Saturday, September 30, 2000
Kentucky has tough task
Rebels' Deuce a handful if he's healthy
By
The Associated Press
JACKSON, Miss. — Kentucky coach Hal Mumme has come up with some unconventional strategies to help his porous defense against Mississippi's big-play back, Deuce McAllister.
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UK at MISSISSIPPI
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• Kickoff:7 p.m. today, Vaught-Hemingway Stadium (50,577), Oxford, Miss.
• Records: UK 2-2 (0-1 SEC), Ole Miss 2-1 (1-1).
• TV: None.
• Radio: WSAI-AM (1530), WNKR-FM (106.5).
• Series: Ole Miss leads 23-12-1 (last: 1993, UK 21-0).
• Line: Ole Miss by 7.
• What to watch: Ole Miss senior RB Deuce McAllister, the Heisman candidate with 4,000 career all-purpose yards, is questionable with a sprained right shoulder. If he plays, he's deadly: He has a career average of 6.7 yards a carry. UK, averaging 466.5 yards of total offense, is ranked first in the SEC and ninth nationally. Freshman QB Jared Lorenzen leads the nation with 1,406 passing yards.
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“We may just let him run for about 800 yards in the first half and hope he gets so tired he can't play in the second,” Mumme said. “It's a toss-up between that and hand grenades.”
The Wildcats (2-2) may not have to resort to explosives today when they play Southeastern Conference rival Ole Miss (2-1) for the first time in seven years.
McAllister is still nursing a sprained shoulder he suffered in the Rebels' last game, Sept.16 at Vanderbilt.
Ole Miss coach David Cutcliffe called McAllister probable but also said the final decision on whether McAllister — the SEC's leader in scoring and all-purpose yards — plays will come at game-time.
“Deuce is a talented player, and we have to stop him to win the ballgame — period,” Kentucky defensive end Otis Grigsby said. “You never want to get the big run broken on you, because it's embarrassing. And he has the potential to break one whenever he has the ball.”
Bad defense has been as much a constant during Mumme's tenure at Kentucky as productive offense, and that is the case again.
Kentucky is tied for last in the SEC in total defense — along with Ole Miss. The Wildcats have the league's worst run defense and are giving up a conference-high 35 points a game.
McAllister ran for 143 yards, his second straight 100-yard rushing performance, against Vanderbilt and scored the Rebels' only touchdown, his seventh of the season.
But without him in the fourth quarter, Ole Miss couldn't sustain a drive.
A healthy McAllister running the ball and keeping it away from the Wildcats' wide-open offense may be the Rebels' best defense today.
This will be the first time Ole Miss has faced Kentucky's prolific Air Raid offense.
“I'd watch them (on television) when they had (Tim) Couch and they threw for all those yards,” Rebels safety Syniker Taylor said.
Taylor said the key to containing the Wildcats' quick, short passes is sure tackling after the catch.
Freshman Jared Lorenzen gained instant notoriety for being built more like a lineman than a quarterback.
But the 270-pounder has put up equally huge numbers. Lorenzen leads the SEC in passing, averaging 351.1 yards a game, and has thrown 10 touchdowns.
Cutcliffe said that Lorenzen's powerful arm has allowed Kentucky to throw the ball downfield more.
“He has great poise in the pocket,” Cutcliffe said.
Lorenzen, much to the chagrin of Taylor, is also surprisingly mobile.
“If he scrambles, that's one quarterback that you're going to have to cut low and not try to knock him out,” Taylor said. “You come in there and try to hit him up high you might get knocked out yourself.”
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