On signing day last February, you could hear the excitement in Joker Phillips’ voice. The 26 high school seniors who had committed to play football for Phillips at UK formed one of the most decorated recruiting classes in school history and Phillips could not wait to begin coaching them.Upon their arrival over the summer, the football offices were abuzz with the measurables and physical profiles of many of the newcomers. As the weeks wore on into fall camp, the freshmen did nothing do dampen optimism and a few even began to look like they may earn playing time. Now a month into the season, UK is in a place it never expected to find itself.On the Wildcats’ two-deep depth chart, 10 true freshmen are listed on offense and defense. Three of them, all on offense, are currently starters at their positions. The way the freshmen have competed in practice and earned playing time is a credit to how strong the group is as a whole.”It’s probably, from top to bottom, one of the top two or three classes we’ve had, if not the best,” offensive coordinator Randy Sanders said. “A number of freshmen are playing and it’s good not all of them are having to play right now, but it’s a good class from top to bottom.”No matter how talented a freshman may be, coming in and playing, let alone starting, within the first four games of a college career is a challenging proposition. Mental and physical errors are inevitable from freshmen, but the way the veterans around them have duplicated those mistakes is what has caused many of UK’s early season issues.”Anytime you’re playing freshmen, you know you’re going to have mistakes,” Sanders said. “If it’s just the freshmen making mistakes, you can understand that, but when it starts rubbing off and getting contagious, that’s when you get concerned.”Correcting those mistakes and bouncing back from UK’s current two-game losing streak is the team’s clear priority heading into a road matchup with top-ranked LSU on Saturday, but the value of the experience being gained by those freshmen should not be overlooked. Sanders is focused on improving this season, but he says the playing time the freshmen are getting is helping to lay a foundation for the future.”There’s no question that’s happening,” Sanders said. “The old saying is, the worst thing about freshmen is they’re freshmen, and the best thing is they’ll be sophomores next year. There are some benefits to be had there and hopefully we’ll get this season straightened out and get better right now instead of next year or the year after.”According to co-defensive coordinator Rick Minter, there is no substitute for the on-the-job training so many members of the 2011 class are getting.”Experience in life is everything,” Minter said. “Sometimes it comes quicker to some than it does others.”For those getting experience more quickly, they are learning things now they otherwise would have had to learn later.”One of the great benefits of experience is seeing a lot of things,” Sanders said. “They’ve seen a lot of different looks and they’ve had a lot of different things happen to them. These guys don’t have a lot of experience, so when something out of the ordinary happens you don’t always get the reaction you want.”No matter how much a player prepares in practice, things are always different on game day. No matter how much theoretical knowledge Sanders imparts to his players, he knows it does not sink in until it is learned on the field.”It’s one thing to see things happen on film and see how Randall (Cobb) responded to it or Chris (Matthews) or Mike (Hartline) or Derrick Locke,” Sanders said, “but when you’re the one that’s out there doing it and having to respond to it, it’s different.”Although he plays back-up behind Morgan Newton, quarterback Maxwell Smith is a player who had his first chance to put theory into practice this weekend. With the outcome of the game determined, Smith came in to play the final few series of the Cats’ loss to the Florida Gators. Poise and leadership are immeasurable qualities a quarterback must possess to succeed at this level and they don’t necessarily reveal themselves until a player is tested on the field. In that regard, Smith acquitted himself well in his first action.”It will be a great benefit for him and it was good for us to see how he handled it,” Sanders said. “I don’t think the situation was too big for him.”Sanders may have been pleased with how Smith carried himself, but he was not so thrilled with some other aspects of his play. Even so, the chance to play did nothing but show Smith what he needs to improve for the next time he gets to play.”He certainly didn’t manage things the way I would expect him to or make some of the decisions or checks I would expect him to, but the fact that he’s been out there can only reap benefits in the future,” Sanders said. “I think it just (provided) a renewed emphasis on how fast he has to learn and how fast he needs to improve.”With a veteran like Newton ahead of him, Smith was not expected to play a great deal his first year. Offensive tackle Darrian Miller was in the same boat. With five returnees having solidly established themselves as starters along the line entering the season, Miller expected to compete for playing time, but only in a backup role. Instead, Miller found himself as UK’s starting right tackle for the Cats’ home opener. A couple weeks later, the injuries to Matt Smith and Billy Joe Murphy that forced him into duty have healed and he has returned to his expected backup spot.”I planned on coming in and competing, but I never thought I would play this early,” Miller said. “There’s a good group of five in front of me and I’m actually glad they’re all back and able to mesh again.”Although he is happy UK’s starting group is intact again, the fact he will know what to expect the next time when his number is called is a blessing.”I guess what kills people when they initially come in is the uncertainty, but having that uncertainty relieved is going to help me a lot,” Miller said.On the defensive side, freshmen have not been forced into as much playing as on offense, but the newcomers are biting at the heels of the veterans.”They haven’t gotten that much playing time yet, but they’re right there,” Minter said. “They’re on the depth chart and some of them are playing more than others.”One player that fits into that category is safety Ashely Lowery. The Cleveland, Ga., native is behind junior Martavius Neloms on the depth chart, but saw his first extended playing time on Saturday against Florida, making a pair of tackles, including a crushing blow on the opening kickoff. Lowery said the main reason why he and so many of his fellow freshmen have been able to see the field so quickly is the ability to learn from the mistakes they inevitably make.”We’ve got a fine group of competitors with big hearts and will to compete,” Lowery said of his freshman class. “We come out, work hard every day, listen to the coaches and take coaching well so we’re able to learn from our mistakes and get on the field.”Lowery plays the same position as the most highly touted recruit from the 2011 class: Glenn Faulkner. The athletic four-star safety was late to arrive on campus and missed time soon after arriving due to a death in the family. Sooner or later, his impact will be felt as he learns the new system and adjusts to his surroundings.When it comes to Faulkner and the incoming class as a whole, Minter has words of caution. No matter how much, how little, how well or how poorly freshmen play, wait until enough time has passed to judge what they’ll bring to the program.”What’s so unfair in this world is we judge freshmen within the first six months, or in this case two months, of their arrival,” Minter said. “The best time to judge this freshman class will be about two years from now.”