Kentucky isn't likely to be just a 1.5 year wonder...

[Sannyasin]

Kentucky has now won 9 of their last 10 games... I'm not saying they're going to be winning the SEC championship, but everybody but LSU had better watch-out, UK is for real.

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There seems to be a lot of sentiment that when their senior class graduates Kentucky will return to being crappy in perpetuity. This is based upon their top receivers (e.g. Keenan Burton, likely NFL 2nd rounder), TE (Jacob Tamme, 2nd rounder), starting QB (Woodsen, NFL top 5 pick), LB (Wesley Woodyard, NFL 3rd rounder) and starting RB (Rafael Little, 3rd rounder) being all seniors... so it definitely has some basis in fact.

HOWEVER:
(1) Kentucky has a VERY talented stable of experienced underclassman sub-4.5 RBs (Smith, Dixon, Locke) and bruising FBs (Grinter and Conner). If you watched the Arkansas game, you saw that when Rafael Little got hurt every single back that went in the game produced, pounding Arkansas on the ground in the second half... all the way down to the 4th string RB who iced the game averaging over 5 yards a carry.
(2) They return 9 starters on defense.
(3) They only lose 2 lineman (neither are stars) total (DL and OL combined) and have quite a bit of SEC caliber depth along the lines.
=> In other words, there should be every expectation that the defense will continue to improve (keep in mind, they only gave up 13 defensive points at Arkansas, and only 6 second half points to UL... 2 of the highest scoring O's in the country)... and that they will be able to continue to run the ball without missing a beat.

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The only REAL question Kentucky fans have going forward is the passing game. Who is going to take over? Well, not only do they have a talented redshirt freshman and true freshman learning (from Randy Sanders, noted QB guru) behind Woodson now, they have a senior "spread option style" QB that redshirted this year due to Woodson being a total stud.
Bottom line, UK has some question marks about next year in it's passing game due to inexperience, but thinking they are going to drop off the map anytime soon is just mistaken. UK has no more questions than any team has whose starting QB graduates.

[D^3]

I'd like to think this is true (I love the East being stacked) but Woodson is a HUGE reason for that team's success, and I don't know if UK has somebody in the waiting that can fill his shoes.

[Sannyasin]

No doubt Woodson is a huge reason UK is successful. No doubt. The back-ups really haven't had enough clock to evaluate.... so we will see.

However, a couple of things bode well. Namely: the OL is young, talented and improving and they have a established running game. When you don't have to be constantly making plays in the passing game, and when you have time to throw it makes the QB job MUCH, MUCH easier.




P.S. and not to hijack my own thread, but... When is the SEC league office going to get off their duffs and start and "SEC Network" much like the NFL network? Typically they aren't so slow to hit on a huge money maker.

[True Grit]

Woodson is the biggest reason for their success. Best QB in the nation IMO.

[Lawdog]

The UK game worries me this year. UK is good.

[LSUisLIFE611]

Woodson is the biggest reason for their success. Best QB in the nation IMO.

i would say second best behind colt brenan

[True Grit]

i would say second best behind colt brenan

I hope you are kidding.

[Sannyasin]

I just don't get the Colt Brennan hype. He's a system QB.

Why not Graham Harrell of Texas Tech? He throws for like 600 yards and 5 TDs every single game. The formula is put 5 receivers out there and throw it every single play against borderline HS talent... don't buy into that crap.


Brohm is probably the most NFL ready. Woodson is the best decision-maker (which is HUGE) and has a better arm. Tebow is the best runner from a QB position.

[EvvCat]

Woodson is definitely the driver behind this year's offense, though Keenan Burton's leadership and playmaking cannot be overstated -- he just doesn't get the notice Woodson does as QB.

What's unknown to most people who don't follow UK regularly is that the aforementioned spread-option QB, Curtis Pulley, beat out Woodson coming out of spring 2006. He then had some academic issues and got in Brooks' doghouse. That opened the door for Woodson to take back the spot in the fall, as he really went to work with Randy Sanders after losing his job.

Pulley will be a junior next year, not a senior. He's playing with the scout team in practice this year, getting good reviews from coaches, and has reportedly straightened himself out and gone to work, seeing what it did for Andre.

(That, and his daddy kicked him in the behind and brought him home over the summer, put him to work and laid down the law. Curtis got the message.)

Pulley was one of the top athletes in the south coming out of high school, and is a dual threat who can go the distance anytime on the ground and passes well enough. Working with Sanders, he's already making strides in that area. He's an outstanding athlete though, who caught 21 passes last year from Andre and ran the ball 23 times, averaging 5+ ypc.

Our question mark is going to be at WR. We lose Burton and Stevie Johnson (2 TDs vs. uvelle, including the winner). We have a solid corps coming back, but none stand out as obvious NFL prospects yet.

Overall though, we expect to be almost as good as this year, with a chance to be even better if a few kids progress well.

And FWIW, while everybody noticed Derrick Locke against Arkansas, he's not considered the best TB in our freshman class. We have a kid redshirting -- Brandon Jackson -- who figures to be ahead of him. Locke didn't get a redshirt because he's shooting for making the olympic track team and will only be at UK four years.

On defense, we lose leadership equivalent to Burton's and Andre's with Wesley Woodyard graduating, but Micah Johnson (4-star sophomore MLB) has already started stepping up in that regard and eight other starters are back.

This improved Kentucky has been built the right way. We'll be just fine in 2008 and beyond.

[cocky4ever]

I just cant see UK not missing all of that talent...especially when its gone all at the same time. As much as us SC fans wanted to think that we wouldnt miss Rice that much because of our awesome recruiting classes, I think its obvious that his absence is definietly felt on the offensive side of the ball. With UK losing so many playmakers on offense it will definitely be felt next year. However, that doesnt mean UK will stay down for an extended period of time...but they will certainly have some growing pains.

On the flip side though, UK should be encouraged by the fact that recruiting should definitely pick up...especially if Louisville continues to struggle. Speaking of that, do yall have a decent recruiting coordinator? I would expect at least a top 20 class this year for the Cats with the upswing of the program and so much playing time possible for incoming players.

It'll be interesting to see how things play out this year. Its amazing that the East is a 4-5 team race with Vandy and UT at the back. Its good and bad at the same time...but since it makes college football so much more interesting I'll take it:thumpsup:

[Sannyasin]

It's no mystery why Kentucky has been bad in football for so long... recruits. Doesn't matter how good you are as a coach, without the player athleticism you aren't going to compete for championships. I don't think Kentucky has finished in the top 8 in the SEC in recruiting a single year under Brooks (or really before that either) and we won't this year either. If UK could even get one year of Tennessee's, Georgia's, Florida's, or LSU's recruiting I (and the rest of the fans) think it would be really amazing what they could do with it. If only we could have even 1 top 20 class... The rich always seem to get richer though.

It's no mystery why UK has gotten caught cheating in recruiting, which led to probation that Brooks had to rebuild from. You have a program that basically has had like 3 really good years since the early 50's, yet every year the fans come out and put 70,000 people in the stands just looking for any sign of hope. They cheer through the 2-9 seasons, 3-8 seasons, every other fan base just writing you off as an easy win every week... The total prick coaches like Spurrier taking potshots and running up the score on you every chance they can. It creates a culture where you just want one really good chance to give the fans something to hold on to...

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The state of Kentucky has started to produce better talent at the high school level in the last 10 years though. In particular, UK has had several really good home grown QBs (Couch, Lorenzen, Boyd, Bonner, Woodson) and most of the OL and DL talent they've been able to get from local kids after redshirting them to put on weight. The problem is: even if you got every single D1 player in Kentucky every year, if that's all you got... you can't compete, especially at the speed positions.

Another problem is: given that limited natural talent pool, Kentucky has had to split the existing in-state talent with UL, and Michigan, Notre Dame and Ohio State in particular have been annoyingly swooping in and pulling out top talent (probably 70%/30%). You have to develop a reputation to compete with programs like that for recruits' attention, even in SEC country... If UL fell off the map (doubtful) that would definitely make things easier.

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Kentucky has risen the last couple of years by getting a lot of those speed players to at least keep it respectable from anywhere they can find them (mostly in South Carolina and Georgia). Georgia produces so much talent that UK has been able to get the top kids that Georgia doesn't offer to come up here, then develop them. Most of these recruits are 2 or 3 star prospects or track stars, with tons of natural speed, and then they've coached them up as best they can.

The strategy has been possible because UK has hired really good recruiters to be on their staff, and they have worked their butts off to create connections at those out-of-state high schools and to evaluate 2 and 3 star talent for coachability. They've also lucked out with incredible coaches sort of falling into their laps due to turmoil at other big name programs. The OL coach Heggins got fired from FSU as a scapegoat for their offensive woes a couple of years ago. The QB coach, Randy Sanders, got scapegoated at UT for their offensive problems and he's been incredible. Joker Phillips (the OC) used to play at Kentucky and came back home to help the program after being at USC and Notre Dame (and is the heir apparent to Brooks). The DC (Brown) used to play for Brooks at Oregon and in the pros...

[CanineBacker]

I really like UK this year. They impress me to a greater degree with each game they play. That being said, I think Brooks really lucked out the last 3 or 4 years on a few recruits that weren't on the radar screens of many SEC or ACC teams. Nothing wrong with that. In fact, I find that highly admirable. I know Woodyard and several of your other players are from LaGrange here in Georgia, and they played for one of the best high school coaches around, who also happens to be a UK grad. All his top shelf players like Trey Blackmon get offers from everybody. However, I think many of his other players, like Woodyard, get overlooked by teams like Georgia, Auburn, and UT because they think they have no upside due to playing in such a good program like LaGrange. It is my opinion that Brooks and staff have done a real good job beating the bushes for diamonds in the rough. I just question wheather UK can stay in the top echalon of the conference recruitng like this.

If you are a program at a big state university, and you don't have an abundance of top notch D1 talent in your state, then I say Fulmer and the Vols are your model for success. You gotta go after that 4 and 5 star talent in these neighboring states. You also need to go to Florida in a big way like the Ville has done. Heck, Fulmer goes all over the country and only concentrates on the highest rated kids. The only thing that UT really has on UK is a better tradition of winning. And one last thing that came to my mind; I bet a lot of those top recruits to your north in Ohio aren't really Buckeye fans. I also bet a lot of them would really rather play in the SEC than the Big 10. I think there is a definite perception that the SEC has a higher level of play, and will better prepare them for the Sunday League. And UK is an SEC school not very far from home.

[Sannyasin]

Well, basically that's the only thing that programs like Kentucky can do, and yes it is a VERY, VERY difficult row to hoe (which makes the job UK has done, or UL for that matter, that more impressive):
(1) Get as many of the in-state kids as you can, and
(2) Look for diamonds in the rough in the southern states (the speed positions you can't get with in-state talent).
(3) Out-develop the competition.

Kentucky does try to get in on some higher ranked kids in neighboring states, but the bottom line is that a Tennessee kid that gets offered by UT, or an Ohio kid that gets offered by OSU, 95% of the time is going to go there. What do you think the record of UK vs. big name home state school recruiting battles is?

You have to get that next tier of player in the south... I think Ohio should be a focus too, but in general the Ohio kids are SUPER well-coached but not that much more athletic than the Kentucky kids. You have to have the speed to compete in the SEC... As much as I hate it, Tennessee, Georgia, and OSU are a "name". They have 100,000 fans in the stands, they have national championship trophies, they get hyped up by ESPN every week of the season... a program with virtually no recent history to point to just can't compete head-to-head with that.
You just have to carve out some talent-rich territories of the country you target harder than the home state school, identify overlooked talent, and hope that the personal relationships are more compelling than the state school pressure for the occasional star caliber player.

Trevard Lindley was a 2 star I think, Wesley Woodyard was a 3 star, Braxton Kelly was a 3 star in Georgia. Rafael Little was a 4 star, but Clemson and South Carolina loaded up on other RBs that year. None of them was recruited hard by the local school.
Woodson was home grown and it happened that Brohm came out the same year so UL and UK split the two... You just have to outwork the competition and hope for some luck.

[STUCKNBIG10]

the job that brooks and company have done is outstanding. post above is correct, we have not had a top-20 ranked recruiting class, so we seem to be doing what kansas state did in the 90s (winning with lower-ranked recruits).

[AFWarrior83]

UK's schedule is why they will not make the SECC game.

[Sannyasin]

Well, UK's schedule is brutal but most teams in the SEC have a brutal schedule... At least UK gets most of the toughies at home this year. If Kentucky can't beat Florida (I doubt they will, but I can hope) then they don't deserve to go to the championship game anyway.

[BAMAPERRY]

I predict UK to the Outback Bowl this year. They may have subplanted UTk as the 4th best team in the East. I think Vandy is a really good team, so UTk may be last in the East.

[Sannyasin]

Don't write down USC and Georgia as losses just yet. Don't forget that UK finished 3rd in the East last year beating Georgia and were inside the UT 10 yard line to win before spitting the bit for 2nd in the East.

IF UK could hang a loss of Florida... an SEC EAST Championship isn't likely but a possibility. Not going to beat LSU though.

[PuddingTime]

Woodson is definitely the driver behind this year's offense, though Keenan Burton's leadership and playmaking cannot be overstated -- he just doesn't get the notice Woodson does as QB.

What's unknown to most people who don't follow UK regularly is that the aforementioned spread-option QB, Curtis Pulley, beat out Woodson coming out of spring 2006. He then had some academic issues and got in Brooks' doghouse. That opened the door for Woodson to take back the spot in the fall, as he really went to work with Randy Sanders after losing his job.

Pulley will be a junior next year, not a senior. He's playing with the scout team in practice this year, getting good reviews from coaches, and has reportedly straightened himself out and gone to work, seeing what it did for Andre.

(That, and his daddy kicked him in the behind and brought him home over the summer, put him to work and laid down the law. Curtis got the message.)

Pulley was one of the top athletes in the south coming out of high school, and is a dual threat who can go the distance anytime on the ground and passes well enough. Working with Sanders, he's already making strides in that area. He's an outstanding athlete though, who caught 21 passes last year from Andre and ran the ball 23 times, averaging 5+ ypc.

Our question mark is going to be at WR. We lose Burton and Stevie Johnson (2 TDs vs. uvelle, including the winner). We have a solid corps coming back, but none stand out as obvious NFL prospects yet.

Overall though, we expect to be almost as good as this year, with a chance to be even better if a few kids progress well.

And FWIW, while everybody noticed Derrick Locke against Arkansas, he's not considered the best TB in our freshman class. We have a kid redshirting -- Brandon Jackson -- who figures to be ahead of him. Locke didn't get a redshirt because he's shooting for making the olympic track team and will only be at UK four years.

On defense, we lose leadership equivalent to Burton's and Andre's with Wesley Woodyard graduating, but Micah Johnson (4-star sophomore MLB) has already started stepping up in that regard and eight other starters are back.

This improved Kentucky has been built the right way. We'll be just fine in 2008 and beyond.

Ya'll re-read this post. Exactly on point and yea, right and stuff :D To my fellow Cat fans....ya'll know we're having a pep rally at 4th Street Live in Louisville tonight? How hilarious is that???? Suck it Cards!!

[EvvCat]

the job that brooks and company have done is outstanding. post above is correct, we have not had a top-20 ranked recruiting class, so we seem to be doing what kansas state did in the 90s (winning with lower-ranked recruits).


A lot of people have used Kansas State as, first a model for us to emulate, and second, a comparison for what we're doing now. One BIG difference though:

Bill Snyder built K-State by loading up with jucos and taking some players that couldn't cut it at other schools, academically or otherwise. It gave them the talent to contend some years, but led to a lot of ups and downs because they never kept a group for more than 1-2 years so they were almost starting from scratch annually.

Brooks has used jucos sparingly, only to fill in specific needs when unexpected roster holes came up. This staff has done a fantastic job of recognizing high school players who have a high upside and developing them. That's built a foundation that K-State never had, even in its best years. It's not quite a stone vs. sand difference, but it's close.

After watching recruiting rankings closely for several years, I'm a firm believer that "You have to get 4- and 5-star recruits to compete for a championship" is a myth. Follow a group for 3-4 years and you'll find the percentage of 4- and 5-star players who never make it big is surprisingly high.

I'm convinced a lot of them -- even throwing out the obvious losses to academics -- fall short because they've peaked early. They're great in high school, get 4+ stars for it, then don't get much better.

If you can find the 3- and even 2-star kids who aren't nearly at their peak yet, you can do just as well. You just have to be patient to give them time to develop. It's the old-school method, where you don't count on a kid to contribute until he's a junior or senior, but when he's ready, he's still very good. That's what UK has done.

Brooks' staff, Joker particularly, are proving to be outstanding at that. Ron Carragher was another one who had the touch, and we may really miss him, but Steve Brown's recruited well too and Chuck Smith is showing some signs of it early.

And I'm just fine with a bunch of kids who earn their attention by their play in college instead of in high school.

[UKBoo]

I really like UK this year. They impress me to a greater degree with each game they play. That being said, I think Brooks really lucked out the last 3 or 4 years on a few recruits that weren't on the radar screens of many SEC or ACC teams. Nothing wrong with that. In fact, I find that highly admirable. I know Woodyard and several of your other players are from LaGrange here in Georgia, and they played for one of the best high school coaches around, who also happens to be a UK grad. All his top shelf players like Trey Blackmon get offers from everybody. However, I think many of his other players, like Woodyard, get overlooked by teams like Georgia, Auburn, and UT because they think they have no upside due to playing in such a good program like LaGrange. It is my opinion that Brooks and staff have done a real good job beating the bushes for diamonds in the rough. I just question wheather UK can stay in the top echalon of the conference recruitng like this.

If you are a program at a big state university, and you don't have an abundance of top notch D1 talent in your state, then I say Fulmer and the Vols are your model for success. You gotta go after that 4 and 5 star talent in these neighboring states. You also need to go to Florida in a big way like the Ville has done. Heck, Fulmer goes all over the country and only concentrates on the highest rated kids. The only thing that UT really has on UK is a better tradition of winning. And one last thing that came to my mind; I bet a lot of those top recruits to your north in Ohio aren't really Buckeye fans. I also bet a lot of them would really rather play in the SEC than the Big 10. I think there is a definite perception that the SEC has a higher level of play, and will better prepare them for the Sunday League. And UK is an SEC school not very far from home.

UK is getting more press right now than in the last five years combined. I just listened to Brooks and he said this is the chance to really get the UK name out there to some of the top kids. We'll see if this "tool" pays off.

[STUCKNBIG10]

A lot of people have used Kansas State as, first a model for us to emulate, and second, a comparison for what we're doing now. One BIG difference though:

Bill Snyder built K-State by loading up with jucos and taking some players that couldn't cut it at other schools, academically or otherwise. It gave them the talent to contend some years, but led to a lot of ups and downs because they never kept a group for more than 1-2 years so they were almost starting from scratch annually.

Brooks has used jucos sparingly, only to fill in specific needs when unexpected roster holes came up. This staff has done a fantastic job of recognizing high school players who have a high upside and developing them. That's built a foundation that K-State never had, even in its best years. It's not quite a stone vs. sand difference, but it's close.

After watching recruiting rankings closely for several years, I'm a firm believer that "You have to get 4- and 5-star recruits to compete for a championship" is a myth. Follow a group for 3-4 years and you'll find the percentage of 4- and 5-star players who never make it big is surprisingly high.

I'm convinced a lot of them -- even throwing out the obvious losses to academics -- fall short because they've peaked early. They're great in high school, get 4+ stars for it, then don't get much better.

If you can find the 3- and even 2-star kids who aren't nearly at their peak yet, you can do just as well. You just have to be patient to give them time to develop. It's the old-school method, where you don't count on a kid to contribute until he's a junior or senior, but when he's ready, he's still very good. That's what UK has done.

Brooks' staff, Joker particularly, are proving to be outstanding at that. Ron Carragher was another one who had the touch, and we may really miss him, but Steve Brown's recruited well too and Chuck Smith is showing some signs of it early.

And I'm just fine with a bunch of kids who earn their attention by their play in college instead of in high school.

Good point, EVVCAT. My comparison to Kansas state is just that they rarely landed any 4 or 5-star recruits. You are 100% correct in saying that Brooks has not really gone the JUCO route too often. He is building the program by recruiting high school players, redshirting them and spending a year on their Strength and conditioning, and then using the excellent coaching staff to coach them up.

[HKBOY96825]

I just don't get the Colt Brennan hype. He's a system QB.

Why not Graham Harrell of Texas Tech? He throws for like 600 yards and 5 TDs every single game. The formula is put 5 receivers out there and throw it every single play against borderline HS talent... don't buy into that crap.


Brohm is probably the most NFL ready. Woodson is the best decision-maker (which is HUGE) and has a better arm. Tebow is the best runner from a QB position.


First off, Graham Harrell is total system (i.e. his completion %-age). 2nd off Brian Brohm isn't that good (i.e. his team lost twice already). 3rd -- I believe Woodson is a very good, efficient QB and I am a big fan. Finally, Colt Brennan is the real deal. He almost went into the draft last year and would've gone in the middle of the 1st round (as said by NFL scouts and coaches). This year, it's Woodson, Brennan, Booty, and LSU's defense.

Nuff said.