December 30, 1998
By TIM WHITMIRE
AP Sports Writer
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) – A twisted knee for Kentucky offensive lineman JeremyStreck raised the possibility of three redshirt freshmen having to protectWildcat quarterback Tim Couch from the Penn State defense in Friday’s OutbackBowl.
Streck, a senior who started all 11 regular-season games at left guard,suffered the injury during Kentucky’s morning practice session Tuesday at theUniversity of South Florida. His status was evaluated today by team trainers.
Coach Hal Mumme played down the severity of the injury on Tuesday afternoon,saying Streck should be able to play against the 22nd-ranked Nittany Lions(8-3).
“The doctors are saying he’s going to be fine. All he did was (twist) hiskneecap,” Mumme said later Tuesday. “It’s one of those things you can do anytime.”
Streck woke up today with some soreness in the knee and a minimal amount ofswelling, Kentucky spokesman Tony Neely said. Streck missed practice thismorning but is considered probable to play Friday.
Mumme said if Streck were unable to play, he would be replaced by 6-foot-6,327-pound Josh Parrish, who saw limited action this season in Kentucky winsover Louisville, Eastern Kentucky and Vanderbilt.
“They (the doctors) are saying he (Streck) is going to be fine, but even ifhe’s not, Josh Parrish will do it. Either one of them can do it,” Mumme said.
Already, redshirt freshmen Nolan DeVaughn and Matt Brown are slated to startat center and left tackle, respectively, for Kentucky, which faces a formidablePenn State defense in the school’s first New Year’s Day bowl in 47 years.
The Wildcats (7-4) began the season with senior starters at all fiveoffensive line positions. That experience helped the line hold Kentucky’sopponents without a sack on 95.5 percent of plays this season, the second-bestratio in the Southeastern Conference.
But things started to crumble on Oct. 24, when left tackle Jonas Lieningbroke his leg against Georgia. Though Liening missed the rest of the regularseason, he was expected to return for the bowl game. Then, on Nov. 24, Lieningwas arrested on a marijuana possession charge outside a Lexington nightclub,pleaded guilty and was dismissed from the team by Mumme.
Another senior, center Jason Watts, was the driver in a Nov. 15 truck crashthat killed transfer player Arthur Steinmetz and Eastern Kentucky student ScottBrock. Authorities have said Watts, who was severely injured, had ablood-alcohol content of 1 1/2 times the legal limit.
Watts has since been dismissed from the team, left school and been indictedon charges of second-degree manslaughter and wanton endangerment.
Brown started Kentucky’s last three regular season games in Liening’s placeand has played well, recently earning recognition as a third-team FreshmanAll-America by The Sporting News. Another redshirt freshman, Aaron Daniel,started at center in the Wildcats’ final regular season game at Tennessee, butMumme said Tuesday that DeVaughn will get the start against Penn State.
After Tuesday morning’s practice, both teams spent the afternoon with fansat beach festivities in nearby Clearwater, before heavy rains drove everyoneunder shelter.
Kentucky held its final pregame practice today, followed by a Thursdaywalkthrough at the game’s site, Raymond James Stadium. With the game beingplayed on Friday, Mumme said the team has simply moved its usual game-weekschedule forward by a day.
Couch, who could be playing his final college game if he decides to enterthe NFL draft, said he thinks the team has combined good practices withenjoyment of the many activities surrounding the bowl.
“We’ve had to make a conscious-type effort to balance it, but I think we’vedone a good job,” Couch said. “We’ve had a lot of fun during the nighttime,but I think during the day we’ve worked hard.”
