2011 Kentucky Wildcats Football Preview

Head coach Joker Phillips waited patiently to take the reins of the Kentucky football team from former head coach Rich Brooks, who developed into something of a folk hero in Lexington for the job he did rebuilding post-probation Kentucky into something it has never been in its history: a consistent postseason team. Phillips’s first year ended with mixed reviews. There were highs: finally beating a Steve Spurrier-coached ( South Carolina) team, beating rival Louisville for the fourth consecutive time, and reaching the postseason for the fifth year in a row. However, there were also lows: getting dominated in the bowl game by Pitt, getting blown out again by the worst Florida team since Ron Zook was the coach in Gainesville, and finishing with the first losing record since 2005 (6-7). Phillips tweaked his staff in the offseason and is hoping those changes pay dividends in 2011.

Offensively, the Wildcats are essentially starting over at the skill positions in 2011. Only six starters return and most are along the offensive line. They lose veteran quarterback Mike Hartline, running back Derrick Locke, receiver Chris Matthews, and most importantly, multi-threat Randall Cobb, who made much of the Kentucky offense go by being a threat to catch the ball as a receiver or run and throw it out of the Wildcat formation. With all of that production gone, Phillips is looking to replace it with a multitude of players. He told the media that it was unrealistic to expect any one player to step in and do what Cobb did for the offense.

Morgan Newton steps in at quarterback as the unquestioned starter and leader of the team. Newton battled Hartline and the now departed Ryan Mossakowski for the job last season. After Hartline’s suspension, Newton started in the bowl-game loss to Pitt. Hartline is a big, strong-armed kid that can make every kind of throw. He also has decent mobility. Look for Kentucky to try and replace some of Cobb’s Wildcat yardage by having Newton run the ball on designed running plays. Kentucky had better hope that nothing happens to Newton, however, because there is no tested depth behind him.

At the skill positions there are a lot of untested but talented players with potential. When Locke struggled with a lingering shoulder injury, Raymond Sanders stepped in and carried the ball well in his place. He’ll be the every-down back this season and should be every bit as reliable as Locke was, even if he’s not quite the breakaway threat that Locke was. Wide receiver remains a question mark; no one in the spring distinguished themselves. Coaches are high on LaRod King and two-sport star Brian Adams and their athleticism, but neither man was particularly effective in spring. Phillips told reporters that someone will have to step up at receiver; if none of the returning players do, he won’t hesitate to lean on a pretty good group of freshman receivers that will join the team this fall.

Whoever steps up at the skill positions will benefit from four returning starters along the offensive line. Larry Warford was second team All-SEC in 2010, and offensive line coach Mike Summers believes he’s as good as any interior lineman in the country. Warford, along with center Matt Smith and left tackle Chandler Burden, gives Kentucky a strong left side of the line that should allow Newton to stay upright as he breaks in new receivers and backs. Look for Kentucky to rely on the ground game and the offensive line early in the season.

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Phillips was unhappy with the play of his defense in 2010 and made major changes to try and address it. Coordinator Steve Brown was retained, but he was made a co-coordinator with veteran defensive coordinator Rick Minter, who was brought in to install a new defense that resembles a 4-2-5 alignment  designed to take advantage of some of the personnel on the Kentucky roster. Kentucky returns just two starters on the entire front seven in defensive end Collins Ukwu and All-SEC linebacker Danny Trevathan. With not a great deal of size up front, the Wildcats will try and use a multitude of blitzers from both the linebackers and from the secondary to compensate for the dearth of good defensive linemen. Phillips said he expects some of the bigger linebackers like Ridge Wilson to play some at defensive end as a pass rushing threat.

No matter the issues up front, the Wildcats should be able to rely on a secondary that returns all of the starters from a year ago. Strong safety Winston Guy is now up to 210 pounds and in Minter’s new defense will often function as a linebacker or perhaps even on the line as a defensive end. Mychal Bailey struggled early in the year but developed into a dependable free safety by year’s end. Randall Burden and Anthony Mosley are solid but unspectacular corners that cover well enough to allow Kentucky to take some chances. The depth at all of the secondary positions is suspect, so any major injuries could be damaging and force Minter and company to rely on true freshmen.

Kentucky’s schedule, as usual, is built to win three relatively easy out of conference games, and then hope for a win over rival Louisville and any two SEC wins to become bowl eligible. That, however, might not be enough this season. The Wildcats get two relatively easy opening tests before facing a stretch of games against Louisville, Florida, LSU and South Carolina. If the Wildcats don’t start 3-0, they could be 3-4 with games against an improved Mississippi State, Georgia and Vanderbilt still to come on the slate. Phillips will have to do his best coaching job to date to keep Kentucky’s bowl streak alive in 2011.