UK Spring Football Game Tickets Available Monday
Tickets for the UK Blue/White Spring Football Game, presented by BudgetRent-A-Car, will go on sale Monday, April 5, at the UK Athletics TicketOffice.
Tickets cost $10 each, all tickets are general admission, and everyonemust have a ticket to enter the stadium, regardless of age. The UK TicketOffice is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in MemorialColiseum. Cash, check, Visa, and MasterCard are accepted but no phoneorders will be taken.
The Blue/White Game will be played Saturday, April 24, at 3:30 p.m. atRawlings Stadium on the campus of Georgetown College. Commonwealth Stadiumis not available to host the game because of the construction associatedwith the stadium expansion. For the third consecutive year, the firstquarter of the game will feature the UK alumni playing touch football. Thescore of the first quarter will remain on the board when the varsity beginsplay in the second quarter.
Fans are urged to buy their tickets as soon as possible. Because of theseating capacity of 5,000 at Rawlings Stadium, a sellout is possible. Asin previous years, net proceeds from the Blue/White Game will be given tothe University of Kentucky Marching Band.
Wildcats Complete First Spring Practice Scrimmage
The University of Kentucky football team held its first scrimmage ofspring practice with a one and one-half hour workout Saturday at the NutterTraining Center.
The defense played very well early in the scrimmage, stopping the offenseon most possessions. The Wildcats’ offense got on track later in thescrimmage.
“We had a lot of big plays both ways. Both the offense and defense mademistakes and the other side took advantage,” Coach Hal Mumme said. “We hada great effort today. This is a hard-working group. We have a lot ofyoung players making mistakes, but they are doing it at full speed.
“The defense got a lot of pressure early. I thought (sophomore defensiveend) Dennis Johnson and (sophomore linebacker) Jamal White had excellentscrimmages. On offense, (junior wide receiver) Quentin McCord, (sophomorequarterback) Dusty Bonner, (sophomore halfback) Kendrick Shanklin, and(senior tight end) James Whalen all made big plays. Our starting runningbacks, Anthony White and Derek Homer, did well, although we didn’t playthem very long,” Mumme said.
Perhaps the biggest question of spring practice is the competition betweenBonner, redshirt freshman Chase Harp, and redshirt freshman Mike Scipionefor the starting quarterback job. Bonner had the best showing today,completing 21-of-34 passes for 322 yards and five touchdowns. Scipionecompleted 11-of-16 for 155 yards. He directed a pair of touchdown drives,including one running and one passing TD. Harp completed 4-of-10 for 36yards.
McCord was the leading receiver with three touchdown catches, two fromBonner and one from Scipione. Whalen, senior wide receiver Jimmy Robinsonand redshirt freshman wide receiver Edgar Gantt each caught one TD fromBonner.
“Each of the quarterbacks had ‘won’ a day in practice this week and wewere eager to see who would rise today,” Mumme said. “Dusty moved ahead ofthe others today. He did a really good job in using his receivers. MikeScipione did well in producing a couple of scoring drives.”
During the special teams segment of the scrimmage kickers Seth Hanson andMarc Samuel each made two of three field goals. All field goals were triedfrom 37 yards. Senior punter Andy Smith had a good day in the competitionfor the role of starting punter.
The Wildcats sustained their first major injury of the spring. Sophomorecenter Derrick Johnson suffered a fracture/dislocation of his right ankle.He is scheduled to have surgery on Monday. He will miss the remainder ofspring practice. If all goes well with the surgery and rehabilitation hewill be able to return to practice in August.
The team begins its second week of spring practice on Monday at 2 p.m. atthe Nutter Training Center.
