By Murray Evans
The Associated Press

LEXINGTON - You only think you know who Jared Lorenzen is.

Kentucky's 6-4 senior quarterback has heard all the nicknames - "Hefty Lefty," "Pillsbury Throwboy," "Round Mound of Touchdown" - that make light of his weight, which he said is between 260 and 280 pounds. Opposing coach after opposing coach has talked during the last four years about how difficult Lorenzen is to tackle because of his size.

But lost in the discussion of Lorenzen's weight are the statistics that say he's not only Kentucky's most productive quarterback ever, he's one of the best in Southeastern Conference history.

There's also this: Lorenzen might be the most quotable football player in Kentucky history. There's hardly a subject about which he doesn't have some sort of opinion, and as Lorenzen says, "I love talking." He's also a family man and happily plays the role of father to Taylor, his 16-month-old daughter.

"I've got a little bit of (a personality)," Lorenzen said. "That's what a lot of people say - 'I thought you were just big.' Come get to know me a little bit.' I'm a little different."

Lorenzen's final college game will be Saturday, when Kentucky (4-7, 1-6 SEC) will host No. 7 Tennessee (9-2, 5-2). He'll end a tumultuous career in which he has played for three head coaches, overcome a midseason benching as a sophomore, adapted from running a pass-happy offense to a system that included numerous option plays and thrived on what Kentucky offensive coordinator Ron Hudson called a "rock star" persona.

Lorenzen said he enjoys being in the limelight and that he thinks some of his nicknames are funny.

"No press is bad press. That's the way I look at it," Lorenzen said. "If you're going to say I weigh 300 pounds, well, at least I'm in the media saying I weigh 300 pounds. I am the first one to crack jokes. Always have been. Always will be. I really don't mind about the weight thing. I realize that's who I am."

Lorenzen's favorite nickname has nothing to do with his weight and gives insight to his happy-go-lucky personality. He likes being called "J Lo," because "it's easy, and if I say it enough, she'll want to meet me."

Lorenzen has broken many of the school passing records held by Tim Couch, now a quarterback for the Cleveland Browns. He also holds four SEC and six NCAA offensive records. The NCAA records were set during his freshman season.

With 10,233 career passing yards, he'll likely finish fourth in SEC history, behind only Peyton Manning, Eric Zeier and Danny Wuerffel. Lorenzen's 78 touchdown passes put him third, behind only Wuerffel (114) and Manning (89).

In short, he's more than just a big quarterback; he's a successful one, too, except when it comes to wins and losses. Kentucky is 15-30 during Lorenzen's career.

Lorenzen freely admits his career lacks a so-called signature win, although it did appear the Wildcats had Louisiana State beat last year before Kentucky's defense allowed a Hail-Mary touchdown pass on the game's final play. Lorenzen is more likely to be remembered for moments like the Florida game this season, in which Kentucky blew a 21-3 fourth-quarter lead and Lorenzen threw an interception that led to Florida's decisive touchdown.

"I've had about every type of loss you could have, and I've had some good wins," Lorenzen said. "It's been a heck of a roller coaster. I think the fans just enjoy good football, and that's all I've ever tried to give them, is good, fun football.

"I like taking chances. Unfortunately, sometimes it backfires."

Lorenzen's ad-libs on the field have included passes thrown backward, behind his back and with his right hand, plays that even he acknowledges sometimes have been ill-advised. His teammates say they'll take the occasional bad play from Lorenzen with the good and admire how he's stood up to criticism.

"Jared is a good leader. He makes the big play when he has to," senior right tackle Antonio Hall said. "He is a good motivator. He's a genuine person."

"Jared is the most down-to-earth guy you'll ever meet in your life," senior center Nick Seitze said. "For a guy who has as much on his shoulders and so much public attention, you'd expect most guys to have a big head. With Jared, it's the total opposite.

"He makes us look good," Seitze said.

Lorenzen appreciates those platitudes, but knows it soon will matter more what NFL people think of him. Kentucky coach Rich Brooks coached 10 years in the NFL and said Lorenzen could play in the league, but not before losing some weight. The NFL's current heaviest quarterback is Minnesota's Daunte Culpepper, who is listed at 260 pounds.

Lorenzen agrees with Brooks' assessment.

"Before the (NFL) combine and individual workouts, I want to be able to step on a scale and have everybody look at it in shock. They think, well, the quarterback from Kentucky is going to come into the combine weighing 290 and run about a 5.2 40 and not be strong and not look good. But I'm going to try and prove a lot of people wrong."

Kentucky vs. No. 7 Tennessee

Kickoff: 12:30 p.m. today, Commonwealth Stadium (67,606), Lexington.

Records: UK 4-7 (1-6 Southeastern Conference), UT 9-2 (5-2).

TV: Ch. 25.

Radio: WSAI-AM (1530).

Series: UT leads 66-23-9.

Line: UT by 11.

What to watch: UK hasn't beaten UT since 1984 and hasn't topped a top-10 team since 1977 - a 24-20 win against No. 4 Penn State. Highlands grad Jared Lorenzen, whose 10,233 career passing yards are fourth-most in SEC history, is playing his final game for the Wildcats. Moeller grad Michael Munoz starts on UT's offensive line. With 1 punt return yard, UK's Derek Abney will become the first player ever to total 2,000 receiving yards, 2,000 kickoff return yards and 1,000 punt return yards.

UK	Team stats	UT
340	Offense avg.	376.5
131.8	Avg. by rush	145.6
208.2	Avg. by pass	230.9
392.5	Defense avg.	330.1
189.1	Avg. by rush	144.9
203.4	Avg. by pass	185.2
29.2	Avg. pts. for	30.1
27.4	Avg. pts. against	18.6