When you throw it as much as Kentucky does, you can never have too many receivers. Never was that more evident than in the latter part of the season, when injuries hit so hard that the offense nearly ground to a halt … even tiny halfback Kendrick Shanklin was pressed into duty as a wide receiver.

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	T O P   N E W S

As the Wildcats prepare for their Dec. 29 Music City Bowl game against Syracuse, Hal Mumme's Air Raid attack is re-loaded and ready to fire -- with a couple of big surprises.

Not only are Quentin McCord, Brad Pyatt, Vincent Harrison and Michael Beirne healthy again and scheduled to play in Nashville, but the Wildcats will break out a pair of new weapons against the Orangemen: Bobby Blizzard and Derek Homer.

Blizzard, a 6-7, 245-pound tight end, actually made his wide receiver debut in the 10th game, a 19-17 victory at Vanderbilt. Homer, the Cats' heavily muscled, 5-11, 196-pound fullback, has been practicing at wide receiver since bowl preparation began earlier this month.

During passing drills held in biting cold sub-freezing weather on Dec. 21 in Lexington, Homer made perhaps the best catch of the day, stretching out for a fingertip over-the-head grab of a Dusty Bonner bomb.

"It probably still is experimental, but it's looking pretty good," Mumme said when asked if the Homer move is permanent. "I like everything I've seen in practice; now it's a matter of seeing how he does in a game."

Blizzard, meanwhile, is entrenched at the position -- and happy about it.

The highly touted freshman said he felt confused and forgotten most of the season, getting a couple snaps a game behind All-American James Whalen at tight end. "I never rode the bench in my life," Blizzard said earlier this month. "I didn't know how to deal with it."

He didn't catch a pass against Vanderbilt but felt comfortable at the position. The next week he caught five balls for 60 yards against Tennessee, providing one of the few highlights in a 56-21 loss.

"The Tennessee game was a real confidence builder," Blizzard said. "I felt if I could catch passes against that team, I can catch passes against any team we play, because they have the best corners in the country."

Asked what Homer and Blizzard as wideouts add to the UK offense, Mumme smiled like a 5-year-old who'd just unwrapped a couple of early Christmas presents. Visions of big guys scoring touchdowns against Syracuse must have been dancing through his head.

Homer lends speed and strength to the position; Blizzard adds size. Lots of it.

"Homer was a 10.3 guy (over 100 meters) in high school," Mumme said. "He gives us something we haven't had. Bobby's doing good. He gives you some unique things out there, too, he's so big. He's running better all the time. You can see he's getting his routes down and he's dropped his body weight to where he can get of the line now and pressure down field some."

Moving Homer for the bowl will mean more carries for Artose Pinner, said offensive coordinator Tony Franklin. And Homer accepting the move was another sign that the junior from Fort Knox, Ky., is growing up, Franklin added.

Homer ran for more yards (8,224) than any back in Kentucky high school history. He showed promise in each of his first two seasons at UK, but also displayed signs of stubbornness that Mumme and Franklin, his position coach, wouldn't tolerate. He was demoted for several games last season, then was benched after this year's opener because of a fumble and what bordered on insubordination.

The more Mumme and Franklin told him to hit holes hard, the more Homer seemed to dance in the backfield, often for losses. After Homer complained about the play-calling in an interview with The Kernel, UK's student newspaper, Mumme made him off-limits to the media.

The back whom Mumme predicted would rush for 1,000 yards finished with 332 yards on 94 carries.

Franklin said that since the season ended Homer has changed.

"The thing that's happened is this year Derek really grew up," Franklin said. "He's gone through up and down stages of his career. To me, you're seeing the real maturing of Homer ... it's been such a positive thing the last couple of weeks."

Homer says running back is, "where my heart is," but that he's welcomed the move to wide receiver -- for the bowl game, anyway.

"Right now I'm doing the best thing for the team," Homer said. "I'm looking forward to a good outing and trying to do my best in this position to help this offense and help the team win this bowl game."

Mumme said whether Homer remains at wide receiver is a topic for the spring. What he wants to see is Homer punishing a Syracuse defensive back the way he takes on linebackers as a running back.

"He's so strong," said Mumme, "that if he catches the ball and they miss a tackle, they're in trouble."

The Personnel File

HONORED: James Whalen, who set a Division I-A record for catches by a tight end (90) was named to the first team of the Associated Press All-American squad. He's UK's first first-team AP All-American since defensive end Art Still in 1977.

NASTY BOY: Injuries necessitated several offensive changes in the final month of the season. One of the least publicized was freshman Jeremy Davis' move from defense to offense. Davis, who was playing special teams but not seeing action as a linebacker, now gets several snaps a game offensively as a blocking fullback.

At 6-3, 235, Davis is a blitz-pickup specialist.

"We needed a nasty, mean sucker on offense," said offensive coordinator Tony Franklin. "You don't want to blitz him too often. He'll nail you and get after you pretty good."

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Sophomore quarterback Dusty Bonner. When Tim Couch announced he was leaving UK a year early for the NFL, the next thing you heard was, "Dusty Who?" Bonner might not be Tim Couch, but he proved to be able to fill his shoes.

He also proved that Mumme's system is a good one. Bonner finished as the SEC's top-rated passer and led the league in completions, attempts, yards and touchdown passes.

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Senior linebacker Jeff Snedegar. Yes, he did manage to draw one dumb late-hit penalty a game. But Snedegar was able to overcome a bum shoulder that nearly forced him out of the game and finish as UK's leading tackler with 84 total stops. He was second on the team with four sacks, recovered a fumble and intercepted two passes.

COACH UPDATE: Hal Mumme was given a new, six-year contract through Dec. 31, 2005. The salary remains the same: $800,000 a year. "We're not going anywhere. We love it here. I'm committed to this program and want to win an SEC championship. We can't do that if we leave, so we're going to stay here."

STRENGTHS: Even without Couch, the Cats had the top passing game in the SEC. Senior halfback Anthony White is a double threat as a runner or pass-catcher. … Eric Kelly (who should be healthy for the bowl game after missing two games with a hamstring) has developed into one of the best cornerbacks in the SEC. … The Wildcats forced more turnovers (31) than any other team in the SEC.

CONCERNS: The young offensive line made strides during the season but seemed to regress a bit at the end of the year. UK allowed an SEC-high 52 sacks, which is too many even for as often as Kentucky throws the ball.

Noteworthy

TAKE-AWAYS: The beginning and end weren't too great (56-28 and 56-21 losses to Louisville and Tennessee, respectively), but in between the Cat defense made progress.

The most impressive area to defensive coordinator Mike Major is that UK went from one of the worst teams in the SEC in terms of forcing turnovers to the best. The Cats forced 31 turnovers (15 fumble recoveries, 16 interceptions), seventh-best in Division I-A.

"That was a huge pick up for us," Major said. "We really worked on that. … All that work we've done, stripping the ball, knocking the ball out, being bold, going for interceptions, we're starting to see residuals of that."

BACK-TO-BACK: UK's appearance in the Music City Bowl marks only the third time in school history and first since the 1983-84 seasons that the Cats have made back-to-back bowl trips.

COMMONWEALTH STADIUM-SOUTH: Nashville's Adelphia Coliseum is the new home of the NFL's Tennessee Titans, but UK's Wildcats should feel right at home for the Music City Bowl. One Syracuse official said he'd be happy to sell 3,000 tickets through the school's ticket office. UK, meanwhile, is expected to have more than 40,000 fans at the 67,000-seat stadium.

"It's a home game for them, that's the way we're approaching it," said Syracuse safety Ian McIntosh.

ON-SITE PREP: Unlike last year, when UK went to the Tampa Bay area nearly two weeks before its Outback Bowl game against Penn State, the Cats will arrive in Nashville only four days before the Music City Bowl. The biggest reason is weather.

The Cats staged a four-day "mini-camp" in St. Petersburg, Fla., last year, took Christmas Day off, then began preparing for Penn State.

This year, they held the mini-camp Dec. 17-22 at Lexington, where UK has an $8-million, 100-yard indoor practice facility. The Cats only used the indoor facility once, but it was there in case of inclement weather, something that wouldn't have been available in Nashville.

Mumme said the Cats installed the Syracuse game-plan during those six days, and will resume in Nashville on Dec. 26.

EXTRA YEAR FOR JOHNSON: Safety David Johnson, who suffered a serious, season-ending eye injury on the second play of the season, has been granted a medical redshirt. Johnson suffered a broken eye socket and for several months experienced double-vision in one eye. Trainer Jim Madelano said the double vision is gone and Johnson continues to progress. Madelano said there's a chance Johnson will be cleared for spring practice.

Looking Ahead

Here's a glance at what the Wildcats need to replace in their starting lineup for 2000.

OFFENSE: Two. They're not irreplaceable, but All-American tight end James Whalen and versatile halfback Anthony White surely will be missed. Derek Smith is being groomed to replace Whalen. With Homer perhaps ticketed for wide receiver, Artose Pinner is the leading candidate to replace White.

DEFENSE: Three. The most difficult to replace will be linebacker Jeff Snedegar, a four-year starter and team captain. After studying UK game film, Syracuse offensive coordinator George DeLeone came to this conclusion about Snedegar: "He's a nasty guy."

SPECIAL TEAMS: In his only year as a starter, Andy Smith blossomed into the all-SEC punter. Seth Hanson, who handled the kicking in '98 and was redshirted this year, is a good bet to replace Smith.