April 19, 2003
The Kentucky football team held its second major scrimmage of spring practice Saturday afternoon at Commonwealth Stadium.
The team went through a two-hour practice, with the last 95 minutes devoted to the scrimmage. The first-team offense played the first- and second-team defenses. The second-team offense played the first- and second-team defenses. The third-team offenses and defenses played each other.
Once again, the Wildcats got a strong showing from senior quarterback Jared Lorenzen and junior QB Shane Boyd, as each passed the ball well and did some good things in the running game. The first-team offensive line provided significant running room for the backs.
An interesting twist to the scrimmage came with the handling of the quarterbacks. Throughout the spring, the coaching staff has dressed the quarterbacks in red jerseys, signifying that the defense was not to hit the QBs. Saturday’s scrimmage, however, was full contact for the quarterbacks as the coaches wanted to see how they reacted in those conditions.
With Lorenzen leading the way, the first-team offense scored three touchdowns on four possessions against the second-team defense. On the first possession, the first team went 65 yards on five plays. The touchdown came on a 22-yard option run by Boyd – not as a quarterback, but as a tailback. The scoring play was extremely well-executed, with Lorenzen pitching the ball just as he was hit and Boyd weaving through the defense while following crunching downfield blocks by sophomore running back Arliss Beach and junior wide receiver Tommy Cook.
Lorenzen needed only four plays to complete the next drive and the score came on a 31-yard post-pattern pass to sophomore wide receiver Glenn Holt. The second team defense got a stop on the next possession as senior free safety Tim “Tiger” Funderburk intercepted Lorenzen. It was the first time that Lorenzen had been intercepted in any of the 12 spring practices this year, either in drills or scrimmages.
The first offense bounced back quickly, needing only three plays to drive 65 yards on the next possession. Senior wide receiver Chris Bernard ran 58 yards on a reverse. Two plays later, Lorenzen kept the ball on an option run and scooted two yards for the touchdown.
Boyd was impressive in moving the second-team offense against the first defense. A mixture of Boyd runs and passes maneuvered the ball to the 21-yard line. On fourth-and-one, sophomore Taylor Begley put points on the board with a 39-yard field goal.
Later in the scrimmage, the first units played each other for two possessions. The first defense held on the first possession, with sophomore linebacker Raymond Fontaine sacking Boyd on third down. On the next possession, however, Boyd moved the first team 65 yards for a touchdown, including a 14-yard run by sophomore running back Alexis Bwenge, an 11-yard pass from Boyd to Holt, a 13-yard run by Boyd, and the scoring play, a 17-yard run by Beach.
The third-team offense proved to be no match for the third-team defense. The No. 3 defense held on all six possessions, allowed only one first down, claimed one fumble, and sacked the quarterback three times.
The punting game was not as sharp as it was during last week’s scrimmage as juniors Sevin Sucurovic and Anthony Thornton continue their competition. Sucurovic punted twice for a 37-yard average, but had one blocked, and Thornton had four punts for a 34.5-yard average.
The placekicking was excellent as Begley, junior kicker Clint Ruth, and senior kicker Justin Hutton combined to make all five field goal attempts and all four extra point attempts. The only missed opportunity came when a bad snap prevented one attempt. Begley got the majority of the kicks, as he made field goals of 39, 41, 22, and 37 yards. Ruth’s field goal was successful from 33 yards.
The team has completed 12 of the allotted 15 spring practice workouts. The Wildcats return to action with practices on Monday and Wednesday, followed by the Blue-White Spring Game on Sat. Apr. 26.
Scrimmage Statistics (first, second, and third teams combined; includes quarterback sacks; does not include special goal-line session at the end of the scrimmage)
Rushing – Chris Bernard 1-58, Alexis Bwenge 7-58, Shane Boyd 10-55-1 TD, Arliss Beach 5-42-1 TD, Monquantae Gibson 7-17, Andrew Hopewell 3-4, Brandon Pate 1-2, Jared Lorenzen 2-1-1 TD, Justin Sprowles 1-1, B. J. McCaslin 1-(-5), Bradd Bartos 1-(-6), Trey Barclay 1-(-14), Dan Lumley 3-(-20), team 2-(-20).
Passing – Boyd 8-9-0, 85 yards; Lorenzen 5-8-1, 69 yards, 1 TD; Lumley 4-6-0, 30 yards; Barclay 1-1-0, 12 yards; McCaslin 1-4-0, 13 yards.
Receiving – Glenn Holt 3-60-1 TD, Bernard 3-19, Win Gaffron 2-34, Bruce Fowler 2-26, Derek Abney 2-24, Clay Greunke 1-12, David Pryor 1-12, A. Hopewell 1-10, Daniel Hopewell 1-5, Kurt Myers 1-4, Gibson 1-3, Johnny Knight 1-0.
Punting – Sevin Sucurovic 2-37.0 avg., Anthony Thornton 4-36.5 avg.; Ryan Byars 2-26.5 avg.; one blocked punt (team).
Kicking – Taylor Begley 4-4 FG, 1-1 XP; Clint Ruth 1-1 FG, 2-2 XP; Justin Hutton 1-1 XP.
Practice Change: The practice originally scheduled for Fri. Apr. 25 has been moved to Mon. Apr. 21 at 2:25 p.m. There will not be a practice on Fri. Apr. 25.
Robertson Among 14 NFL Draft Underclassmen from the SEC: Kentucky defensive tackle Dewayne Robertson, who has given up his final season of eligibility to enter the National Football League draft, is one of 14 underclassmen from the Southeastern Conference who hope to hear their names called when the selection begins on April 26.
The SEC players are among a total pool of 45 collegiate players who left college early for the draft. Additional SEC underclassmen include RB Santonio Beard and OT Dante Ellington of Alabama; FS Ken Hamlin (Arkansas); TE Robert Johnson (Auburn); QB Rex Grossman, DL Clint Mitchell, and DT Ian Scott of Florida; LB Chris Clemons, RB Musa Smith, and DT Jonathan Sullivan of SEC champion Georgia; RB LaBrandon Toefield (Louisiana State); and WR Kelley Washington and TE Jason Witten of Tennessee. Mississippi, Mississippi State, South Carolina, and Vanderbilt did not have any non-seniors declare for the draft.
It is interesting to note that 11 of the SEC players listed above would have played against Kentucky this fall. In addition, non-conference opponent Louisville also had one underclassman declare early, DE Dewayne White.
Brajuha Wins National Award: David Brajuha, a graduate assistant athletic trainer at UK, has won the 2003 Multimedia Athletic Training Student Award as given by the National Athletic Trainers Association.
As part of his academic requirements, Brajuha (pronounced “BRAY-yu-ah”) developed a compact disc to educate student athletic trainers and athletes about how to strengthen trunk and core musculature. The CD was the first created by the University of Kentucky Division of Athletic Training.
Brajuha will be completing his master’s degree in kinesiology and health promotions, with an emphasis in athletic training, in May. Dr. Tim Uhl, UK assistant professor, was Brajuha’s advisor for the project.
Kentucky Football Calendar (all practices at Nutter Training Facility unless inclement weather)
Mon. April 21Practice, 3:00 p.m., note that this is an addition to the practice schedule
Coach Rich Brooks on WLAP Spring Football Call-in Show, 7-9 p.m.
Wed. April 23Practice, 2:25 p.m.
Fri. April 25No practice on this day; this practice has been moved to Mon. Apr. 21
Sat. April 26Blue/White Spring Football Game, 1 p.m., Commonwealth Stadium
– UK –
