It’s almost game time as the Wildcats are in final preparations to earn bowl eligibility. A win over Vanderbilt today will get the Wildcats to the needed 6 wins and will help them continue their pursuit of a successful first season of Operation: Win. Derrick Locke returns, it could be Randall’s last game in Commonwealth and Hartline needs to continue his good play. But what is Joker thinking about today’s game?[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
[B]Offensive key – Get out in space:[/B] “We’ve got to make plays in space and get some of our athletes in space. If Derrick Locke plays it changes our game plan a little bit because we’ve got to try to get him out in space a little bit more. We weren’t as worried about getting those other guys out in space as much as Locke. Locke is guy who has speed and is one of the fastest guys on our football team, so you want to try to get him in space so he can make plays for you.”
[B]Defensive keys – Defend the zone-read:[/B] “You’ve got to stop the quarterback run game and their zone-run schemes and try to get them in a throw game so we can put pressure on him and make things uncomfortable for him. He likes to run a lot. They’ve done a lot of stuff to get him freed up in the run game and the one thing we’ve got to make sure we do is we’ve got to have a hat on him. They like to run those run-zone schemes and a lot of those schemes keep the ball in their quarterback’s hands. They’ll try to stay as close to that as they can even with their running back issues.”
[B]Key matchup – UK’s punt block team vs. Vandy’s punt unit:[/B] “You always want to try to go after people with our punt block team but we’ve looked at film (from the Florida game). Florida did get home a couple times with them, and we’ve got to try to go after them a little bit. Once you get one blocked, you start pressing, and usually something shows up somewhere on the second one.”
[B]Joker’s biggest concern – Vanderbilt’s defense:[/B] “I think they have as solid of a defense as anyone in the league. Statistically it doesn’t show, but I think those guys do a really, really good job of being fundamentally sound and rallying to the football and tackling people. They do a good job of tackling, so we’ve got to get our guys out in space and see if they can tackle our athletes. I really like the (Chris) Marve kid. He’s been around for a long time, but their whole defense is very, very solid and sound.”
[B]UK player that must step up – Quarterback Mike Hartline:[/B] “Mike Hartline has to have a solid game for us. He’s got to take care of the football, manage their blitz packages and he’s got to execute our offense. Him being a fifth-year senior, he’s been through a lot here. With everything he’s been through here and to bounce back, you can’t be anything but proud of the way he’s handled himself and we’re looking at him to have a big game.”
[B]Final injury report:[/B] After missing four straight games, Locke is expected to play this week. Backup tailback Raymond Sanders will more than likely get reps as well. Linebacker Qua Huzzie is doubtful with a sprained AC in his shoulder. Ronnie Sneed, who is suffering from a shoulder stinger, is expected to start at Mike linebacker.
[URL=”http://www.ukathletics.com/blog/2010/11/the-game-plan-phillips-keys-to-the-game-vanderbilt.html”]Source[/URL].
