Kentucky Football Weekly Update: Week 4 (updated)
By Will
In what may become a regular feature (if work rears its ugly head it’ll probably disappear), Allenby For Heisman! hopes to take a weekly look at the University of Kentucky’s place in the world of college football.
Another week, another head-turning victory for the University of Kentucky football team. Kentucky’s victory against Arkansas in Fayetteville solidified Kentucky’s place on the national scene as the Cats rocketed up the polls to heights not scene in our lifetime. Let’s get to it.
The polls. Kentucky’s second upset victory on the spin saw the Cats move from No. 21 to No. 14 in the Associated Press Top 25 and from No. 23 to No. 15 in the USA Today Coaches’ Poll. [Link]
CBSSports. The Cats rose from No. 20 to No. 14 in the CBSSports.com 120. [Link] Saturday’s opponent, Florida Atlantic, is ranked No. 75. Like last week, CBSSports has the Cats in the Chick-fil-A bowl in Atlanta, Georgia, on December 31. But this week CBSSport projects Clemson as the Cats’ opponent (last week Boston College was projected). In Heisman news, all five of CBSSports experts have Kentucky quarterback Andre’ Woodson in their top five. Woodson is tied for second in the overall consensus. [Link]
Also at CBSSports, Kentucky is the subject of a glowing article — given top billing on the CBSSports.com college football page — posted Monday by senior writer Dennis Dodd:
It’s weird how quick things change in college football. It’s astounding how quickly fortunes have changed in the state of Kentucky. Louisville came into the season as a national championship contender. It left Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium amid boos Saturday after losing to woeful Syracuse.
Kentucky is the toast of the state, and college football after a 4-0 start for only the second time since 1983. Back-to-back comeback wins against Louisville and Arkansas have left the Wildcats with their highest AP ranking (14th) since 1977. The last time Kentucky was 4-0 with at least one conference win was 1950 when Bear Bryant guided the program to a Sugar Bowl win over No. 1 Oklahoma.
Quarterback Andre Woodson is a big-time Heisman candidate carrying an ongoing NCAA record — 296 consecutive passes without an interception.
[Link]
SI.com. Kentucky rose from No. 20 to No. 13 in Stewart Mandel’s Power Rankings. (Florida Atlantic was No. 72.) Mandel was full of praise for Andre’ Woodson:
While Graham Harrell threw for 650-plus yards last week, and Tim Tebow is producing 400 yards of offense and Colt Brennan is on pace for another 50-touchdown year, Andre Woodson has yet to throw for more than 275 yards in a game. Yet, you’d be hard-pressed to find a QB playing better.
[Link]
FOXSports. Kentucky rose from No. 19 to No. 15 in the CollegeFootballNews.com Rankings at FOXSports.com:
The Ranking Should Be Higher Because … the Louisville win was nice, but everyone wanted to see if the Wildcats were for real. Question answered, as the offense came through in the clutch yet again in the win over Arkansas.
The Ranking Should Be Lower Because … the Louisville win doesn’t appear to be nearly as big a deal now, while beating Arkansas isn’t like beating one of the top SEC teams. The meat of the schedule is coming up.
[Link] Florida Atlantic is ranked No. 85.
ESPN.com. For the first time since the Worldwide Leader implemented the ’Power 16′ in 2002, Kentucky is in it. The Cats were 17th last week, and Kentucky entered the rankings at lucky No. 13 this week:
Andre’ Woodson showcased his Heisman talents at Arkansas. Most impressive Woodson stat? He hasn’t thrown an INT in 296 passes. Oh, by the way, UK is 4-0 and has won nine of its last 10.
[Link] (Because we’re posting the Weekly Update earlier than usual this week, we don’t yet have ESPN.com’s bowl projections. We’ll update when they become available.)
In their Week 4 bowl projections, senior writers Ivan Maisel and Mark Schlabach both project Kentucky in the Outback Bowl in Tampa, Florida (where each had the Cats last week). Maisel sees Kentucky facing Michigan (last week he projected Michigan State as Kentucky’s opponent) while Schlabach sees a rematch of the 1999 Outback Bowl with the Cats facing Penn State (last week he projected Michigan as the Cats’ opponent). [Link]
Sagarin Rankings. Kentucky rose from No. 19 to No. 13. Florida Atlantic is at No. 108.
Vegas Oddsmakers’ Top-25. We’re adding this this week. Vegas thinks the Cats are overrated in the polls; Kentucky comes at No. 21 in the oddsmakers’ rankings. [Link]
In other news, Tony Barnhart of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes that Woodson is a bona fide Heisman candidate:
Andre Woodson must be to your Heisman list: The Kentucky quarterback throws a late touchdown bomb to beat Louisville on Sept. 15. Down 29-21 in the fourth quarter, Woodson directs Kentucky to 21 unanswered points and a stunning 42-29 victory at Arkansas. On the season Woodson has completed 86 of 134 passing attempts (64.2 percent) for 1,008 yards and 11 touchdowns. He has thrown NO interceptions. In fact, he has thrown 296 straight passes without an interception, a new NCAA record.
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Other Wildcats are also garnering accolades; senior linebacke Wesley Woodyard was named Southeastern Conference Defensive Player of the Week and senior Jason Leger was named SEC Offensive Lineman of the week. [Link]. (KentuckySportsRadio.com’s Rob Gidel highlighted Leger’s play earlier today.)
And finally, as was noted earlier on this site, Kentucky football got some love from the Old Grey Lady today:
There have been a lot of long days the past few decades for the Wildcats (4-0), whose No. 14 ranking is their highest since Kalinowski’s senior year in 1977. But one of the few constants has been the program’s strong attendance. While their passion is not the same as it is for basketball, Kentucky fans have shown up and supported the football team through the coaching changes, N.C.A.A. scandals and lopsided defeats. Coach Rich Brooks said the team took more than 50,000 people to its bowl victory over Clemson last year.
“They’ve been pretty loyal through some pretty sorry football,” Brooks said in a telephone interview last night. “Some of it was while I was coaching here. They are being rewarded for being faithful.”
[Link]
Well, that’s that.
Onward and upward!