Kentucky brings up the rear as last SEC team to conduct spring game

By David Moorman  |   Tuesday, April 28, 2009  |  Comments( 1 )

College Football
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Maybe it was fitting that Kentucky held the Southeastern Conference’s last spring game this past weekend. After all, the Wildcats did finish last in the Eastern Division in 2008.

What’s more, the game attracted 20,200, which was the second-lowest figure in a league that averaged 37,936 per spring game.

Then again, Kentucky’s number represented the second-largest spring crowd in school history. And what it saw was a competitive game in a regular-season format with the Blue team edging the White team, 28-23. The Blue team jumped out to a 21-0 first-half and held off the hard-charging White team.

Blue quarterback Will Fidler completed just 10-of-24 passes for 110 yards, but two went for touchdowns, including a 26-yarder to Randall Cobb -- who lled all receivers with four catches for 70 yards.

Senior running back Moncell Allen was the Blue team’s leading rusher with 16 carries for 96 yards. Redshirt freshman Coshik Williams began the second scoring drive with an 8-yard run and capped it with a 4-yard touchdown run. He finished with 56 yards on seven carries.

White running back Alfonso Smith led his team both in rushing and receiving. He carried 18 times for 67 yards and caught three passes for 54 yards.

White quarterback Mike Hartline completed 17-of-33 passes for 208 yards and two touchdowns but was sacked four times.

Blue linebackers Danny Trevathan and Micah Johnson each had a game-high 11 tackles. Sophomore defensive end Chandler Burden recorded two sacks. White linebacker Sam Maxwell finished with a team-high six tackles.

ON THE ROAD TO RECOVERY: Florida redshirt sophomore quarterback John Brantley underwent successful surgery to correct a chronic tendonitis problem in his right ankle. Brantley is expected to make a full recovery in time for the start of preseason practice in August.

In nine games last year, Brantley completed 18-of-28 passes for 235 yards and three touchdowns with one interception.

Brantley’s surgery followed Florida’s trip to the East Room of the White House to meet with President Barack Obama. Florida was invited to take part in a ceremony honoring the 2008 BCS national champions.

GETTING TO KNOW YOU: It’s unlikely the well-traveled Nick Saban, 57, will be coaching Alabama in 2016 and 2017, but if so, Saban will face one of his former teams in Michigan State.

As for Alabama, it will be the first time the Crimson Tide will have met Michigan State. The two schools recently agreed to a home-and-home series that will bring Michigan State to Tuscaloosa on Sept. 3, 2016, and send Alabama to East Lansing on Sept. 2, 2017.

Saban was Michigan State’s head coach from 1995-1999 before spending the next five years in the same capacity at LSU of the SEC. Saban’s Alabama team has split a pair of games with LSU and will play host to the Tigers on Nov. 7.
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About David Moorman

Dave Moormann is an award-winning journalist, who has covered LSU athletics since 1980. He began his coverage with the Baton Rouge Advocate, where he was a writer and editor from 1980-98. In 1996, he authored a book on the history of LSU football entitled, "Fighting Tigers Handbook: Stories, Stats ...
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