HOOVER, Ala. - Kentucky will enter its August preseason camp with either a two- or three-player race at quarterback.
That number depends on former Signal Mountain High School standout Reese Phillips.
Phillips, who appeared in three games last season as the backup to Patrick Towles, ruptured his Achilles' tendon in early March and missed spring practice. That left the competition between Towles, who will be a junior this season, and Drew Barker, who redshirted last fall.
The Wildcats are in their third season under coach Mark Stoops and their first under offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson.
"We'll see where Reese is at," Stoops said Wednesday at Southeastern Conference Media Days. "I saw him in the training room yesterday, and he feels very good. He's out there throwing and doing some drops of his own, but he's not quite 100 percent and is behind the other two guys.
"He missed an awful lot of snaps this spring with the new offensive coordinator, but he'll absolutely have an opportunity. We will do a boatload of snaps certainly early in camp for a couple of weeks, so he'll have his opportunity if he's 100 percent."
Phillips completed 2 of 9 passes for 45 yards last season, including an interception that was returned for a touchdown by Brian Randolph in the Wildcats' 50-16 loss at Tennessee.
Out for the year
Missouri had some rebuilding to do on the defensive line following last season with the departures of ends Markus Golden and Shane Ray, and that was before an auto accident involving Harold Brantley in late June. The 6-foot-3, 280-pound redshirt junior defensive tackle fractured his left leg and will not be ready to play this year.
"Harold is going to be OK, but he is going to have his moments," Tigers coach Gary Pinkel said. "He anticipated being an All-American this year and was working to do that and really wanted to help us win. He's part of our family, so we will reach down and pick him up and put our arm around him and help him through it.
"The great thing is that he's going to be 100-percent healthy, and he can accomplish all his goals and graduate."
Bigger days ahead?
After losing his first 13 league games as coach of the Arkansas Razorbacks, Bret Bielema won two of his past three. The Hogs went 3-9 in Bielema's debut year in Fayetteville before going 7-6 last season, capping the turnaround with a 31-7 thumping of Texas in the Texas Bowl.
In his third go-around, Bielema wants more.
"Being 7-6 is by no means a landing point," he said. "It's more of a launching point, and it shares the same record with the worst record I had at my previous institution (Wisconsin). After we went 7-6 on my last stop, we went on to win 10 games every year and won three straight championships.
"I see a lot of the same things coming for us here, but the bottom line is you've got to make them happen."
Father of the bride
Alabama coach Nick Saban described his summer as eventful, with the top highlight being the marriage of his daughter, Kristen.
"That was a marvelous experience," Saban said. "When you live in 17 different houses all over the country, it was an opportunity to have a lot of relationships come back to visit and be a part of gaining a son-in-law. That was a real positive experience for us."
Odds and ends
The SEC office will reveal the media's predicted order of finish this morning for the East and West divisions, with the preseason all-conference teams being released Friday morning. Bielema on taking a knee at the 2-yard line in the waning moments of the Texas Bowl: "It was a proud moment. Borderline erotic." Stoops on hosting a Thursday night game this season (Auburn on Oct. 15) instead of traveling to one: "It's not a lot of fun to go on the road for a Thursday game. You travel on a Wednesday, and when you get to the hotel, there are soap operas on or something instead of football."
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.