(H-L photo/Pablo Alcala)
Big Blue Links:
- Chip Cosby of the Herald-Leader: “Kentucky football coach Joker Phillips made it no secret that he needed to see an efficient passing game out of his team this spring. Quarterback Morgan Newton has done his part. The junior-to-be has looked sharp throwing the ball this spring, and he put his improved arm on display in the Blue-White Spring Game on Saturday by throwing for 256 yards and three touchdowns.”
- John Clay of the Herald-Leader: “Kentucky football fans are worried. The Kentucky football coach is excited. Kentucky football fans have low expectations. The Kentucky football coach thinks his team can be a contender for the Southeastern Conference championship next season. ‘Why not?’ said Joker Phillips on Saturday, he being the football coach in question, after his team finished spring drills with its annual Blue-White Spring Game.”
- Brett Dawson of the Courier-Journal: “Receivers dropped at least eight passes, many by the first-teamers who comprised the White team. The Blue team, made up of reserves, started the game with a 14-0 lead and won on Joe Mansour’s line-drive 38-yard field goal with 47 seconds left in the fourth quarter. But even with drops from receivers on both sides, Phillips saw some promising play from White team quarterback Morgan Newton – the Cats’ probable starter in the fall – and the Blue’s Maxwell Smith.”
- Larry Vaught of the Danville Advocate-Messenger: “His best receivers dropped too many passes, his starting defense didn’t make as many plays as possibly expected and there were other mental mistakes that Kentucky coach Joker Phillips did not like. Still, when Saturday’s Blue-White Game ended with the Blue (second and third teams) winning 31-28 on a 38-yard Joe Mansour field goal with 47 seconds to play (and after being spotted a 14-0 lead to start the game), Phillips had far loftier expectations for the 2011 season than most others will have.”
- Mark Maloney of the Herald-Leader: “The slide is over. Thomas McCarthy drew a bases-loaded walk to cap a two-run ninth-inning rally as Kentucky edged Arkansas 3-2 in the opener of a Southeastern Conference doubleheader at Cliff Hagan Stadium. Kentucky snapped losing streaks of four games overall and 12 straight in SEC play.”
- Jerry Tipton of the Herald-Leader: “In the fall semester of 2010, UK’s men’s basketball team compiled a better grade-point average than six of the other seven Southeastern Conference programs that shared their GPA information. Only Alabama bested Kentucky, and just barely: 2.83 to 2.824. Kentucky’s GPA of 2.824 marked a dramatic improvement from the first two semesters under Coach John Calipari. Those GPAs were 2.018 (fall of 2009) and 2.225 (spring of 2010), each the worst for any of UK’s sports teams.”
- Steve Jones of Rivals: “Adams, who raced out of the locker room shortly after the scrimmage to play in UK’s evening baseball game, made seven catches for 121 yards and two touchdowns. Adams, a 6-foot-4, 224-pound sophomore, has been mentioned repeatedly by Phillips throughout the spring as a potential breakout player for the Cats. Adams was sharp despite participating in only about a third of UK’s spring football practices because of his baseball obligations.”
- Eric Lindsey of Cat Scratches: “Adams, a two-way star for the Kentucky football and baseball teams, made his best Bo Jackson impersonation Saturday, playing in both the annual Blue/White Game and the nightcap of a UK’s baseball game with Arkansas before the rain washed it out. The sophomore from Gainesville, Ga., has known since the beginning of spring that this day was coming. When football coach Joker Phillips and baseball coach Gary Henderson decided a month ago that they would allow Adams to play both sports, they decided they’d give him the shot to play both games in one day on April 23.
- Ethan Levine of the Kentucky Kernel: “On a gloomy day in Lexington, the sun came out for just a moment as the UK football team took the field for the first time since Jaunuary for their annual Blue vs. White intrasquad scrimmage. In a new format, the starters on both offense and defense suited up for the White team, with the reserves suiting up for the Blue team and being spotted a 14-0 lead to start the game. Blue held on to defeat White by a final score of 31-28 courtesy of a Joe Mansour 38-yard field goal with under a minute to play. The game was quarterback Morgan Newton’s first opportunity to command the first team offense in front of Big Blue Nation, which brought a crowd of approximately 4,000 fans to Commonwealth Stadium for the game. Newton completed 23-44 passes for 256 yards and three touchdowns on the afternoon with just one interception.”
- Bleed Blue Kentucky: “I thought the running backs looked good today. Raymond Sanders tweaked his knee before the game, but still ran well. Based on my interview with Steve Pardue, Sanders will be the No 1 RB in the fall. He is the most versitile back and Pardue mentioned he didn’t fumble all spring. The staff has confidence in him. Jon George ran the ball hard. It appears he will be the back up running back. Brandon Gainer was injured and will be fine. CoShik Williams looked good at times. Remember, he wasn’t running behind the first team offensive line. Coach Pardue made it clear he wants to take a hard look at the freshmen running backs coming in this summer. He feels these guys may be able to come in and compete. Joker emphasized in his post game presser that it’s easier for guys to come in and play early at the skill positions.”
