University of Kentucky senior receiver Dicky Lyons Jr. can be the life of the party just by being himself. But Lyons showed at the AutoZone team welcoming party on Monday night that he can also get the party started by imitating someone else.

Lyons, who suffered a season-ending knee injury in the South Carolina game, won the Elvis impersonator contest at Jillian’s, outdueling East Carolina’s Melvin Patterson.

“He had everything down, the moves, the gyrations and everything,” UK defensive end Jeremy Jarmon said. “He told me he got XM Radio this year and listens to Elvis all the time.”

Jarmon won the Xbox 360 competition by narrowly defeating East Carolina’s T.J. Lee 10-7 in College Football 2009.

The game was a barn-burner, as Jarmon won on a Lones Seiber field goal on the final play.

“I was able to just drive the ball and eat up clock, and I got to the 5-yard line and ran a lead off tackle to get the ball in the center of the field so Lones could kick the game-winner.”

The game-winning kick set off a celebration that included an exuberant Seiber cheering on.

The Wildcats did suffer its first loss in three years when they lost the bowling competition.

“Coach Brooks wasn’t too happy about that, either,” Jarmon said.

Coaches and parents might frown on student-athletes spending so much time on video games, but Jarmon said he believes it actually helps him on the football field.

“It gives you a wide variety of football knowledge,” Jarmon said. “There are things that I see in those games that I might only see one or two times a year, so I know what to expect, and when I get out there a lot of times you can tell I’m standing up and looking over the formations before I get my hand down because I’m going through my mind all the scenarios that come up. A lot of NASCAR drivers they’re known to use those games because they have the race tracks set up on those games exactly like they are in real life so they know exactly where they need to brake.”

Jarmon said he knew a lot about East Carolina from playing College Football 2009.

“The funny thing is, me and a few other players had an online dynasty set up (on College Football 2009), and we’re playing in Conference USA, so we knew who was good on East Carolina’s team just based on the game,” he said.

The Cat Walk for the Liberty Bowl will take place at 1:45 CST. The team bus will arrive via Mississippi Avenue and the players and coaching staff will walk around to the entrance at the South Tunnel of Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium.

University of Kentucky fans headed to Memphis for Friday’s Liberty Bowl game against East Carolina shouldn’t have to worry about extremely cold temperatures according the Weather.com. The early game-day forecast calls for partly cloudy skies with a high of 46 degrees.

Kickoff is set for 4 p.m. CST at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium.

The University of Kentucky has added some defensive line help for its 2009 recruiting class. Mark Crawford, a 6-foot-1, 305-pound defensive tackle from Coffeyville (Kan.) Community College, has committed to UK and is expected to sign and enroll in January.

Crawford selected UK over offers from Louisville, South Florida, Kansas and Illinois. He visited the UK campus the weekend of Dec. 19. Crawford is listed as a three-star recruit by Rivals.com as expected to help fill the void at tackle that will be left with the departure of senior Myron Pryor.

Crawford redshirted his first year at Coffeyville and will have three years of eligibility remaining.

The University of Kentucky has moved closer to completing its 2009 schedule. Louisiana-Monroe announced on Tuesday that they will play UK on Oct. 24 at Commonwealth Stadium. UK still needs one more game and has two openings left on its schedule on Sept. 5 and Sept. 12.

Kentucky beat ULM 42-40 in Lexington in 2006.

University of Kentucky recruit Morgan Newton has been named Indiana’s Mr. Football.  Newton threw for 1,938 yards and 22 touchdowns and 1,664 yards and 26 touchdowns rushing as a senior. Newton received 34 of 52 votes for the award.

University of Kentucky junior cornerback Trevard Lindley has been named third-team All-America  by Phil Steele’s College Football.

Lindley  has four interceptions and 11 pass breakups this season.  He leads the Southeastern Conference and ranks 14^th nationally in total passes defended per game.  A consensus first-team All-SEC honoree, he also was a semifinalist for the Jim Thorpe Award as the nation’s top defensive back and second-team All-America by the Walter Camp Football Foundation.

University of Kentucky quarterbacks coach Randy Sanders was not listed as a finalist for the head coaching job at Chattanooga according to a report in the Chattanooga Times Free Press.

Sanders told the Times Free Press last week that he was interested in the job and had talked with the school about the opening, but Chattanooga athletics director Rick Hart told the newspaper that his search was down to three candidates: Tennessee-Martin coach Jason Simpson, Lambuth University coach Hugh Freeze and Richmond defensive coordinator Russ Huesman.

Kentucky Coach Rich Brooks said two starters from last fall who missed the 2008 season are on track to get back on the field in 2009. Christian Johnson, who was sidelined by a back injury and academic woes, has been practicing since mid-season. Johnson, who has 15 career starts at left guard, will not be eligible to travel for the bowl game, but still has the spring and summer to get himself in good academic standing. Paul Warford, who has 14 career starts at cornerback, has been re-admitted to UK after the spring semester after being ruled academically ineligible in the fall. Brooks said he expects Warford to return to the team.

The University of Kentucky hosted a handful of prospects this weekend for the basketball game with Indiana. The visitors included a pair of teammates from Los Angeles Harbor Community College, wide receiver Chris Matthews and defensive end DeQuin Evans.

The 6-foot-5, 210-pound Matthews is listed as a four-star prospect and the No. 9 junior college recruit in the country by Rivals.com. Evans, a 6-foot-2, 275-pounder, is also a four-star recruit.

Also expected in town for a visit was Brian Adams, a 6-foot-4, 210-pound athlete from Cumming, Ga. who committed to Kentucky in June; and Jared Pickett, a 5-foot-9, 170-pound athlete Marshall High School in Missouri City, Tex. Pickett, a two-star recruit by Rivals.com and Scout.com, has committed to Houston.