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Tennessee defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin congratulates linebacker LaMarcus Thompson, left, and defensive end Ben Martin after a play in the Georgia game on Oct. 10.
Being an old NFL defensive coordinator himself, Kentucky coach Rich Brooks has a hunch what Monte Kiffin has been up to this week:
Cooking up trouble for the Wildcats' freshman quarterback Morgan Newton tonight.
Brooks said he expects Kiffin, UT's first-year defensive coordinator to call on his NFL roots this week,
"You see more (defensive) looks in the NFL than you do in college,'' Brooks said, "because they get to spend all day and all week coming up with schemes.
"You don't see the same blitzes and same fronts and they give you different coverages to confuse the offense. I would expect we'll get a combination of that from Monte Kiffin.
"With a rookie quarterback, you would expect we'd see some different combinations than what we've seen in the past.''
Sure enough, when asked about his defensive personnel this week, head coach Lane Kiffin declined to be specific, saying the Vols were "moving some people around.''
The Kiffins will have more bodies at their disposal this week than last.
Janzen Jackson's return at safety bolsters the secondary. LaMarcus Thompson will be back at outside linebacker after a one-week absence due to a concussion.
Marsalous Johnson (thumb surgery) might be available in the secondary for the first time this month.
Newton is making his seventh start. He took over after Mike Hartline was lost to a knee injury.
The 6-foot-4, 217-pound Newton is a true freshman from Carmel, Ind. He is completing 57.8 percent of his passes, with five touchdowns and three interceptions.
Night Football: Tennessee and Kentucky ended up under the lights before but have never kicked off at night in their long rivalry.
Under the new SEC television contracts with CBS and ESPN, night games will become common - even in late November.
"That probably makes it a little more difficult,'' said Brooks, "but it doesn't come without some pretty good financial reward for the conference, though.''
Kiffin isn't complaining, at least not much.
"Obviously, the contract is great,'' he said. "We love everything about it.
"I'm not especially excited about a 7 o'clock kickoff in 35 degrees, but other than that I think it's great.''
Stock Rising: UT tight end Luke Stocker is from Berea, Ky., and could have easily ended up playing 35 miles up I-75 at Kentucky.
Kiffin is glad he isn't. The junior has 22 catches, including four for touchdowns.
"He's a very smart kid and we ask him to do a lot,'' Kiffin said. "I think he's a potential All-America player next year.
"He's been one of the better players on the whole team.''
Tennessee Ties: Randall Cobb of Alcoa gets most of the attention - deservedly - but he isn't Kentucky's only Knox-area connection.
Kentucky has 12 Wildcats from Tennessee, including three from Knoxville.
Kicker Lones Seiber (Central) is Kentucky's all-time scoring leader with 292 points.
Senior fullback A.J. Nance (Central) is a three-time letterman.
Junior Trey Bowland (CAK) is giving up his final year of eligibility.
Kyrus Lanxter (Alcoa) has seven catches for 58 yards.
Other Streaks: UT's 24-game winning streak is the nation's longest in a major-college rivalry. Kentucky's longest winning streak in the rivalry is four games (1909-12).
The Wildcats' longest streak in the SEC era is three (1953-55 and 1957-59).
Kentucky last had back-to-back wins in 1976-77.
Tennessee had a 12-game win streak 1936-47 and an 11-game run 1965-75.
The Vols are 34-13-3 in Lexington and 16-2 in Commonwealth Stadium, which opened in 1973.
Crompton Watch: Senior quarterback Jonathan Crompton's 25 TD passes this year tie him with Heath Shuler (1993) for fourth-best in a season. Next in line is Casey Clausen's 27 in 2003.
Crompton has 18 TD passes and only three interceptions in his past seven games.
Kentucky ranks 14th nationally in pass defense, allowing 176 yards per game.
Stats: Kentucky has supplanted Tennessee as the least-penalized team in the SEC.
The Wildcats have been flagged 49 times for an average of 38.5 yards per game. After a nine-penalty (95 yards) game against Vanderbilt, UT fell to third in the conference at 57 penalties for 42.2 yards per game. Ole Miss is second.
The Cats also are tops in the league on fourth-down conversions, making 14 of 19 attempts.
© 2009, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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Comments » 22
DSmith1669 writes:
GBO!
PowerTandDD writes:
I thought Thompson had a shoulder issue rather than a concussion. He got bulldozed from the side, fell on and was not hit in the head. Must have missed something.
Dang, sure seemed like a night game in 1993. Especially when some Cat fans started throwing peanuts at us after the game that night in a restaurant. Oh yeah, I forgot we won by like 50 something to nuthin'. I do know it was nasty cold sitting in the endzone that night.
lomas98 writes:
Wasn't it a night kick off just last year. I thought it was a 6:00 game last year in Fulmers finale.
SEAL_9821 writes:
Your correct...it was. It's funny how KNS always seems to know what they are talking about.
ncvol17 writes:
Man, I have hated the Cats since 1977....both in B ball and football...
Eric_Berry_For_Heisman writes:
Whoo! I say final vols 58 cats 3
rockytopatl writes:
6 p.m. isn't quite "night." Needs to be 7 or later.
halloffamebowler writes:
Any time after dark is night to me.
tweetdriver63#346474 writes:
By definition, night starts at sunset.
steamboatticket#484773 writes:
Monte knows what Brooks knows.
1974Vol writes:
Having Jackson and Thompson back is huge and allows Monty to do some special things for the cats. Look for Brooks to load the box to keep the Vols from running it down their throats. Crompton needs to have a big day for us to win. Look for it to be a shoot out. Our D needs to make some plays INT's, sacks. I think Vols win. This team has stayed focused all year except for Ol' Miss and really I don't know what else you could expect when you get that kind of off field attention. I think Jackson being back closes that sorry chapter in Vol lore and the team gets back to playing like it did a month ago. Vols 35-21
LadyVolsEighTimes writes:
Lexington is on Central Time I think, so it will be another 6 PM kickoff,,right??
integam writes:
Lexington is in EST zone :)
fivewides writes:
Does Lane say "eckspecially"? Not to make fun or anything, just wondered if it was me.
TennCup writes:
@fivewides - No, it's not you. He must have watched Mr. Rogers' 'Land of Make Believe' as a tot. :)
OhioVol3 writes:
Haha too funny! I hate when people say this too. I though I was the only one...
tnmantravel#531151 writes:
bla...bla...bla...bla.....
Crompton Watch: Senior quarterback Jonathan Crompton's 25 TD passes this year tie him with Heath Shuler (1993) for fourth-best in a season. Next in line is Casey Clausen's 27 in 2003.
I KNOW SHULERS' "SEASON" HAD ONLY 11 GAMES, NOT 12 LIKE TODAY'S PLAYERS ALSO SHULER DID HIS "THING" IN ONLY 3 SEASONS....CLAUSEN'S TEAM PROBABLY ALSO HAD ONLY 11 GAMES IN A SEASON .....WHY NO MENTION OF THESE FACTS NS? CROMPTON HAS COME ON ADEQUATE, BUT NOT STRONG FOR HIS SENIOR SEASON, JC COULD NOT HOLD SHULER'S OR CLAUSEN'S JOCK STRAP....JUST AS QB TEBOWS "TOUCH DOWN RECORD" OVER HERSHEL WALKER...WHAT A JOKE...SERIOUSLY FANS, TEBOW IS A GREAT PLAYER, BUT WHAT HE HAS DONE TOOK THAT XTRA GAME PER SEASON ALONG WITH THE SILLY SEC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME IN 4 YEARS COMPARED TO HERSHEL'S 3 YEARS WITH 11 GAMES AND NO SILLY SEC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME (SEE GENE STALLINGS STATEMENT IN 1992 ABOUT THE FIRST SILLY SEC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME)....AGAIN QB TEBOW COULD NOT HOLD HERSHEL'S JOCK STRAP AND TO ELEVATE THESE CURRENT PLAYERS OVER SHULER, CLAUSEN AND WALKERS YESTERDAYS RECORD HOLDERS IS ABSURD AND DISGUSTING WHEN THE WRITER MAKES NO MENTION OF THESE FACTS.....
UTByrd writes:
Sure it's a night game because of the TV package. KNS needs to do a little research. CBS's SEC football package has the highest Nielson ratings over any other conference package as well as the highest viewer ratings ever for an SEC package.
If UT had this much exposure in Peyton Manning's day, he would have won the Heisman for sure. Main reason Woodson won the award was "blamed" on national, coast to coast coverage of Big Ten games.
Give credit where credit is due. Many people want to disparage Slive about referees and so soon forget the exposure he has contracted out to such a big TV package. I, for one, appreciate the amount of TV time the SEC is getting. This should help the entire conference in their recruiting battles against all other conferences.
Go VOLS!!!!!
MoTownOrangeCrush writes:
bla bla yourself, some folks will never get over the fact that Crompton has had a great year, and has done it through a lot of adversity. We are speaking of now not history.
OwensboroVol writes:
The coverage of SEC games is a lot better since Slive. The Officiating is much worse. I do appreciate the television coverage. Since I live in Kentucky as far north as you can get (We live on the Ohio River) our television originates in Indiana. The regional games back in the early 1990's would always have the Big 10 instead of the SEC. I actually went south to Nashville to be able to see the Vols play back then. Thank you to who ever got these deals in place.
Another word on the game. To the players, I don't have that much longer to live. Please go out and get these guys because I can tell you that the Natives are really getting cocky. I have had numerous folks I didn't know come up to me and tell me how the Vols were going to get stomped this year. One guy was telling me that we were better at armed robberies than playing football. So guys, take care of business. I love all of you! Go Orange!!!!!!!
REVOL writes:
I love Shuler, but Jon has had less than 2 years as a starter. Just sayin'.
Go Vols! Beat Kentucky!
CHEROKEEVOL writes:
GO VOLS!!!! 34-10
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