Sunday, January 02, 2000
UK's goals: Get stronger against SEC
BY NEIL SCHMIDT
The Cincinnati Enquirer
NASHVILLE — Hal Mumme has played his smoke-and-mirrors act to rave reviews. Yet in the wake of Kentucky's Music City Bowl meltdown Wednesday night, he admitted Wildcat football remains more magic than muscle.
UK is leaps-and-bounds better than when Mumme arrived in early 1997. But as it attempts to stockpile stronger athletes, it often still is beaten by bigger bodies. Like Syracuse's.
“I felt they kind of took over in the fourth quarter,” Mumme said of UK's 20-13 loss. “They've got speed and size. ... Their maturity kind of showed.”
Despite the least-experienced roster in the Southeastern Conference, UK reached its goal of a postseason bowl. Yet naysayers suggest it probably wouldn't have if not for Vanderbilt's last-drive fumble and the fact UK counted a victory over Division I-AA Connecticut.
UK's upcoming season appears as promising as any since the early 1980s, but there remains much uncertainty. Mumme has shown he can milk bowl bids from semi-talented teams. But how wide yawns the talent gap separating UK from the SEC superpowers?
“We've got to get a lot stronger,” UK defensive coordinator Mike Major said. “I thought (Syracuse fullback Kyle Johnson) ran over us a few times. They were able to block us too easily.”
UK's recent reputation has been of a juggernaut offense and subpar defense, but those units have begun to even out. UK finished 56th nationally in total offense, compared to a third-place finish a year ago. And the defense was much improved, forcing 31 turnovers — best in the SEC and seventh nationally — with three players earning first- or second-team All-SEC honors.
“In the program we took over at Kentucky, we had great facilities but not a lot of great defensive players on campus,” Mumme said. “We're working as hard as we can. Sometimes you've got to stop and be thankful for where you are. You realize you've got to take it one step at a time.”
The next step could come next fall. UK should return at least 16 starters, including quarterback Dusty Bonner, the entire offensive line and several skill-position stars. Fans yearn for a conference crown, but that would be a quantum leap: UK has won the SEC just once (1976) in the past 49 years.
More reachable goals? It has been 15 years since UK achieved any of the following: an Associated Press ranking, an eight-victory season or a bowl victory. UK has lost its last 34 games against Top 10 teams, a span covering 22 years.
Don't forget: 62 of 85 scholarship players are freshmen or sophomores. The Wildcats will be longer in the tooth next fall.
“We have a lot of confidence going into next year,” said Ryan Murphy, the sophomore linebacker from Moeller. “There are a lot of great players coming back.”
Said sophomore defensive end Dennis Johnson: “We have all the incentive we need to get in the weight room and come back on a mission for next year.”
Some 2000 schedule notes:
• UK will have to win six of its 10 games against I-A teams to be bowl-eligible. It can count a victory over a I-AA team toward bowl eligibility only once every four years and used that exemption this fall with UConn, so UK's game next fall with I-AA South Florida can't count toward the required six victories.
• Mississippi replaces Arkansas as UK's rotating opponent from the SEC West.
• In theory, UK's schedule could hurt its SEC title hopes but perhaps enhance its odds of making a bowl. The usual too-tough teams, Florida and Tennessee, are road games, but UK will have home-field advantage against middle-of-the-pack brethren Georgia, Mississippi State and Vanderbilt.
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