Three Wildcat defensive players, cornerback David Jones, linebacker Braxton Kelley, and cornerback Shomari Moore, were named to the Coaches? Freshman All-Southeastern Conference Team released Thursday by the league office.
Jones, a true freshman from Belfry (Ky.) High School, was an outstanding special-teams performer and reserve cornerback. He made 20 tackles during the season, 10 of which came on his excellent kick coverage. He also returned 15 kickoffs for the Wildcats, averaging 21.9 yards per return, and broke up three passes while playing cornerback.
Kelley totaled 44 tackles this season, including two for loss, caused one fumble, and had one pass breakup. He had a season high of 11 tackles against Florida. He started the first seven games of the season, and was leading all SEC freshmen in tackles, before sustaining a season-ending knee injury against Mississippi State. When Kelley started vs. Louisville, he became the first UK freshman to start a season opener at linebacker, based on lineups available since 1993.
Kelley is a true freshman out of LaGrange (Ga.) High School. This marks the second-consecutive season that a Wildcat from LaGrange was named Freshman All-SEC. Former LaGrange standout Wesley Woodyard was a Freshman All-SEC linebacker a year ago.
Moore, a redshirt freshman from Camden, N. J., played in all 11 games, including a pair of starting assignments. He totaled 24 tackles, including one for loss. He picked off an interception in the win over Idaho State, broke up three passes, and recovered a fumble in the win over Vanderbilt.
Kentucky has had three Freshman All-SEC honorees in each of Coach Rich Brooks? three seasons at Kentucky.
2005 Awards Summary: Here is a list of honors for Kentucky football players so far for the 2005 season:
FS Muhammad Abdullah
Associated Press All-SEC (second team)
Coaches All-SEC (second team)
TB Arliss Beach
Jerry Claiborne Award (team award for academics/team attitude)
K Taylor Begley
Academic All-America (first team)
UK Special Teams Player of the Year (team award, co-winner with Draak Davis)
WR Tommy Cook
UK Most Inspirational Player (team award)
KR Draak Davis
UK Special Teams Player of the Year (team award, co-winner with Taylor Begley)
TE Jeremiah Drobney
SEC Good Works Team
DT Richard Gray
UK Most Valuable Defensive Scout Team Player (team award)
CB Antoine Huffman
Finalist for the National Sportsmanship Award (still in running)
Finalist for the Danny Wuerffel Trophy
Semifinalist for the Ronnie Lott Trophy
Semifinalist for the National Football Foundation Scholar-Athlete Award
Candidate for the Bobby Bowden Award (still in running)
Academic All-America (second team)
CB David Jones
Freshman All-SEC by SEC coaches
LB Braxton Kelley
Freshman All-America by Rivals.com (second team)
Freshman All-SEC by SEC coaches
UK Outstanding First-Year Player (team award)
OT Hayden Lane
Academic All-America (first team)
TB/KR Rafael Little
Associated Press All-SEC as all-purpose player (first team)
Coaches All-SEC as running back (second team)
National Player of the Week by SI.com for the Vanderbilt game
SEC Special Teams Player of the Week for the Vanderbilt game
SEC Offensive Player of the Week for the Mississippi State game
UK Most Valuable Player (team award)
UK Most Outstanding Offensive Player (team award)
C Matt McCutchan
UK Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman (team award)
CB Shomari Moore
Freshman All-SEC by league coaches
TB Alfonso Smith
UK Most Valuable Offensive Scout Team Player (team award)
CB Bo Smith
UK Most Outstanding Defensive Player (team award)
SS Roger Williams
UK Most Improved Player (team award)
LB Wesley Woodyard
Associated Press All-SEC (honorable mention)
Fans Can Watch 2006 Opponent in I-AA National Playoffs: Texas State, which will be Kentucky?s 2006 home-opening opponent on Sept. 9, has reached the semifinals of the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs.
The Bobcats will play host to Northern Iowa on Fri., Dec. 9, at 8 p.m. EST. The game will be televised by ESPN2. Texas State (11-2) was co-champion of the Southland Conference this season and advanced to the semifinals with a 50-35 opening-round win over Georgia Southern, followed by a 14-7 victory over Cal Poly.
