2007 Kentucky Wildcats College Football Predictions & Season Preview


June 5, 2008 | Posted By Larry Cook

The Kentucky Wildcats return 17 starters this season and will be led by their offense in a big way. The Wildcats return their deepest and most talented set of skill players since Tim Couch was at the helm nearly a decade ago. Senior quarterback Andre Woodson had a breakthrough 2006 season by completing 63 percent of his passes for 3,515 yards. Even better was his 31 touchdowns to 7 interceptions ratio. His is in line for an even stronger senior season with the weapons he has.

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Kentucky returns most of their other key components that produced the SEC’s best passing attack last season. Senior receiver Keenan Burton led the league in touchdown grabs and junior Dicky Lyons made teams pay for doubling Burton with 50 catches for 822 yards and an impressive nine touchdowns. Receiver Steve Johnson came on late last year while tight end Jacob Tamme earned first-team All-SEC honors.

Senior running back Rafael Little come back after gaining 1,405 all-purpose yards despite missing four games with a knee injury. Little has dazzling moves in the open field and is a dangerous receiving threat out of the backfield with 89 career catches. Just like many other teams in this conference, their biggest question mark is the offensive line. Left tackle Garry Williams and left guard Christian Johnson are the only two returning starters. Johnson sat out the spring to focus on academics, so he could be a little rusty heading into fall ball.

Steve Brown has the daunting task of trying to improve a defense that ranked near the bottom of Division I-A rankings. The Wildcats ranked 99th in scoring, 108th in rushing, 118th in passing and 118th in total defense last season. The Wildcats have struggle heavily in containing the power running attacks that the SEC features. The defense does return 8 starters, but needs to improve mightily up front. Junior tackle Myron Pryor is coming off a good campaign with 6.5 tackles for loss and 5 sacks last year. He will be joined by promising sophomore Corey Peters. Jeremy Jarmon emerged late in the year as a solid pass-rusher and should me improved in his sophomore season.

The Wilcats return all three starters at linebacker and this group of players will have to become strong leaders on the defensive side of the ball. All-SEC selection Wesley Woodyard returns on the weak side for his senior season. Braxton Kelley mans the middle and will be teamed with Johnny Williams, also a junior, on the other side. The secondary is in shape to be the most improved bunch on this defense. Sophomore cornerback Trevard Lindley turned out to be a solid find last year and the Wildcats welcome back veteran safeties in Roger Williams and Marcus McClinton.

The Wildcats will have to work hard to earn another bowl bid in 2007. They were a group of overachievers with an 8-5 record. Their +15 turnover margin that ranked 2nd in the country will need to be a repeat performance. Kentucky’s schedule is very manageable with games at Arkansas and at Georgia being their only really tough road games. Teams won’t be overlooking the Wildcats this season after beating Clemson and Georgia late in the 2006 season. Look for the Wildcats to pull off a few upsets and become bowl eligible while riding their dangerous offense.

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