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SEC
Football Predictions2008 Kentucky Wildcats College Football PredictionsThe Kentucky Wildcats had a dream
season by their football standards beating national champion
LSU, FSU, Louisville, and
Arkansas behind the playmaking
ability of Heisman Trophy candidate Andre Woodson. After
back-to-back eight win seasons, it appears the Wildcats will
have a tough time making the .500 mark. Find out if
Jimmy Boyd thinks they can
survive the loss of their star QB in his 2008 Kentucky
Wildcats predictions and season preview.
Offense It doesn't matter if junior Curtis Pulley or
sophomore Mike Hartline takes the snaps this
fall, neither will give Kentucky as good a
chance to win as Andre Woodson did. The Kentucky
offense should consist of a heavy dose of
running the football this season because of
their QB deficiencies. Senior Tony Dixon will be
considered the number one tailback, but Alfonso
Smith, Derrick Locke, and Moncell Allen will all
get plenty of carries. Few teams have as much
running back depth in the conference. With three
offensive line starters returning, the Cats
should be able to run the rock. The wide
receiver position is a big offensive concern.
Dicky Lyons has 108 career receptions and 16
touchdowns, but no one else has proven
themselves at all. It will be vital for Kentucky
to establish some sort of a passing attack so
that teams can't stack the line of scrimmage
against their running game. The defense ranked last in the SEC in scoring
defense last season, but it was able to come up
with big plays in wins over Arkansas, LSU, and
Florida State. Because of the returning
personnel, this year's defensive unit should be
the best that head coach Rich Brooks has had.
Defensive end Jeremy Jarmon leads the attack. He
was fourth in the SEC in sacks last season and
is also a very capable run stopper. Ventrell
Jenkins will play the other end, moving out from
tackle, and Nii Adjei Oninku returns from injury
to give the Cats more depth. The Wildcats are
experienced inside with senior Myron Pryor and
junior Corey Peters. Wesley Wood will be a
glaring loss at linebacker despite the rest of
the unit staying in tact. Braxton Kelley will
replace him on the weak side and former prep
All-American Micah Johnson will take the middle.
Trevard Lindley is a big play corner who came up
big in several games last season. You might
remember his fourth quarter pick against LSU to
help the Cats force overtime. Free safety Marcus
McClinton has also shown big play ability with
six career picks and seven forced fumbles. Kickoff specialist Tim Masthay had an
SEC-best 23 kickoffs for touchbacks. That is
huge to know your kicker can put your opponent
in bad field position from the outset. The
return game could suffer as the Cats lost their
top return men from last year. After back-to-back exciting eight win
seasons, the Wildcats will take a step backward
and will be hard-pressed to reach the .500 mark.
Fifth place in the SEC East is likely. The
Wildcats are going to struggle to beat
Georgia,
Florida,
Tennessee, and
South Carolina, but should be able to handle
Vanderbilt. May 30th, 2008
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