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Which Kentucky team will show up Saturday?

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LEXINGTON – Which Kentucky team will show up Saturday when the football Wildcats host the Eastern Kentucky Colonels at Commonwealth Stadium (1 p.m. on WKYT-27, FPB Channel 6)?

The answer is not clear, both literally and figuratively.

Earlier this week the Wildcats had as many as eight players out with the flu, including starters Christian Johnson (offensive line), Micah Johnson (linebacker) and Alfonso Smith (running back), along with a few starters out with well documented injuries, including senior cornerback Trevard Lindley (ankle), junior running back Derrick Locke (both knees) and junior quarterback Mike Hartline (knee).

Fortunately, the above-mentioned flu guys, Johnson, Johnson and Smith, were back at practice in mid-week. Lindley is expected to be back against the Colonels, at least on a limited basis, and Hartline is making progress but is not ready to play.

“You just have to have other people step up and fill those spots,” Kentucky coach Rich Brooks said of the walking wounded on his team. “The question you don’t know is who or when they’ll be back, and who else is going to go down with them. It’s just one of those things you have to deal with.”

Mentally, the picture isn’t any clearer for the Wildcats, who laid an emotional egg in last week’s 31-24 loss to Mississippi State. That defeat leaves UK at 4-4 overall and 1-4 in the Southeastern Conference.

One would think there would be some lessons learned on the Kentucky side, and the Wildcats will be up for this game against what appears to be one of the better Eastern Kentucky teams in recent years.

The Colonels come in to Saturday’s tilt at 5-3.

The EKU game that still has the attention of the Wildcats is the Colonels’ 19-13 season-opening loss at Indiana. EKU had the ball inside the IU 5-yard-line late with a chance to possibly win that game, but the Colonels could not punch it in.

At the time you could have assumed this was just another dreadful Indiana football team, but the Hoosiers’ competitive results since in the Big 10 suggest EKU does deserve a lot of credit for that contest in Bloomington.

“We know Eastern had a chance to beat Indiana, and we know they are going to come in here ready, because a lot of those guys would have liked to play for Kentucky but didn’t get a chance,” said UK sophomore wide receiver, quarterback, running back, kick returner Randall Cobb. “So they’re going to want to come in and beat us up.”

“This is a bigger game than last week’s because we’re coming off a loss,” added UK junior defensive tackle Ricky Lumpkin. “We have four games left and we need to win two just to be bowl eligible.

“This game is not going to be easy,” Lumpkin added. “We have an Eastern team that wants to come in and embarrass us.”
This is at least close to a must win for Kentucky if the Wildcats are going to get the six wins they need to be bowl eligible. UK follows this one with a game at Vanderbilt on Nov. 14, then at Georgia on Nov. 21, closing out the regular season at home Nov. 28 against Tennessee.

“We need to win this week and keep winning,” Lumpkin said. “Otherwise it’s going to be a rough off season if we do not get to a bowl. We can put our heads down and go out and lose the next four and be home for Christmas, or we can get down, get ready and get nasty and win these next four and go somewhere warm and play a good team in a bowl game and get our fourth straight bowl win.”

The Colonels have played well defensively most of the season, and offensively, quarterback T.J. Pryor is enjoying an outstanding season. Pryor is completing 63.6 percent of his passes for 198.8 yards per game.

“I think Eastern is a very good football team,” Brooks says. “They are about three plays away from being undefeated. They are a team that is definitely dangerous, and I’m sure they are looking at this is an opportunity to come in here and make their year, if you will, and maybe their decade. So we had better play a lot more focused and better than we did a week ago.”

GAME NOTES: Saturday marks the sixth annual National College Football Day, which was started by the AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic in 2003. The holiday took on added significance in 2006 when the Classic teamed up with the V Foundation for Cancer Research to raise funds and increase awareness of the fight against cancer.

Fans are asked to make a contribution to the V Foundation this week. You can get more information at www.NationalCollegeFootballDay.com.

>A small number of tickets are available for the UK-EKU game ($35), and also for the Wildcats’ game with Tennessee ($40). Call 1-800-928-2287 or go to ukathletics.com.

>The Cat Walk is set Saturday for 10:45 a.m. by Gate One at Commonwealth Stadium.