On, On, U of K! (an NCAA 14 Kentucky dynasty)

[thesportsguru11]

The D-Line will be without a doubt UK's strong suit this season. Depending on the scheme, the Cats could have as many as 4 to 5 upperclassmen on the field at one time. Junior end Alvin "Bud" Dupree showed a lot of upside during camp and solidified his place among the SEC's best at his position. He will be playing alongside fellow junior Za'Darius Smith, one of the 5 new starters on defense this year. Smith, a juco transfer, is a relatively unknown commodity in Lexington. He received high praise from the staff and could make a big impact this season.

Nose guard Mister Cobble did not start last season, but appeared to hold off a talented group of seniors, including overtaking last season's starter, Tristian Johnson. Depth is so abundant at tackle that Johnson fell to third on the depth chart behind Cobble and Donte Rumph, who had a breakout spring.

LE: Za’Darius Smith #94 Jr 6’6 257
Travaughn Paschal # 41 Jr. 6’4 250

RE: Alvin “Bud” Dupree #2 Jr. 6’4 254
Farrington Huguenin #91 So (RS) 6’4 269

DT: Mister Cobble #97 Sr (RS) 6’0 340
Donte Rumph #99 Sr 6’3 323
Tristan Johnson #51 Sr (RS) 6’1 277
Mike Douglas #50 Jr (RS) 6’4 269
Christian Coleman #92 Jr 6’3 295

[thesportsguru11]

The linebacking core is led by senior captain Avery Williamson, who opened eyes in camp with his leadership on D and ability to make big plays. Miles Simpson started on the left side last year, but could be overtaken by fellow junior Kory Brown. Khalid Henderson appears to have the edge on utility man Josh Forrest for the starting right side spot.

LOLB: Kory Brown #34 Jr (RS) 6’0 205
Miles Simpson #32 Jr (RS) 6’2 228

MLB: Avery Williamson #40 Sr 6’1 241
Tyler Brause #10 Jr (RS) 6’4 240
Malcolm McDuffen #54 Jr (RS) 6’3 220

ROLB: Khalid Henderson #22 So 6’1 224
Josh Forrest #8 So (RS) 6’3 241

[thesportsguru11]

Defensive back is where UK can make or break their season. Only one starter returns, junior safety Ashely Lowery. He will have to step up and become a leader this year. 5'10 sophomore Cody Quinn will be called upon to defend teams' #1 receivers, an arduous task for someone with very little experience. Stoops left the competition wide open to the freshmen, specifically corner Jaleel Hytchye and safety Marcus McWilson, who Stoops decided to redshirt at the last minute, however neither could seize the opportunity.

CB1: Cody Quinn #16 So. 5’10 177
J.D. Harmon #15 So 6’2 191

CB2: Fred Tiller #3 So 6’0 170
Nate Willis #24 Jr. 6’0 180

FS; Daron Blaylock #7 So. 6’1 213
Eric Dixon #28 Jr 5’11 189

SS: Ashely Lowery #5 Jr 6’1 219
Glenn Faulkner #18 So (RS) 6’2 192

[thesportsguru11]

And finally we preview the Cats special teams.

Returning at kicker for his 4th and final year of eligibility is senior Joe Mansour. He has a strong leg but must show consistency, especially now that Stoops has decided to redshirt the #3 kicking recruit in the country, Austin MacGinnis.

Sophomore punter Landon Collins had a superb freshman season last year, averaging 42 yards a punt and ranking 5th out of freshman in the entire country.

Sanders and Robinson will be the two return men to start the year.

K: Joe Mansour #88 Sr. 6’2 188

P: Landon Foster #9 So 6’1 206

RET: Raymond Sanders #4 Sr 5’8 199
DeMarco Robinson #9 Jr 5’10 160
Josh Clemons #21 So (RS) 5’10 212

KOS: Joe Mansour #88 Sr 6’2 188

LS: Zach Myers #57 Fr (RS) 6’3 289
Zach West #75 So (RS) 6’4 312

[thesportsguru11]

Gameday, UK vs. Western Kentucky


/forums/

VS.



Top 25:
1. Alabama
2. Ohio St.
3. Stanford
4. Texas A&M
5. Georgia
6. Oregon
7. Notre Dame
8. South Carolina
9. Clemson
10. Florida
11. Louisville
12. LSU
13. Oklahoma
14. Florida St.
15. Texas
16. Oklahoma St.
17. TCU
18. Boise St.
19. Michigan
20. UCLA
21. Kansas St.
22. Nebraska
23. Oregon St.
24. Northern Illinois
25. Vanderbilt

Heisman Watch:
Johnny Manziel, QB, Texas A&M
A.J. McCarron, QB, Alabama
Braxton Miller QB, Ohio State
Teddy Bridgewater, QB, Louisville
Marcus Mariota, QB, Oregon

All games will be 7 minutes, Heisman difficulty. Will try playmaker's sliders. I set recruiting to (I believe) All-American. Can't remember because I'm not online right now. I am using an edited version of the OS community rosters, circa October. I did nothing to change these rosters. However, coaches levels are way high for some reason. Didn't notice it until I started (and deleted all my other roster files), but oh well.

[thesportsguru11]

WILDCATS RALLY TO WIN IN NASHVILLE 41-31



Nashville -

It was a rocky start for the Wildcats in their season opener against the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers, as quarterback Maxwell Smith started his season 1 for 7 with an interception that allowed Western Kentucky to jump out to a 14-0 lead midway through the first quarter.

Taking drastic measures early, coach Mark Stoops abandoned his air raid offense and let senior tailback Raymond Sanders get some touches on the ensuing drive. He took his first carry of the season up the sideline for a 28 yard gain. Sanders gashed the defense for big gains several times that drive before fullback D.J. Warren snuck into the endzone for UK’s first points of the season.


D.J. Warren plows into the end zone to score UK's first points of the season.

After an exchange of three and outs by both teams, WKU found themselves with the ball again midway through the second. But it was only 3 plays later when Cats’ cornerback J.D. Harmon took a Brandon Doughty pass and ran it back 20 yards to the house for a pick-six to tie the game up at 14.


J.D. Harmon runs to the end zone for a pick 6 to tie the score at 14.

But WKU recovered nicely as Doughty threw a 50-yard touchdown to Stephon Brown to give the Hilltoppers the lead back, and the score was 21-14 going into the half.

UK tied it up at 21 on Smith’s first TD pass of the season on the first drive of the 2nd half.


A.J. Legree scores the first receiving touchdown on the season.

But again, WKU proved their worth as they rushed into the red zone in just 4 plays. WKU decided to try and run it in on 2nd and goal, but star running back Antonio Andrews, who had been quiet thus far, was wrapped up for loss by 3 Cats defenders. This set up a 3rd and goal from the 6 when Doughty dropped the ball, literally. Senior tackle Mister Cobble got his hands on Doughty and stripped the ball in the same sequence, forcing the ball out of Doughty’s hands. End TraVaughn Paschal scooped it up quickly and outran the entire Hilltopper offense for the 91 yard recovery touchdown to give the Cats their first lead on the season, 28-21 midway through the 3rd quarter.


TraVaughn Paschal scoops and scores to make it 28-21 UK.

On the next drive though, UK’s defense once again showed flaws as Doughty and Andrews powered their way to the end zone and tied it up again as the game crossed into the 4th quarter.


Antonio Andrews (5) tied it up at 28 after the fumble reecovery touchdown.

Smith drove UK down the field quickly and effectively with time running out in the 4th. They got down to WKU’s 45 when an attempted draw to Sanders on 3rd and 2 was perfectly protected by the Hilltoppers front 7, allowing WKU a chance to potentially give them the go-ahead score late in the 4th. After an offside by Kentucky on 4th and 1, WKU was able to continue their drive. But they were stopped quickly afterward when safety Ashely Lowery stuffed Stephon Brown one yard short of the first down, which forced WKU’s Garrett Schwettmann to kick a 42 yard field goal to make it 31-28 WKU.

With only one minute left, it all seemed lost unless someone could make a big late game play. And it was the unsung hero, Raymond Sanders, who did just that. He took the ensuing kickoff 80 yards down to the WKU 16.



After 2 short passes by Smith, backup tailback Josh Clemons punched it in from a yard out to give UK the ball back, but kicker Joe Mansour, continuing his rough day, missed his 3rd kick on the PAT try (2 field goals and an extra point). WKU needed only to get only inside the 30 in 45 seconds to try a game tying field goal.

Forced into a 4th and short, Doughty panicked and missed an open receiver as he threw to Stephon Brown, who got decked by Lowery to give UK the ball back. However, WKU made a nice stand and WKU got the ball back with 25 seconds and no timeouts. But Doughty made his final mistake of the day and threw into double coverage to Brown, where sophomore Cody Quinn made a nice leaping interception and outran everyone to deliver the dagger for the Cats. 41-31 was the final.


Cody Quinn delivered the dagger with his late game interception return touchdown.

After the game, Stoops talked about his quarterback’s second half turnaround. “Max did a great job shaking off that bad start and recovering to help us win the game”, Stoops said. “I said at the beginning of the year that we need consistency at quarterback to be successful, and that’s just what happened.
Western Kentucky coach Bobby Petrino, also coaching his first game at his new school, had this to say. “They just outsmarted us in the second half, we didn’t play well in the second half and we just have to be smarter next time out.”

The Wildcats play next week at home against Miami of Ohio.

[thesportsguru11]

Box score.

[thesportsguru11]

AROUND THE NCAA WEEK 2



Top 25:
1. Alabama
2. Ohio St.
3. Stanford
4. Texas A&M
5. Georgia
6. Oregon
7. Notre Dame
8. South Carolina
9. Clemson
10. Florida
11. Louisville
12. TCU
13. Texas
14. Boise St.
15. Michigan
16. LSU
17. UCLA
18. Kansas St.
19. Nebraska
20. Oregon St.
21. Northern Illinois
22. Florida State
23. Oklahoma
24. Ole Miss
25. Arizona State

others receiving votes:
Oklahoma State (192) Mississippi State (169) Northwestern (126) Pitt (91) Miami (28) UL Monroe (13)
Dropped out: OK State (#16), Vanderbilt (#25)



Last week's top 25 upsets:
TCU def #12 LSU
Pitt def #14 Florida State
ULM def #13 Oklahoma
Ole Miss def #25 Vanderbilt
Mississippi State def #16 OK State

Heisman Watch:
Johnny Manziel (QB, Texas A&M)
A.J. McCarron (QB, Alabama)
Braxton Miller (QB, Ohio State)
Teddy Bridgewater (QB, Louisville)
Marcus Mariota (QB, Oregon)

NCAA POTW:
Offense: Teddy Bridgewater, QB, Louisville 22-34, 253 yds, 57 yds rush, 5 TD
Defense: Shaq Bell CB, Colorado State 2 TKL, 4 ATK, FF, 3 INT