"Nobody will let you drive the field (in this league).  Those great wide receivers are the guys who can get you yardage in big chunks."

            That's a quote from Pittsburgh Steelers' defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau, from the Sports Illustrated NFL preview issue earlier this month.   It's interesting to me because I think it speaks to why the Kentucky offense will be significantly better this year than last--and so will the UK team because of it.

            In Randall Cobb and Chris Matthews, the Wildcats have the big-play receivers it takes to have a chance to compete in a league like the SEC.  Cobb made the big plays that helped swing a crucial game Kentucky's way last Saturday and Matthews will make those kinds of plays before the year is out.  Matthews, for now, is playing more on raw talent but as he masters the system--the way guys like Stevie Johnson and Aaron Boone did in the second halves of their first seasons--this guy will UK offense a new dimension.

            Like some of you, I didn't think Mike Hartline played as well as his numbers might suggest in the win over Louisville.  But when Louisville went ahead 20-17 in the fourth quarter and it came time to lead a crucial drive, Hartline got it done. 

            It was in adverse circumstances in a season-opening blowout loss to Louisville in 2006 that Joker Phillips became convinced that Andre Woodson had the toughness to lead his team.  But Woodson's improvement curve still had some dips before he took his game to a whole new level in the second half of that decisive season. 

            Let's give Hartline a little more time to see how he grows into this job.

            Already, there are some encouraging numbers.   Through two games, Hartline is completing 70 percent of his passes versus 55 percent last season.  And his average per attempt to this point is just over seven yards versus 5.4 in 2008.     

            But here's the stat that speaks to those wideouts that will give Hartline the kind of help Woodson got in 2006:  through two games, the Cats have had 12 passing plays go for 15 yards or more.  That's almost a third of the total for all of last year (39). 

            Kentucky has had only three pass plays go for 25 yards or more and that's slightly better than last year but well off the pace of 2006 and 2007.  And that's where Hartline and this offense need to step it up--hitting the deep balls that loosen things up for their rest of their package of plays.

            In Florida and Alabama, UK will face two of the top 10 defensive units in the country in the next week.  They won't give us the final verdict on the 2009 Wildcat offensive unit but we will learn a lot about this unit and how far it has come from last fall.

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