The Kentucky special teams, most notably the kickoff and punt return units, were highlighted in the final official Southeastern Conference football statistics for the 2005 season released by the league office. The final stats include bowl games.
As a team, Kentucky led the SEC and ranked third nationally in punt returns with an average of 17.2 yards per return. Kentucky placed third in the league and fourth nationally in kickoff returns, averaging 26.4 yards per runback. Kentucky broke the school record for return average in both kickoff and punt returns. Kentucky made 80 percent of its field goal attempts, second in the league in that category. Rafael Little led the SEC and rated fifth nationally in punt returns, averaging 16.9 yards per return. Little also paced the league in all-purpose yardage. He broke the school record with 1,982 all-purpose yards (which includes rushing, receiving, punt return, and kickoff return yardage). His per-game average of 180.2 yards ranked fifth in the country. Draak Davis was second in the SEC, 25th nationally, with an average of 25.6 yards per kickoff return. David Jones was seventh in the league with an average of 21.9 yards per kickoff return. Taylor Begley made 12-of-15 field goals, ranking third in the SEC by making 80 percent of his tries. Wesley Woodyard made 100 tackles, ranking fourth in the conference with 9.1 stops per game. The ball-hawking Woodyard also was second in the SEC in fumble recoveries with four. Little?s 372 all-purpose yards vs. Vanderbilt and Woodyard?s 18 tackles against Tennessee were the single-game highs for SEC players.
2005 Awards Summary: Here is a list of honors for Kentucky football players for the 2005 season:
FS Muhammad Abdullah
Associated Press All-SEC (second team)
Coaches All-SEC (second team)
TB Arliss Beach
Jerry Claiborne Award (team award for academics/team attitude)
K Taylor Begley
Academic All-America (first team)
UK Special Teams Player of the Year (team award, co-winner with Draak Davis)
WR Tommy Cook
ESPN ?All-Mayday? Team for toughness and determination
UK Most Inspirational Player (team award)
KR Draak Davis
UK Special Teams Player of the Year (team award, co-winner with Taylor Begley)
TE Jeremiah Drobney
SEC Good Works Team
DT Richard Gray
UK Most Valuable Defensive Scout Team Player (team award)
CB Antoine Huffman
Finalist for the National Sportsmanship Award
Finalist for the Danny Wuerffel Trophy
Semifinalist for the Ronnie Lott Trophy
Semifinalist for the National Football Foundation Scholar-Athlete Award
Semifinalist for the Bobby Bowden Award
Academic All-America (second team)
CB David Jones
Freshman All-SEC by SEC coaches
LB Braxton Kelley
Freshman All-America by Rivals.com (second team)
Freshman All-America by The Sporting News (third team)
Freshman All-America by Scout.com (honorable mention)
Freshman All-SEC by SEC coaches, The Sporting News
UK Outstanding First-Year Player (team award)
OT Hayden Lane
Academic All-America (first team)
TB/KR Rafael Little
CollegeFootballNews.com Sophomore All-America as running back and punt returner (second team)
Associated Press All-SEC as all-purpose player (first team)
CollegeFootballNews.com All-SEC as punt returner (first team)
Coaches All-SEC as running back (second team)
National Player of the Week by SI.com for the Vanderbilt game
SEC Special Teams Player of the Week for the Vanderbilt game
SEC Offensive Player of the Week for the Mississippi State game
UK Most Valuable Player (team award)
UK Most Outstanding Offensive Player (team award)
C Matt McCutchan
UK Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman (team award)
CB Shomari Moore
Freshman All-SEC by league coaches
TB Alfonso Smith
UK Most Valuable Offensive Scout Team Player (team award)
CB Bo Smith
UK Most Outstanding Defensive Player (team award)
SS Roger Williams
UK Most Improved Player (team award)
LB Wesley Woodyard
CollegeFootballNews.com Sophomore All-America (second team)
Associated Press All-SEC (honorable mention)
