For a fleeting moment, WKU fans could dream that the joke might be on Joker for letting their Western Kentucky University football team stay on the University of Kentucky schedule for the next four years. When junior back Bobby Rainey ran for a 59-yard touchdown on the third play of the
game Saturday at Commonwealth Stadium in Lexington, the upstart Hilltoppers had a lead on not only an SEC team, but on their state land grant university's team.
Yet by halftime, Kentucky's Wildcat mascot was exhausted from doing a multitude of one-handed pushups after a barrage of Wildcat touchdowns. Not many of the tens of thousands of blue-clad fans (the University of Kentucky had a dress code long before it became fashionable: Wear Blue) remained by the time the final buzzer blew. By then 91 points had scorched the scoreboard.
In truth (and corny as it sounds) both schools and the entire state were winners.
Consider this:
* The 'Cats had romped 63-28 for their second victory of the young season. Joker Phillips became the first UK coach to win the first two games of his stint as head Cat since another guy also better known for his nickname, Bear Bryant. With Akron coming to town this weekend, UK should be halfway toward a fifth straight bowl berth before fall officially begins.
* WKU showed it could score against a Bowl Championship Series conference team. In fact, the Hilltoppers scored a touchdown in each of the four quarters. Although the second quarter was an unmitigated disaster with fumbles, penalties and arm tackling, many Topper followers see vast improvements in this team from the last two in the David Elson coaching regime that had featured 20 straight losses going into this season. Attitude, talent and execution are on the upswing.
* The state of Kentucky has put on a tremendous display of diversity and brotherly love the past two weeks. The state's BCS teams with storied histories of athletic excellence have been willing to play fellow schools in the commonwealth. An afternoon matchup prior to the UK-WKU scorefest found Eastern Kentucky University playing the University of Louisville at Papa John's Stadium. A week earlier, UK and U of L had clashed at that same venue. Additionally, the state, which took a racial slap in the face for the movie Glory Road, now has new head coaches at its three bowl subdivision schools, and all of them are African-American. Phillips, WKU's Willie Taggart and Louisville's Charlie Strong are not only good football coaches but they are also great ambassadors for the state, for football and for their race.
The game also featured four talented skilled players. Kentucky's duo of Randall Cobb and Derrick Locke are a tremendous backfield combination. They may be an even better duo than Alabama's Mark Ingram and Trent Richardson, since Cobb and Locke are on the field at the same time. A coach can put Cobb just about anywhere on the field. Meanwhile Rainey has rushed for well over 150 yards in consecutive games against the Big 12's Huskers and the SEC's Wildcats; he ranks fourth in the nation in rushing yards. Joining him as a skilled runner in this game was Western freshmen return man Willie McGee, who was a threat every time he touched the ball, including on a 90-yard touchdown sprint.
Russellville's Mikie Benton is a member of the UK team and saw action in the game. He is one of only three Cats on Joker's team from the Fourth Region. Phillips, of course, is a former Franklin-Simpson great. The other two are linemen Stuart Hines and Ryan Wallace from Bowling Green.
Fans in attendance also got a treat by seeing six UK alumni inducted into the schools athletic Hall of Fame. Among them were three former basketball players, the late Mike Casey, Billy Ray Lickert and current NBA star Tayshaun Prince, who has an NBA championship ring and an Olumpic gold medal. He received a rousing welcome home from the crowd.
Meanwhile WKU is coached by a legendary alumnus in Taggart, whose jersey hangs on the walls of Houchens-Smith Stadium. The Toppers will face their third opponent from a major college conference Saturday when they welcome the Big Ten's Indiana University. The Hoosiers, to their credit, are coming to Bowling Green for the 4 p.m. game. This marks the home coaching debut for Taggart and the first time in the school's 92-year football history WKU will host a member of the Big Ten. The game will also be televised nationally by the Big Ten Network and could reach 75 million homes.