Uk at Auburn

Certainly, today is a more mellow Saturday in UK Football Fan land. My string of attending every game of the year draws to a close today. I'll be watching the game from the comfort of my in-laws living room. This should be one of the more intriguing contests of recent vintage. Morgan Newton is the most highly regarded Quarterback we've recruited since Tim Couch. Though the circumstances that brought this about are the best, I think many Cats fans are anxious to see what we have. Unfortunately, whoever is playing QB tonight has his work cut out for him. Make no mistake, the Cats will have to catch lightening in a bottle to win. A number of things need to go right.

1. Effective quarterback play. We don't need to throw for 300 yards, but we'll need enough of a passing game to keep Auburn from loading up the box with 8-9 guys every play.

2. Improved play on special teams. This is becoming a real sticking point for me, because I think the situation has a simple fix. Steve Ortmeyer has to get these kids to play better for him. If Auburn starts every drive at the 50, it will be a long night.

3. Look for the ball. Our young corners did a good job of sticking to their men last week. The reason they were torched was not turning around and giving themselves a chance to make a play on the ball. Chris Todd is very comparable to USC's Stephen Garcia. He is more than capable of exploiting us.

4. Locke and Cobb. These guys have All-SEC talent. One or both really needs to get down for us to win.

5. Turnover battle. Cats won this 2-0 last week, which is the only reason were were still in it to the end.

6. Big play. In a closely related point, the Cats need a huge play on defense to compensate for what should be a rather difficult game on O. Without Trevard, it is hard to tell who this might come from.

If all of these things happen, we win, but I pretty much think we will need them all. As I said, lightning in a bottle. Good luck to Fidler, Newton, or both.