Advertisement

UK Football: Play-action schemes worry Brooks

November 06, 2008|Larry Vaught/Danville Advocate Messenger

LEXINGTON - Kentucky coach Rich Brooks fondly remembers the previous two years when his Wildcats could use the effective running of Rafael Little to set up big play-action passes by quarterback Andre Woodson.

Now he sees that same big-play capability from Georgia thanks to running back Knowshon Moreno and quarterback Matt Stafford.

"They are a running team that throws well off the play-action. They pound you with power plays and then they fake those and your linebackers and safeties are up in there (at the line)," Brooks said. "Their running game is better than ours was a year ago, but that is kind of what happened with our offense the previous two years.

"We ran well enough that we play-action passed very well. Georgia right now is one of the best teams in college football at that combination."

Brooks says it also helps that the Bulldogs have two "big-time receivers" in freshman A.J. Green (44 catches for 753 yards and five scores) and senior Mohamed Massaquio (33 catches for 478 yards and four scores).

Advertisement

"Stafford can drill it on a dead rope, too. That is why they are so good," Brooks said.

Moreno, a sophomore, needs only 10 rushing yards in Saturday's game to reach the 1,000-yard mark for the second straight season.

"They will test us physically. Moreno is arguably the best back in the league. He is a major, major factor," Brooks said. "They have had injuries in their line, but you can't tell it by watching them play."

Stafford, 24-6 as a starter, has thrown for 6,483 yards and 38 scores in three seasons. However, Kentucky (6-3, 2-3 SEC) did beat the Bulldogs 24-20 here two years ago in a game that prompted UK fans to tear down the goal posts.

"He is obviously a different guy. He is more experienced," Brooks said of Stafford. "He had a strong arm, but he was not as comfortable reading coverages as he is now. He is very accurate. He can buy time with his feet and hurt you with his feet. He is clearly one of the top two or three quarterbacks in our league."

Still, the Bulldogs were overwhelmed in last week's 49-10 loss to Florida. Yet Brooks and Georgia coach Mark Richt both say the loss was not as one-sided as the score shows.

"Florida is on another level. They are just playing good football. Georgia moved the ball, but they could not run on Florida as well as they everybody else," Brooks said. "They have a lot of weapons. They rolled up a lot of points on LSU's defense (earlier in the season).

"We just have to get ready to play our best game of the year. We have to get better on offense and have to score more points. They have great speed on defense. Their defense has been stingy. We have to play better than we have to have a chance to win this game."

Richt said key turnovers and missed opportunities doomed his team against Florida. But he says Kentucky's defense is no pushover, either.

"Our offensive staff was saying how veteran and physical UK's defense is. It is all seniors and juniors. They are very, very big up front not only at the line but at the linebacker positions," the Georgia coach said. "It's going to be quite a challenge I would think."

However, he sees no reason for the Bulldogs (7-2, 4-2 SEC) to have a letdown even though they likely can't win the Southeastern Conference Eastern Division after going into the season as the nation's No. 1 team in several polls.

"I don't think anybody feels good about it (the loss to Florida). It is a matter of feeling kind of sick and having to get back to work and hopefully winning a ballgame," Richt said. "We are still going to fight. Our main goal is to get back in the win column."

Brooks' goal remains for Kentucky to finish strong and add to its bowl credentials. The Wildcats' win over Georgia two years ago vaulted them into the Music City Bowl, but Brooks says that win was just part of the building process for his team.

"I don't know how significant the win over Georgia two years ago was. This team over the last three years has been doing a lot of firsts," Brooks said. "I think Georgia was a step in that direction. It was significant because we beat a team we hadn't beaten in a while. There are still a lot of teams like that out there and still a lot of things we can do to make this year special."

Central Kentucky News Articles
|
|
|