UK football senior replacements
Kentucky Wildcats linebacker Danny Trevathan (22) after winning the University of Kentucky football game against Tennessee at Commonwealth Stadium in Lexington, Ky., on 11/26/11. Uk won the game 10-7. Photo by Mike Weaver
December 1, 2011
By Cody Porter
When the game clock hit zero on Saturday, it was the last time that a group of seniors (including linebacker Danny Trevathan and safety Winston Guy) will play in Commonwealth Stadium.
Earlier this season defensive coordinator Rick Minter referred to the seniors as the heartbeat of the team. With the turnover moving into next season, the Cats will need to have that heartbeat revived by someone that I’m not sure can measure up to the all around quality of player that is Danny Trevathan.
In addition to the “heartbeats,” UK will lose the likes of punter Ryan Tydlacka, cornerback Randall Burden, linebacker Ronnie Sneed and Saturday’s miracle-worker, Matt Roark.
While it is too early to label any of the up and coming Cats a “Danny Trevathan” or a “Randall Cobb,” the potential is there for UK head coach Joker Phillips’ “group of recruits” to leave their own lasting impression on C.M. Newton Field.
Upon being asked about the future of the team, Sneed said he believed it was just a matter of time before the team starts to break through once they get some experience.
“We have great defensive players coming back and we have great offensive players coming back,” he added. “This program has good support for the future.”
Some of the guys I anticipate to step into the shoes left by their offensive and defensive predecessors include:
Alvin Dupree
Before going into the offseason Dupree showed why he is an emerging talent for the Cats against Tennessee with his four tackles and half a sack. On the season Dupree finished with 21 tackles, 2.5 sacks, and one fumble recovery. For being only a freshman, his contribution to the Cats defense was much needed help and numbers not often accompanying a UK freshman. In a line of linebackers such as Danny Trevathan, Wesley Woodyard, Micah Johnson, and Braxton Kelley, it is Dupree who has the most potential to be a household name like these UK linebackers of the past.
Mister Cobble
The large defensive lineman from Louisville provides a level of talent to slow any running game that may have not been present for the Cats since Dewayne Robertson. Cobble finished this season with 33 tackles, three tackles for a loss, and one sack. Going into 2012 he should be the anchor for an improving defensive front.
Avery Williamson
Williamson finished fifth in tackles for the team with 49 this season. A gain of 39 more tackles from his freshman season. The sophomore linebacker also had an interception and forced fumble and will join Dupree as defensive mainstays for Rick Minter.
Brian Adams
Listed as a starter entering the season, Adams was banged up off and on throughout 2011. The loss of Matt Roark presents Adams the opportunity to use his good hands to work his way to atop the depth chart and provide Newton or Smith another large target similar to La’Rod King.
Max Smith
Smith brought a new energy to the team and turned Matt Roark into an impact player down the stretch for the Cats. Once he permanently took over for the injured Newton he outperformed the veteran by throwing for more yards, more completions, at a higher efficiency, and a high passer rating in two less games. I expect the quarterback position to be his to lose entering spring practices.
As you may have noticed I left out some notable names such as freshman running back Josh Clemons and freshman wide receiver Daryl Collins. In the case of Clemons, while he was starting to show through as a future star, junior CoShik Williams proved himself to be the dependable offensive player that Randy Sanders had been missing most of the season.
I believe that freshman Daryl Collins will be a star, but for wide receiver coach Tee Martin’s high-profile recruit to showcase his abilities, he will have to adjust to SEC play after having season ending surgery for a dislocated right kneecap prior to the start of the 2011 season. So basically put an asterisk beside his name considering the circumstances.
With the Cats’ youth making the future look more appeasing to a disgruntled fan base, who takes the rap for the poor display of offense that was seen this season?
The aftereffects of the Tennessee game have now had their time to wear off and Athletic Director Mitch Barnhart has stated once again that Phillips will “absolutely” be the head coach in 2012. That being said, the other offensive mastermind in Randy Sanders seems to be the most logical answer to where the blame lies for the sluggish offense.
Sanders, who became the offensive coordinator last season after Phillips took the head coaching position for the Cats, continued with the Pro Style scheme that UK already had in place, and that Sanders used at Tennessee.
It has had some success, especially during the Rich Brooks era, but it isn’t churning out NFL quality players that the defense has had success in doing.
In facing a much tougher schedule next season, UK isn’t helping themselves lure potential coaches because they can’t be sure that Phillips will be around following the 2012 campaign.
I can’t tell you who can be the guy to do that job, but if I was a betting man, Tee Martin could be the guy in the on-deck circle for offensive coordinator position.
Martin had success in changing the atmosphere of Commonwealth Stadium this year and a new offensive scheme could bring the rest of the oohs and ahhs that have been absent with the stale offense currently in place.
What I saw against Tennessee on Saturday was a coaching staff that implemented an offense to fit the challenge presented to them with preparing Roark to run the team.
It was without question their best coaching of this entire season, regardless of how simple it was.
In running that offense, the Cats ran out of a pistol formation for much of the game.
With that offense, I saw a lot of potential for the future with the talent that UK has available to them.
Whether it is Max Smith or Morgan Newton, the pistol formation presents the opportunity for the quarterback to handoff, pass, or run, just as Roark displayed against the Volunteers.
The scheme isn’t something widely found in football, but it is an identity that the coaching staff can sell both fans and recruits on because it is interesting and fun.
Looking ahead to the post Smith or Newton years, the Cats have Patrick Towles, a highly touted quarterback from Highlands High School, coming into the program next season.
Towles may be without question the best talent that the Cats have gotten since Tim Couch. In my proposed scheme he would thrive and I would find it hard to believe for his balance attack to not be able to get on the field next season.
Keeping Randy Sanders on staff to tutor and instruct him as a quarterbacks coach could be instrumental to his development, and the same applies to Smith.
Simply I feel that it is a time for change at the offensive coordinator position and unless something is done then fans will be drinking the same blue Kool-Aid that had them excited coming into this season, and what happened? They slowly turned on Joker.
In wrapping up the football coverage for the 2011 season, I want to leave you with my projection for next football season. Barring an unforeseen change to the play calling and considering the anticipated strength of their schedule, I believe that the Cats will finish the 2012 season with a 4-8 record. In that I include victories over Kent State, Western Kentucky, Samford, and an SEC victory over a struggling Mississippi State team.