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Wildcats Begin Week With Indoor Practice
Kentucky will host Tennessee on Saturday at 12:21 p.m. ET on the SEC Network
LEXINGTON,
Ky. – The University of Kentucky football team began its week of
practice by moving indoors to the Nutter Training Facility because of
steady rain in the Lexington area over the past few days.
Kentucky
began its preparation for Southeastern Conference rival Tennessee on
Monday without true freshman quarterback Maxwell Smith, who has started
the past three games. Smith was injured in Kentucky’s game at Georgia
and did not practice Tuesday, but is expected to be able to return
later in the week.
UK head coach Joker Phillips said that
junior quarterback Morgan Newton is probably less banged up than Smith,
although he is still ailing from ankle and shoulder injuries.
While
the Wildcats try to get their top two quarterback options healthy,
Tennessee returned its starting quarterback from injury last week in
the form of sophomore Tyler Bray. In his first game back, Bray led
Tennessee to a victory over Vanderbilt, completing 16-of-33 passes for
189 yards.
“He looked sharp to me,” Phillips said about
Bray. “He made some big-time throws and he has a big time weapon out
there in the (Da’Rick) Rogers kid. He caught 10 of them last week and
if he (Bray) gets it anywhere near him then that guy can make a play
for him. That is confidence for a quarterback.”
Also on
the injury side, true freshman defensive tackle Christian Coleman did
not practice, while Phillips said sophomore defensive tackle Donte
Rumph continues to improve from his injury.
Kentucky will resume practice on Wednesday.
Trevathan
Nominated for Defensive Performance of the Year: University of Kentucky
senior linebacker Danny Trevathan has been nominated for the Defensive
Performance of the Year for his 17-tackle, two forced-fumble
performance last Saturday against Georgia, Intersport announced Monday.
The
Defensive Performance of the Year is part of a four-month competition
that lets fans determine which individual performances reign supreme
during the 2011 college football season. The winners will be revealed
during the two-hour All-Star Football Challenge special airing at 7
p.m. ET on Friday, Feb. 3 on ESPN2. In addition to recognizing the
season's top performances, the All-Star Football Challenge will feature
college football's biggest stars in a live skills challenge. In the 13
year history of the event, 41 first-round NFL draft picks have
participated in the All-Star Football Challenge.
From
now until the end of bowl season, the two top defensive players of the
week will be featured on the All-Star Football Challenge Facebook page
(www.facebook.com/AllStarFootball), along with two top individual
performers among quarterbacks, receivers and running backs. The top
weekly vote-getter will proceed to the finals, which run Jan. 16-22.
Trevathan
tied a career high in tackles against Georgia with 17, while forcing
two fumbles and earning three tackles for loss. This was his third game
of the season with 17 tackles and his eighth with at least 12.
Five
Former Wildcats on NFL Pro Bowl Ballot: Five former University of
Kentucky football players, including kickoff returner Randall Cobb,
fullback John Conner, wide receiver Steve Johnson, punter Tim Masthay
and defensive tackle Corey Peters, are on the National Football League
Pro Bowl Ballot.
Fans are encouraged to go to
www.nfl.com/probowl/ballot to vote for all five Wildcats and help them
reach the Pro Bowl. The annual contest of the AFC and NFC's best will
take place Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012 at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii.
A total of 12 former Wildcats are currently playing in the NFL.
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