Florida

LEXINGTON - There's no reason for any finger pointing on the Kentucky football team. "When you lose that bad, you can't just point a finger. There's not enough fingers to point when you play like that," said Kentucky junior running back Alfonso Smith. "We just have to come back and prove we are not that bad a team. We are better than that, but we have to show it now. "If we can win out, we can still have a great season and everybody will forget this. We will get the focus back on the future, not the past.

David Ridge of Danville got all 10 games right and edged Ray Young of Parksville, who also had 10 games correct, on the tiebreaker to win last week's Central Kentucky Plumbing Beat the Experts Football Contest. Ridge wins a $10 Marathon gas card for being the top entry among 163 contestants. Entry blank for this week's contest is on Page B3 of today's Advocate-Messenger. Richie Lyons and Larry Vaught both had eight correct choices, but Lyons led the panel of experts with the best tiebreaker score of Florida's win over Tennessee.

LEXINGTON - Jacob Tamme doesn't have time to be hurt. The University of Kentucky senior tight end had a boot on his left ankle on Monday, but he insisted he would be ready for Saturday's game here against Mississippi State. "I don't even know exactly what it (the injury) is, but I will play Saturday," said Tamme. The former Boyle County standout says it is a "toe, foot, ankle deal" that he hurt last week before UK lost to Florida that is bothering him. "By the weekend, though, it will be great.

LEXINGTON - Jacob Tamme doesn't have time to be hurt. The University of Kentucky senior tight end had a boot on his left ankle on Monday, but he insisted he would be ready for Saturday's game here against Mississippi State. "I don't even know exactly what it (the injury) is, but I will play Saturday," said Tamme. The former Boyle County standout says it is a "toe, foot, ankle deal" that he hurt last week before UK lost to Florida that is bothering him. "By the weekend, though, it will be great.

LEXINGTON - Jacob Tamme doesn't have time to be hurt.The University of Kentucky senior tight end had a boot on his left ankle on Monday, but he insisted he would be ready for Saturday's game here against Mississippi State. "I don't even know exactly what it (the injury) is, but I will play Saturday," said Tamme. The former Boyle County standout says it is a "toe, foot, ankle deal" that he hurt last week before UK lost to Florida that is bothering him. "By the weekend, though, it will be great.

LEXINGTON — Stacey Poole is waiting his turn.   Poole’s playing time has been limited this season playing behind Brandon Knight and Doron Lamb, but the freshman guard is garnering plenty of experience playing behind his two freshman classmates. “It makes me better going up against those guys every day,” Poole said following the Wildcats’ 78-54 win over Auburn earlier this week at Rupp Arena. “In practice we just go hard against each other.

LEXINGTON — Vanderbilt has won only two games this year, won’t be going to a bowl game and comes into Saturday’s game to face a Kentucky team decimated by injuries on offense. Yet Kentucky coach Joker Phillips says the Commodores are no more dangerous than any other opponent, even though one way they can salvage something from their season is by possibly ruining the Wildcats’ bowl hopes. “In this league, they're all dangerous. Every time you line up in this league, they're all dangerous, from top to bottom.

LEXINGTON — Getting dropped to No. 3 on the depth chart when Kentucky went to Florida to play was a bitter blow to sophomore tailback Donald Russell, a Florida native. However, two weeks after his demotion, he got his chance again to show what he could do and responded with nine carries for 32 yards and two catches for 19 yards in last week’s 37-34 loss to Auburn. With starter Derrick Locke’s status for this Saturday’s game against No. 10 South Carolina in limbo because of a shoulder injury, Russell could get a chance to shine once again.

LEXINGTON - He's struggling from 3-point range and played a season-low 17 minutes in Saturday's win over Auburn. Yet Kentucky freshman Archie Goodwin insisted Monday that he could not wait for tonight's game at No. 7 Florida. “I love playing big games. These are the type of games that I feel like I was made for and I know this team's made for. I feel like we're going to go out there and get a win,” said Goodwin. He still leads the Wildcats in scoring at 14.2 points per game, but in Southeastern Conference play he's averaging just 12 points per game and hitting only 36.8 percent from the field.