Micah Johnson spent the second half of the Louisiana-Monroe game on crutches. (Photo Victoria Graf)

By LARRY VAUGHT

Two years ago Mississippi State came into Commonwealth Stadium after UK had defeated eventual national champion LSU in three overtimes and then lost 45-37 to Florida on ESPN GameDay and demolished the Cats 31-14.

That was the Kentucky team that finished the year 8-5 and sent five players into the NFL after that season and put two more in after last year.

One problem Kentucky had in 2007 was that it had several players injured and several others playing through injuries.

So are the Cats better off this year going into Saturday’s game with Mississippi State?

“Let’s see, I am without my starting cornerback (Trevard Lindley), without my starting quarterback (Mike Hartline) and could be without my starting middle linebacker (Micah Johnson) and other guys are nursing injuries,” said Kentucky coach Rich Brooks Sunday. “We obviously could be in a lot better shape physically. We were missing some key guys up here two years ago up here, but it’s hard to judge two years ago and this year. But Mississippi State is a much better team even though that team two years ago went to a bowl game.”

Johnson, UK’s leading tackler, suffered a medial collateral ligament knee strain early in Saturday’s 36-13 win over Louisiana-Monroe.

“He is walking without crutches today. We will know more in 24 to 48 hours. Hopefully it won’t be worse than Derrick Locke’s (knee injury) was, but it could be,” Brooks said.

Johnson will have a MRI Monday morning just to confirm that there is nothing more serious than suspected.

Several players were unable to practice today because of injuries suffered in Saturday’s game. They included defensive tackle Corey Peters (shoulder), linebacker Sam Maxwell (shoulder), defensive end DeQuin Evans (ankle, ribs), safety Matt Lentz (toe), defensive tackle Shane McCord (bruised shin) and offensive tackle Stuart Hines (ankle).

“We are a little beat up and just hope most will be back on Tuesday or Wednesday. The biggest question moving forward would be Micah Johnson,” Brooks said.

The coach also said walk-on running back Coshik Williams has the flu. “We told his roommate to stay away and isolated him,” Brooks said.

Brooks said he still wasn’t sure if Lindley, an all-SEC performer, would be able to return this week after missing the last three games with a high ankle sprain. “I would say he is still doubtful. We are going to take him outside to run a little today, We will see how it responds this week,” Brooks said.

Hartline has also missed two games since injuring his knee at South Carolina. He is having some activity in the swimming pool now, but that’s it.

“He is still not where we would like him to be. He still has minimal swelling. He was on his feet all night on the sideline last night and that did not help the swelling today,” Brooks said. “He is making progress and is clearly out this week. We will judge his progress moving forward. What’s next is getting on the field and being able to jog and run. I would say that is a little premature at this point to figure out when that will be.”

Brooks noted that true freshman linebacker Qua Huzzie, who hurt his shoulder in the preseason, has his arm “out of a sling and is into rehab.” He is being redshirted.

Freshman receiver E.J. Fields, who was redshirted last year, will still be wearing an ankle boot a few more weeks because of his preseason injury. “I would say he has some chance for maybe the last game of the season or a bowl game if we qualify,” Brooks said.

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