John Clay’s Sidelines

Micah Johnson talks to the media. (Photo by John Clay)

Bonus note: UK’s Sept 26 game with Florida has been picked up by ESPN2 and will start at 6 p.m.

Five things that stuck out from the UK football press luncheon earlier today:

• 1. Asked about changes in the Louisville offense, UK coach Rich Brooks remarked on the Cardinals’ use of a “moving pocket” during U of L’s less-than-stellar 30-10 win over a putrid Indiana State on Sept. 5. (Indiana State lost 31-0 to Eastern Illinois this past Saturday.) In other words, U of L quarterback Justin Burke executed quite a few roll-out passes in the Louisville win. The idea there is to avoid the rush, a smart tactic considering the inexperience of the Louisville offensive line. The strategy works if Burke can throw the ball on the run. Meanwhile, Kentucky’s pass rush was nothing to write home about in the Cats’ 42-0 win over Miami on the same day. A moving pocket might make it tougher for the home team to pressure the Louisville quarterback.

• 2. Brooks’ voice climbed an octave or two when talking about Kentucky’s kickoff coverage. “Did you see the Georgia-South Carolina game on Saturday?” he asked. That SEC tilt was filled with long kickoff returns. The past few years, Kentucky had Tim Masthay booming the ball into the end zone. No more. Brooks said UK’s kickoff coverage was good against Miami, but the competition will be much better this Saturday.

• 3. I asked Brooks if he had to go back and look at Utah State tape, what with former USU coach Brent Guy now serving as Louisville’s defensive coordinator. Yes, the Cats did eyeball Utah State tape. But Brooks said he thought the Indiana State tape would be more helpful because, though Louisville probably didn’t want to show too much, it included the current personnel groupings.

• 4. Wide receiver Kyrus Lanxter could miss Saturday’s game with a hamstring pull. It shows the upgrade in receiver at UK that Lanxter’s absence would not be too big a blow.

• 5. Micah Johnson pointed out that if Kentucky wins Saturday, he will have gone 3-1 against U of L. Compare that to the 2006 senior class, which was 0-4 against the Cards.

Justin Burke (Photo by John Clay)

The Courier-Journal reports that former Lexington Catholic star Justin Burke has been named starting quarterback at Louisville, Cards’ coach Steve Kragthorpe announced after practice.

Burke started his collegiate career at North Carolina State, but transferred to Louisville after his redshirt freshman season. He sat out last season because of the transfer.

Burke beat out junior college transfer Andam Froman, who has missed time with a back problem.

Burke threw for a state-record 62 touchdowns his senior year at Lexington Catholic.