NCAA Football Preview (Florida-Kentucky)
Posted: Sat September 27, 1997 at 6:45 a.m EDT
Florida (3-0) at Kentucky (2-1) 3:30 pm EDT
The occurrence is rare, but Florida will face an
opposing quarterback who has more touchdown passes than its
entire team when it opens its road schedule at Kentucky against
Tim Couch.
The Gators (3-0, 1-0 SEC) have accounted for 14 touchdown passes
-- 12 by starter Doug Johnson and one each by Noah Brindise and
Jesse Palmer. But Couch has shown Kentucky (2-1, 0-1) a new
hope, throwing 15 scoring passes in his three games as the
Wildcats have thrown the ball 64 percent of the time under new
coach Hal Mumme.
Lacking Johnson's weapons, Couch's statistics are significantly
better. Couch is 99-of-143 (69.2 percent) for 1,081 yards and
15 scores with only two interceptions. Johnson is 49-of-93
(52.7 percent) for 802 yards and 12 TDs against five pickoffs.
Both are just sophomores, but each already has a seven-touchdown
game.
Kentucky already has six different receivers with at least 100
yards, including Kio Sanford, who has 298 and four touchdowns on
16 catches. Craig Yeast, who also has four TD catches, and
Jimmy Haley each lead the team with 19 grabs.
Couch's passing has clearly helped the Wildcats run. Anthony
White has gained 280 yards on just 39 carries, a 7.2-yard
average, and has one touchdown.
Florida knows something about running the ball, as Fred Taylor
has 341 yards on 45 carries for a 7.6-yard average. Track star
Bo Carroll has carried only 12 times, but has gained a whopping
174 yards and scored twice, averaging just under 15 yards per
carry.
Florida's defense could be ready for a letdown after a
dominating performance against Peyton Manning and Tennessee in a
33-20 victory last week. Billed as one of the games of the
year, Florida got up early and maintained a safe lead
throughout, never letting Manning rally the Volunteers.
The star of that game was wide receiver Jacquez Green, who had
eight catches for 185 yards and a touchdown, making his best
plays under pressure. Green has 18 catches for 288 yards and
three scores this season. Jamie Richardson has made half of his
eiught catches in the end zone and has racked up 140 yards.
Fullback Terry Jackson has seven catches for 116 yards and three
scores.
Kentucky is coming off a 49-7 trouncing of Indiana, in which
Couch was 24-of-32 for 334 yards and a school-record seven
touchdowns. His 15 scoring passes already mark the third-best
single-season total in school history, to Babe Parilli's 23 in
1950 and 19 the following season.
Kentucky has a four-game home winning streak and is trying to
improve upon its 17-30 all-time mark against Florida. The
Wildcats were getting close before the Gators started their
current streak of 10 straight wins. The last Kentucky victory
was a 10-3 win in Lexington in 1986. Florida is 26-5 against
the Wildcats since 1957, including a current 16-1 run. The
Gators went unchallenged in a 65-0 rout last season as Green
returned a pair of punts for touchdowns.
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