xt731z41s00p https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt731z41s00p/data/mets.xml Wildcat News Company 1985 Volume 10 -- Number 8 athletic publications  English Wildcat News Company Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. The Cats' Pause UKAW University of Kentucky Men's Basketball (1985-1986) coaches Sutton, Eddie players Hall, Joe B. NCAA violations athletics directors Hagan, Cliff WHAS Claiborne, Jerry University of Kentucky Football (1985) statistics schedules Cats' Pause Combs, Oscar The Cats' Pause,  "November 2, 1985" text The Cats' Pause,  "November 2, 1985" 1985 2012 true xt731z41s00p section xt731z41s00p Questions Arise Around Kentucky's Basketball Program
Georgia Deals Wildcats Second Straight SEC Setback
Uhivewlty ArcHv^^,^ CfN7S pR CQpy Margaret I. King Library -" North University of Kenfeeky
"SPOTLIGHTING UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY AND SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE
25590
cr. c o c
n o a;* u * 
r > m
2 BCD
m m >o
Z *N H ?-> \C
m 2 o
r c
a*-xio
no
VOLUME 10 - NUMBER 7
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 1985
LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY &7i& (oats' bourne-
	M
	
PUBLICATION NO. USPS 707.140 Published By WILDCAT NEWS COMPANY P.O.Box 7297 Lexington, Kentucky 40522 Second Class Postage Paid at Lexington, Kentucky 40511 and additional Mailing offices
Editor and Publisher
OSCAR L. COMBS
Staff Writer NICK NICHOLAS
Staff Writer TODD HALLUM National Recruiting Columnist BOB GIBBONS Columnist LARRY VAUGHT '
Columnist BOB WATKINS
Columnist JIM GRIESCH Columnist MEL HOLBROOK
Columnist STAN TORGERSON Columnist DICKY BEAL Kentucky Basketball Recruiting RICK BOLUS Contributing Columnist
JAMIE VAUGHT Sport Hobby Columnist JACK MAIDEN Business Manager DONNA COMBS Composition Coordinator DON COFFEY Staff Photographer GARY CROMWELL Circulation Coordinator
WANDA HOOKER Crossword Puzzle Editor DAN KRUECKEBERG
Published Weekly: Sept. 14-April 12 Monthly: May. June, July. August
Advertising Representative WILDCAT NEWS COMPANY  2625 Regency Road Lexington. Kentucky 40503
Subscription Price $25.00 per year in USA $35.00 per year in Canada Phone:(606)278-3474
Postmaster: Send Address Changes to THE CATS' PAUSE,P.O. Box 7297, Lexington, Kentucky 40522
Herald-Leader Says UK Basketball Filled With NCAA Violations
University of Kentucky officials are conducting an intensive and wide-ranging investigation into the UK basketball program according to UK vice-president Ray Hornback.
In an afternoon news conference at UK Sunday, Hornback said UK has been investigating the program since it first learned of an investigative story being compiled by the Lexington Herald-Leader October 9. The article appeared in the Lexington newspaper in a copyrighted story Sunday as the first part of a two-part series. The Monday segment dealt with problems concerning athletics and cheating on the national scene and did not involve UK directly.
The H-L reported Sunday that 26 former UK players said that they received cash payments from boosters during the last 13 years. A total of 31 former players were quoted by the newspaper as saying they knew of improper activities while they were playing. They cited gifts, free meals and free clothing.
According to the articles, payments ranged from S20 to $4,000 or more and included fees for speaking engagements above the normal expenses permitted by the NCAA.
Some of the players were quoted as saying they received "$100 handshakes" in Rupp Arena locker room after basketball games, were given as much as $500 on visits to boosters' homes and offices and sold their free season tickets for $1,000 or more each.
Hornback, in his statement, said UK would take action to correct any violations, if indeed an investigation should show any wrongdoing.
Joe B. Hall, head coach during the time when the alleged violations occurred, was in California for a speaking engagement and could not be reached for comment.
In a statement given to the Herald-Leader and published in connection with the investigation, Hall said, "during my tenure I established internal controls to monitor relationships between players and fans. Players were advised, both orally and in writing, of NCAA regulations." Hall said he had no personal knowledge of any rules being violated.
New coach Eddie Sutton also released a statement, saying he had no involvement in anything which may have happened at Kentucky prior to his becoming head coach in April. The com-
plete text of Sutton's statement is printed elsewhere in TCP this week.
Some of the allegations made by the Herald-Leader in the copyrighted story are:
Kyle Macy saying he accepted up to $150 per speech for speaking engagements in the spring and that he made as many as eight sometimes. Macy, who played at UK on the 1978 championship team was quoted as saying, "the title put on it was expenses, but really it was just a payment."
Contacted Sunday, Macy denied the claim, saying he only received payment in the form of expenses, and nothing else. Others, including Sam Bowie, reportedly told the Herald-Leader that players received up to $500 for speaking engagements and other public appearances.
NCAA regulations say players may received only "actual and necessary expenses" for speaking engagements and other public appearances, the Herald-Leader said in its story.
Former Wildcat Dirk Minniefield said he found himself holding a $50 bill a "couple of times" after shaking hands with booster Elmer Prewitt, a physican from Corbin. in the UK locker room, according to the H-L. The newspaper said three other players also said they received as much as $100 at a time in handshakes from Prewitt.
One of the players, Jay Shidler, said Prewit gave him money in the locker room "probably a half dozen times" according to the H-L.
Prewitt emphatically denied the accusation, saying "that's against the rules. I'm too smart for that. My support has been in counseling and this sort of thing. I don't deal in money."
Shidler also reportedly said he made $8,400 during his UK playing career by selling his free tickets to Cecil Dunn, who is a close personal friend of Hall's. The H-L said Dunn refused to be interviewed and he declined to make any comments to other reporters Sunday.
Former Kentucky player Scott Courts reportedly told the H-L that Lexington developer Don Webb was his "sugar daddy" and gave him "a couple" of gifts, the largest of which was $500. The article quoted Courts as saying that he was first introduced to Webb by Hall and that UK assistant Leonard Hamilton told Courts he could receive financial help from Webb if he ever needed it. The article went on to say that
Reaction Includes Bomb Threat At H-L Newspaper
Reaction to the Lexington Herald-Leader's investigative story concerning improprieties in the University of Kentucky basketball program has ranged from strong statements of denial from ex-players quoted in the article to people canceling their H-L subscriptions to a false bomb threat at the newspaper's offices Monday afternoon.
According to one report, all employees of the Herald-Leader have been instructed by company officials not to comment to any outside media person about the stories or the reactions to the story. Sometime Monday afternoon, a false bomb threat was reported at the newspaper. The building was evacuated for about a half-hour.
Numerous people quoted in the article told reporters of other newspapers, radio stations and television stations of unethical reporting tactics, misquotes and quotes taken out of context by the two reporters assigned to the story.
Some of those who said they were either not quoted accurately or their quotes were taken out of context were Kyle Macy, Jim Master, Dicky Beal, Scott Courts, and Melvin Turpin. Turpin said there was no truth at all to the quotes attributed to him in the article. He was quoted by the H-L as saying he was through with Kentucky basketball and that he did not speak to assistant Leonard Hamilton any more because UK did not do things for him that people did for other players. Sunday, Turpin said he considers Hamilton a very close friend and that he still visits Hamilton and his family at their home often in Lexington.
Although it could not be confirmed, there were reports from some media people that cancellation of subscriptions to the Lexington newspaper were running at a record rate Sunday and Monday.
Courts once went to Hamilton for help and Hamilton told him to contact Webb.
"If that's what they say I said, then that's not exactly what I meant to say," Courts told the Louisville Courier-Journal Sunday in a telephone interview. "Leonard Hamilton never advised me to go to anyone for money. The things they said I said about Mr. Webb were completely misconstrued. Hey, I didn't even play. This happened 10 years ago, and my coming to Kentucky was the greatest experience of my life."
Freddie Cowan, a forward in the late seventies and early eighties, allegedly told the H-L that Eastern Kentucky coal operator Maynard Hogg gave him "a couple hundred dollars . . . anytime I wanted it." Cowan was also quoted as saying, "I don't want to get into details, because you know and I know it was illegal."
In the original story, Hogg was quoted by the H-L as saying that the money represented deferred payments from Cowan's summer job with Hogg's coal company.
Minniefield, now with the Cleveland Cavaliers, challenged the stories in an interview with The Courier-Journal, saying, "they put a lot of words in my mouth. I didn't say any of those things; never said anything about things I received myself."
The H-L story said Minniefield received half of his salary from a summer job in the summer and the other half at Christmas. He worked for International Spike Inc. of Lexington during the summer.
Minniefield denied he received deferred payments in an interview with the C-J, saying, "1 was always paid for my summer job completely in the summertime. People at Kentucky never saw me driving a big fancy car or walking around with $400 or $500 in my pocket because I didn't have those things. I never got any money for speaking engagements, except for expenses. They came to me trying to put words in my mouth, and I never said I did those things."
James Lee told one reporter that he did tell the reporters that he received money for speaking engagements, but that he emphasized that the speeches were made after the final game of his senior year.
Cowan supposedly received free suits of clothes and money from Hogg according to the H-L. The story said he received 10 suits from Hogg. From Japan, where he is playing ball, Cowan said, "evidently they just misquoted me. I didn't say nothing like that at all. I'd rather not say any more. I'd rather wait and talk to the university or to the NCAA."
Macy was very vocal in his denial to the charges. He said he did admit that he accepted receiving one $50 gift from a booster after the 1978 championship game, from a booster he could not identify. "That shocked me," Macy told one reporter Sunday, "because I knew it was illegal, and I made sure it didn't happen again. I never got another payment." He also claimed he wasmisquoted.
The H-L also quoted players as saying they regularly received free meals at restaurants in Lexington, including Cliff Hagan's Ribeye. Some players were quoted as saying they would receive the meals anytime they wanted them by simply signing their name. Later, several of the players said the only time they receive a free meal, they were forced by Hall to go back and pay for it.
Cliff Hagan, UK's athletics director who is a 25 percent stockholder in the restaurant, said he had no knowledge of any UK athlete receiving free meals at the restaurant (which would
[Continued On Page 7] Program Headed For Investigation?
Kentucky's football team may have lost a 26-6 decision to Georgia last Saturday, but the hardest news which hit the University of Kentucky scene last week was a five-page long expose surrounding the UK basketball program in the Sunday edition of the Lexington Herald-Leader.
The investigative two-part series covered a wide range of allegations and took a period of some seven months by a pair of Herald-Leader news reporters. The articles dealt with alleged ticket scalping of players' tickets to players receiving various sums of cash from UK supporters to alleged set-ups involving a UK assistant coach.
Reaction to the article was fast and furious with several players claiming they were either misquoted or their statements were taken out of context.
University officials held a news conference late Sunday, said they were aware of the investigative reporting for the past few weeks and that UK is conducting its own in-house investigation. The statement said UK plans to cooperate fully with NCAA and SEC officials and that if violations are found, corrective action will be taken immediately.
The accusations were many. The newspaper said 26 former players admitted to accepting cash during the past thirteen years, that the money ranged from $20 in cash gifts to as much as $4,000 for players' season tickets. Many of the alleged incidents would be in violation of NCAA rules, if they in fact did occur.
In the same two-part series, the newspaper said it found no wrong-doing in UK's recruiting over the years.
Exactly where UK basketball goes from here is unknown. Unless swift action and documentation can be accomplished within the next few days, Eddie Sutton's first full recruiting season most likely will be in serious jeopardy. Sutton pointed out that none of the alleged incidents, whether true or not. happened since he had become head coach in April.
One person close to the UK athletics scene said he would be surprised if the University administration doesn't act very, very quickly on the allegations. Quite honestly, the UK administration must be embarrassed for having placed Sutton in this situation, having not informed him of the on-going investigation when he was hired back in April. The investigation had started about a month earlier.
What action will UK take?
That's difficult to say until the University can determine what is truth and what is fiction. With the exception of just a few principals, most of those mentioned in the article are now claiming they were either misquoted or are denying the charges all together. It will first be up to UK, and then other appropriate officials to determine who is telling the truth.
One would be sticking his head in the sand, however, to think that nothing has occurred with the charges being so numerous. Whether the violations were of minor or major nature is the big question to be answered.
You'll read elsewhere in this issue of some of the detailed events the H-L story published. After the story appeared, numerous people denied their involvement and claimed they were misquoted. Sunday, H-L editor John Carroll said his newspaper stands ready to defend the stories. Carroll was quoted in The Louisville Courier-Journal, "We anticipated that there would be a great deal of pressure on these former players once the story appeared. That's the reason we j
took the unusual step of extensively tape-recording our interviews. And we can document everything that's in the stories." Why the stories?
Again, Carroll said he expected to receive some public criticism so the Herald-Leader took the offensive before the stories even hit the streets. In a column opposite the editiorial page in the same Sunday issue, Carroll said the newspaper undertook the project and published the story because it felt a state university should not be teaching athletes to disobey laws and condone the type of activity which allegedly is going on at UK.
In addition to a probable NCAA investigation, UK's most pressing concern will be to determine if any current players were or are involved since many of the players mentioned in the article have played on teams with current players.
The University says some changes have already been made such as eliminating boosters from going into the UK locker room after games, that no boosters will be allowed at Wildcat Lodge and that other measures are be-
Courts. Sunday evening, he told reporters that he was misquoted, that Hamilton never told him to see Lexington businessman Don Webb for money. He told reporters if he said Webb gave him money, that wasn't what he meant to say.
The bottom line on this whole story should be an effort by the University to get all the facts together and determine if there was any wrongdoing and if there was. to what extent the violations were. Then, hopefully, UK would take swift and affirmative action to return the program to the status that Kentucky basketball has been known for throughout its long and successful history.
More next week on this highly controversial subject.
UK's sound beating at the hands of Georgia put the football Wildcats on the ropes for the remainder of the season. What started out as a banner year with high expectactions for a postseason bowl got off to a rocky start with an upset loss to Bowling Green.
Hornback Announces Investigation
ing considered. Although no one is admitting any wrongdoing of any kind, the sudden change of policy in those two areas indicate that UK officials feel that previous policies were not conducive to preventing situations which allegedly happened in past years.
Even more difficult during this time is to speculate about the potential implications from the story. On one hand you have a large number of former players allegedly admitting to accepting money, no matter how small. Some are quick to point out that such favors are not unique at almost any major college. The point is well taken, but one must remember that two wrongs a right does not make.
Far more damaging and incriminating are the alleged incidents where players' tickets were scalped, allegedly sometimes for thousands of dollars. And the accusation that a Kentucky assistant help set up a player for money favors from a Lexington businessman was immediately refuted by the player who allegedly made the accusation. No one involved in either incident has admitted to any of the charges brought by two former players in the article.
In the other incident dealing with the UK assistant, Leonard Hamilton, the player quoted in the Herald-Leader was former Wildcat Scott
Kentucky's hopes perked up with four straight wins, but optimism fell apart with back-to-back losses to LSU and Georgia, just like last season. Again, UK will have to finish strong down the stretch.
Wins over East Tennessee State and Vander-bilt are a must. More importantly, it will take more than just mere wins, they must be very impressive victories. Then, UK must defeat either Florida or Tennessee to have a shot at any kind of post season action.
It won't be easy. Other than ETSU, the remaining three foes are all better than a year ago. Kentucky won't have any trouble with ETSU, but after this week, it'll be a dogfight all the way to the finish line.
***
Two weeks ago there was some praise in this column for the great work turned in by UK's offensive line. Apparently, we spoke too quickly. Either the offensive line is not playing up to its ability or they were playing over their head against the likes of Clemson and Mississippi State.
We'd like to think the Wildcat offensive line is better than its showed the past couple Saturdays. Even if the line plays well against East
Tennessee State Saturday, the true tests will be the following three weekends.
As is the case so often, offensive linemen aren't noticed unless they are not doing their job. Often they resent the lack of attention when the running backs are getting all the praise for 100-yard games. I can't blame them. And then when the running game stalls, all the finger-pointing is directed to guess who?, the linemen.
But this Wildcat offensive linemen have been given their share of credit last season and this year when it was earned. And they've earned a share of the criticism with other members of the offensive team the past couple weeks. And they'll be complimented when they began performing their task again, hopefully starting Saturday.
FIRST AND TENS ... The recruiting of Trigg County sensation Al Baker is beginning to really heat up with most every major college in the nation after the services of perhaps the finest Kentucky prep player in history. The Louisville Courier-Journal published a full-page feature on the bruising runner Sunday and he gave his views about Kentucky and Louisville. Supporters of neither school will be happy with his impressions. Baker, first of all said it was important for him to go to a school where he could play right off the bat and play for a winner. He went on to say that he had not seen Louisville play this season, that UL is in the midst of a building program, indicating that it would probably be some time before UL would become accustom to winning ways. His views on UK weren't much better, noting that playing behind the Mark boys, Higgs and Logan, could mean he would learn some valuable lessons, but those lessons would probably be taken on the bench, a place he'd rather not spend a great deal of time. Putting in strong pitches almost daily are the big boys from Michigan and Ohio State. If Baker thinks he'll have trouble getting in playing time early in Kentucky, he'd better look over the Big Ten powers' rosters very, very carefully . . . Much of the talk around the Kentucky campus the past couple days over the Lexington Herald-Leader investigative story has people wondering about the Louisville Courier-Journal. During the 1983-84 season, a CJ&T reporter spent the entire season following the Wildcats, including special permission to be inside the UK locker room before, during the halftime and after the games during the entire season while writing a book called "Tracking The Cats." The book, which went on sell shortly after the season's finale game in Seattle, was publicized as a documented "inside" story on everything that happened behind the scenes. None of the sensationalized tidbits in the Lexington Herald-Leader story Sunday was mentioned in the book. The CJ&T reporter, Glenn Rutherford, and photographer Ken Weaver could end up being crucial witnesses during the next few months . . . According to sources out of the NCAA headquarters in Shawnee Mission, Kansas, the NCAA isn't likely to become involved in the UK situation very soon unless some of the allegations involve current players. As a rule, the NCAA doesn't jump off one of its current cases unless current players are involved. Also, the NCAA also usually waits until a university has had a chance to conduct its own investigation and report its findings to the NCAA. &7i& (oats' &auA&
Kentucky Gets Clipped
Between The Hedges 6-6
By Willie Hiatt
Somehow, Ivy Joe Hunter's touchdown run early in the fourth quarter Saturday afternoon at Sanford Stadium only called attention to the Wildcats' lack of offense.
That one-yard run by UK's tailback turned out to be the Wildcats' only score of the game, which saw Kentucky squander scoring chance after scoring as it lost 26-6 to the Georgia Bulldogs.
The loss, UK's second-straight in Southeastern Conference play, dropped the Wildcats to 4-3 overall and 1-2 in the SEC. Georgia is now 5-1-1 and 2-1-1.
"We're having a hard time making a play that will get the offense's adrenaline flowing and get them excited," UK coach Jerry Claiborne said after the game. "We had a tough time moving the ball and Georgia's defense just did an excellent job against us. We came up with some big plays defensively. . .but we didn't take advantage of them."
The Bulldog defense did in fact hold Kentucky to a mere 36 yards rushing, after the four sacks for 47 yards were factored in. Those figures include sophomore tailback Mark Higgs' 12 carries for only 35 yards and junior Mark Logan's 20 yards on eight carries.
"I'm pleased with the play of our quarterbacks and all of our running backs," Georgia coach Vince Dooley said. "But I think the big cheer has to go to the defense for playing such a complete game."
Though fingers were being pointed at UK's ineffective offense, the defense didn't look like itself, either.
The same defense which held Louisiana State scoreless until late in the fourth quarter and was ranked fourth in the Division I in rushing defense last week, leaked 375 yards on the ground to the Bulldogs.
Wildcat Gary Sexton On The Move
"When they ran their sweep we'd try to contain it," said senior defensive end Steve Maz-za, who added that there is no question that Georgia is a better team than LSU.
"They'd run us out so far and they cut back, he said. "They all block for the sweep and it leaves a big opening for the cut back. It killed us today. Georgia just does a great job with it."
Still, it's not that the offense wasn't provided with opportunities.
"The defense played a winnable game," said sophomore quarterback Kevin Dooley, who completed eight of 19 passes for 69 in the game. "We knew what Georgia was going to do. (The offense) just didn't execute. If you don't score points, you don't win."
On the Bulldogs' first possession of the game, UK defensive back Russell Hairston picked off James Jackson's pass and returned it to the Georgia 40-yard line, which only resulted in a missed 53-yard field goal attempt by placekicker Joe Worley.
Kentucky had the ball inside the Georgia 40 two other times in the initial half but still failed to score. The second time, UK had a third-and-20 situation when Dooley hit Logan for 11 yards with 8:16 left in the first half.
That set up Worley's second missed field goal, as he pushed it wide to the right from 39 yards. Worley, who had kicked 13 of 16 field goals through six games this season, missed his third field goal of the game during second half action.
When Dooley was asked if the field goals UK missed could have given the offense a needed boost, he placed no blame on Worley. "(Claiborne) says a field goal kicker doesn't lose games, he wins them," Dooley said.
"We never took advantage of an opportunity we had,"Claiborne said. "That hurts a football team. The offense feels bad because we didn't take advantage of it and the defense has to stay on the field longer."
Scrambling with the ball four times for 34 yards in an eight-play drive, Jackson scored Georgia's first touchdon of the game on a keeper with just over five minutes left in the first quarter.
Besides passing for 43 yards in the game, the sophomore Bulldog quarterback also picked up 50 yards rushing on nine carries.
"We were aware of it, we had watched films all week," said defensive tackle John Shannon said of Jackson's scrambling. "They (Georgia) just came out and were ready to play." The Bulldogs scored again with just 15 seconds left in the first half on a 41-yard field goal by Steve Crumley, giving'Georgia a- rO-Qhalftimc lead.......................
Dumbauld (96) Pursues Ball Carrier
In an effort to generate some offense at a the start of the second half, Kentucky inserted Bill Ransdell for Dooley. Ransdell playing for the first time since suffering a collapsed lung and a cracked rib against Clemson, completed eight of 13 passes for 62 yards.
"In the second half we decided to go with Bill," Claiborne said. "He looked pretty good, but he hadn't played for three weeks. He wasn't as sharp as he was before he got hurt."
Even with Ransdell, Kentucky's offensive unit was sluggish.
"We were hoping that Kevin would make us a big play," Claiborne said, before mentioning the number of passes UK's receivers dropped and the lack of protection Dooley got from the line. "You can't lay (any blame) anything on Dooley."
UK's first possession of the second half set the tone for the rest of the game as Logan ran up the middle for four yards, then lost a fumble on the UK 10. Though Kentucky's defense held on Georgia's next three plays, the Wildcats gave Crumley and Georgia their second field goal of the game. The host now owned a 13-0 advantage.
Forced to punt on its next possession, UK got the ball back one play later as Tony Mayes intercepted Jackson's pass to flanker Cassius Osborn, and returned it to the 34.
However, on UK's next three plays, Logan was stopped for a two-yard gain. Ransdell missed wide receiver Cisco Bryant, and fullback Chris Derry failed to get the first down on a flare pattern. That forced another Worley field goal, which he again missed to the right, this time from 47 yards.
"It's getting kind of frustrating now," Shannon said about the offense failing to capitalize on the defense's big play. "It's kind of hard to keep away from thinking like that."
"I'm not really getting frustrated," said Mazza. "We're a team unit and the offense did improve from last week (against LSU). Our job anyway is to keep them out of the end zone. If (the offense) is only going to score six points, we're just going to have to shut (the opponent) out."
Living by their running game, the Bulldogs racked up another touchdown drive with six minutes left in the third quarter. Running backs Lars Tate, David McCluskey, and Keith Henderson each had a hand in the drive, which resulted in Tim Worley's nine-yard run around the right end to put Georgia ahead, 19-0. Georgia's two-point conversion attempt, however, .failed.
While UK's offense continued to sputter, the Bulldogs' running game added the final nail to the 'Cats' coffin one possession later, as they grinded the ball 53 yards to the Kentucky 27. Georgia backup quarterback Wayne Johnson then scrambled untouched into the end zone, putting the game away at 26-0.
"They've got big, strong (running) backs," Claiborne said. "They're one of the best running teams in the country. We just have to get a little tougher and get bigger people."
UK fashioned its only substantial drive of the game on its first possession of the fourth quarter. With a third-and-one situation and with the ball on the Georgia 30, Ransdell hit tight end Mark Wheeler on a 29-yard pass to put the ball on the one yard line. On the next play, Hunter hurdled over the goal line for the touchdown.
"We have to regroup, and keep the intensity level up when we do move the ball," Wheeler said about Kentucky's offense. "We have a tendency to panic when we get behind and not play our game. We feel a lot of pressure because of this week and last week."
Georgia's four sacks and UK's low rushing yardage inevitably relflect on the performance of the offensive line. Three games ago against Mississippi State both Higgs and Logan both rushed for over 100 yards. In the past two games, Kentucky hs netted only 96 total rushing yards.
"It's not two or three that are messing up," Wheeler said of the line. "It's different people at different times. We weren't doing that early in the season. We were working as a cohesive unit."
With UK's second conference loss, the Georgia game now casts somewhat of a dim shadow on its SEC standing. The Wildcats still have to travel to Florida and Vanderbilt, before meeting Tennessee in the final home game.
Kentucky has one non-conference game remaining, as it hosts East Tennessee State this Saturday at 1:30 p.m.
"We looked at this as a big game," said offensive tackle Vernon Johnson said. "We were very, very disappointed at how we played. We're going to have to review our schedule and come back and start playing a lot better football."
When asked what his chances were to win the conference, Claiborne told a sports writer, "I don't think they're-very good', 'rlgrrt'rlow. What do'you think?" Sutton Learns UK Mania First Hand
New Mentor Says He's Even More Excited
Eddie Sutton thought he understood just how much basketball meant to University of Kentucky fans when he was selected to succeed Joe B. Hall as coach of the Wildcats.
However, during the last six months he has found out that the roundball sport is even bigger in Kentucky than he thought.
"You think you understand what Kentucky basketball is all about but you really can't until you get here," says Sutton. "But after being here for six months I'm more excited than ever."
So are his players.
"I'm excited and ready to play right now," says junior guard James Blackmon, who must wait until Nov. 22 to open the season when Kentucky hosts Northwestern State.
Larry Vaught
Cats' Pause Columnist
The Cats like Sutton's approach to the game. He is more relaxed than Hall, who took over from legendary Coach Adolph Rupp.
Rupp did not have a great rapport with his players. But he won games and so did Hall, who guided UK to the 1978 national championship.
"If I learned under a legendary coach I would probably copy what he did, too," says