Kentucky Tailgating

It was announced yesterday that Four wildcats made the All SEC team as selected by the AP. This is a great honor for a team that most did not pick to make it back to a bowl, much less guarantee a fourth consecutive winning season.

First team had Randall Cobb who has seen time as a punt returner, kickoff returner, wide receiver, running back, quarterback, heart surgeon, psychologist, and geologist for the University of Kentucky this year.

Second team had Derrick Locke, the speedy running back who was sometimes a threat to throw the ball out of the wildcat package. Joining him was Corey Peter’s, the defensive tackle who seemed to always make HUGE plays when needed. And rounding it out was Sam Maxwell. Maxwell was a bright spot of a pretty good line backing core. The sad thing for this senior is that he will miss the Music City Bowl due to a shoulder injury.

Congrats to these Wildcats and lets hope they can lead us to a fourth straight bowl victory!Nashville should be a great time for all and I will need all of you going to send me some tailgating pictures.

Freshman defensive back Jansen Jackson has had armed robbery charges against him dropped according to ESPN. Living here in Knoxville this is not very surprising since he was not one of the two to actually hold up the victims with a pellet gun. He was either sitting in the Prius or inside the store at the time of the incident, depending on who you talk to.

However, now that the charges are dropped, Lane Kiffin has a very interesting decision to make. Does he play his very talented Freshman this Saturday or not? No one seems to know here in Big Orange Capital of the world. However, if he does play this kid there will be a storm of criticism. This is not the first time UT has had problems with him. During the Prius backed heist, Jackson was suspended for violating substance abuse rules.

So, assuming Jackson does not play UT’s defense is VERYthin. Especially at linebacker where the Vols are starting a 4th string Middle Linebacker, and are down four total at my last count. You take away Jackson, (whom many Vols consider to be the heir apparent to Eric Berry), from the secondary and you have a Vols defense that is thinner than Kige Ramsey’s anorexic ridden Nicole Richie.

I think this plays in to that Cats strengths, which is running the ball. Make no mistake, UT’s depth 2nd, 3rd, and 4th stringers are still talented. However, the lack of experience and depth can be exploited. I expect this to be an ugly game, but UK can and will pull away in the second half with the solid running of Locke and Cobb. They should be able to wear down UT’s defense and control the game. Cats will win and the streak will end. Then again, my heart has been broken before.