Notes from a one of the best victory hangovers I can recall since I've been watching sports (and that's a lot): Thanks for all the comments in last night's post celebrating the UK win, because believe me, that's exactly what I did.

UK's victory over the 9th ranked University of Louisville Cardinals helped slay some demons -- Devery Henderson and the demon who bestowed 30 years of futility against top-10 teams to name a couple. The outcome of the UofL game was, to me, more satisfying than UK's 96 NCAA Basketball Championship, and that's not just hyperbole talking.

Consider this, when the Cats won in 96, it had been 18 years since UK had cut the Final Four nets down. The football team hasn't beaten a top-10 team since 1977, and like I said earlier, that's a whopping 30 years between such victories. Besides, it's not like our basketball team wasn't successful in that 18 year period, we just couldn't finish the deal.

On the other hand, our football program (I say "our" because I went to UK), save for a couple of seasons here and there, has, well, sucked for lack of a better term. Anyway, enough of the fluff piece. What follows are some player highlights, things of interest and some wrap-up thoughts concerning UK's big win:

Andre Woodson
Dre had a fantastic game, throwing for 275 yards and 4 touchdown passes. He also extended his pass attempts without an interception streak to 257, now tops in the SEC. His performance against UofL, who was playing a lot better defense than they did against MTSU, cannot be understated. His TD passes to Conner, Tamme and of course Johnson were things of beauty. He took what the defense gave him and responded in a big way.

In fact, Andre's performance against UofL has led to a AT&T All-America Player of the Week award nomination... and even though it's only the 3rd week of the CFB season, people are starting to mention the word "Heisman" and "Woodson" in the same sentence. I'm going to leave that alone for a while because there are some BIG games left to play.

Rafael Little
Number 22 had a big, bruising game against the Cards. Little rushed 27 times for 151 yards and a big touchdown. Louisville had no answer for Little's powerful runs up the middle and if UK's passing game wasn't so effective, he would've had over 200 yards, easily. Not only that, but he was quite effective when he was asked to block during passing downs.

Little continues to perform like the best running back no one knows about. However, in a conference that features Darren McFadden, the oversight is understandable.

Wesley Woodyard
The captain of UK's defense had a commanding game delivering 13 tackles, a big pass break-up and a huge stop of UofL tight end Gary Barnidge at the 2 yard line on a HUGE 4th down play in the game's final quarter. Woodyard was all over the field and had a hand in just about every other stop of note.

In fact, the entire defense deserves credit because believe it or not, for a maligned unit like UK's defense to hold the high-powered Cardinals to 34 points is a victory unto itself -- a victory that was secured by Marcus McClinton's tackle of Harry Douglas at the Kentucky 11... of course, when the Brian Brohm's batted-down pass landed in Douglas' hands, the entire Commonwealth undoubtedly flashbacked to LSU and the aforementioned Devery Henderson. NOT THIS TIME!

Woodyard's post-game reaction says plenty about UK's victory:

"I was telling the guys I've lost this game the last three years, so I never got to touch that trophy before," UK's senior linebacker said. "It was great to finally get it."

Keenan Burton Watch
Playing on a sprained ankle, number 19 turned in one of his normally-brilliant games, catching 9 passes for 99 yards. Many of Burton's catches were of the acrobatic type, making his performance all the more impressive when you consider his injury. In 3 games, Keenan has 257 yards receiving and 2 touchdowns, 1st on the team.

Maybe someday, the Mel Kiper's of the world will recognize Keenan's ability.

Jacob Tamme
Tamme's touchdown catch in the 4th quarter was sick. He out-jumped Louisville's defender in the end zone and just made a great play. I can only hope UK continues to use one of the best middle-of-the-field threats in Division 1.

You can't stop Tamme. You can't even contain him!

Steve Johnson
I've had some fun with Johnson's traffic stop earlier in the season, but after Saturday's 2-touchdown performance, there's only one thing people want to talk about when his name is brought up: the 57-yard game-winning touchdown that took the crowd by storm.

Welcome to the UK history books Steve. You certainly deserve it.

Touchdown KENTUCKY!!!!!!!!!!

WTF Moments
The UK special teams played like garbage. They allowed a 100-yard kick-off return and Lones Seiber's extra-point struggles continued. He missed one and had another block... however, the blocked one actually made it over the uprights. Of course, these maddening struggles were magnified because Seiber was 2 for 2 on field goals, hitting from 36 and 31 yards.

Coach Brooks obviously shares this frustration because you could visibly see him telling Seiber to kick his extra points higher to prevent them being blocked. Now if he can just keep them from shanking to the right...

Another WTF moment came when UK had a 4th and 1 in the first half and decided to run the option. Going for the conversion was the smart choice because UK was on the UofL side of the 50. Using a slow-developing option to accomplish this goal was not. Please remove all option plays from the UK playbook.

Going Forward
UK cannot afford to let this victory go to their head. Next week, they have to take a trip to Fayetteville, Arkansas to face a pissed-off Arkansas Razorback team who is coming off a tough loss against Nick Saban's Alabama team. I'm expecting an angry Darren McFadden to let out his frustrations against a UK defense that has had some interesting times with good running backs.

Can UK overcome their elation in time to prepare for hornet's nest that will be the Arkansas Razorbacks? If not, this Cloud-9 feeling will come to an end pretty quickly. Thankfully, we have an offense that can score on anybody. Let's hope they all come to play next Saturday.

Besides the Razorbacks, UK has a lot of tough games remaining on their schedule and if they really want this win over UofL to signify a turning-point for the football program, they have to capitalize on what they've started.

What do you think? Can UK continue forward or will they falter in the eyes of the SEC?

Until later, GBB!!!

This 57-yard gem sealed the win for the Cats. I guess getting pulled over is good for your level of performance. ;)

Go Steve!!!

This play will be remembered a lot longer than your traffic violation. Nicely done sir... nicely done.

Steve Johnson for SEC Player of the Week!!!!!!!!!

For the first time in 30 years, UK beat a top-10 ranked team by dispatching their arch-rival, the University of Louisville Cardinal, 40-34. 

I'll be back tomorrow with a full write-up. Tonight, I'm going to go get piss drunk. FYI, when the victory was decided after Brohm's pass, I felt like I had an orgasm.

Be safe Cat fans. Don't burn Lexington down.

:P

GBB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What makes this so awesome? The fact that I'm previewing what will probably be the most entertaining game of this weekend's college football action. Around the sports-sphere, the Governor's Cup match-up is being billed as Andre Woodson versus Brian Brohm, and with good reason.

These two gunslingers are probably the top two quarterbacks in college football and when you add the words "rivalry game" -- a game UK desperately needs -- the hype-o-meter will be off the charts, even though these two will not play one down against each other. Before I go off on a tangent about the misplaced hype, let me move right along so I can preview Saturday's game. We'll start with the quarterbacks since they are getting all the attention.

Cats versus Cards - A Breakdown:

Quarterbacks
As I said, this position will get all the attention because of the two players in the starring roles. For Louisville, we have the impressive Brian Brohm. Brohm has all the tools for a play-on-Sunday quarterback. He's big and strong; attributes that give him a commanding presence in the pocket. Not only that, but he can throw the ball with deadly accuracy.

Last year, despite missing two games, Brohm threw for over 3000 yards, 16 touchdowns and only 5 interceptions. In 2007, he's off to a blazing hot start having already thrown for an eye-opening 9 touchdown passes in only two games. If UK is to have ANY success stopping Brohm, they are going to have to apply some Rutgers-style pressure on him, something the Cats don't necessarily do well.

In UK's corner we have Andre Woodson, the 2007 preseason All-American, throwing the ball. Dre is coming off an impressive 2006 campaign that saw him pass for 3515 yards and 31 touchdowns with only 7 picks. In fact, before the start of the season, Dre had passed 162 times without an interception. Because he hasn't thrown one yet in 2007, this total is now up 213 attempts. Of course, now that I've taken the time to highlight Dre's accuracy, he'll probably throw 5 picks on Saturday...

When it comes to stopping Woodson, UofL is going to have to hope they can apply pressure on him, much like the Cats want to with Brohm. If they can't establish a pass-rush, Dre will sit back there all day and pick the Louisville secondary apart - much like Brohm will do if UK can't pressure him. Both QBs have a bevy of weapons at their disposal as well.

Advantage: Even

To prevent this post from becoming a scroll monster, I'm going to abbreviate some of this. Instead of going position-by-position, I'm just going to focus on the offensive and defensive units of each team.

Offense
On the offensive side of the ball, both teams are stacked with weapons. Louisville boasts a hefty armory including receivers Mario Urruttia and Henry Douglas. With Brohm delivering them the ball, these two can create absolute havoc on opposing defense. Throw in running back Anthony Allen, who set a school record with 275 yard rushing against MTSU and tight end Gary Barnidge (four touchdown catches in 2007 already) and it's easy to see why defensive coordinators don't sleep much during the week before UofL comes to town. Making matters worse for the UK defense - besides depth issues related to injury - is the fact Louisville's offensive line hasn't allowed a sack in 2007 (granted, the Cards were not going up against defenses of note).

On UK's side of the field, Woodson also has some explosive talent he can distribute the ball to. In the receiving corps, we have my favorite UK player in Keenan Burton, Dickie Lyons, Jr (who torched the Cards last year) and the now infamous Steve Johnson. These three are capable of scoring a touchdown any time they touch the ball at any place on the field. When you add (the underused) All-SEC tight end Jacob Tamme, UK fans should have all the confidence in the world UK's offense can stand toe-to-toe with UofL... and I haven't even mentioned UK's running backs.

The UK running attack features a three-headed monster that goes by the names of Rafael Little, Tony Dixon and Alfonso Smith. All three have had very productive starts the 2007 campaign and are looking to continue the trend on Saturday. Little is the leader of this trio, averaging 118 yards a game with only 12.5 carries. He also returns punts for UK and he's an astute pass-catcher out of the backfield. The Three Amigos have also combined for six touchdowns in two games... and if that's not enough, UK fullback John Conner (you must save Sarah) also has two touchdown carries of his own.

If there's an area of concern for UK's offense, it's the offensive line. Against noted defensive stalwart Kent State, Dre was sacked a surprising four times. Granted, these lapses came in the first half and a couple of them were because Woodson held the ball too long in the pocket. However, until the UK o-line proves they can protect him against UofL, there is some cause for concern.

Advantage: Slight nod to UofL because of the four sacks

Defense
For as good as both teams' offenses are, their defenses are probably just as bad. Last Thursday, UofL gave up 42 points to a Middle Tennessee State team whose offense was ranked 104 out of 119 teams in 2006. Not to be outdone, UK allowed an average Kent State team to run the ball down their throats, especially in the first half when Kent State rushed for over 200 yards, an idea Louisville running back Anthony Allen is undoubtedly salivating at.

The question becomes are these defenses as bad as they played last week? For UK, it may very well be, especially when you consider their injury issues on the defensive line. DT Myron Anthony is questionable and the other starter, Ricky Lumpkin, is out indefinitely. However, once you get past UK's defensive line issues, the rest of the team, led by Wesley Woodyard, is healthy and pretty talented... almost to an SEC defense level. As an added bonus, the Cats' defensive secondary sees the return of David Jones, who is recovering from emergency appendix surgery, a procedure that caused a little chaos around campus.

As for the 'Ville's defense, their sterling performance against MTSU leaves them ranked 86th in the nation overall. There are questions about their defensive line (sound familiar?) and their secondary; quandaries that could lead to big plays for UK. Another area for concern is the season-ending injury to Latarrius Thomas, who sustained a torn ACL in the MTSU game. Thomas represented the only returning starter to Louisville's now-thinner defensive secondary.

In fact, when you look at the defensive units for each team, both have suspect defensive lines and serviceable-to-good linebackers. However, UK's secondary is in better shape, talent-wise than their UofL counterparts. However, are the UK DBs up to the challenge of stopping Urruttia and Douglas when Brohm delivers picture-perfect passes?

Advantage: None

Special Teams
With concerns to both special team units, the Cats kick-off coverage and return teams are just fine -nothing to worry about here. I've heard gripes about UofL's return teams, but it remains to be seen if that will be a factor. However, I wouldn't be surprised if they kick the ball away from Keenan and Little either.

There is, however, cause for concern when it comes to UK's kicking game; an issue the Cards haven't had to deal with. Kentucky place-kicker Lones Seiber has had some adventures in the early going of 2007, especially with extra points. In the EKU game, he saw one extra point try get blocked and missed another. Conversely, Seiber made a 48-yard field goal in the same game, confusing matters even more.  Thankfully, he had no issues against Kent State.

Advantage: Because of Seiber's issues, this goes to Louisville

Outcome
Boys and girls, this game has all the makings of being a massive shoot-out, a fact that's not gone unnoticed by the UK coaches who indicated their best defense might be keeping the UofL offense on the sideline by running the ball a great deal; and with the running back group performing as it has been, I like the sound of that. However, if UofL can't stop the run, the Cats will still score pretty quickly, allowing the Brohm attack back on the field... perhaps UK can make use of the onside kick in such situations.

What we have is two teams with great offenses (maybe the best in D1) paired with defenses that, well, aren't great. A mix like this just screams for high scores. With that in mind, here's my prediction:

UK - 45

UofL - 42

And Seiber silences his critics with a game-winning field goal as time expires. Does that sound reasonable? ;)

Until tomorrow, with post-game write-up in hand, Go Big Blue!!!

It's almost time folks. It's almost time. You see, around this time of year, two Universities that are better known for their basketball programs take to the gridiron for what is becoming a very entertaining rivalry; so much so that neither school resorts to the "wait until basketball season" excuses anymore. Both fanbases want their team to win. Very badly.

UK fans no longer care if the UK basketball team has won three in a row against their old coach. No, they want the satisfaction of beating a very good UofL football team; a Cardinal team that has had their way with the Wildcats the last four years.

As for UofL fans, they obviously want their program to continue dominating the Cats on the football field. They want to keep that "Miles Ahead" mentality that ex-coach Bobby Petrino instilled in them, especially when it came to the rival Cats. There's also the idea that UK fans are arrogant and this is the Card fans' way of shutting us up.

But, will UofL's dominance over UK continue on Saturday?

This is a very good question; one that's kinda hard to answer from a non-biased fan point of view. Both teams are led by NFL-ready quarterbacks; UK with Andre Woodson and UofL with the deadly Brian Brohm. Both teams have great running games and ridiculously talented wide receivers.

Aside:

For some reason, Mel "Widow's Peak" Kiper STILL has LSU's Early Doucet as the best receiver in the SEC, with no mention of Keenan Burton anywhere... In fact, he's got Doucet ranked ahead of Woodson as an overall NFL prospect. Apparently, The Widow's Peak is in good with Doucet's handlers already (if you need reference to what I'm saying, just ask Chris Simms)...

/Aside

However, both teams have suspect defenses; a fact that could lead to a Playstation-type of final score... something like 73-70.

So what's going to happen? Right now, I have NO idea. I wouldn't be surprised if both UK and UofL scored every time they got the ball. Looking at the first two games each team has played, I just don't see a lot of defensive stops on Saturday, if any.

Based on that, I'm pretty serious about my above prediction of 73-70. Although, I don't know who's going to come out on the winning side of that margin... For what it's worth, the UK coaching staff thinks their best defense will be to keep UofL's offense off the field, an idea I can certainly get behind.

Anyway, I'll be back tomorrow with a more extensive look at Saturday's game, which has all the makings of being a very entertaining showdown.

Question:
What you would you rather watch? Michigan and Notre Dame -- two teams with 0-2 records, fighting for an incredibly entertaining 6-3 victory -- or two of the best quarterbacks and offenses in the nation go at it? Not much of decision if you ask me. ;)

Until later, GBB!

PS: I just discovered that Fox Sports has the UK team tag as "Lexington Wildcats" instead of "Kentucky Wildcats". Nicely done guys. Nicely done.