”Everybody (on the team) knows the defense is better,” he said. ”Everybody’s excited to get together and do it against Louisville, instead of our boys.”

LEXINGTON – At the end of each Kentucky football practice, a team manager feeds footballs into the spinning wheels of a machine that spits them out at high speeds and varying angles. A line of players cycles through, practicing catching the missiles while stationary and on the run. Another drill for the receivers who are so crucial to coach Hal Mumme’s ”Air Raid” passing offense?No, these players wear the black practice jerseys of the Kentucky defense. They’re safeties and cornerbacks who hope to boost the mere six interceptions the Wildcats grabbed last season, second-lowest in the Southeastern Conference. According to cornerbacks coach Tim Keane, there’s plenty of room for improvement.”A lot of them, you look at them catch that ball, boy, they need it,” Keane said with a laugh. ”It’s all slapping at it. You can tell a lot of them, they played baseball. I don’t see how the heck they were running backs in high school.”With Louisville’ strong-armed quarterback, Chris Redman, and his corps of star receivers headed to Commonwealth Stadium for Saturday’s season opener (3:30 p.m. EDT), the Kentucky secondary will need to be in mid-season form from the opening possession. Having lost offensive stars like quarterback Tim Couch and wideout Craig Yeast, the Wildcats are depending on improved defensive play, particularly in the secondary, as they seek a second consecutive bowl berth. Cornerback Eric Kelly, who started seven games last season, said Saturday’s game will show fans what the Kentucky offense already has learned in preseason practices.”Everybody (on the team) knows the defense is better,” he said. ”Everybody’s excited to get together and do it against Louisville, instead of our boys.”Kelly admitted there were times in 1998 when he paid the price for just batting the ball to the ground, rather than going for an interception.”One time in the Florida game (a 51-35 Wildcats loss), I went to knock it down, and I should have gone for the interception and they got it for a touchdown,” Kelly said. Moments like that helped generate a string of statistics that reflected the secondary’s struggles in ’98.The Wildcats intercepted just 1.86 percent of all pass attempts, second-lowest in the SEC, and the 2,606 passing yards and 8.09 yards per attempt they gave up were both the third-highest totals in the conference. In pass defense efficiency, Kentucky was rated ninth out of the SEC’s 12 teams. Keane and colleague Darrell Patterson, the safeties coach, both point out that the low interception rate and high passing numbers against their unit are partly a result of defensive coordinator Mike Major’s aggressive, man-to-man scheme, which foregoes zone coverage in the backfield in favor of heavy pressure along the defensive front. However, both acknowledge they’d like to see the Wildcats intercept more balls this season and at least balance – if not reverse – last year’s turnover ratio of -11.That’s the idea behind the pass-catching drill.”If you rep something (in practice), they’ll do it” in games, Patterson said.”Let them get it on their mind to catch the football, pat them on the back when they do,” Keane said. ”You don’t just turn the light on and get interceptions.”