Fueling the Florida Fire: Cats are Ready to Take Down the Gators

[caption id="attachment_141465" align="alignnone" width="500"] Z stalks Gators like he stalks Redhawks.[/caption] Brent Pease has a longstanding phenomenal interesting relationship with Kentucky football in the media. The Florida OC publicly called out Jared Lorenzen a few years back, sending out another 'interesting' message to the media today, saying he expects Kentucky to spy a defender to limit Murphy's ability to scramble. Is Pease's early week comments attempting to trick the young staff into falling for the trap by not putting a spy on the athletic Tyler Murphy? Here's what a few people had to say: Mark Stoops: "It could be maybe. We'll do what we do. They've seen us do a lot of things over the years. We're constantly trying to build on things, we've been building on things the last two or three weeks, and done some different things and we're going to continue to do that." DJ Eliot: "It doesn't change my preparation based on what he says. We've got a plan in place that we've got to execute, but we are aware of what his skills are." Avery Williamson: "Maybe so." (with a chuckle) Stopping the elusive quarterback in the read option isn't anything Za'Darius Smith or DJ Eliot are too concerned about, relying on sound disciplined assignment football to contain the beast. Moving Josh Forrest into starting Sam Linebacker could also help keep the speedster inside. Forrest's speed and length are his greatest asset, making the transition from WR on offense to defense, just like former Stoops/Eliot first round draft pick Xavier Rhodes. Pease's comments may stir the pot a little, but it gets much better. Za'Darius is geeking over his first SEC game. The caliber of a program like Florida might intimidate most, but this is Za'Darius, "It's an OK team, I'm not just going to say (that) they're all that. Hey, it's the SEC." When asked if they looked bigger/faster/stronger on tape than he expected, he said, "No they didn't, they actually looked smaller than people we already played." If that doesn't pump up the D, a 26-game losing streak might. Avery said the coaches and players have mentioned it, using the streak as a "chip on our shoulder". Avery has faith in his guys, "I think it's a very beatable game- I know it is. You have to go in with that attitude and come out with a win." The night game atmosphere at Commonwealth will be more than enough to get the juices flowing. After reading those last two paragraphs, check your pulse. Yeah, I'm ready for gameday too.   Boone's Butcher Shop Injury Report It's generally good news all around. As Drew said earlier, Max Smith had a great day of work after going a week without throwing the ball. When Donte Rumph rolled on his shoulder (the one he didn't have surgery on after Spring practice) the Cats run defense suffered without a big body in the middle. Donte practiced in full gear after sitting out a week with a bruise, saying today, "I'm back and I'm feeling great." Avery Williamson's jammed left wrist is in a precautionary cast this week after jamming it in practice. Avery hopes the nuisance will be off game-time. - Jon Gruden's unrelenting praise last night wasn't just focused on Peyton Manning. Former Wildcat Linebackers Danny Trevathan and Wesley Woodyard have become the two best defensive players on the AFC's best team. Avery Williamson grew to consistently become one of the SEC's leading tacklers under the wings of Danny T. Avery can't hide his wide smile when talking about the success of his close friends, "I'm proud of them. To see them doing such a great job and really coming along. I feel like they're some of the top linebackers in the league right now. It just shows that we do have some great talent coming out of Kentucky." Their great play proves that Avery could become a great NFL linebacker one day. To finish, Za'Darius Smith does his best Deebo impersonation on campus. [caption id="attachment_141463" align="alignnone" width="500"] (h/t @andrewfouch)[/caption]