ShareThisBy VICTORIA SUN
Scripps Howard News Service
Friday, August 31, 2007
Still basking in the glory of its football team's best season in 22 seasons, the University of Kentucky has seen interest soar to new levels.
Students have already bought up a record 5,115 season tickets, shattering the previous mark of 3,549, and season ticket sales overall have increased by roughly 14,000.
The buzz has been palpable to the Wildcats, who are eager to return to the field for the first time since beating Clemson, 28-20, in the Music City Bowl last December to host Eastern Kentucky Saturday night for both teams' season opener.
"It's crazy, there's a lot of anticipation," senior linebacker Wesley Woodyard said Thursday. "A lot of people want to see what the new Kentucky team is going to be about and how we're going to go out and handle things."
High praise and pats on the back are indeed new territory for the gridiron Wildcats, who have long toiled in the shadow of the blue blood basketball program that has won seven national championships.
But behind the accurate arm of quarterback Andre Woodson, UK finished 8-5 for its most wins and first bowl victory since 1984 raising the expectations of both fans and players alike.
"When I first got here on campus, people were like, 'You've got to earn your respect,'" said Woodyard, a first team all-Southeastern Conference selection last year who has been named to four preseason national award watch lists. "That's something that we want to continue.
"We want to have a good football program, something that people can look forward to."
Getting there, or at least building upon last year's accomplishments while surviving a beast of an SEC schedule, will require a significant improvement from the less glamorous part of the squad anchored byWoodyard.
With Woodson back for his senior season and the return of wideouts Keenan Burton and Dicky Lyons, tight end Jacob Tamme and running back Rafael Little to name a few, there are few question marks about UK's offense.
The same can't be said of the Wildcats' defense, which gave up 453.38 yards to rank 118 out of 119 Division I-A schools.
Although UK fared a bit better in rush defense, giving up 184.5 yards on 476 carries to rank 108th, it was next to last in pass defense, allowing opponents to rack up 268.92 passing yards per game and 24 passing touchdowns.
Woodyard explained that the main problem was the Wildcats were inexperienced on defense, but players including sophomore linebackers Micah Johnson and Johnny Williams and junior Braxton Kelley all worked hard this summer and showed up for camp much improved.
The Wildcats return eight defensive starters and Woodyard believes the group is more comfortable with its assignments entering this season.
"Last year's numbers weren't so good, but we won a bowl game," said tackle Ventrell Jenkins, who will be available for spot duty against EKU after having shoulder surgery in the spring. "The first couple games of the year, that wasn't our defense.
"The last couple of games of the year, you saw our defense come alive so I feel we take a lot of pride in our defense getting a lot better."
That's exactly what head coach Rich Brooks is hoping for.
At the team's annual kickoff luncheon, Brooks stressed that he expects the defense to be improved this season, which is a must if the Wildcats truly want to compete with the upper echelon of the league and earn national respect.
The man charged with helping the players get better is first-year defensive coordinator Steve Brown.
After coaching UK's defensive backs for the last four seasons, Brown took over for former coordinator Mike Archer, who is now at N.C. State.
Brown says simply that UK would play, "faster and more aggressive."
"The most important thing is just giving them a sense of confidence and the sense that they don't have to worry about making mistakes," Brown said. "That they can just have fun, play with passion, be aggressive and not have a fear of being ridiculed or belittled because they made a mistake."
