By Ethan Levine

elevine@kykernel.com

It took one catch for Big Blue fans to learn what UK senior wide receiver La’Rod King brought to the table.

It was not just any ordinary catch.

This catch was with one hand in traffic in the end zone. It was in Athens, Ga., between the hedges against the Georgia Bulldogs.

This catch helped UK secure an upset on the road in conference, propelling it to a bowl berth at the end of the year. This catch was the catch that launched King’s career.

When he arrived at UK in fall 2009, King was a freakishly athletic yet relatively unknown freshman receiver from Radcliff, Ky. A 6-foot-4, 220-pound gazelle on the outside, King was a small fish in the big pond of Lexington.

He was coming off a productive high-school career, starring at quarterback, wide receiver, safety and on special teams for North Hardin High School. And in the offseason he competed in the 4×400 relay and the high jump for the school’s track and field team.

As a true freshman hidden behind the likes of Randall Cobb and Chris Matthews, a 6-foot-5 receiver with a similar skill set to King’s, he was forced to simply watch and learn.

But in the Cats’ 11th game of that year, sitting at 5-5 on the bubble of postseason play and playing before 92,000 screaming Bulldog fans, King made the catch that launched him onto Big Blue Nation’s radar and propelled a productive career in the years to follow.

“La’Rod King’s been a player in this program for a long time,” UK head coach Joker Phillips said. “He showed flashes from the time he walked on campus. He was a guy that made plays as a true freshman. On the road at Georgia … he’s done it for a long time around here.”

Entering his senior season, King now has amounted 86 catches for 1,218 yards and 13 touchdowns in his three-year career.

Having played in 36 games, starting 18, King now ranks eighth in school history in receiving touchdowns and 19th in receiving yardage. And that’s with another year to go.

Last season, King caught seven touchdowns for the Cats. No one else on the team caught more than one.

And when King is not scoring touchdowns on the field, he is in the Lexington community helping its residents score touchdowns of their own.

King has spoken at local schools and the Fayette County Detention Center, donated his time to Read Across America and the “Be the Match” bone-marrow drive, and helped his fellow students with their heavy lifting on move-in day.

It is that maturity and character that should help make 2012 King’s most explosive season in a blue and white uniform. While his work ethic and determination are rarely, if ever, brought into question, the leadership qualities he bestows upon the team’s younger receivers may be the biggest impact he makes this year.

King is joined on the outside by a group of highly touted, but completely unproven wideouts, including senior E.J. Fields, sophomore Demarco Robinson and redshirt freshman Daryl Collins.

“La’Rod does a good job since he has proven himself and played on the field since his freshman year,” quarterback Maxwell Smith said. “He does a good job of leading them and getting them to do the right things and understand what they have to do.”

It will have to be Robinson and Collins who come through if UK is to succeed in the spread out offense it displayed in its spring game in April.

Robinson, a generous 5-foot-9, 158-pound bullet, might be the quickest player on the team. Offensive coordinator Randy Sanders tried to work Robinson into the offense as a freshman through end-around hand-offs and bubble screens, hoping to get the speedy Robinson into open space. That goal failed, to say the least, likely due to UK’s lack of a threat down the field.

Collins was expected to see time as a freshman with Robinson last season before tearing his ACL in August. Collins is an asset because of his speed, route running and exceptional hands, and quickly could become the deep threat UK has been searching for. With King and Collins on the outside, Sanders might just find that open field for Robinson in the slot.

“Those guys, they’ve come a long way and they’re going to be great,” King said. “They worked so hard in the offseason it’s a great thing.”

Fields, a 6-foot-1, 200-pound specimen, could also represent a deep threat on the outside. With freakishly fast speed and an above-average wingspan, there are few balls this guy won’t get to. But Fields has had problems with drops in the past, and if those issues continue, expect him back on the bench, where he has spent the majority of his career.

Throw tight end Tyler Robinson (19 career receptions, 124 yards, two touchdowns in two seasons) into the mix, along with backup Anthony Kendrick (six catches, 45 yards) and UK might have a deep stable of pass-catching options. Robinson had an enormous spring game, catching five balls and owning the middle of the field, and Kendrick brings plenty of athleticism to the table as well.

“We (the tight ends) showed in the spring game,” Tyler Robinson said. “The tight ends had a bunch of catches. So we’re hoping that’s going to be something to look forward to in the future. We haven’t really been productive the past two years, so we’re going to hope that this year is a little different for us. We’ve been working hard for it.”

But it all starts and ends with King. His play on the field, and his leadership off it, might determine the success of UK’s entire offense, should it be centered around the pass. A big year by UK’s top returning senior, and productive years from his fellow wideouts, could vault a team predicted to win three or four games into postseason discussion.