The countdown is officially on. The annual battle for the Governor’s Cup between the Kentucky Wildcats and Louisville Cardinals is just five days away and Joker Phillips held his weekly press conference this afternoon discussing the matchup as well as UK’s performance in Saturday’s win against Central Michigan. Video of Phillips’ comments can be viewed here, but these are a few of the storylines I took away from today:Clemons’ importance to UK’s running game increasing

After being the most buzz worthy freshman on the UK roster during fall
camp, most expected Josh Clemons to make an immediate impact in the
backfield. Scoring touchdowns in each of his first two games and posting
126 yards in just his second outing, he has surpassed even the most
optimistic projections.

Phillips says that the staff knew the reigning SEC Co-Freshman of the
Week was capable of that kind of production when they saw his
consistency in camp.

“He was the back that showed up every day,” Phillips said. “(He) didn’t
miss a day. So he’s really durable and really understood our offense.
Then when we went into our first scrimmage, some of the cuts he made,
his vision, his balance, those things, his ability to secure the
football, those are the things that told us that we thought he could be a
pretty good back for us.”

Clemons, along with sophomore Raymond Sanders, has carried the load in
the running game so far this season, which figures to continue. The pair
combined for a big second half against Central Michigan, which Phillips
said needs to continue all season. With the ability to run the ball
effectively, the deep ball in the play action passing game becomes a
serious threat.

“The thing that gives us the best chance to throw over their heads is
running the ball efficient,” Phillips said. “I think that is what is
giving us the chance last week to throw over their heads, putting it in
one of the running backs’ belly, pulling it out, and now throwing over
the top of them because the safety is starting to have to get involved.”

Morgan Newton has shown the ability to throw the deep ball this season,
though it has not always been capitalized on due to drops from wide
receivers. The deep ball will be a big part of the offense this season,
as will Newton’s ability to run. With players like Andre’ Woodson and
Mike Hartline under center, running with the quarterback has not really
been an option.

“When you get the last two quarterbacks we had, you get in the
(shot)gun, you were limited with Andre’ and Mike Hartline, you were
limited with what you could run in the running game,” Phillips said.
“With Morgan, you can run a lot more downhill plays with him.”

For Newton’s effectiveness to be maximized, Phillips says his ability to run has to be utilized.

“We’ve got to run Morgan,” Phillips said. “We’ve told him that from day
one: ‘we’re going to have to run you more’. He’s a big, physical runner
also, especially when he gets in the secondary, guys start bouncing off
of him. He’s faster than he looks. Morgan Newton is faster than he
looks. He showed it in the first game. He’s got some speed.”

However, that has to be balanced with the fact that Newton is the only
experienced quarterback on the roster. UK cannot afford to lose the
junior to injury, so the staff will be conscious of minimizing the hits
that he takes. Newton will also be asked to be aware of keeping himself
healthy.

“We have to be a little careful,” Phillips said. “Morgan has to be
careful and smart in how he runs also. He’s a little bit of an upright
runner when he does run. (He) can’t take those type of shots.”
Phillips wants UK, Louisville to be judged on the fieldLouisville head coach Charlie Strong said after his team’s loss to Florida International on Friday that UK is the better of the two teams that will take the field this weekend. Phillips, though, doesn’t buy into that notion.The UK head coach said that there is no way to know how UK would have fared against Louisville’s schedule or how Louisville would have against Kentucky’s. He doesn’t pay much heed to the talk that UK is the favorite or that the Wildcats have more talent. Such things cannot be determined anywhere else but head-to-head on the field.”The way to judge that is play each other,” Phillips said. “We do play each other this week so we’ll be able to know after this game.”The Cardinals may be coming off a disappointing loss, but Phillips expects Saturday to be a stiff test for his Wildcats.”It will be a huge challenge for us,” Phillips said. “(It will) give us another opportunity to see where our program is at. We (have) to prepare our guys for this tough in state battle.”Phillips was also quick to point out that Louisville’s offense has been effective so far this season, averaging over 400 yards per game. Will Stein quarterbacks the attack for the Cardinals and has a number of weapons at wide receiver, including a pair of freshmen with size, speed and athleticism in DeVante Parker and Michaelee Harris.”DeVante Parker has two touchdowns,” Phillips said. “Michaelee Harris (is) averaging about 16 yards a catch. (Josh) Chichester is averaging about 18 yards a catch.”Phillips also said that the offense will have its work cut out against an aggressive Cardinal defense that is allowing just 16 points per game. Their strength is against the run, where they allow just 94 yards per game on 2.5 yards per carry.Injury-riddled offensive line still a revolving doorUK has not been healthy along the offensive line since the start of fall camp. When one projected starter recovers from injury, it seems that another goes down immediately. Right now, senior center Matt Smith and senior right tackle Billy Joe Murphy are the ones contending with injuries. Both are recovering with the goal of playing on Saturday in mind, but neither will practice on Tuesday. Last week, Smith seemed to be healthy enough to practice, but was unable to make it through an entire day. “He wasn’t as close as we thought he was,” Phillips said. “But he’s still getting treatment, trying to get himself back to where he could be an asset for us.”Phillips said that Murphy is in the same position.The injuries to various offensive linemen has allowed players who did not expect to see significant playing time this season to hit the field, including true freshman Darrian Miller. Phillips said that no one would have expected the newcomer to be starting a game this early in his career, but he played well enough to earn a helmet sticker.”I can tell you this:  there was no one in here that guessed Darrian Miller would have been a starter in a game this year,” Phillips said. “I’m happy to have him there because the guy has a chance to be a talent and also he gives us a lot of depth. You very seldom see a true freshman go in there and play.”