Sept. 10, 2010
| Gameday Information | |
|---|---|
| Game Notes |
UK Notes  | UK Depth Chart WKU Notes |
| Date & Time | Saturday, Sept. 11 7:30 p.m |
| Coverage | TV: CSS Radio: BBSN  Online Audio  Live Video via ESPN3 Live Blog |
| Location | Commonwealthl Stadium Lexington, Ky. Gameday Information |
| Western Kentucky Hilltoppers at a Glance | |
|---|---|
| Head Coach | Willie Taggart |
| Record at School | 0-1 (First Season) |
| Record | 0-1, 0-0 Sun Belt |
| Ranking | NR |
| Series Record | Kentucky leads 1-0 |
| Last Meeting | Kentucky beat Western Kentucky in Lexington, Ky. 41-3 in 2008 |
| 2010 Team Stats | UK | WKU |
|---|---|---|
| Rushing Offense | 230.0 | 179.0 |
| Passing Offense | 236.0 | 120.0 |
| Total Offense | 466.0 | 299.0 |
| Scoring Offense | 23.0 | 10.0 |
| Rushing Defense | 190.0 | 289.0 |
| Passing Defense | 127.0 | 247.0 |
| Total Defense | 317.0 | 536.0 |
| Scoring Defense | 16.0 | 49.0 |
| Turnover Margin | +2.00 | 0.00 |
| 2010 Stat Leaders | |
|---|---|
| Rushing | UK: Derrick Locke (23 rushes, 104 yds, 2 TDs) WKU: Bobby Rainey (30 rushes, 155 yds, 1 TD) |
| Passing | UK: Mike Hartline (17-26, 217 yds, 0 TDs, 0 INTs) WKU: Kawaun Jakes (12-22, 120 yds, 0 TDs, 1 INT) |
| Receiving | UK: La’Rod King (3 catches, 58 yds, 0 TDs) WKU: Bobby Rainey (3 catches, 36 yds, 0 TDs) |
| Tackles | UK: Danny Trevathan (11 total, 3.5 for loss) WKU: Jamal Forrest, Thomas Majors (7 total) |
| Sacks | UK: Ricky Lumpkin, Luke McDermott (1) WKU: Quanteras Smith (1) |
| Interceptions | UK: Mychal Bailey (1) WKU: — |
Cat Scratches Preview: Joker Phillips’ keys to the game
Each and every week prior to a Kentucky football game, Cat Scratches will talk with head coach Joker Phillips’ for his game plan of attack. Without giving away too much of the game plan, Phillips will tell us his keys to the game, a key matchup and who Kentucky has to look out for on the opposing team.
Offensive keys – Minimize turnovers: “We’ve got to play fast, we’ve got to play aggressive, but we also have to take away the ball on defense and have to take care of the ball on offense. If you look at some of the huge upsets, that’s usually a huge reason why teams get beat by teams like Jacksonville State and North Dakota State. … We’ve got to protect the ball. You get a punt blocked or a punt return or fumble and give them a short field, that’s what keeps teams like this in the game. It gives them confidence. The longer you give them confidence, the more they feel they’re in the game.”
Cat Scratches’ take: In the two biggest upsets of the first week of the college football season – Jacksonville State over Ole Miss and North Dakota State over Kansas – turnovers were the story. Ole Miss and Kansas combined for six turnovers in the losses, including a minus-four margin. Western Kentucky forced two turnovers against the highly favored Cornhuskers last week and will be looking to do the same against UK. Kentucky did a good job of holding on to the ball in the win over Louisville last week by not committing a single turnover.
Cats Face WKU in First Home Game of the Joker Phillips Era
The Kentucky football team begins a two-game homestand when it plays host to intrastate rival Western Kentucky University for its home opener in Commonwealth Stadium.
The Wildcats open the Joker Phillips era at home after winning their fourth consecutive Governor’s Cup trophy on Saturday. Led by impressive performances from seniors Derrick Locke and Mike Hartline and junior Randall Cobb, UK defeated the Cardinals 23-16 in the newly expanded Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium. Locke scored two rushing touchdowns for the first time in his career, gathering 104 yards and earning the inaugural Howard Schnellenberger Award as most valuable player of the Governor’s Cup. Hartline was impressive in his comeback from a knee injury last season. The quarterback went 17-for-26 for 217 yards and no interceptions. Junior linebacker Danny Trevathan led UK on the defensive side of the ball, charting a game-high 11 tackles and was named SEC Defensive Player of the Week.
WKU looks to get back on the winning track after falling to Nebraska in its season opener, 49- 10. The Hilltoppers were led by Bobby Rainey with 155 yards on the ground and a touchdown while quarterback Kawaun Jakes went 12-of-22 for 120 yards.
This marks the second all-time meeting between the Wildcats and the Hilltoppers with UK winning the first meeting 41-3 in 2008 at Commonwealth Stadium. Kentucky and Western Kentucky will continue to play each other annually through 2013 with the 2011 and 2013 battles being played at LP Field in Nashville, Tenn., and the 2012 contest coming at Commonwealth Stadium.
Associated Press Preview
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) -Kentucky linebacker Danny Trevathan saw running back Derrick Locke dart through the hole during one practice this summer and waited for the shifty 5-foot-9 speedster to sprint for the sidelines.
Wrong.
Heading out of harm’s way is so last year.
Instead of darting for safety, Locke dipped his shoulder and tried to split the “22” in Trevathan’s jersey. The move surprised Trevathan, who has four inches and 25 pounds on his teammate. Locke’s legs kept churning until well after the whistle blew.
“We have some battles out there,” Trevathan said.
And these days, Locke wins more than he probably should.
While developing a reputation as a home-run threat during three sometimes spectacular, but often injury plagued years, the senior is trying to become the kind of polished all-around back the Wildcats have lacked since Rafael Little left following the 2007 season.
Locke showed flashes of both during Kentucky’s season-opening 23-16 win over Louisville, piling up 104 yards and two touchdowns as the Wildcats rolled over their rivals.
He scored on a dazzling 32-yard run on his first carry of the season, spinning past a Cardinal defender so effortlessly it looked like a video game. Late in the fourth quarter with Kentucky holding a tenuous seven-point lead, he picked up five tough yards for the decisive first down that let the Wildcats run out the clock.
He handled the ball 27 times in all, including three receptions and a kickoff return, a sure sign the cracked bone in his left forearm sustained during a mo-ped accident in the offseason is long gone.
“I feel like I can handle a few runs back-to-back-to-back,” he said. “I want to be out there first and make big plays but I’m not going to try to be Superman.”
Maybe not, but Locke won’t be the only little back trying to make big plays on Saturday when the Wildcats (1-0) host Western Kentucky (0-1).
Hilltoppers running back Bobby Rainey is coming off a career-high 155 yards and a touchdown on 30 wearying carries in a 49-10 loss to then-No. 8 Nebraska.
Coach Willie Taggart just laughed when asked if he was trying to punish the 5-foot-8, 190-pound Rainey by sending him so frequently into the teeth of a defense that’s regularly among the nation’s best.
“That’s a bunch of baloney,” Taggart said. “He gets it done. That wasn’t the plan to be honest with you, but if that’s what it takes to win a ballgame, we’ll do it.”
And Rainey will gladly accept the challenge.
“I felt like I was back in high school,” Rainey said. “I just have to keep pushing.”
To keep the undersized WKU defense off the field, Rainey might not have a choice. Taggart didn’t intend to give Rainey the ball so often. Once he saw how effective Rainey was at extending drives, Taggart simply kept at it.
It left his star pretty sore on Sunday. By Monday Rainey was already asking for the ball again. It’s the kind of competitiveness Taggart loves, the same kind he saw in former Stanford star Toby Gerhart, who Taggart mentored while serving as running backs coach for the Cardinal before returning to his alma mater.
“Bobby’s really patient, he allows his blocks to happen before he makes his cuts and runs fast through the hole,” Taggart said. “That is kind of where he’s similar to Toby. And he’s stronger than you think. The first guy usually doesn’t tackle him.”
That’s not exactly good news for the Wildcats, who gave up 190 yards rushing to Louisville last week, including an 80-yard touchdown run by Bilal Powell.
“We just got to wrap him up,” said Kentucky coach Joker Phillips. “We can’t let him get started because he’s got that type of speed.”
That goes double for the Hilltoppers. WKU surrendered 289 yards on the ground against the Cornhuskers, and Locke has the speed to match anyone in Nebraska’s talented backfield.
“That guy can run,” Taggart said with a whistle.
Especially now that he’s healthy. Locke’s sophomore season was cut short by a knee injury, and though he led Kentucky with 907 yards rushing last year, he admits the fear of getting hurt again was always out there.
When he’d get hit, he’d immediately think “please tackle me.”
“I did that a lot last year,” Locke said. “That can’t happen this year.”
It’s why he tried to show Trevathan what he was made of during camp. He did it again against the Cardinals, grinding out the tough yards when the easy ones weren’t there.
“He’d step on people’s feet, he was trying to get more yards than what usually does,” said fullback Moncell Allen. “He’s a small guy but he’s got a big heart like he’s one of the big backs.”
