Later this morning, I will be heading to Joker Phillips’ weekly press conference as football prepares for its season-opener against Western Kentucky at 9:15 p.m. ET. Metz Camfield and I will be hosting a live blog beginning a few minutes before 12:00 p.m., so make sure to stop by.This weekend was an eventful one for UK Athletics, so let’s wrap up some of the more notable happenings:

• Ian Collins and men’s soccer had a big weekend. Playing games on Friday and Sunday night, the Wildcats opened the season with a pair of big wins over Dayton and Michigan. The victory over Dayton was a dominating 2-0 result, building confidence heading into a showdown with ninth-ranked Michigan. Down 1-0 with less than 15 minutes remaining, Tyler Riggs scored a pair of goals (both assisted by Dylan Asher) to lead his team to the upset. The game was the second in a row that Riggs came off the bench to score the game-winning goal. The sophomore led UK with five goals in his first season, but has already scored three in just his first two games of 2011.
• Volleyball also opened its season this weekend, making a trip down south for the Florida State Tournament. The Wildcats won their debut 3-1 over Albany before losing Friday evening to the hosting Seminoles. They rebounded on Saturday, though, posting a dramatic 3-2 upset win over No. 23 Tulsa. UK hosts Cincinnati at 7:00 p.m. Tuesday for their home opener in Memorial Coliseum.
• Former UK outfielder Collin Cowgill had struggled since his call-up to the big-league Arizona Diamondbacks in July. He was batting just 3-of-29 over 14 games, showing little of the dominant form that had earned him a spot in the majors. Well, Cowgill ended his slump on Sunday. In a 6-1 win that extended the D-backs leads in the NL West to four games, Cowgill had four hits in four at-bats, including a home run, a double and a pair of runs batted in.
• In a bit of housekeeping, we are nearing the end of our series of exclusive positional previews. We have a breakdown of the running back position today with the tight ends tomorrow and quarterbacks on Wednesday.