Kentucky lost some playmakers on offense with the graduations of Mike Hartline and running back Derrick Locke and the early departure of the awesome Randall Cobb who had 84 catches for 1,017 yards and seven tds. Locke and Cobb look to be potential good players in the NFL, particularly Cobb.
Now the athletic Morgan Newton takes over at quarterback. Newton, a junior, is 6’4″, 235, has a very good arm and is mobile. He was 23-44 for 256 yards and three tds in the spring game with one interception. He has playing experience. He has played in a couple of bowl games and has some regular season experience. In the nine games he’s played in, he’s 100-of-178  (56%) for 971 yards and six TDs. He’s a good player and Joker Phillips wants him to take Kentucky to their sixth straight bowl game. They came to Birmingham last season for the BBVA Compass Bowl but lost to Pittsburgh, 27-10.

There seems to be some potential playmakers on offense. La’Rod King is a 6’4″ receiver who caught 36 passes for 478 and five TDs last year. Others are Gene McCaskill who has caught 32 passes in the last two seasons and senior Matt Roark who caught 12 passes for 170 yards last year. Brian Adams is a guy the staff is high on. Roark is 6’5″ and Adams is 6’4″. Six four juniors Aaron Boyd and E.J. Fields give Newton some more options. Tight end looks pretty solid with Nick Meilillo, Jordan Aumiller (18-193, one TD) and Tyler Robinson (11 catches, one TD). Anthony Kendrick, Ronnie Shields and Alex Smith are also in the mix. Tight end looks pretty loaded and Phillips will use the tight end to give Newton some high percentage passes.

Raymond Sanders is a contender at tailback. Sanders ran for 254 yards and three TDs last year. Junior CoShik Williams is another. He ran for 136 yards and four TDs. Sophomore Jonathan George and redshirt freshman Brandon Gainer are some others who could help.

The oline returns four of five starters led by junior right guard Larry Warford who was second team All-SEC last year. Senior left guard Stuart Hines was third team all conference last year. Good size and decent depth on the line.

Defense has always been a question mark for UK and has probably kept them from having elite teams in the past five years. They just can’t seem to stop people. Rick Minter has taken over as co defensive coordinator and the former Notre Dame coach brings a 3-4 system in. He’s a good coach and could make this defense more aggressive. Leading the defense is linebacker Danny Trevathan who led the SEC in tackles last year with 144. He was named All America by CollegeFootballNews.com and selected All-SEC by many media services. Senior middle linebacker Ronnie Sneed totaled 61 tackles last season and strongside backer Ridge Wilson amassed 30 tackles last year. Ky needs to develop depth in their linebacking corps as they move to a four lb set. Sophomores Jewell Ratliff, Avery Williamson and Qua Huzzie along with redshirt freshmen Malcolm McDuffen and  Tyler Brause and January enrollee Tim Patterson will try to be factors this year. Line looks decent with senior Luke McDermott at tackle., He had 17 tackles last year, five for loss and three sacks. Senior Mark Crawford made 24 stops including 4.5 tackles for loss and two sacks. Donte Rumph, Mister Cobble and Brice Laughlin are some others who will play. At end juniors Collins Ukwa and Taylor Wyndham lead the way. Ukwa had 26 tackles last year and one sack. Wyndham had 27 stops, 4.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks. Nermin Delic had 1.5 sacks last year and showed potential. There are four redshirt freshman ready to make their mark.

The entire secondary returns led by senior safety Winston Gay who had 106 tackles last year and led the team with three interceptions. Mychal Bailey is another senior safety who had 58 tackles and two ints. Cornerback Randall Burden broke up six passes and had an int in the bowl game. Anthony Mosley broke up five passes at cornerback and had the game winning interception vs South Carolina last year. Junior corner Martavius Neloms had 5.5 tackles for loss last year. Senior safeties Taiedo Smith and Josh Gibbs and junior corner Cartier Rice will play roles this year. It’s a veteran group.

All of UKs kickers return. Senior punter Ryan Tydlacka averaged 43.8 yards last year and kicker Craig McIntosh hit 11 of 15 FGs. There will be new kickoff and punt returners and the contenders are Raymond Sanders, Jerrell Priester, Winston Guy and Gene McCaskill. There may be more candidates.

The Schedule:

Western Kentucky in Nashville opens things up followed by Central Michigan and Louisville at home. Then Florida at home; a possible win with the Gators in transition. At LSU and @ South Carolina. After a bye week, it’s Jacksonville State at home, Miss State at home, @ Vandy, @ Georgia and home against Tennessee.

This is a pretty favorable schedule. If Newton comes through and the backs and wrs are surprisingly good and the defense can be better than in the past, this could be a seven and possibly eight win season for the ‘Cats. Eight wins may be stretching it, but maybe not. LSU and South Carolina on the road look like possible losses and @ Georgia is tough though not out of the question. Miss State at home is tough. Ole Miss and UT are at home and Vandy is on the road. Four non conference games should all be winnable, so it could be another solid season for Phillips and his guys. This looks like another bowl team. Can they ever become an elite team? That’s pretty questionable; the tradition is not there. But they could be a very solid program as Ky fans segue into basketball season for the most part. Still could be a very solid program for years to come.

Morgan Newton(above)  takes over at quarterback full time this season for Ky with high expectations from Joker Phillips and staff

Ole Miss is coming off a disappointing 2010 in which they finished 4-8. The previous two years under Houston Nutt, the Rebels went 9-4 and won the Cotton Bowl both years. Nutt has a reputation for up and down results. He seems to be an innovative, very good offensive coach, but sometimes gets a little too excited on the sidelines and I think the players see that and get a little nervous. His defense was pretty suspect last year and has struggled some over the years, but overall, he’s a pretty decent coach. But 4-8 is not what he or his team wants.
They could be a better team this year, but the schedule is tough. BYU comes to Oxford on Sept. 3 to open things up. The Rebels need to win that game. Should be a tough test. If they win that, they have Southern Illinois at home and then Vandy in Nashville. Vandy has beaten the Rebels two out of the last three years including 28-14 at Oxford last year, so that’s a tough one. Then Georgia comes to Oxford. Winnable, but difficult. Then the Rebels go to Fresno State. Fresno State always aims to be an upset specialist and this is another opportunity for them. Very competitive team, so that’ll be tough. Ole Miss beat them at home last year in a high scoring affair. Then Alabama and Arkansas at home, very difficult. Then @Auburn, @ Kentucky, La Tech at home, LSU at home and @ Ms. State. Six wins would be pretty good with this schedule. More than that would be very good.

Quarterback, to me, looks like it’s Barry Brunetti’s to lose this August. He split time with Randall Mackey in the spring, but the West Virginia transfer looks like the better player. Zack Stoudt is the third string guy, but his academic status is questionable.

Running back is very good. Brandon Bolden (5’11, 221, Senior) returns after running for 976 yards and 14 TDs last year. He’s outstanding. Enrique Davis is a highly capable backup who ran for 337 years and three tds last year in only eight games. He battled injuries. Jeff Scott (5’7″, 175) is a small back, but quick.

They have a pretty experienced offensive line returning with a bunch of 300+ players manning the line tackle to tackle. Should be a good group with depth. Bradley Sowell (6’7″, 315, senior) leads the group at left tackle.

Wide receiver is decent. Melvin Harris is a 6’6″ split end. A big target and he’s backed up by Vincent Sanders. Ja-Mes Logan (6’2″, 190) is battling for the starting job with Terrell Grant (6’2″, 213). Nutt likes to throw the ball, too, though he looks to have a pretty stellar running game if those guys stay healthy. Nutt likes to run the solid, safe routes: slants, wide receiver screens and passes out of the backfield. So these guys will need to perform.

Defense will be led by sixth year senior Kentrell Lockett (6’5″, 248 dend), who got hurt last year but was granted a sixth year of eligibility. Good pass rusher. Wayne Dorsey (6’6″, 262) is the other end. Tackle a little thin. Carlton Martin (6’1,288 Redshirt frosh) will start. At nose tackle, Bryon Bennett (6’2″, 280, rfrosh) will be the guy. Linebacker looks athletic like most SEC linebacking corps led by sophomore Mike Marry (6’2″, 248). Dbackfield is thin. They will need some help from some talented incoming freshmen.

Kicking game in good shape. Bryson Rose is a consistent place kicker and Tyler Campbell will punt. Jeff Scott is a good kickoff return man and punt returner. Pretty dangerous. Ran a kickoff back against Auburn last year.

Can Nutt turn it around this year? I think six wins would be a successful season for the Rebels. I don’t see them winning the SEC West with Alabama, Arkansas, LSU, Ms. State and Auburn in there. That’s an elite group. So there are going to be some teams getting beaten up and some very good teams out of the West not making the SEC championship game. Ole Miss will not be in the mix for that. I don’t think they’ll be good enough on defense. Have good athletes there, but not enough this year to compete for the SEC title. But a respectable season should be possible and Nutt has a good freshmen class coming in, so he can keep building. 6-6 looks pretty realistic for the Rebels. Anything better than that would be very successful.

Houston Nutt (pictured above) will try to get Ole Miss to another bowl game. That would be very respectable with their schedule.