks would be the perfect time for all to go about doing just that.

As for UT, We’ll get em next year.

Curse be Gone

Robbie McAtee used a can of Curse be Gone on receiver Eldred King at the one yard line as time expired and Kentucky held on for a 20-14 victory over Middle Tennessee.

McAtee’s game-saving ankle tackle came after Middle Tennessee quarterback Joe Craddock heaved a desperation pass 61 yards in what appeared to be a last-second victory for the Blue Raiders. Instead, McAtee’s tackle kept Kentucky undefeated (3-0) and prevented the Blue Raiders (1-2) from a second straight win over a major conference foe, having beaten Maryland a week earlier.

Mike Hartline threw the first two touchdown passes of his Kentucky career. What was expected to be a timeshare at quarterback for the Wildcats ended up being Hartline’s job alone, at least for one week, as freshman speedster Randall Cobb hurt an ankle on a special teams play in the first quarter and didn’t return.

There was no immediate word on the extent of Cobb’s injury.

Twice Hartline led Kentucky’s offense into the end zone after the Blue Raiders had gained the lead.

The Wildcats took the lead for good, 17-14, early in the fourth quarter on a 6-yard toss from Hartline to Derrick Locke. The play was set up by three Hartline passes of 10 yards or longer — one preserved by an acrobatic one-handed catch from Dicky Lyons Jr.

Hartline was 28-for-47 with 254 yards 2tds and no interceptions.

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