Wednesday, December 29 'Air Raid' offense shot down
Associated Press
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- For the first time in almost two months,
Kentucky's "Air Raid" offense looked ready for takeoff.
With an injury-plagued receiving corps healthy again, the
Wildcats were off to a flying start against Syracuse in Wednesday's
Music City Bowl. Ahead 7-0 midway through the first quarter,
Kentucky was threatening again, first-and-10 at the Orangemen 13.
Then, disaster: All-American tight end James Whalen made a catch at the 6 and landed on his right arm, dislocating his elbow.
Taken off the field on a cart, Whalen's screams echoed in the
stadium tunnel as doctors popped the joint back into place. Back on
the field, the Kentucky offense was about to experience some pain
of its own.
"When we lose a Whalen, that's a big thing," running back
Anthony White said. "We didn't have go-to guy after that."
The Wildcats settled for a field goal, and would score only
three points the rest of the way.
Quarterback Dusty Bonner insisted the Wildcats didn't experience a letdown without Whalen, the former walk-on whose rags-to-riches story was one of the highlights of Kentucky's season.
"We felt bad for him, but you can't get down in the dumps,"
Bonner said. "It hurts when you lose that, but at the same time we
had young guys ready to step in."
Kentucky coach Hal Mumme praised the play of Whalen's
replacement, freshman Derek Smith, who made five catches for 56
yards. However, the coach also pointed to Smith's misplay of a
potential second-quarter touchdown pass as a turning point.
"If we make the plays we should have made on offense in the
first half, we win," Mumme said. "We just didn't make enough
plays."
On third-and-goal at the Syracuse 2 with Kentucky up 10-0, Smith
got open in the end zone. He got his feet tangled, though, and
fell, batting helplessly at Bonner's pass.
"I kind of went off balance and by going off balance I wasn't
ready for the ball and I could only put one hand up on it," he
said.
On fourth down, kicker Marc Samuels' 20-yard field goal try was
low and blocked by Syracuse, which took over at the 11.
Immediately, James Mungro burst through the line for an 86-yard
gain and two plays later the Orangemen had closed the gap to 10-7.
"It's tough for a young team like us to put a drive together
like that and then not finish," Mumme said of the momentum shift.
In the second half, the Wildcats' put together only one
sustained drive, resulting in field goal.
Meanwhile, the Orangemen were rallying to a 20-13 lead. When
Kentucky got the ball back with 1:42 left and no timeouts, Bonner
had to throw the ball underneath Syracuse's coverage and watch time
run out.
"We were trying to get more vertical routes, but we couldn't
get them open downfield," Mumme said.
It was the second straight bowl game and the fourth time in the
last two seasons that Kentucky has taken a double-digit first-half
lead, then watched an opponent rally to win. In last season's
Outback Bowl, Kentucky led Penn State 14-3 before losing 26-14.
