Keenan Burton

LEXINGTON - Keenan Burton, Kentucky's top receiver, was listed as "questionable" for Saturday's game by coach Rich Brooks because of a strained knee and lingering ankle problem. "We will have to see in next couple of days how he comes along," Brooks said. Burton leads UK with 44 catches for 544 yards and six scores, but in the last two games he has only seven catches for 46 yards. "Keenan is simply one of the best receivers I have ever coached. That doesn't mean he will catch X amount of balls every game," Brooks said.

HOOVER, Ala. - Vanderbilt's Earl Bennett is considered one of the best players in the Southeastern Conference and is a consensus all-conference pick at receiver. However, there is one other player in the league he would like to have on his team. "The one receiver I would like to play with would be my good friend Keenan Burton," Bennett said Thursday during the SEC media days. "I would really like to play for him. " Bennett had his chance to do that. He was recruited by Kentucky - and hosted by Burton on his official visit.

Keenan Burton kept thinking about one thing last season as he watched the University of Kentucky play. "I think with the defensive team we had last year, if we had that team when we were in school we could have competed for the SEC championship," said Burton, one of UK's all-time leading receivers who caught 13 passes for 172 yards and one score as a rookie with the St. Louis Rams last season. Burton was part of a high-powered offense his last two years at Kentucky that also featured quarterback Andre Woodson, tight end Jacob Tamme, receiver Steve Johnson and tailback Rafael Little.

Kentucky wide receiver Keenan Burton isn't satisfied with the Cats' recent climb in the polls. Burton said earlier this week that the Cats need to keep improving. The following are Burton's thoughts on being ranked. "I thought we had the potential, but you never now where you are going to be. You dream about it. We have a long way to go. I think we can get much better. We just need to keep plugging away and win the games we need to win. We need to do the little things to get better.

LEXINGTON - Kentucky will not have freshman tailback Derrick Locke, the team's second leading rusher, available when it plays Florida State in the Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl Dec. 31 in Nashville. Kentucky coach Rich Brooks noted Wednesday that Locke had injured his back last week. However, on Thursday Brooks said he had fractured a rib in practice and would not be able to play. He rushed for 521 yards on 94 carries - an average of 5.5 yards per carry - this season and led the team in rushing touchdowns with five.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) - Kentucky safety Marcus McClinton will miss the rest of the regular season with a fractured scapula, coach Rich Brooks said Tuesday. McClinton, a starter and one of the top playmakers in the Wildcats secondary, suffered the injury in a 31-14 loss to Mississippi State Saturday. Brooks said McClinton should be available to play in the team's postseason bowl game. "He made a tackle and got his shoulder knocked back and just fractured his scapula," Brooks said.

Kentucky will try to keep riding the wave of a long win streak - remember at Kentucky, three games qualifies for a long win streak - when it hosts Louisiana-Monroe Saturday. Maybe the Warhawks can challenge Kentucky, but don't count on it. And don't look for the Cats to take this game for granted because way too much is at stake. A big win for the Wildcats should assure them of doing no worse than playing in either the Music City Bowl or Liberty Bowl. A big win this week and a victory at Tennessee in the final game could upgrade that bowl choice to the Chick-fil-A in Atlanta.

LEXINGTON - Kentucky coach Rich Brooks said it best in the simplest of terms at the post-game press conference Saturday after the Wildcats beat Vanderbilt 38-26. "Keenan Burton had a career game," Brooks said. A career game indeed, and one he will most likely remember for years to come. Burton set career highs with 11 receptions and 171 yards receiving, which also included two touchdowns. "I just tried to go out there and help this team out. I didn't want to let Andre' (Woodson)

LEXINGTON - Junior tailback Rafael Little will return to Kentucky for his senior season rather than put his name into the NFL draft. The Wildcats could also learn Friday whether Keenan Burton, last season's top receiver, will be back at UK for his final year or if he will go to the NFL. "I have a lot of things to improve on," Little said Wednesday in a release from UK. "I enjoy all our coaches and my teammates. I've had a great time at UK and I'm excited about the (upcoming)

LEXINGTON - Keenan Burton, Kentucky's top receiver, was listed as "questionable" for Saturday's game by coach Rich Brooks because of a strained knee and lingering ankle problem. "We will have to see in next couple of days how he comes along," Brooks said. Burton leads UK with 44 catches for 544 yards and six scores, but in the last two games he has only seven catches for 46 yards. "Keenan is simply one of the best receivers I have ever coached. That doesn't mean he will catch X amount of balls every game," Brooks said.

As Randall Cobb gets set to embark on his National Football¿League career, he says his departure from Kentucky leaves an opportunity, not a void. The versatile Cobb was UK's leading scorer and receiver last year as well as a threat to return punts, run and even throw passes. He was also Kentucky's clear leader before opting not to return for his senior season and becoming a second-round draft pick of the Green Bay Packers. “They will replace me. This is a great opportunity for a lot of the young guys coming up that will be great players and this is the time for them to show their abilities,” said Cobb.

LEXINGTON — No matter how much Morgan Newton continues to improve this summer — and count me as one convinced he will continue to do just that — his development still could be hindered by the loss of receivers Randall Cobb and Chris Matthews as well as running back Derrick Locke off last year’s team. So will Newton have enough playmakers around him for Kentucky to have a competitive offense against Southeastern Conference opponents? “Ask me again in September and I will let you know.

LEXINGTON - Joker Phillips won't deny that Kentucky has to find a way to be a better football team next year. “We’ve got to try and take the next step. We can’t come into every season talking about how young we are. We have got to mature on and off the field. We set hard-core rules that we expect to be followed,” said Phillips. “We have got to be a disciplined and a physical team.” Kentucky earned its fifth straight bowl bid in Phillips’ first season as head coach, but lost 27-10 to Pittsburgh in the BBVA Compass Bowl to finish the season 6-7. To make matters worse, Kentucky will lose most of its top offensive players to graduation and could lose versatile all-American Randall Cobb to the NFL. Phillips said it is similar to 2007 when UK won eight games and then had Wesley Woodyard, Andre Woodson, Jacob Tamme, Steve Johnson and Keenan Burton graduate and go to the NFL. “Everybody said we would be lucky to win four games, and we won six and then won a bowl game,” Phillips said before UK’s basketball game against Auburn Monday night.

LEXINGTON — Kentucky coach Joker Phillips has done nothing to downplay the significance of Saturday’s season-opening game at Louisville, which also will be his head coaching debut, by saying it is important for his team to win. “If either team is going to have a great year, it's important to get this one. I would say momentum is the biggest thing that's come out of this game here. It's important for both teams involved that you leave this game with momentum to carry you through the rest of the season,” Phillips said.

Kentucky picked the wrong time to play Florida last season. A week after the Gators lost to Ole Miss in Gainesville, Florida rolled to a 63-5 win over the Wildcats. Although the top-ranked Gators remained undefeated at 3-0 following a 23-13 win over Tennessee last week, Kentucky coach Rich Brooks expects the same reaction from Florida that dealt his team a beating last year. "It seems like we always get them when they're mad," Kentucky coach Rich Brooks said during his weekly press conference Monday at Wildcat Den. "Last year we got them after they were beaten by Ole Miss.

LEXINGTON ? Trevard Lindley is different from many star cornerbacks in the Southeastern Conference in that he doesn't spend hours pouring over film of opposing receivers. "I watch a little film, but I usually rely on my instincts and try to read them and see what they are doing. That's the main thing. I just try to play them tough," said Lindley. "You play a good player every week. I have played some good ones, but almost every team has good receivers. You just play good guys every week and that makes you get better.

LEXINGTON ? Trevard Lindley is different from many star cornerbacks in the Southeastern Conference in that he doesn't spend hours pouring over film of opposing receivers. "I watch a little film, but I usually rely on my instincts and try to read them and see what they are doing. That's the main thing. I just try to play them tough," said Lindley. "You play a good player every week. I have played some good ones, but almost every team has good receivers. You just play good guys every week and that makes you get better.

Keenan Burton kept thinking about one thing last season as he watched the University of Kentucky play. "I think with the defensive team we had last year, if we had that team when we were in school we could have competed for the SEC championship," said Burton, one of UK's all-time leading receivers who caught 13 passes for 172 yards and one score as a rookie with the St. Louis Rams last season. Burton was part of a high-powered offense his last two years at Kentucky that also featured quarterback Andre Woodson, tight end Jacob Tamme, receiver Steve Johnson and tailback Rafael Little.

LEXINGTON - He's earned a National Football League paycheck for one year and based on the way he played for the Denver Broncos, Wesley Woodyard could be getting NFL money for many more years. However, the former University of Kentucky linebacker says the NFL money can never make him forget his four years at UK. "The money is one thing, but I always love Kentucky," said Woodyard, who was back here last week to work camps for Dennis Johnson at UK and former teammate Keenan Burton in Louisville.

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.