2-a-Days: Kentucky and Louisville

Kentucky Wildcats



Kentucky didn't have a fantastic year by any means, but they did manage to string together a few pretty impressive wins. Rich Brooks has announced that he will retire somewhere in the next few seasons, but nobody really knows when. Some people think Kentucky has the potential to be pretty decent, while others think of this as a rebuilding year. How will the Wildcats recover from the loss of Andre Woodson and crew?


THE OFFENSE: As I previously stated, the million dollar question: Who will take over for Andre Woodson behind center? It's not like he's easily replaceable considering he tossed 40 TD strikes last season, that would be the most in SEC history. The QB battle comes down to two candidates in Curtis Pulley and Mark Hartline. Pulley is the more athletic of the two. Hartline is the better passer but there might be more of an emphasis on what Pulley can do with his legs. That is, if he becomes the starter, it's a very close battle. While Rafael Little was a huge part for this 55th ranked offense, Tony Dixon and Derrick Locke will each see a good amount of touches and there won't really be a problem replacing Little. The pictured Dicky Lyons Jr. will be the leader of the WR corps this season, but there are a lot of losses at this position. Keenan Burton and Steve Johnson will be missing this year, but E.J. Adams is a CB convert and he could have a breakthrough season. DMoreo Ford might move up to the number one slot, but there's still some jockeying for positions yet to happen come August. Something that might go under the radar, Jacob Tamme is gone from the TE spot but T.C. Drake might have a decent year filling in for him. The offensive line, led by OT Garry Williams, last season did a pretty solid job paving the way for the rushing attack, but protecting Woodson was an issue. That might not be that debilitating if Curtis Pulley becomes the starter, but it does have to get better nonetheless.


THE DEFENSE: The defense, unlike the offense, gets eight guys to return. Jeremy Jarmon has the potential to become the best defensive player on the roster at DE. He, by all accounts, had a very good spring. DL Ventrell Jenkins has the potential as a senior to come through with so much attention being paid to Jarmon. With the loss of defensive leader Wesley Woodyard, Kentucky has had to try some different looks at LB. Braxton Kelley has been slotted at the OLB position when he played on the inside the previous year. Micah Johnson also earned a starting LB spot and he has the ability to come out of 2008 with a big season. Paul Warford was just a sophomore last season at CB and he had a nice year. The star, however, is Trevard Lindley who led the team in INTs. The pass defense did a very solid job last season with a ranking of 24th and there's a good chance that this unit will be just as good.


THE SCHEDULE:

Aug. 31 at Louisville
Sept. 6 Norfolk State
Sept. 13 Middle Tennessee
Sept. 27 Western Kentucky
Oct. 4 at Alabama
Oct. 11 South Carolina
Oct. 18 Arkansas
Oct. 25 at Florida
Nov. 1 at Mississippi State
Nov. 8 Georgia
Nov. 15 Vanderbilt
Nov. 29 at Tennessee

After a game against Louisville which should be a tossup, the Wildcats can coast through that three game non-conference stretch before SEC play picks up. The SEC schedule isn't the worst thing that could happen, but they do have to face Alabama, Florida, and Tennessee on the road.

Don't Even Think About It:
Ehhhhh.....Maybe....: @ Alabama, @ Florida, Georgia, @ Tennessee
Good/Probable Shot At It: @ Louisville, Norfolk State, MTSU, Western Kentucky, South Carolina, Arkansas, @ Mississippi State, Vanderbilt


THE OUTLOOK: Kentucky can reach 6-6 but it won't be an easy task. The defense was okay last year, but they did struggle against the run and there's not much to go on to support the claim that they'll get better in that department. The defense will hold them back from competing with the top players in the SEC East, but regardless they'll only need three conference wins and they might get in. The offense won't be as potent and Kentucky managed three victories in a season with Andre Woodson and an upset against LSU. I'm not a huge fan of their chances, but it's possible. I've got Kentucky at 2-6 in SEC play with a 5-7 record overall.


BOWL GAME?: Nope.












Louisville Cardinals



That was the definition of an unmitigated disaster. Louisville struggled to do much anything right and had just a miserable season. Not many people saw them missing out on a postseason berth, but now that Kragthorpe has coached a year for the Cards, is there hope to take the next step and play for a Big East title?


THE OFFENSE: It's not like Hunter Cantwell is bad. Cantwell has done a solid job filling in for Brohm in mop-up duty and when Brohm was injured a few seasons ago and some even have Cantwell rated as the top QB prospect in this year's class. I think that's a little excessive praise, but he does have skill, that's a fact. There's a bit of a quagmire at RB with George Stripling and Anthony Allen gone (dismissal and transferring respectively), and that may have opened up a chance for Brock Bolen to shine. Bolen is usually a FB, but this is an interesting situation if he wins the starting job at RB. Bilal Powell could provide the change-of-pace spark for Bolen at RB. WR is one of the team's biggest questions marks and the rise of Scott Long is, pardon the pun, long overdue. Long has a ton of potential as a junior and he, unfortunately, got buried on the depth chart with all of that talent. Trent Guy also could have a break out campaign. One loss that people may not be paying enough attention to is Gary Barnidge. Barnidge was a key cog in this offensive machine at TE who basically acted as another receiver and caused huge mismatch problems. It sounds as if Pete Nochta might start, at least early in the season because his two competitors are freshman. Louisville had a decent offensive line, but C Eric Wood and OT George Bussey will have huge All-Big East seasons.


THE DEFENSE: Oh boy. The Cardinals must have forgotten how to play defense once Bobby Petrino got up and left. The total defense was 84th and the scoring D was ranked 91st. To the naked eye, that sounds pretty bad but not catastrophic but believe me, early in the year, it was. Syracuse and Middle Tennessee made this look like a junior varsity high school defense. They just didn't play fundamentally sound football. Ron English hopes to change that coming in from Michigan and he can start with the defensive line. Earl Heyman and Adrian Grady will start at a deep DT position and Maurice Mitchell should start and have a solid year at DE. This is the time to shine for James Bryant, a transfer at LB. He's a senior now and he's got talent floating around in him, he just has to harness it. The other two LB starting positions are up for grabs between some young guns, so it'll be interesting to see how that all plays out. Woodny Turenne should play better at CB. He seemed kind of lost last season. Johnny Patrick is still learning the position, but he looks like the starter on the other side. Latarrius Thomas is the best player in the secondary at safety.


THE SCHEDULE:

Aug. 30 Kentucky
Sept. 6 Tennessee Tech
Sept. 17 Kansas State
Sept. 27 Connecticut
Oct. 10 at Memphis
Oct. 18 Middle Tennessee
Oct. 25 South Florida
Nov. 1 at Syracuse
Nov. 8 at Pitt
Nov. 14 Cincinnati
Nov. 22 West Virginia
Dec. 4 at Rutgers

Starting things off with a win against Kentucky will be huge. The Cardinals, again, couldn't tackle against the Wildcats last year and this underrated rivalry game will be crucial for both teams. Kansas State is no cupcake either, but they do have to come to Papa John's Stadium. The Big East slate sets up nicely with three of the best teams in the conference, West Virginia, Cincinnati, and USF, all having to come to Louisville.

Don't Even Think About It:
Ehhhhh.....Maybe....: USF, Cincinnati, West Virginia
Good/Probable Shot At It: Kentucky, TTU, Kansas State, UConn, @ Memphis, MTSU, @ Syracuse, @ Pitt, @ Rutgers


THE OUTLOOK: Louisville will be much, much, much, much, much better. I know that sounds funny because of the way they played last year, but forget about the expectations coming into 2007. This team did finish 6-6 with last-second loss to Kentucky, a crappy call against Connecticut, and an ultra-competitive loss to West Virginia. The defense, while it stunk, did pick it up near the end of the year (sort of) and with Ron English's help, this team will learn how to tackle. On the surface, it looks like a rebuilding season, but Bobby Petrino recruited the right kind of athletes, especially on offense, to run at that high-octane pace. Granted, this team won't be special, but they'll be good enough for a bowl game.


BOWL GAME?: Texas Bowl.