[lickbranchlegend]

UK by 10+. Hartline will be the starter for this game because of experience but one of the freshmen qbs will get some playing time in this game, too.

[More Cowbell]

Newton has never taken a snap against a college defense. He has never seen the kind of speed he is about to face.

He may end up being very good. I doubt though he is ready to start in the SEC as a freshman and if UK has to resort to a true freshman QB that is trouble.

It all has to start somewhere...

Don't get me wrong, I'm not being critical of Hartline. He's not a bad quarterback, it's just that he's not that great either. He is what he is, and that's a caretaker quarterback. Nothing more, nothing less.

I will agree that Newton may not be ready to start right away. There is a lot to learn about being a QB in the best conference in the land, and it may be too much to expect him to grasp it all in fall practice. And I won't really be upset if Hartline starts the first game, because I think we have more than enough talent to beat Miami (OH) and Louisville no matter who is under center.

But Hartline is not a long-term answer, and he's really not that great of a short-term answer either. He is servicable, a decent player who shouldn't do anything terrible to lose the game for you. If you are Florida or LSU and have loads of talent at every position, you can get by with an average QB and still beat good teams. But this is Kentucky, and we aren't there yet. In order to have a chance to knock off the better teams on our schedule, we need a difference-maker at QB. And while I don't see Hartline filling that role, Newton could (and eventually should) be one. Hopefully sooner rather than later.