&7i& (fate'
Oscar Combs
[Continued From Page 3]
Durham. This time, Durham will need more than a few tricks to get a first division finish.
Fighting to escape the cellar will be Vanderbilt, Ole Miss and Mississippi State.
Those of you who are concerned about Kentucky having to face a seven-game league schedule in football after next year will be happy to learn that there may be some relief to that crisis but it won't come before 1992.
UK athletics director Cliff Hagan says the
Nick Nicholas
[Continued From Page 10]
their positions well. Having not one but two consistent and well-groomed units is a necessity for Kentucky. "Our offensive line is pretty solid this year," said Prince, "and should be solid next
year."
Why Improvement? The Answer: Team Unity
In UK's first four games everyone from Wildcat fans, coaches and players have been pleased with the offensive line's performance. Prior to this season, Kentucky returned only one starter from its '85 offensive line. Why the sudden improvement?
One reason could be togetherness. This is a unit who hangs around together, does things together, and works as a group together.
"It's not that we really plan things to do together but it's something that just happens," said Prince. "It's kind of funny. There's an espirit de corps; we've all been together for a while. Pfeifer and Kunkel are new guys but Kenny Lange, Truck (Brad Myers) and Dermontti Dawson have been together. We've had to work together and everyone has a good sence of humor which has to help, too.
"It really keeps you going."
Hanging around his offensive line buddies is something Prince enjoys doing. Even though he is married, the Mayfield product still finds time each week to visit and check up on his teammates at UK's football dorm. A couple of his teammates even helped Joe and his wife move into their house.
"The most pleasing thing right now" said Sheridan, "are their work habits and the closeness of the offensive line. They hang around together and they want to be good; they push each other. Their approach to every weektaking each game week by week, has been the biggest plus so far."
Attitude, according to Sheridan, has led to team unity which in turn has helped rebuild the line into a respectable group. It can keep a player in the weight room an extra hour. A positive attitude can make a player want to learn all of his assignments. Good, solid attitude, thus is a big part of football.
It has also worked wonders for Kentucky's offensive line. Now, they're not only big SEC linemen but they're improved SEC linemen.
"They've gotten the mental aspect (of football) better than we had anticipated," Sheridan said. "We don't have too many assignment breakdowns, which is a big thing for an offensive line. There are so many fronts, changes, stunts, and so many things that you have to pick up in a changing situation. . They've done a great job as far as that's concerned."
"We earn our respect with each other by working with each other," said Prince.
Todd Hallum
[Continued From Page 21]
hardship) but Lucas' football career comes to an end because of ligament damage to his right knee.
Far too often we, as media and football fans, enjoy all of the benefits which college football offers but forget what a cruel and punishing game it can be. Kentucky not only lost its best blocking tight end but a person who had overcome three previous operationsankle, knee and back. Following the UC contest he faced his fourth test under the knife.
Despite all the injuries Lucas always made an attempt to come back with aspirations of making a contribution to the squad. He along with only a handful of other players were the first corp of recruits brought in during the Jerry Claiborne era which had endured the wrath of an 0-10-1 season.
Nobody can describe the hurt of having your dreamsshattered during a final season than Matt Lucas himself. The feelings that raced through his mind on that fateful day in UK's locker room at Riverfront Stadium must have been brutal for anyone to endure. Afterall, his strenuous preparation for a football season had now gone by the wayside. Then again, maybe it was fate which ended Lucas' career.
True, other Wildcat players have suffered severe injuries. A couple of prime examples are running back Mark Higgs and linebacker Larry Smith. But Matt Lucas' situation is different.
This was the fourth time he had been severely injured in a football game.
So, what does this mean? Well, in a sport such as football a total team effort from all the players on the field and on the sidelines is vital to a winning squad. Sure, Matt Lucas won't be throwing a key block to spring a back or catch a pass during a crucial situation, but his presence on the sidelines should not be forgetten. Nor, for that matter, should it be forgotten for any player.
Matt Lucas tried to recover from all the operations because of his love of the game and for his teammates. Hopefully, we all can acknowledge that for any team to win there is a price to pay and too often players are sacrificed in the process.
When a team enjoys a successful season, maybe people will remember, not only the players on the field, but the ones off the field as well.
league's ADs recently discussed moving from a 4-3 scheduling to a 3^ in 1992.
We'll try to explain the situation.
Currently, each school in the conference has a 4-2 card with five "set" opponents which appear on the school's football schedule each fall. Another game is rotated among the remaining four teams. Right now, UK's five set opponents are LSU, Georgia. Florida, Vanderbilt and Tennessee. The floating opponents are Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Auburn and Alabama. Each team comes on the schedule for a two-year period, home and away.
Year after next, the league switches to a 4-3 set. Four will be permanent and three floating.
What Hagan and other ADs want is a 3-4 system where there will be three permanent and four floating teams. Hagan says that would allow fans at all schools to see all SEC opponents more frequently.
If the proposals should eventually be adopted, Kentucky most likely would drop both Florida and LSU from the permanent ranks as the yearly foes would then be Tennessee, Vanderbilt and Georgia. The remaining four conference games would be rotated among Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Florida and LSU.
Hagan says the proposal makes a lot of sense because the scheduling would take into account long driving distances for fans as opponents would be matched with geography in mind.
It would also mean that each SEC school's fans would have the opportunity to see every SEC team at least once every four years instead of the current situation which brings Alabama and Auburn to Lexington only once
every eight years.
FIRST AND TENS . . . Linebacker Larry Smith played only one series in the second half before he suffered a concussion and went to the sidelines during the 33-13 loss to Ole Miss. Otherwise, UK came out of the game virtually injury-free. Smith was expected back on the practice field Monday . . . While Kenny Walker became cover material during his Kentucky days, national magazines are looking elsewhere these days. However, Dick Vitale's Basketball split its regional cover with UK's James Blackmon and Louisville's Pervis Ellison The headline on Blackmon is, "The Wildcats' James Blackmon: Will this be his year?" . . . Vitale's magazine also picked the nation's top 25 basketball programs, listing North Carolina, Kentucky, Louisville, Indiana and Georgetown in order. Carolina had grades of "A" in all five categories. UK enjoyed four "A's" and two "B's". Louisville had five "A's" and one "C". That "C" grade will probably ruffle as many feathers in Louisville as Tom Brookshire's remarks a few years ago. Vitale's yearbook commented on UL academcis: "The university says 80 percent of (Denny) Crum's players have graduated, but only seven of 17 have earned degrees since 1980 and none of the seniors from last year's NCAA championship team have graduated yet." Concerning Kentucky, the yearbook says Sutton has proven his coaching ability by virtue of his job this past winter, but that he is yet to prove he can recruit, now that Leonard Hamilton has left UK. For that reason, Sutton was given a "B" rating for offcourt coaching.
James Blackmon Makes Vitale's Regional Cover
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