Johnson was, perhaps, the most notable former UK player to not have his named called by an NFL team. Johnson was a former first-team All-SEC selection.

Other former Cats who went undrafted, but have signed with NFL teams, include offensive tackle Justin Jeffries, who signed with the San Diego Chargers, tailback Alfonso Smith, who signed with the Arizona Cardinals, tight end T.C. Drake, who signed with the Kansas City Chiefs, and offensive lineman Zipp Duncan, who signed with the Philadelphia Eagles.

Defensive tackle Corey Peters (Atlanta Falcons), Trevard Lindley (Philadelphia Eagles) and John Conner (New York Jets) were each drafted within the opening seven rounds.

On Sunday, Mathies was named to the seventh annual Gballmag.com Young All-America team for her significant contributions to her team’s success during her rookie campaign. Nine other players joined Mathies on the list, including Southeastern Conference opponent Jasmine James, a guard for Georgia.

Mathies averaged 13.6 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.6 steals for the season. She also set the school record for steals by a freshman with 93.

Mathies has already picked up UK’s first SEC Freshman of the Year award, in addition to being named to the Full-Court Press Freshman All-America team, All-SEC second team, All-SEC Freshman Team and SEC All-Tournament Team.

The Blue team defeated the White team 60-25 in a modified form of the scrimmage, whereby the offense (Blue) played against the defense (White) and scored points for things such as first downs, and the defense scored points for things such as three-and-outs.

But, more importantly, UK head coach Joker Phillips was not ready to announce who his No. 1 quarterback was heading into the summer so the three-quarterback race among senior Mike Hartline, sophomore Morgan Newton and redshirt freshman Ryan Mossakowski will wage on.

“I think this (quarterback) competition is way too close to decide in April,” Phillips said. “We’ll carry this competition into August and hopefully we can come up with a decision quickly because we’ll need that guy to get a majority of the No. 1 snaps.”

Phillips said that he would’ve liked to know who his man under center would be at the end of spring, but that the uncertainty at the position isn’t concerning him right now.

“The reason I’m not disappointed is because I think we can win with all three of those guys,” Phillips said.

The three quarterbacks essentially received the same amount of playing time on Saturday. Hartline and Mossakowski led five offensive series while Newton led four.

But, the quarterbacks’ performances didn’t make Phillips’ decision easier as they showed flashes of brilliance at times, but also committed some costly errors.

Hartline, who finished 11 of 24 for 124 yards, graded his performance as a “C-plus.”

“As far as execution today, it was sloppy,” Hartline said. “I let a few passes get away from me, and our receivers dropped a few passes…I hate to say this about the spring game, but it was probably our worst scrimmage of the three we’ve had.”

Hartline produced a well-thrown 21-yard touchdown toss to wide receiver E.J. Fields in the corner of the end zone, but also threw an ill-advised pass down the sideline that was intercepted by linebacker Danny Trevathan on the offense’s first drive.

Likewise, Newton, who finished 6 of 12 for 92 yards, kept several plays alive with his feet, including a 36-yard scamper, but with the offense at the five-yard line, he under threw his receiver in the end zone, which resulted in a Winston Guy interception to end the first half.

Mossakowski, who was sacked hard twice, finished with the most modest stat line of the three: 6 of 13 for 37 yards.

The three quarterbacks said they are using the competition as a means to get better because they are pushing each other every day.

“The drama is exhilarating,” Newton said.

In fact, the drama is only building because Phillips said the competition is a tight battle after Newton and Mossakowski closed the gap that Hartline had established earlier in the spring.

“Whoever gets (the starting job) I’m going to support 110 percent,” Mossakowski said. “We’re good friends, we’ve got a good relationship between all three of us, and that just makes it that much better.”

Former Cats selected in the NFL draft

Three players from last year’s team were drafted by NFL teams over the weekend. On Friday, defensive tackle Corey Peters was drafted in the third round (83rd overall) by Atlanta. Then on Saturday, cornerback Trevard Lindley was taken in the fourth round (105th overall) by Philadelphia, and fullback John Conner was a fifth-round pick (139th overall) by the New York Jets.

This marks the third consecutive year at least one Cat has been taken in the draft.

QB Mike Hartline on the QB competition and his performance in the Blue/White game.

QB Ryan Mossakowski on the QB competition and his performance in the Blue/White game.

Joker Phillips discusses the Blue/White game.

Another video of Phillips discussing the Blue/White game.

With the annual UK Blue-White intra-squad scrimmage set for Saturday, the last week of spring practice and the scrimmage are the last opportunities for players to make their mark in a position battle before the summer.

One such player that made an impression last season during the Blue-White game was junior-to-be tight end Nick Melillo, who is new to the position after converting from wide receiver this spring.

“I was (inexperienced) last year, came in as a wide receiver, put on a little weight and kind of had a breakout game in the spring game with the two touchdowns,” Melillo said.

For many players, a scrimmage can’t be considered a breakout performance, but it was for Melillo. The Lousiville Trinity High School product who transferred from Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Mo., decided to walk on at UK.

The rookie Melillo finished with four catches for 43 yards and the pair of touchdowns to make his presence known. Melillo continued his progression as he earned more playing time over the course of the season. He went on to play in all 13 of UK’s game and finished the season with five catches for 44 yards, but primarily served in the role of blocking receiver.

It was Melillo’s prowess as a blocking receiver and his 6-foot-2, 234-pound frame that made coaches recognize his potential as tight end.

In an odd twist of fortune, Melillo is the only tight end with game experience this spring, but that hasn’t changed his approach this spring.

“I’m still a walk-on, I still have to work my butt off,” Melillo said. “Even if you’re on scholarship, you’re working to get better every day. If you don’t work hard, you’re going to get worse and the person next to you is going to get better, and you’re not going to be playing anymore.”

The people competing with Melillo for the No. 1 tight end spot are redshirt freshmen Anthony Kendrick and Jordan Aumiller, a converted linebacker.

Melillo said all of the players competing for the position are talented but they all need to work on their blocking.

Still, this spring is a different experience for Melillo, who became an unknown again last year after his sparkling spring game.

“I think a lot of people were surprised (by my performance last year),” Melillo said. “I’m working for the two touchdowns again, and I just think people might actually know who it is this time.”

The game was originally supposed to mimic an actual game with approximately half the team (the Blue team) squaring off against the other half of the team (the White team).

Instead, the game will now be contested between the offense and the defense that will feature the scoring system listed below, according to UK spokesman Tony Neely.

The scoring system for the offense features:
First down = 1 point
Field goal = 3 points
Touchdown = 6 points
PAT = 1 point

The defensive scoring system features:
Three and out (force punt on first series) = 3 points
Stop on downs (force punt during the series) = 1 point
Stop on fourth down = 2 points
Turnover = 6 points
Touchdown = 10 points

Junior tight end Nick Melillo discusses the difference between this spring and last spring. Melillo was one of the surprise stories from last year’s spring game, and as a walk-on, he featured in all 13 of UK’s games last season.

A simple fact UK head coach Joker Phillips realized all too well following his team’s scrimmage Saturday.

“We’ve got to tackle, we just didn’t tackle on defense, which cost us getting off the field a few times,” Phillips said. “We rally to the ball and you miss a couple of tackles and now they’re back to a first down and still moving the chains.”

Phillips said on one particular series, the defense forced the offense into a third-and-21 only to surrender the big play and undo all the work up until that point.

Unlike the Cats’ offense anchored by experienced leaders, such as wide receiver Randall Cobb and tailback Derrick Locke, Phillips said not as many leaders have emerged on a youthful defensive corps as he would’ve liked.

Phillips did note the leadership abilities of linebacker Qua Huzzie and defensive linemen Mark Crawford, DeQuin Evans and Collins Ukwu this spring.

Conspicuously missing from this list of defensive leaders was a member of the secondary.

One potential candidate to emerge from a secondary that lost two key cogs to graduation in likely NFL draft pick and cornerback Trevard Lindley and safety Calvin Harrison, is junior-to-be Winston Guy, now in his second-year at free safety after converting from cornerback.

“Winston (Guy) has a lot of potential, but potential means you haven’t done it yet,” Phillips said. “We think (Guy) could be a big-time player for us, and we expect Winston Guy to be one of our leaders on defense also because he’s been around here a long time.”

The role of leader isn’t one that Guy wants to shy away from either.

“It takes time to become a leader, it takes things you do on the field and off the field to become a leader,” Guy said. “(But) that’s my goal, to become a leader for this defense.

“I criticize myself a lot because I feel like the safeties are the last line of defense so I feel like that it’s my job to make that tackle because if I miss it there’s no one else to make that tackle,” Guy said.

The key to making those tough open-field tackles lies in discipline and making sure you wrap opposing players up, not simply “tapping them on the butt,” said Guy.

Joining Guy in the starting secondary will most likely be cornerback Randall Burden, who was pressed into a starting role in the fall when the secondary was depleted by injuries. Burden is yet another promising alumnus of LaGrange High School, the same high school that produced former UK defensive stalwarts Wesley Woodyard and Braxton Kelley.

Aside from these two players, the competition is wide open for the remaining cornerback and safety positions.

Candidates for cornerback include sophomore-to-be Martavius Neloms, another player forced to see action earlier than anticipated in the fall, is benefiting from the unexpected reps. Also returning is senior-to-be Paul Warford, who was ahead of Burden on the depth chart at the beginning of last season.

Meanwhile, junior college transfer safety Josh Gibbs has been making strides learning the playbook.

Whoever fills the starting roles, Phillips knows the quality he wants in his leader.

“We need someone that’s going to step up and be a guy that grabs them by the throat and gets them back in the huddle for us when things aren’t going good for us,” Phillips said.

Guy has an opportunity to seize the moment.

“I feel like this a big year for me, I’m just trying to stay focused, do the little things to help me become a better person because I want to be at the next level,” Guy said. “When that first game comes, I’m going to be ready.”

Dunlap, the AP and coaches’ choice for Southeastern Conference Player of the Year, was named to the second team by a panel of Full Court Press correspondents from across the nation. Mathies was named to the second team on the Freshman All-America squad.

Mathies also earned SEC Freshman of the Year honors from the SEC coaches.