* It was "Coordinator Tuesday" over at the Nutter Center as Randy Sanders and Rick Minter took the podium in place of Joker Phillips.

* First up was Randy Sanders, who said that Jalen Whitlow got almost ALL of the first- and second-team QB reps today. That's pretty uncommon at this time of year, but with the Cats being down two QBs, they feel like they need to give him every snap possible to give the team its best opportunity to win. "I told Jalen, he's going to be tired when he leaves the practice field each day this week."

* If something happens to Whitlow, they'll go to Morgan Newton and hope that his collective practice/game experience will carry them through, but they don't feel like they can back off of Whitlow's learning curve right now.  "I need to get him every rep I possibly can... If something happens to him and Morgan has to play or whoever has to go in next has been done a tremendous disservice this week." Calculated risk on their part. 

* Speaking of QBs, it was quite a sight as Maxwell Smith and Patrick Towles both bobbled out of the Nutter Center, one with a boot on his left ankle and the other with a boot on his right ankle. 

* Sanders said he wasn't too thrilled with the fact that Newton was taking the LSAT last week on a game day, but he went to great lengths to say that his respect for Newton is sky-high. "He was ready to go if needed. I appreciate him and the type of person he is more and more every day."  Sanders went on to say "He's all about Kentucky. He wants Kentucky to win and Kentucky to do better. Just to accept that role and embrace it as he has is phenomenal. There's not many people who can do that. It's not easy to do."

* Asked about the offense not scoring a touchdown in 19 straight first quarters, Sanders reiterated that they have to start faster. They went 3-and-out and MSU had two long drives early, so they hurt their own chances with time of possession. "If I could point to it we would have already addressed it and fixed it, I can promise you that."

* Both Joker Phillips and Randy Sanders were a little critical of Whitlow's play after Saturday's game. Asked to talk more about that, Sanders surmised that Whitlow got a little gunshy about letting the ball go on time against MSU due to the INTs he had late in the South Carolina game. Said he can't play scared, has to trust the play. 

* There's a bit of a Catch 22 going on with gameplanning for Whitlow because of the injury situation. Obviously, they've been at their best with him running the ball, but with that comes the additional risk of him getting hurt, too. "And a lot of his best runs have come on drop-back passes where nobody's open," Sanders said.

* Rick Minter said the defense worked today without safeties Martavius Neloms, Mikie Benton and Ashely Lowery. All are  day-to-day with injuries. That means even more "infants" (Minter's term) on the field for the Cats. Among those young guys starting to come on are the Blaylock twins, who Minter says are getting better every day. "Those are two great young kids. They're really going to be good football players... we hope it's by Saturday."  He added: "Whether or not it's before their time, it's their time."

* Asked about his defense ranking second to last in the nation in time spent on the field and whether that had anything to do with the offense's issues, Minter said: "Nothing to do with the offense. We stay on the field too long because of our inability to get ourselves off." He said both teams get roughly the same amount of drives (12 or 13) each game, but UK's not getting takeaways and is allowing 50% on third downs. "It's a game of math... You're just out there until they run out of time or space."

* Minter said MSU converted 4x on 3rd-and-8 or longer Saturday, which simply can't happen if you want to play winning football.

* Asked about the mood with all the tough breaks UK has experienced, Minter said: "That's just life. Whether it's Murphy's law right now for this team, who knows, but things happen. Things don't always go the the way we want them to. What are we going to do, wallow around in self-pity or make lemonade out of the lemons being dealt to us?"

* Minter said he continues to feel good about the effort his guys are giving. It's just the execution that bothers him. "Couldn't be more proud of them about how they're playing effort-wise."

UK Football to Honor Dermontti Dawson on Homecoming

Dermontti Dawson Day at Commonwealth Stadium on Oct. 20

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The University of Kentucky football team will honor recent Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee and UK football legend Dermontti Dawson on Saturday, Oct. 20 with Dermontti Dawson Day at Commonwealth Stadium. The Wildcats will battle Southeastern Conference foe Georgia in the game with kickoff set for 7 p.m. ET. The game also will serve as UK’s annual Homecoming.

Dawson, who played at Kentucky from 1984-87, will be on hand for the game, including signing autographs in the Wildcat Refuge two hours before kickoff. Dawson will be honored on the field during the game, while the first 10,000 fans in the stadium will receive a Dermontti Dawson rally towel.

Below is a segment of a story from UK assistant director of media relations for new/social media Guy Ramsey about Dawson’s Hall of Fame career:

Dawson spent his entire professional career playing a position where, by and large, anonymity was the goal. For NFL centers, attention typically comes after a botched snap or a missed block, not the six All-Pro selections Dawson earned during his 13 seasons as a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

More than a decade removed from his retirement in 2000, Dawson moved into the spotlight he tried to avoid as a player, receiving arguably the highest level of recognition a football player can attain: enshrinement in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

The Lexington native and UK great was part of a six-member class of inductees in Canton, Ohio.

Dawson joined George Blanda as the second Wildcat in the Hall of Fame.

After being selected in the second round out of UK, Dawson spent his first season in Pittsburgh as a backup, but was being groomed as the replacement for Mike Webster while playing guard, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame himself in 1997.

Replacing a legend is never easy, but Dawson did just that beginning in 1989 when he assumed the starting center role following Webster's departure. Dawson wasted no time making his mark, not only with the Steelers, but on the way his position was played.

Nicknamed "Dirt" for pounding opponents into the ground, Dawson is known as the first center in

NFL history to regularly pull, a responsibility normally left to more nimble guards. He frequently would leave his spot at the line of scrimmage to block for a Steeler running back on the perimeter. Within three years of his move to center, Dawson was named to the first of his seven Pro Bowls. He also played 170 consecutive games at one point, the second-longest streak in Steelers history.

With Dawson anchoring the offense, the Steelers were among the best rushing teams in football. During his 13-year career, Pittsburgh led the NFL in rushing twice and ran for over 2,000 yards as a team eight times. The Steelers also had at least 11 rushing touchdowns in all but two of Dawson's seasons.

The 6-foot-2, 288 pounder was small by current league standards, but made up for whatever deficit he faced in size with power and quickness that made him a track and field star at Bryan Station High School. In fact, Dawson was exclusively a track and field athlete and wrestler before then-Bryan Station football coach Steve Parker recruited him to play football.

Now UK Associate Dean for Academic and Student Services, Parker made arrangements to attend the induction ceremony within days of Dawson's election in early February, but Dawson wanted his first football coach to be more involved. In mid-February, Dawson asked Parker to serve as his official presenter, meaning two men with close ties to both UK and Lexington were on the stage in front of the national audience.

"When he asked me, it was so emotional," Parker said. "I couldn't speak for a while. He could have asked a thousand other people and he asked me."

During the two seasons he spent playing for Parker, Dawson had no idea what his future would hold. He eventually elected to attend hometown UK because of the opportunity to participate in both football and track. Playing for then-UK head coach Jerry Claiborne, it didn't take long for Dawson to figure out the gridiron was where he belonged. He played alongside current UK head coach Joker Phillips when the Wildcats went 9-3 and won the Hall of Fame Bowl.

Georgia at Kentucky set for 7 p.m. ET: The Kentucky-Georgia football game on Saturday, Oct. 20, 2012 at Commonwealth Stadium has been set for a 7 p.m. ET kickoff. The game will serve as UK’s annual Homecoming. Although kickoff time has been set, the network broadcasting the game will not become official until after completion of games this weekend. The UK-UGA game will be on one of these three networks: ESPN2, ESPNU, FSN.