The Associated Press

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Jared Lorenzen's biggest play in the onesided Kentucky-Alabama series came when he was a high school junior.

The Wildcats had just stunned Alabama in overtime in 1997 and Lorenzen was among the throng storming the field. Only he wasn't aiming for the goalposts, but instead nabbed quarterback Tim Couch's towel for a souvenir.

"I thought I was just all Mr. Cool," Lorenzen said. "That was the neatest atmosphere I've ever been in."

Now the Wildcats' all-time leading passer, Lorenzen will play a much bigger role in Saturday night's meeting with the Crimson Tide. It's the league opener for both teams, who each have split their first two games.

The 1997 game was one of Kentucky's few bright spots in a series that Alabama leads 31-2-1. It's the only time Wildcats fans have brought down the goalposts, a celebration made possible by a blocked field goal and Anwar Stewart's 68-yard touchdown catch in the final minutes.

Couch's 26-yard touchdown pass to Craig Yeast won it in overtime, and the teams haven't played since.

Alabama players aren't worrying about goal posts, they're concerned with bringing down Kentucky's lineman-sized quarterback. The 6-foot-4 Lorenzen is listed at 260 pounds and that is likely a conservative figure.

That makes Jeremy Clark's visits to the backfield more daunting.

"First of all, you've got to get back there and that's hard enough," the 280-pound defensive tackle said. "But then you get back there and see somebody who's probably your size or even bigger and you're like, 'I've got to get him down?"'

"You don't just want to run into him, you're going to bounce off him," 187-pound free safety Roman Harper said. "I've seen a lot of linemen trying to arm-tackle him and you can't do that."

Lorenzen can pass, too. He became the Wildcats' all-time leader in that category against Murray State last weekend with 8,566 yards, good for seventh in SEC history.

Alabama coach Mike Shula is impressed.

"He never goes down, it seems like," said Shula, a former left-handed quarterback himself. "He breaks more tackles as a quarterback than I've ever seen.

"He runs the option. He carries it (or) he pitches it and then becomes the lead blocker."

Lorenzen has about 80 pounds and 7,000 yards on his Alabama counterpart, sophomore Brodie Croyle. Croyle, however, showed his mettle last weekend, nearly leading an upset of No. 1 Oklahoma with his running and passing.

The sophomore left Shula - who compared Croyle's pounding to watching "a heavyweight fight" - impressed with his toughness. Kentucky coach Rich Brooks noticed his talent and ability to run the offense.

"He's got a great arm," Brooks said. "He has scrambling ability and appears to have a lot of poise. He looks like he handles the offense very well and knows when to pull it down and run and knows when to throw it."

Both Shula and Brooks have other reasons to worry beyond the starting quarterbacks.

Shula is wary of Lorenzen's backup, Shane Boyd, who lines up at receiver on some plays and is also a threat to run. Boyd hasn't done too much offensively yet, but the Tide plans to keep track of him on the field anyway.

Brooks is on guard against Alabama's speedy playmakers, including tailback Shaud Williams.

"We've got to stop the big play against Alabama," the coach said. "That's something we want to do every week, but it will be a bigger factor this week, because of the overall team speed that Alabama has."

The Tide has given up nearly 500 yards passing in two games. Lorenzen said the Wildcats aren't presuming they'll be able to easily take advantage of that.

"If you go into the game thinking you're going to throw long on them the whole time, you're going to end up second- or third-and-long," he said. "It's going to take a perfect game from us to go down there and beat them."

Kentucky at Alabama

Kickoff: 7:45 p.m. today, Bryant-Denny Stadium (83,818), Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Records: UK (1-1), Alabama (1-1).

TV: ESPN.

Radio: WSAI-AM (1530).

Series: Alabama leads 31-2-1.

Line: Alabama by 13 1/2.

What to watch: Kentucky is 0-7 in Tuscaloosa, but Wildcats QB Jared Lorenzen and WR Derek Abney might be able to can generate some big plays against the Tide's pass defense. Lorenzen is third in the SEC with a 161.87 QB rating. Abney is averaging 13.8 yards per catch. Alabama is coming off a close loss to Oklahoma.

UK	Team stats	UA
326	Offense avg.	347.5
105.5	Avg. by rush	148.5
220.5	Avg. by pass	199
304.5	Defense avg.	305.5
162.5	Avg. by rush	62.5
142	Avg. by pass	243
30.5	Avg. points for	26.5
23	Avg. pts. against	18.5