Arkansas still dangerous despite losing streak, Brooks says

Posted 4:48PM on Monday 27th October 2003 ( 21 years ago )

LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY - Arkansas has lost three straight games and fallen out of the national rankings, but Kentucky football coach Rich Brooks said Monday that the Razorbacks are ``one of the best teams we've seen all year.'' When Kentucky (4-4, 1-3 Southeastern Conference) hosts Arkansas (4-3, 1-3) on Saturday, Brooks said the Wildcats will be facing a dangerous quarterback in junior Matt Jones and one of the best rushing units in the SEC, albeit one that is dealing with numerous injuries. ``This is a team that leads our league in rushing (at 204.6 yards per game) and we all know that will be a challenge for us,'' Brooks said during his weekly news conference. ``That's still an area where, even though we've improved, we still have some creases and some breakdowns, which we did again last week. This is a physical football team. This will be a severe challenge for us, to match up physically. ``I'm not sure what their injury situation is with (starting tailback Cedric) Cobbs and whether he'll play or not, but he's a real factor, and Jones, their quarterback, looks like an active Jared Lorenzen to me,'' Brooks said, comparing Jones to Kentucky's 280-pound starting quarterback. After a 4-0 start which included a road win at Texas, Arkansas rose to No. 7 in the rankings, but consecutive losses to Auburn, Florida and Mississippi have knocked the Razorbacks out of the top 25. Kentucky, meanwhile, has won consecutive games for the first time this season. The Wildcats rallied from a 17-0 first-half deficit to rout Mississippi State 42-17 last Saturday, posting season highs in points and total yards (410). ``I guess I'd rather be coming off two wins than three losses, but they've played pretty good football teams in those three losses, and they've also beaten some quality teams that we haven't,'' Brooks said. The Wildcats need two wins in their final four games to become bowl-eligible which was one of Brooks' preseason goals. After playing Arkansas, Kentucky has an open date before a Nov. 15 road game at Vanderbilt. Kentucky will close the season by playing two ranked teams No. 4 Georgia on the road on Nov. 22 and No. 19 Tennessee at home on Nov. 29. ``This is a huge game for us,'' Brooks said. ``This can get us over .500 and put us in a position going into the bye week that would be advantageous to our preseason goal. And I know they're at 4-3 and could go to 5-3 at this point, so whoever gets the win is going to be in pretty good shape and whoever loses is not.'' Kentucky only had 52 yards of offense against Mississippi State until an 89-yard touchdown drive to end the first half. The Wildcats spread the field and threw often on that series and on subsequent second-half possessions. Brooks said that was because the Bulldogs were susceptible to that kind of offense. Kentucky won't exclusively use the spread against Arkansas, but the Wildcats will use it some, Brooks said. Derek Abney returned a punt 80 yards for a third-quarter touchdown that gave Kentucky the lead for good and earned him not only time on national highlight shows, but also the SEC special teams player of the week award (for the fourth time in the last two years). The kick return touchdown was Abney's first this season but the eighth of his career, matching the NCAA record held by Cliff Branch of Colorado (1970-71) and Johnny Rodgers of Nebraska (1970-72). ``It kind of reminded me of last year, with special teams really giving us an emotional boost and swinging the momentum in our direction,'' said Abney, who ranks second in the nation in all-purpose yards (165.9 per game). ``I think it translates into the same thing for this last game. It was a real momentum shifter for us.'' Kentucky's defense has allowed less than 30 points in seven straight games. That hasn't happened since the 1988-1989 seasons, when the Wildcats put together a streak of 12 such games (six in each season).

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