Oct. 22, 2003
School-Record Six Nominees for Academic All-America: A school-record six Kentucky Wildcats have qualified for nomination for the Academic All-America team sponsored by the College Sports Information Directors of America.
The six academicats are kicker Taylor Begley, running back Alexis Bwenge, tight end Jeremiah Drobney, linebacker Justin Haydock, cornerback Antoine Huffman, and punter Anthony Thornton. To earn a nomination for Academic All-America, a student-athlete must have a cumulative grade point average of 3.2 or higher, be at least a sophomore or higher in academic and athletic standing, and be a starter or prominent reserve.
Begley, a sophomore from Danville, Ky., has a 3.90 GPA with a major in electrical engineering. He is the team’s leading scorer this season with 31 points, including two field goals and 25-of-25 extra points.
Bwenge, a sophomore from St. Apollinaire, Quebec, has a 3.48 GPA with a major in political science. He has rushed for 178 yards this season and caught seven passes for 46 yards and a touchdown. Particularly impressive about Bwenge’s academic accomplishments is the fact that he came to Kentucky with English as a second language. His primary language growing up was French.
Drobney, a sophomore from Massillon, Ohio, has a 3.79 GPA with a major in finance. He has caught four passes this season for 36 yards and has continued to play despite sustaining a broken hand early in the season.
Haydock, a junior from Louisville, Ky., has a 3.43 GPA with a major in marketing. He has 46 tackles this season, including a career-high 12 stops in the win at Indiana.
Huffman, a sophomore from Jonesboro, Ga., has a 3.30 GPA in telecommunications. He has seven tackles this season, including one tackle for loss, and one pass breakup.
Thornton, a junior from Louisville, Ky., has a 3.45 GPA with a major in management. He is averaging 41.4 yards per punt. His best game came in the win at Indiana with he averaged 46.3 yards per punt, including a career-long punt of 58 yards, and was named Southeastern Conference Special Teams Player of the Week for that performance.
The players will go on the District IV ballot, comprised of schools in the states of Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee and Alabama. The District IV team will be announced in mid-November. The district winners go on the national ballot and the Academic All-America team will be announced in December.
Cats Getting Defensive: Linebacker Dustin Williams, defensive end Vincent “Sweet Pea” Burns, linebacker Deion Holts, and free safety Muhammad Abdullah continue to rank among the Southeastern Conference defensive leaders.
Williams is second in the league in tackles with 77, an average of 11 stops per game. Burns paces the SEC in tackles for loss with 11.5 TFL, an average of 1.64 TFL per game. Holts is second in the league in sacks with 4.5, an average of 0.75 per game. Abdullah is second in interceptions with four, an average of 0.57 pickoffs per game.
As a team, Kentucky is allowing 22.1 points per game, down from 25.1 ppg a year ago. It is the best-showing for a first-year UK defense since Fran Curci’s 1973 squad gave up 17.8 points per game. According to an analysis by the Southeastern Conference, Kentucky has the second-youngest defense in the league.
Another point of emphasis this season has been allowing fewer big plays and the Wildcats are making progress in that area so far. In 2001-02, Kentucky allowed 32 plays of 40 or more yards, 14 of which went for touchdowns. Through seven games this season, UK has allowed only five plays of 40 or more yards, including just two TDs.
