On Tuesday, Joker and his Wildcat Calvary returned to the practice field after the slaughter they endured by the highly underrated Gators in Gainesville. Joker was pleased with the practice and said, “We had a good day,” the Cats Head man said. “It was an upbeat practice and physical practice. Again, we have to get better at practicing when we are not practicing together – offense vs. defense. When we go to scouts we have to have more focus and push the scouts and we can’t bring our level of play down to the scouts.” The “scouts” Joker is referencing is the bench players and red-shirt players that are not starters. The “scout” team is in charge of running the cat’s opponent’s defense and offense against the starters of UK.  From what Joker is saying, it sounds like they may be bumping chests with the “scout” team instead of taking care of business and putting the peddle to the metal in practice.  You have to hope that improves, or the cats won’t.

As far as today’s practice, according to UK blogger, Eric Lindsey, Junior offensive guard Stuart Hines will be ready to go in Oxford Saturday against Ole Miss.  Hines, the Cat’s most experienced lineman and possibly the most talented, missed the Florida game with an ankle injury. I thought the offensive line was pretty good against the Gators, but it no doubt missed big Hines. With Ole Miss’s depleted secondary, a strong pass block will be crucial Saturday afternoon.

Eric also pointed out that WKYT and WLAP’s Dick Gabriel asked Joker if he was aware of a team meeting called together by Moncell “Turtle” Allen and some older players.  Joker was unaware of the meeting but said, “I didn’t know they did that, but we definitely need that,” Phillips said. “It’s not the Randall (Cobb) and Derrick Locke show. We’ve got to be a team. I like the fact that they did get together.” Just this morning a TGR family member and I discussed the fact our team does not have that team leader they have had in the past. Cobb and Locke are fine leader’s as far as performance on the field, but we seem to be missing that team guy. We don’t have a Woodyard, or Cooke, or Burton that past teams have had.  It is my belief that it is very important to have someone who can rally the troops in the tough times.  When Florida’s freshman tight end was running through our defense like Taco Bell through Ryan Fertig, we needed a leader to stand up, we didn’t have it.

As far as the cat Walk in Oxford, the UK Buses arrive @ 9 am CT. The team will park in the South end zone & enter the service gate next to Gate 24.  Go support your cats on the road in a HUGE game.

Thanks to Catspause.com for the videos.

1. Ole Miss can run the ball.   There are two guys to watch and they combined for 425 yards last week vs. Fresno State, Jeremiah Masoli, the QB transfer from Oregon, and RB Brandon Bolden. Bolden had only 19 carries for 228 yards and 2 TDs last week. If the Cats want to win this one they will need to put the super grip on both these guys.
2. Ole Miss has lost to Jacksonville State and Vanderbilt but it doesn’t mean they are an easy “W” for the Cats. The Rebel’s offense can score and cover ground quickly, the Rebels had 578 total yards last week so it’s critical for the Cats to bring their “A” game on defense.
3. The Rebels are extremely capable of that feared “Big Play” and broke several last week with Touchdown runs of 71, 60, 56, and 55 yards. They also returned a punt for a TD of 50 yards. The Cats have been susceptible to give up the big play, it’s a must that they stick to their laurels and assignments.
4. Ole Miss looks vulnerable in their secondary. If Hartline can connect with our big play receivers in Larod King, Chris Matthews, Matt Roark and Randall Cobb we could see a high-scoring affair.
5. Speaking of Matthews, he is blossoming into the deep threat the Cats so desperately need. Last week vs. Florida, Matthews caught 6 passes (should have been 7) for 118 yards and two TD’s. Look for Matthews to get the “look” more often then not moving forward because he’s proven he can go up and make a play.
6. The resurgence of Legend Randall Cobb is requested. Taking time away to save lives and take down the bad guys, Cobb has seemingly disappeared in the offense over the last two games…. OK, heartburn vs. Akron, and double coverage verse Florida, I get it. But, it is time for Cobb to bounce back with a big game. One TD just won’t do, we need 3 or 4 or 5 or 6! If Florida’s Trey Burton can do it as a freshman, why can’t Cobb as a Junior? Just saying.
7. Derrick Locke had his 4^th straight 100+ yard game this season verse UF. In fact, he became just the 4^th Kentucky back to put up triple digits on the Gators. If Locke is to go down in Wildcat history for consistent 100+ yards per contest, he needs to surpass 8 times in one season which is held by Ar-TOOSE Pinner. Look for Locke to get #5 on the road, in a hostile environment, as Joker and staff look to establish the running game and open the field up on the in-experienced secondary of the Rebels.
8. Ole Miss is currently 2-2 overall and 0-1 in the SEC, this puts the Rebels at last place in the SEC West. The Cats are 3-1 overall, 0-1 in SEC play, putting the Cats at sole possession of 4^th in the East (ahead of UT and UGA).
9. Oxford, MS is home to the Rebels. They claim to know how to tailgate a bit in The Grove. If attending an away game for the Cats is on your bucket list, make sure you go to Oxford first. It’s like Keeneland combined with the Football Tailgate all on a 10 acre Grove. It sets the standard for tailgating and no one else even comes close. White table cloths, coats and ties, fine china, cocktails and women in dresses.
10. Last time the Cats defeated Ole Miss was during the Rich Brooks era, September 16^th, 2006 (last time the two teams met). UK entered the contest with a  1-1 record with a win over Texas State and loss to the eventual Orange Bowl champs Louisville. The story of the game was Andre Woodson. Woodson went 22-34 for 293 and 3TDs (Pulley once, Lyons twice). The last time the Cats traveled to Oxford was October 22^nd, 2005. The Cats lost a tight one 13-7.

The Ole Miss Rebels (2-2) will host the Kentucky Wildcats (3-1) Saturday in what promises to be a pivotal game for both teams. So far this season, you could easily nickname Houston Nutt’s ball club “The Dow Jones” as they have been up and down more than the stock market. The bad news for Nutt is not necessarily that his team has been up and down from week to week, they are up and down from half to half of games. Ole Miss is very good about putting points on the board early in games, particularly in the second quarter where they have taken leads into half-time of all four of their game by double-digits. The problem has been in the second half of games where typically the Offense stalls and sputters and the Defense transforms into “matadors” and with this combination, they have blown two of those half-time leads which has resulted into losses. In the Rebels last game, they played true to form but put enough points (55) to outlast previously unbeaten Fresno State. Ole Miss is led by the transfer QB from Oregon, Jeremiah Masoli and hard running tailback, Brandon Bolen. Last week, Ole Miss ran for 535 yards as a team against what had been a pretty good Fresno St. defense. In fact Ole Miss is in the Top 15 in the country in terms of rushing the ball but in the bottom half when it comes to passing. The Cats can expect Ole Miss to run, run, run and run some more. But Masoli is better off of the play-action pass than as opposed to just straight dropping back so expect the Rebels to sprinkle that in. The “D” was already “suspect” and it will get even more susceptible to good offensive teams due to some injuries incurred in the Fresno St. game. The Rebels secondary as been victimized badly in all four games, particularly in the second half of games after the opposing teams have made adjustments. If UK defense looks the way it did last week against Florida, expect this game to be high scoring.

I predict a final score of UK 41 – Ole Miss 37 with both teams putting up over 400 yds of total offense.