Senior offensive lineman Omar Smith and sophomore tight end Derek Smith have been named to the 2000 Coaches’ All-Southeastern Conference team as selected by the league’s 12 head coaches. Derek Smith was chosen for the first team and Omar Smith was named second team.

Derek Smith led the Wildcats in pass receiving this season with 50 receptions for 716 yards and five touchdowns. He also caught a pair of two-point conversions. He was a semifinalist for the John Mackey Award, which goes to the nation’s best tight end. Three of his best games came against nationally ranked teams eight catches for 76 yards and two touchdowns in “The Swamp” at Florida; five for 108 yards against Georgia; and six for 102 yards vs. Mississippi State.

In addition to the SEC coaches, Derek Smith has been named first-team All-SEC by The Associated Press, The Sporting News, Football News magazine, Collegiate Sports Southeast cable TV network and by the CollegeFootballNews.com Internet site.

Omar Smith was the leader of the offensive line, starting six games at right guard and five games at left tackle when Matt Brown was injured. Smith played very well, despite the frequent flip-flopping of positions. His blocking helped UK lead the SEC and rank 11th nationally in total offense with 445 yards per game. His pass blocking helped UK rank second nationally in passing offense. UK allowed only 22 quarterback sacks this season, the fewest of the Hal Mumme era.

Omar Smith was a first-team selection on The Associated Press All-SEC team that was announced on December 5.

Jared Lorenzen Pass Makes College Football Plays of the Year: Jared Lorenzen’s no-look, over-the-head completed pass to Derek Homer late in the Georgia game has been chosen as one of ESPN’s plays of the year in college football and will be featured several times on the network throughout the remainder of the bowl season. The first showing of the plays of the year is expected to be on Thursday, December 7, during the college football awards show.