April 12, 2003
The Kentucky football team held a two-hour, 20-minute practice Saturday at Commonwealth Stadium, capped by a 90-minute scrimmage.
The scrimmage was a mix of the first-team offense against the first- and second-team defenses; the second-team offense against the first- and second-team defenses; and the No. 3 units against each other.
“What we proved was that the first offense is better than the second defense and that the second offense is not as good as the first defense,” Coach Rich Brooks said after practice. “I thought we looked like a football team. We made progress in every phase. You could hear the hitting. We made good contact and good tackles.”
The first-team offense had four possessions against the second-team defense. The first possession was stopped by a fumble. On the second possession, senior quarterback Jared Lorenzen drove the Wildcats to the four-yard line. On third-and-goal from the two, sophomore linebacker Chad Anderson made a solid tackle on sophomore running back Arliss Beach, denying Beach the goal line. On fourth down, sophomore kicker Taylor Begley converted a 19-yard field goal.
Junior Shane Boyd also guided the first unit on two possessions against the second defense. He led a 65-yard drive that was finished by a 15-yard touchdown pass from Boyd to senior wide receiver Derek Abney. The next drive ended when Begley missed a 44-yard field goal attempt.
The first-team defense stopped the second-team offense on all seven possessions, including a fumble that sophomore strong safety Muhammad Abdullah scooped up and returned 37 yards for a touchdown.
The first teams played three possessions against each other. The offense went three-and-out on the first two possessions. Lorenzen and Boyd shared quarterback duties on the next possession and they needed just five plays to drive 65 yards for a touchdown. A key play in the drive came when junior wide receiver Tommy Cook took a short pass from Boyd on the left sideline and cut back across the field for a 32-yard gain. Cook’s nifty catch-and-run set up a two-yard touchdown run by Beach.
Combining their work with both the first and second teams, Lorenzen completed six of 14 passes for 61 yards and Boyd hit six of nine passes for 112 yards and one TD. The leading receivers were Cook, who caught three passes for 72 yards, and Abney, who grabbed three for 38 yards and a TD.
Beach and sophomore Alexis Bwenge split time at tailback with the first team. Bwenge led the ground game with eight carries for 41 yards while Beach ran six times for 31 yards and one TD. Boyd and Lorenzen each added significant yardage on designed running plays and passing scrambles.
In the kicking game, Begley made one of two field goal attempts. Junior kicker Clint Ruth tried two extra point attempts and made both. Juniors Sevin Sucurovic and Anthony Thornton are competing at punter. Thornton had four punts for a 48.3-yard average while Sucurovic averaged 43.7 yards on three punts. Sucurovic also had another punt partially blocked by sophomore linebacker Raymond Fontaine after a high snap gave Fontaine time to reach the punter.
Saturday’s practice marked the halfway point of the spring practice season. The Wildcats return to the practice field Monday at 2:25 p.m. The team will have its next big scrimmage on Sat. Apr. 19. Spring practice concludes with the annual Blue/White Spring Game on April 26 at 1 p.m. EDT in Commonwealth Stadium.
Scrimmage Statistics (first, second, and third teams combined)
Rushing – Alexis Bwenge 8-41, Arliss Beach 5-30-1 TD, Shane Boyd 6-29, Jared Lorenzen 3-16, Monquantae Gibson 4-10, Matt Rasor 2-10, Andrew Hopewell 3-7, Ronald Johnson 2-6, Brandon Pate 1-5, Justin Sprowles 1-5, Chris Bernard 1-1, Bruce Fowler 1-0.
Passing – Boyd 6-9-0, 112 yards, 1 TD; Lorenzen 6-14-0, 61 yards; B. J. McCaslin 1-2-0, 21 yards; Dan Lumley 1-2-0, 8 yards; Rocco Maragas 0-2-0.
Receiving – Tommy Cook 3-72, Derek Abney 3-38-1 TD; Glenn Holt 2-13, Deven Grevious 1-21, Win Gaffron 1-17, Bernard 1-15, Brian Pickard 1-10, Bwenge 1-8, Gibson 1-8.
Kentucky Football Calendar (all practices at Nutter Training Facility unless inclement weather)
Mon. April 14Practice, 2:25 p.m.
Wed. April 16Practice, 2:25 p.m.
Fri. April 18Practice, time TBA
Sat. April 19Practice, time TBA
Mon. April 21Coach Rich Brooks on WLAP Spring Football Call-in Show, 7-9 p.m.
Wed. April 23Practice, time TBA
Fri. April 25Practice, time TBA
Sat. April 26Blue/White Spring Football Game, 1 p.m., Commonwealth Stadium
