Saturday, November 17, 2001
UK thinking upset vs. UT
Cats, Lorenzen coming off best game of season
The Associated Press
LEXINGTON, Ky. — On paper, Kentucky doesn't seem to have much of a chance to beat No.6 Tennessee.
The Wildcats (2-7, 1-6 Southeastern Conference) haven't beaten the Volunteers since 1984 and rank near the bottom of the conference standings with victories over only Ball State and Vanderbilt.
Kentucky's players, however, won't allow themselves to focus on past failures.
“If you're going to think like that, why even play the game?” junior running back Artose Pinner said. “There's always upsets around the country. What do those teams have that we don't have?”
Kentucky does have several reasons to be optimistic.
The Wildcats played one of their best games of the season in last week's 56-30 drubbing of Vanderbilt, racking up 583 yards and forcing three key turnovers. The victory snapped a six-game losing streak this season and a 15-game conference skid dating to 1999.
Sophomore quarterback Jared Lorenzen, who was benched early in the season but regained the starting job several weeks ago, finally seems to have found a rhythm, throwing for 453 yards and a career-high six touchdowns without an interception against the Commodores.
Kentucky also knows that Tennessee (7-1, 4-1) could be looking ahead to its regular-season finale against No.4 Florida on Dec. 1.
“We're overdue for a big win like this,” senior defensive tackle Derrick Johnson said. “It seems like we've been cursed for a while.”
“We were doing everything right, working hard. But you get tired of people saying, "Hey, at least you're playing hard.' That doesn't put any money in the bank. We got one win (last week), now we need a huge win.”
Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer knows his squad, which has outscored the Wildcats 515-172 since 1990, can't afford a letdown against a Kentucky team out to prove something.
“All our attention is turned to Kentucky,” Fulmer said. “They've played very well the last four games against Georgia, LSU, Mississippi State and Vanderbilt.
“They have our attention. Our focus and attention has to be solely on them.”
Tennessee has had little trouble with Kentucky in recent years. The Vols have won 16 straight since the Wildcats beat them 17-12 in Knoxville to end the 1984 season.
Like past seasons, this year's Tennessee team has a multitude of offensive weapons.
— Sophomore quarterback Casey Clausen had his sixth consecutive 200-yard passing game in last week's 49-28 victory over Memphis. He has completed better than 60 percent of his passes in six of the Vols' last seven games with 12 touchdowns and six interceptions.
— Senior tailback Travis Stephens — who leads the SEC in rushing with 1,057 yards — posted his sixth 100-plus yard game of the season against Memphis, rushing 20 times for 124 yards.
— Junior wideout Donte Stallworth celebrated his birthday with a career-high 142 yards and a school-record tying three touchdowns against Memphis. Limited to only five games because of injury, Stallworth still has caught 20 balls for 385 yards and six TDs.
“Things don't change a whole lot down there,” Johnson said. “As soon as one group of talented players leaves, there's another waiting to take its place. It's been like that for longer than I can remember.”
As much as his squad has improved over the past several weeks, Kentucky coach Guy Morriss knows how big a challenge it will face just to stay in the game on Saturday.
“We'll have to play our best football game of the season, and that means eliminating penalties and turnovers and flying around the field with a lot of emotion.
“We have to give a great effort. That's about all we can ask them to do. After that, we'll just have to see what happens.”
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