By LARRY VAUGHT

An injury to junior quarterback Mike Hartline has changed this season’s plans for Kentucky freshman Morgan Newton.

One week after indicating it was still likely Newton, Indiana’s Mr. Football last season, would be redshirted, Brooks confirmed Sunday that Newton probably will not be redshirted now because of Hartline’s knee injury.

Brooks could go with Randall Cobb, who led UK on a fourth-quarter scoring drive in Saturday’s 28-26 loss at South Carolina and also started games last year, at quarterback. He could go with junior Will Fidler, who is listed No. 2 on the depth chart behind Hartline. Or he could give Newton, a four-star recruit, his first playing experience when UK plays at Auburn this week.

“I think we are still discussing (what to do),” Brooks said Sunday. “We know we will probably expnd the wildcat package a little bit (for Cobb). We will work Will and Morgan in practice and determine what we will do at the end of the week, possibly up to game time.”

Brooks says Newton must improved his decision making to become a factor in the Kentucky offense. He has split the reps at No. 2 quarterback with Fidler most of the season, but Brooks acknowledged it will be easier for him to judge Newton’s progress this week when he gets more repititions.

“He goes and makes good decisions sometimes and then sits back with the ball in his hands and can’t make one,” Brooks said. “Practice is a lot slower than games. We will have to judge it and make decisions at the appropriate time.”

Fidler went in when Hartline was hurt at South Carolina and completed just two of eight passes. He also had a two-point conversion pass knocked down at the line that could have tied the game after Cobb had engineered the touchdown drive. Fidler also had a potential touchdown pass dropped when tight end T. C. Drake couldn’t make a catch in the end zone.

“I think he had one pass that could have been caught even though it was right on the fingertips of T.C. Drake for a touchdown,” Brooks said. “On the two-point play he had Chris Matthews standing in the back of the end zone with no one within eight yards. I am not sure Will saw the guy we were trying to throw, too, and our protection broke down. But two of eight, no matter how you cut it, is not the best.”

Brooks noted that Fidler called a wrong pass protection that led to him getting “blindsided” and almost fumbling. “He played like a guy that had not been in that situation,” Brooks said. “We hope he will play better. He has taken more snaps in our regular offense than anybody else has.”

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