Derek Abney

One former University of Kentucky player who can appreciate everything Randall Cobb has done in his three years at UK is Derek Abney. Like Cobb, Abney was a first-team all-America selection as an all-purpose player his junior season, when he led the Southeastern Conference and ranked 11th nationally in all-purpose yardage with 151.8 yards per game. He finished his four-year Kentucky career with seven NCAA records, 11 SEC records and 14 school records for kick returns and all-purpose yardage while becoming the first player in NCAA history to accumulate 2,000 yards receiving, 2,000 kickoff return yards and 1,000 punt return yards.

LEXINGTON - Kentucky receiver Derek Abney had to leave practice early Monday after slightly injuring his hamstring. UK coach Rich Brooks said he did not think Abney's injury was serious and that it should not present long-term problems. Brooks said Abney, who earned All-America honors as a kick returner in 2002, will be held out of practice for the next few days to evaluate the injury. Kentucky started two-a-day workouts today in preparation for the Aug. 31 opener against Louisville.

LEXINGTON - Notes from Kentucky's 28-6 loss to Tennessee Saturday: Kicker Taylor Begley of Boyle County hit two field goals and finished the year 12-for-15 despite missing a 43-yard try in the second quarter that stopped his streak of nine consecutive successful kicks. He finished with 226 points, third on UK's all-time scoring list, and 36 field goals, second on Kentucky's all-time list. Twenty-five UK seniors were honored before the game. They included Begley and running back Andrew Hopewell of Danville, who missed his last season because of an injury.

LEXINGTON - Kentucky's non-stop practice routine might be taking a toll on the Wildcats. Receiver Tommy Cook joined Kentucky's top returning receiver, Derek Abney, on the sideline for Wednesday's practice session. Abney pulled a hamstring muscle Monday and is being held out of practice as a precautionary measure. First-year coach Rich Brooks said he's not sure when Abney will return to practice. "We just are not going to take any chances with him," Brooks said. "It could be three days, 10 days or the week of the Louisville game.

LEXINGTON - Derek Abney's record-setting punt return wouldn't have been possible without a little help from his friends. Abney returned a punt 80 yards for the touchdown that gave Kentucky the lead and gave him a share of an NCAA record. It was his first return for a touchdown this season and his eighth career kick return for a score, which ties an NCAA record. He also broke the Southeastern Conference record with his fifth career punt return touchdown. A series of good blocks left Abney in the clear until he neared the 10-yard line, where teammate Earven Flowers had wrapped up the last potential tackler, Mississippi State's David Heard.

During his official visit to the University of Kentucky earlier this month, California junior college receiver Scott Mitchell got to spend time with UK sophomore receiver Glenn Holt Jr. "The main thing I got from him was that he believed in the system. He thought if they could get a few more guys in, they could make a move up. It was real with him and that helped me," Mitchell said. The Mount San Antonio College product signed with the Wildcats Wednesday and will join defensive end Cedric Kroger and tight end Jamir Davis, junior college players who also signed with UK this week, at Kentucky next month.

LEXINGTON ? Kentucky assistant coach Steve Ortmayer is not the least bit surprised that Jacob Tamme seems to have found a home with the Indianapolis Colts. "Jacob was a very fundamental player. He was a drill, fundamental player. Despite the fact that sometimes he doesn't look like the smoothest guy in the world executing what he does, he knows what to do fundamentally and that has really helped him," said Ortmayer, UK's tight ends and special teams coach. "I think he can last a long time in the league.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Considering the question marks Kentucky's offense has going into this season, coach Rich Brooks seems extremely optimistic about his team's potential. "I think you will see more variety in our offense," Brooks said Tuesday night during a speech to the Birmingham UK Alumni Club. "We threw the ball fairly well at times last year, but we did not run the ball well and we did not consistently move the (first down) chain. This year we should be more versatile. " Here's why Brooks expects the offense to be more productive despite losing three starting offensive linemen, quarterback Jared Lorenzen and leading receiver Derek Abney off last year's 4-8 team: Quarterback Shane Boyd . "I think Shane will bring a totally different dimension to our offense that can break down defenses," Brooks said.

LEXINGTON - Coach Rich Brooks remembers the way Kentucky football fans embraced quarterback Jared Lorenzen and receiver Derek Abney when he took over the UK program. Many fans were livid when they felt Ron Hudson, the offensive coordinator Brooks hired away from Kansas State, failed to utilize their offensive skills the way former coaches Hal Mumme and Guy Morriss had. Hudson eventually lost his job - and Brooks may have almost lost his last year when the Cats finished with just three wins.

It would be easy to blame one ill-advised pass by Jared Lorenzen for enabling Florida to pull out a dramatic 24-21 win over Kentucky Saturday. However, blaming Lorenzen's interception for the loss would be as wrong as thinking Kentucky is cursed when it comes to football. The Cats had a 21-16 lead when Lorenzen was about to be sacked late in the game. Instead of taking the loss, Lorenzen tried to scramble away and throw a pass to Derek Abney. It's something he's done successfully numerous times during his UK career.

Derek Abney earned all-American honors at Kentucky because of his versatility as a receiver and kick/punt returner. He had 197 career catches for 2,339 yards and 18 scores and returned 95 kicks for 2,315 yards and two more scores in his four-year career that ended in 2002. He still closely follows UK¿football and shared his observations on UK¿receivers going into the season-opening game against Western Kentucky on Thursday: Question: How hard is it for a new receiving star to emerge after the loss of a player like Randall Cobb along with Chris Matthews, the No. 2 receiver last year?

One former University of Kentucky player who can appreciate everything Randall Cobb has done in his three years at UK is Derek Abney. Like Cobb, Abney was a first-team all-America selection as an all-purpose player his junior season, when he led the Southeastern Conference and ranked 11th nationally in all-purpose yardage with 151.8 yards per game. He finished his four-year Kentucky career with seven NCAA records, 11 SEC records and 14 school records for kick returns and all-purpose yardage while becoming the first player in NCAA history to accumulate 2,000 yards receiving, 2,000 kickoff return yards and 1,000 punt return yards.

LEXINGTON ? Kentucky assistant coach Steve Ortmayer is not the least bit surprised that Jacob Tamme seems to have found a home with the Indianapolis Colts. "Jacob was a very fundamental player. He was a drill, fundamental player. Despite the fact that sometimes he doesn't look like the smoothest guy in the world executing what he does, he knows what to do fundamentally and that has really helped him," said Ortmayer, UK's tight ends and special teams coach. "I think he can last a long time in the league.

LEXINGTON -- Junior safety Ashton Cobb missed Saturday's 41-3 win over Western Kentucky because he was suspended from the university over a legal issue. "Apparently he has a hearing on Monday and that's all I want to say about it tonight," said Kentucky coach Rich Brooks. Cobb had eight tackles and one assist in UK's first three games and returned a fumble 28 yards for a touchdown in the season-opening win over Louisville. However, he had lost his starting job to Matt Lentz earlier in the week before his legal woes sidelined him. While Brooks would offer no other comment, teammates indicated he was in trouble because of threatening comments he made to another student.

LEXINGTON - Coach Rich Brooks remembers the way Kentucky football fans embraced quarterback Jared Lorenzen and receiver Derek Abney when he took over the UK program. Many fans were livid when they felt Ron Hudson, the offensive coordinator Brooks hired away from Kansas State, failed to utilize their offensive skills the way former coaches Hal Mumme and Guy Morriss had. Hudson eventually lost his job - and Brooks may have almost lost his last year when the Cats finished with just three wins.

LEXINGTON - Coach Rich Brooks remembers the way Kentucky football fans embraced quarterback Jared Lorenzen and receiver Derek Abney when he took over the UK program. Many fans were livid when they felt Ron Hudson, the offensive coordinator Brooks hired away from Kansas State, failed to utilize their offensive skills the way former coaches Hal Mumme and Guy Morriss had. Hudson eventually lost his job - and Brooks may have almost lost his last year when the Cats finished with just three wins.

Tony Franklin wasn't always willing to admit he wanted the opportunity to coach college football again, especially when he wasn't sure if he would ever get the chance. However, Franklin always knew if given the right circumstances, he wanted to coach again. Finally, he has that chance. The former University of Kentucky offensive coordinator (1998-2000) now has the same role at Troy University. He started his new job this week and is looking forward to trying to revitalize an offense that ranked 109th or lower in total offense in Division I-A the last three years.

LEXINGTON - Notes from Kentucky's 28-6 loss to Tennessee Saturday: Kicker Taylor Begley of Boyle County hit two field goals and finished the year 12-for-15 despite missing a 43-yard try in the second quarter that stopped his streak of nine consecutive successful kicks. He finished with 226 points, third on UK's all-time scoring list, and 36 field goals, second on Kentucky's all-time list. Twenty-five UK seniors were honored before the game. They included Begley and running back Andrew Hopewell of Danville, who missed his last season because of an injury.

There's never an easy way to say good-bye to a friend, but perhaps my last memory of Jeff Gillstrap is as close to perfect as it ever could be. The 44-year-old Gillstrap died Sunday night of a massive heart attack about 32 hours after I had seen him for the last time at a University of Kentucky football practice. Gillstrap was a member of the WLAP (630 AM) sports family that I've also been part of the last few years. He was on WLAP each Sunday from 9 a.m.-noon with Ryan Lemond of WLEX-TV, spent at least one night each week co-hosting the call-in show with Jim Tirey from 6-8 p.m., and was a part of the station's pregame and postgame Kentucky football and basketball coverage.

Country music singer Eddie Montgomery of Montgomery Gentry loves Kentucky athletics and shares his thoughts in a question-and-answer with sports editor Larry Vaught: 1. How do you keep up with the Kentucky football and basketball teams? "I talk to people back home all the time. I read The Advocate-Messenger. Any way I can find to get information, I do it. We watch the games on satellite if we are not working. If the bus is not parked where the satellite will pick up the games, then we move the bus to where we can watch.