Can Mike Hartline have a "Woodson type" breakout season?
By Staff
I saw an article by Chip Crosby over at the Herald Leader and in it, he spent some time talking with UK QB Mike Hartline. It seems that Hartline is not ready to just hand the starting job over to Newton and Mossakowski just yet. He realizes that many UK fans are counting down the games until he is replaced as a starter but he does not sound like he is ready to step aside yet. “My goal is to get everybody to feel that I am the guy. I want it to be a situation where there’s no doubt I should be the guy”.
You have to consider that last year was a “learn on the job” year for Hartline and that he was thrust into the starting QB job after Curtis Pulley was kicked off the team. Now it is a backup QB’s job to always be ready to take over the starters position, but for a kid getting his first real taste of college football, it can be overwhelming. Also look at the fact that the UK receiving corps underperformed mightily and it was a long, tough season for Hartline, and he took a lot of abuse from the fans.
Just like Andre Woodson did after his sophomore season at UK, Hartline finds himself at the same crossroads and the situations are VERY similar. And so the question has to be asked: Can Mike Hartline have a Woodson like impact on this team?
Hartline has great size at 6’6 but needs to bulk up considerably. Both Woodson and Hartline were highly recruited QB’s. Woodson was a top 10 consensus QB prospect but Hartline was around the 25th spot or so in QB ratings. ESPN even had him rated as the 16th best QB prospect, which is higher than both Newton and Mossakowski were. So thanks to his size and pedigree, Hartline has the goods to succeed at UK.
The season before Woodson exploded, he had a pretty average sophomore campaign. He completed 146-253 passes for 1644 yards and a 57.7 completion rate. He threw 6 TD’s against 6 INT’s for a 115.4 QB rating. Hartline completed 55.3 of his passes last year for 1666 yards and had 9 TD’s vs 8 TD’s and a 104.7 QB rating.
The similarities go further than pure stats. In Woodson’s breakout season, the WR corp was pretty unproven as well. His leading returning receivers were Rafael Little with 449 yards and Keenan Burton had 365 yds receiving. Hartline faced the same inconsistencies with his returning receivers being Randall Cobb (21-197) and Kyrus Lanxter (23-195).
The 2006 running game was strangely similar to what may be the case in 2009. Rafael Little led the rushing attack with 673 yards, followed by Tony Dixon’s 303 and Alfonso Smith with 250 yards. Certainly the UK trio of Alfonso Smith, Derrick Locke, Moncell Allen and possibly Randall Cobb can give the same production.
As Woodson did in 2006, Hartline will be counting on the WR corps to grow with him and develop into big play WR’s. Keenan Burton answered that call in 2006, catching passes for 1036 yards. Despite Burton’s big year, no other WR really stepped up to the task. Raphael Little and Jacob Tamme were 2nd and 3rd in receiving yards with 392 and 386 yards, and DeMoreo Ford was the next leading WR with 179 yards. Alfonso Smith and TC Drake had respectable numbers in comparison in receiving in 2008 (204 yards each) so it is not out of the realm of possibility they can match the numbers of Little and Tamme. Locke was having a nice year catching passes out of the backfield as well with 195 yards before going down for the season.
So all the pieces are set (and eerily similar) for Hartline to have a breakout season much like Woodson did in 2006. The only unsettled question is which UK WR will fill the Keenan Burton role and explode out of near obscurity? Randall Cobb, as a full time WR is capable of putting up 700 yards receiving. The WR I am looking for to fill the Burton role is JUCO WR Chris Matthews who has incredible size (6’5) and he is coming off a JUCO season that saw him catch passes for 1235 yards and 11 TD’s. So even though the roster may not a Keenan Burton, it can be a more balanced WR game, especially if Lanxter or McCaskill build on their 2008 numbers (195, 181) and Aaron Boyd can show his 4 star potential.
So the pieces are in place for Hartline to have a much improved season. His desire is there and he is going to fight to keep his starting job, which I really like. And truth be told, Hartline does not have to have a Woodson type explosion (3515 yards and 31 TD’s) to be successful. If Hartline can throw for around 2700 yards and 24 TD’s, UK will be much improved. That kind of season will still allow Morgan Newton to come in for some change of pace plays and take all the pressure off of the freshman.
Much like with Woodson, the BBN is awaiting to see the transformation of Hartline.
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