A 70 year old Rick Pitino to continue chasing Kentucky Wildcat’s John Calipari

October 27, 2012; Columbia, MO, USA; Kentucky Wildcats quarterback Patrick Towles (14) passes the ball during the third quarter at Faurot Field. The Missouri Tigers defeated the Kentucky Wildcats 33-10. Mandatory Credit: Dak Dillon-US PRESSWIRE

In a season that is looking more and more like “Groundhog Day”, Kentucky is preparing to face Vanderbilt with a pair of true freshmen QB’s. Kentucky offensive co-ordinator Randy Sanders talks about his freshman QB’s in yesterday’s media opportunity and starts with Patrick Towles:

"“Once you get in the game and in that environment things happen fast if you are really not prepared,” Sanders said. “I think he was trying to get prepared and was working hard to get prepared, but his opportunities to get prepared this season have still been limited. He only had six real practices with the offense. “It’s common among everyone (not just quarterbacks). Once you get out there and the chaos starts, which until you have played a lot of ball and really prepared, a lot of it is chaos. Once you get in chaos you revert back to your training and if your training hasn’t been enough or you haven’t done it long enough to where your training is to do things right all the time then you will revert back to what you have always done.” Sanders said the development of Towles will be important not only for the UK offense overall, but for Whitlow as well. “Jalen is doing about as well as we can expect him to do,” Sanders said. “We would like for him to do better, but realistically, where you would expect him to be he isn’t that far off. He needs some help from someone and if Patrick can come in and provide some help then that is a bonus for him. In hindsight, if I had something to do over again last week I would have probably put Morgan (Newton) in the game because I thought that helped Jalen against Georgia. When you start playing three of them, though, you can really break momentum some times.”"

October 27, 2012; Columbia, MO, USA; Missouri Tigers quarterback James Franklin (1) prepares to pass the ball during the fourth quarter at Faurot Field. The Missouri Tigers defeated the Kentucky Wildcats 33-10. Mandatory Credit: Dak Dillon-US PRESSWIRE

On the other side of the ball, Rick Minter is preparing his unit for those Vandy Commodores:

"“They have a very good offense,” Minter said. “They do kind of whatever it takes. They put the guys in there that do what it takes to be successful at the moment, whether it is six offensive linemen, seven offensive linemen, (a) lineman in the backfield to get better at fullback, those types of things to be creative. They run the Wildcat formation a number of different ways probably seven to 10 times a game. They still have an athletic quarterback who is tough-minded and tough-bodied and can run the ball himself. They are really a good running team downhill at you. They have a well-rounded offense and it’s a handful and challenge with a senior quarterback, who you know they are giving the whole playbook in his second year. We have to play better than we did last year.” Minter said although the UK defense has shown some improvement over the last couple of weeks they still need to stay motivated and prepared. “Motivation comes with preparation, confidence comes from practicing hard and preparing hard,” Minter said. “When you take that field knowing full well that you are as good or better than the guy lining across from you and you hit him in the mouth before he hits you, then you have a chance to be successful. If all you are doing is looking backward instead of forward then you are not really preparing for this year’s game plan. Kids get motivated different ways, but I believe preparation is the best motivator to be successful.”"