Less than two weeks away from college football’s opening kickoff, neither Derrick Locke nor Alfonso Smith are in game shape.

That’s OK, they both said.

Locke even said he’s in the best shape of his life.

But game shape?

For both of UK’s featured tailbacks in 2009, “game shape” can’t be gauged during camp, which ended Tuesday. The only way to know?

“Ask again on Sept. 6,” Smith said, alluding to the day after the Cats’ season opener on Sept. 5 against Miami of Ohio.

A lot is asked of these backs. Both Smith and Locke are called upon for running, blocking and special teams work.

And in part, both athletes are called upon for so much work because UK head coach Rich Brooks is well aware that each is capable of shouldering the weight.

But after the Cats’ scrimmage Saturday, Brooks said on Twitter that Locke and Smith still needed conditioning.

“I was just a little sick,” Locke said. “I had to get it out of me and throw up a little, but I’m not out of shape. I’m conditioned great.”

Too much information, Derrick, but I get what you’re saying.

Being in shape and well-conditioned are not the same thing.

The scrimmage is the closest the Cats can come to game speed until Sept. 5, when they actually play. It was held in Commonwealth Stadium, although the stands must’ve been completely empty. (It was closed to the public and to the media.)

Lining up on the field at Commonwealth, Locke said, got a little bit of his adrenaline going.

Still not all the way, though. Not game speed, anyway.

Smith and Locke are conditioned exceptionally, but they’re not in game shape.

So in order to best prepare themselves for game speed, the backs are told to push an extra 20 yards past each play in practice. Little by little, the yards add up.

“I’ve kind of always done that just to get used to breaking long runs,” Smith said. “If you break a long run and you’re gassed then you have to go right back out, that’s no good.

“You don’t get to score that touchdown if you get tackled on the 5 after a big run and you can’t breathe.”

Also, Locke and Smith both plan on adding additional personal workouts to their schedules now that camp is over.

Smith said he wouldn’t kill himself running and working out, but he couldn’t add extra workouts during camp because of its tiresome nature.

Besides, he loves running. He said he hates just sitting around on the couch because it’s a similar feeling to sitting on the bench while the Cats’ defense is in.

He gets anxious.

But even tallying up excess miles on the treadmill won’t fully prepare either for that first game.

“You try to get as close as you can in practice of replicating game speed, but man, you can’t,” Locke said. “You can try to match it but in the game, you have that adrenaline rush going. Everything is that much quicker, everything is that much sharper.”

Conditioning for a game of such high-impact nature is difficult. So much of what defines the game — the hard hits, the adrenaline rush that can only be matched by a group of 70,000 out-of-control (read: mostly drunk) fans — can’t be prepared for in any sort of practice.

But these players know that, and they’ve known that their entire careers. For Smith, the senior, he knows it. Locke’s a junior and knows it, too.

Of course Brooks needs to voice his concern, because that’s his job. But these players are also doing their jobs, and they’re conditioned well.

Game shape? Maybe not. But game condition works for me.

Locke agreed. But when will they be in game shape?

“Give us the first two games to get used to the hits and the adrenaline, and I’m always good to go all-out by that third game,” Locke said.

Let’s hope so. For game No. 3, Florida comes to town.

James Pennington is a journalism senior. E-mail [email protected].