Music City Bowl preview
During the first three years of Rich Brooks? tenure at Kentucky, the Wildcats limped to an abysmal 9-25 record. Going into the 2006 campaign, this space had Brooks listed toward the top of the list of hot-seat coaches.
Well, we never hesitate to admit when we?re wrong. And we couldn?t have possibly been more wrong about Brooks at UK. He has made football relevant in Lexington. He has made Kentucky a respectable program in an SEC division that features powerhouses like Florida, Tennessee and Georgia.
Most telling, Brooks has Kentucky (7-5 straight up, 6-6 against the spread) going bowling for a fourth straight season. Not only that, but the Wildcats are seeking a fourth straight win in the postseason.
The first came against Clemson in the 2006 Music City Bowl when UK captured a 28-20 win as a 10 ?-point underdog, hooking up money-line backers with a monster plus-400 return (risk $100 to win $400). At that time, UK had not won a bowl game in 22 years.
Since then, Kentucky has beaten FSU 35-28 at the 20007 Music City Bowl and knocked off East Carolina 25-19 in last year?s Liberty Bowl. Now the ?Cats will come full circle by returning to Nashville once again for the Music City Bowl to face Clemson -- again.
Kickoff is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. Eastern at LP Field with ESPN providing television coverage.
Clemson (8-5 SU, 8-5 ATS) limps into Music City off of back-to-back losses. First, the Tigers took woodshed treatment at South Carolina, as the Gamecocks stroked the Tigers 34-17 as three-point home underdogs. Next, Dabo Swinney?s team went to its first ACC Championship Game, only to drop a 39-34 decision to Ga. Tech as a one-point underdog.
Clemson senior running back C.J. Spiller ran for 233 yards and four touchdowns on 20 carries, but it wasn?t enough for the Tigers, who gave up a 15-yard TD run to Jonathan Dwyer with just 1:20 left in the fourth quarter. QB Kyle Parker threw for just 91 yards and was intercepted twice without throwing a TD pass.
Spiller carried his team all year, rushing for 1,145 yards and 11 touchdowns while averaging 5.7 yards per carry. The Lake City, FL., product also had 33 receptions for 445 yards and four TDs. Spiller is also a monster threat on special teams, so much so that many schools elect to simply kick it out of bounds.
Can you blame them? Spiller owns the NCAA record with seven kick returns for touchdowns.
Although Parker didn?t play well in the ACC title game, he had a solid season nonetheless. The sophomore, who also plays baseball for the Tigers, threw for 2,385 yards with a 19/12 touchdown-interception ratio.
Jacoby Ford is Parker?s favorite target, hauling in 53 receptions for 735 yards and five touchdowns. Michael Palmer emerged as the No. 2 WR, bringing down 41 catches for 468 yards and four TDs.
Like Spiller has done it all for Clemson, sophomore Randall Cobb has been Kentucky?s dynamic playmaker. Cobb is UK?s second-leading rusher and leading receiver. He has 37 receptions for 427 yards and four TD grabs, in addition to 84 rushes for 537 yards and 10 TDs. Cobb averages 6.4 YPC and also has a punt return for a TD.
UK?s ground attack is led by junior Derrick Locke, who has 844 rushing yards and six touchdowns. Locke is averaging 4.7 YPC.
Junior QB Mike Hartline was the starter before injuries caused him to miss late October and most of November. Hartline, who has a 6/7 TD-INT ratio and 802 passing yards, is healthy again and expected to start. Freshman Morgan Newton (5/3 TD-INT) has also seen a bunch of playing time but is now banged up. Cobb lines up at QB often as well, but mostly in Wildcat type formations.
UK went 3-3 ATS in six underdog spots, winning outright twice (at Auburn and at Georgia). Clemson own a 4-2 spread record in six games as a single-digit favorite.
--These schools also met in the 1993 Peach Bowl in Atlanta. Clemson captured a 14-13 win, but UK took the cash as a 2 ?-point underdog.
--When former Clemson head coach Tommy Bowden signed Willy Korn as his prize recruit of the 2007 class, it was considered a huge find. Most recruitniks had Korn as the nation?s premier dual/threat athlete. However, things have not worked out for Korn at Clemson. The third-year sophomore played sparingly this season, completing 12-of-17 passes for 90 yards and one touchdown. Korn has decided to transfer but will continue practicing with the team and be available vs. Kentucky. He?ll graduate at Clemson in May of 2010 and then transfer to a school where he?ll have two years of eligibility remaining.
--Brooks tweeted on Christmas Day that UK?s players were attending Friday?s Chargers-Titans game.
--Cobb has been responsible for 24 touchdowns in just two short years at UK, but he wasn?t able to play in the bowl game last year against ECU due to a knee injury. "And I can't wait to play this time," Cobb told CatsPause.com. "I'm pretty excited to say the least."
--If you missed it last week, Florida will be without WR/return man Brandon James in the Sugar Bowl. James was injured against Alabama and had season-ending foot surgery. The senior goes down as the best return man in UF history, shredding the record books for both punt and kick-return yardage. Look for the Gators to use Jeff Demps and Chris Rainey on returns against Cincinnati.
During the first three years of Rich Brooks? tenure at Kentucky, the Wildcats limped to an abysmal 9-25 record. Going into the 2006 campaign, this space had Brooks listed toward the top of the list of hot-seat coaches.
Well, we never hesitate to admit when we?re wrong. And we couldn?t have possibly been more wrong about Brooks at UK. He has made football relevant in Lexington. He has made Kentucky a respectable program in an SEC division that features powerhouses like Florida, Tennessee and Georgia.
Most telling, Brooks has Kentucky (7-5 straight up, 6-6 against the spread) going bowling for a fourth straight season. Not only that, but the Wildcats are seeking a fourth straight win in the postseason.
The first came against Clemson in the 2006 Music City Bowl when UK captured a 28-20 win as a 10 ?-point underdog, hooking up money-line backers with a monster plus-400 return (risk $100 to win $400). At that time, UK had not won a bowl game in 22 years.
Since then, Kentucky has beaten FSU 35-28 at the 20007 Music City Bowl and knocked off East Carolina 25-19 in last year?s Liberty Bowl. Now the ?Cats will come full circle by returning to Nashville once again for the Music City Bowl to face Clemson -- again.
Kickoff is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. Eastern at LP Field with ESPN providing television coverage.
Clemson (8-5 SU, 8-5 ATS) limps into Music City off of back-to-back losses. First, the Tigers took woodshed treatment at South Carolina, as the Gamecocks stroked the Tigers 34-17 as three-point home underdogs. Next, Dabo Swinney?s team went to its first ACC Championship Game, only to drop a 39-34 decision to Ga. Tech as a one-point underdog.
Clemson senior running back C.J. Spiller ran for 233 yards and four touchdowns on 20 carries, but it wasn?t enough for the Tigers, who gave up a 15-yard TD run to Jonathan Dwyer with just 1:20 left in the fourth quarter. QB Kyle Parker threw for just 91 yards and was intercepted twice without throwing a TD pass.
Spiller carried his team all year, rushing for 1,145 yards and 11 touchdowns while averaging 5.7 yards per carry. The Lake City, FL., product also had 33 receptions for 445 yards and four TDs. Spiller is also a monster threat on special teams, so much so that many schools elect to simply kick it out of bounds.
Can you blame them? Spiller owns the NCAA record with seven kick returns for touchdowns.
Although Parker didn?t play well in the ACC title game, he had a solid season nonetheless. The sophomore, who also plays baseball for the Tigers, threw for 2,385 yards with a 19/12 touchdown-interception ratio.
Jacoby Ford is Parker?s favorite target, hauling in 53 receptions for 735 yards and five touchdowns. Michael Palmer emerged as the No. 2 WR, bringing down 41 catches for 468 yards and four TDs.
Like Spiller has done it all for Clemson, sophomore Randall Cobb has been Kentucky?s dynamic playmaker. Cobb is UK?s second-leading rusher and leading receiver. He has 37 receptions for 427 yards and four TD grabs, in addition to 84 rushes for 537 yards and 10 TDs. Cobb averages 6.4 YPC and also has a punt return for a TD.
UK?s ground attack is led by junior Derrick Locke, who has 844 rushing yards and six touchdowns. Locke is averaging 4.7 YPC.
Junior QB Mike Hartline was the starter before injuries caused him to miss late October and most of November. Hartline, who has a 6/7 TD-INT ratio and 802 passing yards, is healthy again and expected to start. Freshman Morgan Newton (5/3 TD-INT) has also seen a bunch of playing time but is now banged up. Cobb lines up at QB often as well, but mostly in Wildcat type formations.
UK went 3-3 ATS in six underdog spots, winning outright twice (at Auburn and at Georgia). Clemson own a 4-2 spread record in six games as a single-digit favorite.
--These schools also met in the 1993 Peach Bowl in Atlanta. Clemson captured a 14-13 win, but UK took the cash as a 2 ?-point underdog.
--When former Clemson head coach Tommy Bowden signed Willy Korn as his prize recruit of the 2007 class, it was considered a huge find. Most recruitniks had Korn as the nation?s premier dual/threat athlete. However, things have not worked out for Korn at Clemson. The third-year sophomore played sparingly this season, completing 12-of-17 passes for 90 yards and one touchdown. Korn has decided to transfer but will continue practicing with the team and be available vs. Kentucky. He?ll graduate at Clemson in May of 2010 and then transfer to a school where he?ll have two years of eligibility remaining.
--Brooks tweeted on Christmas Day that UK?s players were attending Friday?s Chargers-Titans game.
--Cobb has been responsible for 24 touchdowns in just two short years at UK, but he wasn?t able to play in the bowl game last year against ECU due to a knee injury. "And I can't wait to play this time," Cobb told CatsPause.com. "I'm pretty excited to say the least."
--If you missed it last week, Florida will be without WR/return man Brandon James in the Sugar Bowl. James was injured against Alabama and had season-ending foot surgery. The senior goes down as the best return man in UF history, shredding the record books for both punt and kick-return yardage. Look for the Gators to use Jeff Demps and Chris Rainey on returns against Cincinnati.
