2009 QB Preview--1 yr later

Last year, before the season began, I wrote up several profiles of the CATS for the '09 season. As the article suggests, I thought we would get moderately better at the QB position and win 9 games.

Without any other fanfare-----


HERE IT IS!!!!!!!!!

The 08 CATS thought they were going into the season with Curtis Pulley as their starting QB. Due to his off-field antics, Pulley found himself on the outside looking in, and eventually had to transfer to another school. This left the team with really only 3 options: Mike Hartline, Will Fidler, and Randall Cobb.

The team decided to put Cobb in a position to be a playmaker at an equally weak position of Wide Receiver. With only a brief appearance, at QB by Fidler and Cobb, Hartline took most of the snaps at the position and came back from a mild melt down in which he supposedly threw other team members under the bus to lead the team to a Liberty Bowl win. Fidler (3 of 4 in passing, for 26 yards, 0 touchdowns and 0 interceptions) did get exposed to the college game last season, but it looks like he is just another arm for the 7 on 7 drills.

Hartline opened the season as the starter and seemed to more of a game manager than a difference maker at the position. He seemed tentative and unsure of his physical ability to throw the ball. Consequently, other Defensive Coordinators picked up on this as well, by loading up the box to squash the running game, and daring the CATS to beat them via the pass. The Offense was not up to the challenge and saw many 3 and outs, and was highly criticized by everyone from Joe Blow to the Hacks at the 4 Letter Network.

In all candor, was Hartline to blame for all of the faults of the Offense, or was he merely a Fall Guy? Remember, Mike was to start the season as a backup, but 2 weeks prior was named the starter! Amidst dropped passes by Wide Outs, an O-Line which lost it's best drive blocker (C Johnson), lost it's best Wide Receiver to an ACL injury early in the season (D Lyons), lost it's best RB 1/2 way into the season (D Locke), lost it's starting OLT in Garry Williams for 4 games (along with other O-line injuries), he still took the team to a Bowl Game and was the MVP for that Game which was the last game of the season. This is Quite an accomplishment by UK Standards. Remember the old days when UK was a threat to no one when everyone was healthy?

Mike indeed had paltry numbers [(172/311 for 55.3%, with 1,666 yds., (9-TDs and 8-INTs)], but remember, he was our only real option! The advantages over the other players on the roster were that he knew the playbook, had practice reps, and a great coach trying to put him in positions to manage and win games while gaining experience and trying to take it to the next level.

Perception has it that Cobb was the best player on the Offense, but was he? Probably, but remember, Lyons, and Locke went down which put the CATS at a serious disadvantage to everyone. HEY, the kid did more than anyone asked or expected and in some instances was the 1 player on Offense that seemed to get it (look at how he ran off of the field like a CHAMPION at the end of the Florida game while the rest of the team hung their heads and went into a game funk from then on until 1/2 way through the Liberty Bowl!!) Make no mistake; Cobb is a REAL SEC PLAYER, the likes of which will go down in UK Lore as a legend.

The 09, incoming class, of QBs, for UK is remarkable by any college standard. UK has the kid with the 2nd strongest arm in the entire class (Mossakowski), and a kid who is talking "National Football Championships at UK" (Newton)!!! My, My, My, how times have changed in the Commonwealth!

The talk is that Moss will be redshirted for the '09 campaign to distance himself from Newton and spread out the QB wealth over an extra yr or so. Moss is recovering from surgery on his throwing shoulder and while he is throwing the pigskin, a year of having fun at UK might be good for him.

Newton brings everything that Cobb does to the table: he is very talented, has a great head on his shoulders, expects to win, will not accept losing as an option, has won, can do it, will hold everyone else accountable, and quite honestly reminds me of another freshman from last year by the name of Tyrelle Pryor from OSU. He has been travelling to Lexington for the last 6 months to watch practice, learning the playbook, and getting coached up by the Joker. How long do you think it will take him to become the starter given this head start????? If Moss does red shirt, look for Hartline to be supplanted by Newton by game 6. If Moss makes a run at it, this QB thing could get mighty interesting in Bluegrass Country.

This year, the O-line should be about the same as last yr, but slightly better in the run game, the wide outs have more depth and talent, the RB position has been upgraded talent wise, and even with a marginal improvement by Mike, the passing game should go to the next level making this years team better than last yrs edition. As stated, in another breakdown, just think what another 50 yds of passing per game would do for this team Offensively!!!!!

Overall, KY has never had this much raw talent in my lifetime at the QB position, and there are over 100 Div #1 teams which would love to have this dilemma. Additionally, we get no where by booing Hartline when he fails and openly criticizing (read in here Dogging Hartline from the Stands during games by booing) when he is doing his best to lead this team to victory. In fact, when we boo, we not only do Michael a disservice but a disservice to the team as well (YES, they do hear our boos, but they, unlike us, realize that if Joker/Rich say that Mike is DA MAN they have to support that and roll with it--read here try to win with him).

The '10 story will undoubtedly unfold completely opposite of this yrs edition of the CATS. At this point we all know who the players are or will be--MAY THE BEST MAN WIN!!!!!!