Donte Rumph and Mister Cobble have always looked the part. The problem is they haven’t been on the field enough to actually play the part.Seeing their tantalizing size and athleticism, coaches and fans alike have drooled at the prospect of the two defensive tackles wreaking havoc on Saturdays. Instead, Rumph and Cobble have spent the better part of their post-high school lives working to become qualified to play football for UK when they would have preferred to be spending time in opponents’ backfields.As UK readies for the start of the 2011 season, Rumph and Cobble are finally poised to take the field together and put some of that talent to use. They couldn’t be happier about it.”I’ve been waiting a long time for this and now that it’s finally here, I don’t know what to say,” Cobble said before the start of practice on media day. “I’ve been quiet all day because I just can’t wait to get out to practice.”Cobble’s elation is easy to understand because his journey has been such a long one. After graduating from Central High School in Louisville, Cobble redshirted during his first year at UK in 2009. The 6-foot, 332-pounder quickly had a buzz about him as he earned Most Valuable Defensive Scout Team Player honors during the season. He looked to translate that to game action, but academic issues kept him off the field for the entirety of the 2010 regular season. Cobble blames no one but himself.”It was very difficult overcoming my faults and overcoming myself,” Cobble said. “The hardest part was realizing what I did was wrong and overcoming that. Sitting out the whole season, I looked at that and said I took the greatest sacrifice and took the greatest punishment to have football taken away a year.”Rumph’s journey has been even longer. He committed to play for UK in 2008 but spent two years in prep school working to earn his way on the team. Rumph was on the team for all of the 2010 season, making 12 tackles and 12 games and earning more and more playing time as his freshman season wore on, but this is the first time since Rumph committed to UK that he feels like he’s on solid footing. “It’s great,” Rumph said. “It’s another opportunity to play the game at this level in the SEC and it’s a blessing. I just thank God for it every day. I didn’t have to come here, I didn’t have to be in this position, but I’m going to try to make the best of it. Coach Phillips and the whole staff presented me with an opportunity and I have to take advantage of it.”A sense of gratefulness for getting to play football is just one of many things that Rumph and Cobble have in common. The pair have developed a close relationship and each views the other as a brother.”He’s like a big, little brother to me,” Rumph said of Cobble. “That’s my guy. We’re friends on and off the field. That’s my brother and that’s how I feel about all my teammates, especially on defense. We do have a close relationship and that’s my dude.”Cobble (who also goes by “PC,” which stands for Percy Charles) had to watch as Rumph and the rest of his teammates took the field last season. He recognized that he had to buckle down and focus more on academics than his social life if he was to join them. Even so, Cobble believed all along that he would see the field at UK.”I never doubted myself that I would make it here,” Cobble said. “I did the crime so I had to do the time. I had to sit back and just deal with it. I looked at it as a learning experience.”Eventually, Cobble earned his way back onto the field for the BBVA Compass Bowl, where he made one tackle in spite of less-than-ideal conditioning. Unfortunately, another obstacle awaited him. Cobble underwent surgery more than three months ago to repair a torn labrum in his shoulder. Cobble reports that he has regained most of his strength in rehab and hopes to be cleared to play soon so that he can meet his goal of playing in UK’s season opener.Defensive line coach David Turner looks forward to getting Cobble back so that he can finally have his chance to show what he can do.”Hopefully we’ll get him back pretty soon,” Turner said. “He really hasn’t had a chance to prove himself on the field. He’s got a ton of potential, but potential is a fancy way of saying you haven’t done it yet. Until we get him on the field on a consistent basis and he has a chance to get consistently better, he’s a work in progress.”Cobble’s journey to this point has helped him keep things in perspective through his injury and is thankful that he was able to at least get on the field for one game last year.”The first couple snaps I was shaky because of the crowd and the noise,” Cobble said. “I had never been on the field when it’s all doing down. That experience, I look at it as I’m used to it now and I’m going to be focused for my first game this year.”Continuing his intertwined history with Cobble, Rumph also dealt with an injury this summer. He sustained a concussion in a recent minor car accident, which has kept him out of the beginning of camp. He began working out this week and expects to be ready to go soon. Rumph is itching to see the field because he is in better shape and wants to put it to practice in Rick Minter’s new defense.”I’m in way better shape than I was last year,” the 6-3, 308-pounder said. “I had plenty of time to learn the new material and I love the new defense — just absolutely love it. (It demands) a little more mobility and it’s a little more fun. I’m excited and I just can’t wait until the season starts.”Turner likes what the defense is doing from a scheme perspective, but he knows it’s still a player’s game. Putting good players in a position to succeed is what coaching is all about, and Cobble and Rumph have a chance to be the kinds of players UK needs on the defensive line.”Sometimes getting caught up in schemes is overrated,” Turner said. “Better players make you a better coach, but as coaches we’ve got to get them in the right spot. I think what we’re doing right now is a little more aggressive. We’re moving guys around a little bit, which I think takes advantage of what our guys do.”With the recent success of Alabama with Marcell Dareus and Auburn with Nick Fairley, the importance of a powerhouse defensive tackle in a league as competitive as the SEC has never been more apparent. If UK is to take the next step that so many talk about, the emergence of Rumph or Cobble would make a world of difference.”I would like to think (they can help us do that) since we’ve got to play and beat some SEC teams,” Turner said. “Physically those guys are what you’re looking for. There’s no question about it. Donte has shown a good knack for having a good feel of things. I’m interested to see how he progressed this summer. PC is a guy that’s strong. He’s naturally built for a nose guard inside.”Having tackles that consistently get a push on the inside will free up space for the rest of the defense to make plays, especially the defensive ends.  At the end position, UK has a mixture of young and experienced talent that Turner is excited about.”We feel good about the defensive end spot,” Turner said. “(Collins Ukwu) had a great spring. Ridge (Wilson) and Justin Henderson are learning. Tim Patterson is probably going to do some spots there for us and if we need to get a little bit bigger, we can always bring in another tackle and move Taylor (Wyndham) out there. He’s kind of cross-trained. We feel good about the people we have out there.”Ukwu, a redshirt junior, has emerged as a leader of the unit.”He’s played the most and he understands what we’re trying to get done in terms of philosophy and the standard we’re trying to build towards,” Turner said. “He’s a guy that had a tremendous spring. He’s worked his tail off this summer and he’s a natural leader. Guys gravitate to him and follow him.”Both Rumph and Cobble pointed to Ukwu as a player who encouraged them as they have tried to get on the field and stay on the field. Ukwu knows what it means to play football at UK, and now Rumph and Cobble do too.”We’ve got to develop a standard of excellence,” Turner said. “That means doing everything right on and off the field. That means guys have got to invest time. It’s a full-time gig playing in this league. It’s a full-time gig playing in the best league in the country. That’s the way you have to approach it.”