Wednesday, September 11, 2002
UK excited by chance for 4-0 start
The Associated Press
LEXINGTON - Kentucky safety David Johnson likes the excitement he sees on campus.
Offensive lineman Jason Rollins gets compliments everywhere he goes when people realize he's a member of the football team.
For the first time in a long time, people are using the words “Kentucky” and “football” in the same sentence without drawing a groan.
The Wildcats are 2-0 for the first time in four years and generating a buzz that wasn't expected from the program for several years to come.
They already have tallied a victory over archrival Louisville and a 77-17 pasting of Texas-El Paso, equaling the squad's victory total each of the past two seasons.
With home games against Indiana and Middle Tennessee the next two weekends, the team has a legitimate chance to go 4-0 for the first time in nearly two decades heading into its Southeastern Conference opener at Florida on Sept.28.
Everybody seems surprised by Kentucky's early success - except the coaches and players themselves.
“I don't think we've changed any of our expectations,” Kentucky coach Guy Morriss said Monday. “Maybe the public perception is that expectations are changing. I know we haven't changed anything about us.”
Johnson was a freshman when the team jumped out to a 3-0 start with victories over Louisville, Eastern Kentucky and Indiana in 1998.
A blowout loss at Florida in the squad's fourth game, however, brought the sky-high confidence crashing to earth, a scenario he is determined not to relive.
“We can't let this go to our heads and start thinking we can just step out on the field and win,” Johnson said. “We've still got a lot of games left to play.”
Morriss said he can't imagine his players getting overconfident after posting 2-9 records the past two seasons.
“We'll talk about that tomorrow, and the guys will hear it the rest of the year whether they need it or not,” he said.
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UK excited by chance for 4-0 start
