[EKUAlum05]

4 Things That Will Happen That UK Fans Don't Want:

1. Hartline will be the starter in Game 1 and will probably remain the starter the entire season.

Brooks has already stated he will enter as the starter and from all reports he is playing well with the exception of the deep ball. I will be the first to say that I am not a Hartline fan, but UK fans expecting either Freshman to step in immediately have their heads in the clouds. Likewise, anyone who believes that we should spend another season moving Cobb around from QB to WR to KR is equally as dillusional.

We are talking about SEC football here, how many true Fresh QB's can you recall coming in and dominating play? Additionally, how many of those QB's played for a team like UK who had good talent at the skill spots, but not great talent? I expect Newton to push Hartline throughout the summer, but I expect him to be the #2 QB as Mossakowski redshirts. On a side note I don't expect both QB's to redshirt, I think Brooks wants that year of seperation, and that he wants to do everything possible to leave Cobb at WR. Plus, I don't know about the rest of you, but if Hartline can play every game as well as he did in the Liberty Bowl then I think we will be more than satisfied.

2. As Mentioned Above, Cobb Will Not Be UK's QB

Brooks has taken drastic steps to make sure that Cobb can remain at WR. Cobb is an explosive playmaker and by far UK's best weapon. Considering UK's recruiting success at the QB position it would downright idiotic to hamper Cobb's development at WR by forcing him to spend half his time at QB. I full expect Cobb to transition to about 95% time spent at WR by the end of summer.

I truly feel Brooks and Phillips will eventually design the brunt of the offense around Cobb, sort of like Florida did with Harvin. Expect Cobb to have his normal routes, designed runs, reverses, and even passes designed for him out of the slot. Even if UK only uses one play each of thr above, the fact D-Coordinators must spend precious time gameplanning for this is a victory in itself.

3. Paul Warford Will Probably Not Start This Season
This one really hurts because I feel bad for the kid. Alot of UK fans have already pencilled in Warford as the other starting CB do to his experience. The reality is that he will now be sitting out nearly a year and a half between the redshirt season last year and now his injury keeping him out of Spring practice. That is a long time to be off the field and it will probably take until the end of Summer to get back in Football shape and adjust to the speed of the game.

Additionally, when Warford was starting it was a culmination of lack of depth and David Jones making the re-adjustment from WR and injury. UK at that time only had three SEC calibur CB's and one of them was not 100% due to health. Now, with the emergence of Cartier Rice and Randall Burden UK will have 4 SEC calibur Corners.

4. Even Though UK Will Be Much Improved, Missing a Bowl Is a Possibility

I fully expect UK to be a much better, and much more consistent team than last year, but the reality is that this should be an "Up" year in the SEC and UK's schedule is brutal.

You can pencil in two wins between UL Monroe and EKU. UK will be a prohibitve favorite (but not assured a win) vs. Louisville and Miami (OH). But the SEC schedule is brutal.

UK will be the slight favorite against Miss State @ home and should win that game, but the rest are tossups. The betaable teams are on the road (Arkansas, Vandy, Auburn, Georgia, South Carolina), and the home games are the powerhouses (Florida, Bama,) and the team we couldn't beat even if they suspended all their starters (Tennessee).

I tend to believe UK will win 7-8 games, but they evry easily could finish with 6 wins or worse yet, 5 wins.