One day in late August, Jared Lorenzen walked off the Kentucky practice field, pulled the helmet off his naturally blonde head and revealed hair the color of aged artificial turf.

Seems that the night before, Lorenzen got the idea in his famously large melon that it might be fun to have blue hair. But the dye job was about as successful as Big Jared's tenure as a starting college quarterback had been to that point. His record was 3-14, and his hair looked like something Earl Campbell used to run on in the Astrodome.

Think faded green. With blue undertones. Kinda.

Warren Runs ASU To Victory

Sun Belt wins! Sun Belt wins! Arkansas State earned the year's first victory over an NCAA I-A opponent for Little League That Could. The Indians beat Tulsa 21-19, extending the nation's longest losing streak to 12 games and improving the Sun Belt's non-conference record against I-A teams to 1-13. They did it on the legs of a kid who didn't know he'd be making his first college start until minutes before kickoff. "It was a surprise to me to be starting," running back Antonio Warren told the Jonesboro (Ark.) Sun. "I really wasn't expecting it, but I just had to make the best of my moment and help the team in any way that I could." Warren's career rushing total heading into the game: minus-one yard. The sophomore from Wynne, Ark., sat out last season for NCAA academic requirements, and played sparingly in the Indians' losses to Virginia Tech and San Jose State. With five college carries in two years, he clearly was rested enough to run the ball 32 times against the Golden Hurricane. "He ran tough," Tulsa coach Keith Burns said. "It would be interesting to see how many yards he had after contact." Senior tackle Corey Williams, another academic non-qualifier as a freshman, was the defensive star for Arkansas State. He tied a school record with four sacks, including two that helped kill a final Tulsa drive late in the fourth quarter. And it was the inaugural win at A-State for first-year coach Steve Roberts, who had compiled a shiny record at Northwestern State and Southern Arkansas. Arkansas State had lost 19 of its last 22 games when he took over, and hadn't won a non-conference game in three years. Making it two straight will be difficult, however. The Indians visit Illinois Saturday. -- Pat Forde

"I was bored," Lorenzen said with a shrug, referring to the failed follicle stratagem. "That's my problem. I get bored too easily."

Fact is, the blue-hair experiment is one of the few times in recent months that J-Lo has let his Inner Imp off its new leash. Lorenzen has done admirable work taming the adolescent that cavorts within his astonishing, 290-pound (give or take a Wendy's triple) body.

He has, quite simply, grown up.

And he's taking Kentucky football with him.

The SEC has been beaten from coast (Oregon 36, Mississippi State 13) to coast (Miami 41, Florida 16), and several stops in between (Virginia Tech over LSU, Virginia over South Carolina, USC over Auburn, Oklahoma over Alabama, Georgia Tech over Vanderbilt). But not in the Bluegrass, of all places.

If you're looking for the September surprise story in the South, look no further than Kentucky and its carnival quarterback. The Wildcats, widely predicted to be awful, are 2-0 and averaging 49.5 points per game. In Week One they beat a Top 20 team on the road (Louisville) for the first time in 25 years. In Week Two they scored the most points by a Kentucky team in 51 years (77, against UTEP). Don't look now, but the Cats -- winners of four games the previous two seasons combined -- could easily be 4-0 when they begin SEC play at nemesis Florida Sept. 28.

And Lorenzen? No time for boredom when you're playing like he is. He's finally becoming something other than a novelty act. ("Step right up and see him, ladies and gentlemen, the World's Widest Quarterback!")

The kid who carved his name into the NCAA record book with six freshman records in 2000 has finally added the most valuable line of all to his reésumeé: winner. He's not putting up the pyrotechnic numbers he did under Hal Mumme, but neither is he making the mistakes that helped keep the Cats from winning the past two years.

Lorenzen has thrown six touchdown passes. More importantly, he's thrown zero interceptions in 44 attempts. His efficiency rating is a stratospheric 174.8. Not bad for a young man who had a school-record 21 picks two years ago, and whose fun-first, work-later attitude threatened to sabotage his huge potential.

"He's becoming a man," said second-year coach Guy Morriss, whose chances of being a third-year coach have improved dramatically this month.

Lorenzen's maturity has come in increments, probably in a manner familiar to many college students.

First, there was academics. Ask Lorenzen was his first-semester GPA was at Kentucky and you get a quick, honest answer.

"Point six," he says.

James Blutarski, in shoulder pads.

Lorenzen had to buckle down ferociously the next semester just to stay in school, and thus get the starting QB job that Mumme gift-wrapped for him with a stunning summer demotion of incumbent starter Dusty Bonner.

While that surprise promotion will one day help Lorenzen hurdle Tim Couch and become Kentucky's career passing leader, it did not help him earn the respect of his teammates or learn what was necessary to be a successful college quarterback.

J-Lo wasn't much on leadership, film study or weight loss, and a divided Kentucky program wasn't much on winning. The Wildcats went 2-9, and Mumme disappeared amid an acrid haze of recruiting violations.

When the smoke cleared, Morriss was the new coach and Lorenzen was facing a new reality. Suddenly, the head coach wanted him to look more like a quarterback and less like a nose tackle. He expected Lorenzen to go to class as regularly as he went to the fast-food drive-thru. He wanted his quarterback to become a student of the game, not just a fun-loving sandlot player.

And with talented freshman Shane Boyd on board as a backup, there was very real job competition.

Lorenzen cut weight to reach a Morriss-mandated 265 pounds, but the rest of the adjustment was not going well. Adrift in Morriss' new offense and at odds with the staff's new demands, Lorenzen was miserable in the 2001 season-opening loss to archrival Louisville. He went 12 of 31 for just 121 yards, with an interception and a fumble.

"I sucked against Louisville, no ifs, ands or buts," Lorenzen said. "They totally destroyed me."

For the next five games, Lorenzen was the backup and Boyd was the starter. For the first time in his life, the joy of the game had been ripped out of J-Lo. After his first day on the bench, a home win against Ball State, Lorenzen left Commonwealth Stadium in tears and was heckled by some tailgating fans.

"I went home and bawled my eyes out," Lorenzen said.

In mid-October, Lorenzen got the job back after leading a comeback near-victory over eventual SEC champion LSU. From that point on he played brilliantly, and the job has been his ever since.

Much of the weight has come back. (In something of a truce, Morriss promised to quit harping on J-Lo's girth, so long as he produced. So far, so good.) But the young man inside the biggest QB britches in America seems otherwise transformed into an adult.

The final reason for that is a small one physically but an immense one emotionally. Taylar Lorenzen is six weeks old now, and occasionally visits practice with her mother, Tamara Tabar, Jared's high-school sweetheart. (She was a big baby at 8 pounds, six ounces, but Jared weighed in at 13-3. He's literally been large every minute of his life.)

"The whole experience made me a better person and a better quarterback," Lorenzen said.

And Lorenzen, in turn, has helped make Kentucky a better football team than anyone believed possible.

Around the SEC

Alabama
For a sublime period last Saturday afternoon in Norman, Okla., Alabama football was back. All the way back. Twenty-four-straight-points-against-the-No. 2-Sooners back. Then the Crimson Tide couldn't close the deal, losing 37-27 as the Sooners scored the final two touchdowns in the final three minutes. The performance signaled that Dennis Franchione has this program on the edge of its old stomping grounds with the other powerhouses, but he didn't feel like celebrating a moral victory. "We should've won the ballgame, we could've won the ballgame," Franchione told the Birmingham News. "That's the thing that sticks with you." ... Franchione showed ample gusto in Norman, calling for an onsides kick and scoring a touchdown on a fake field goal. Now he just hopes that his team will show the late-game confidence Oklahoma displayed. 'Bama lost several fourth-quarter leads last year, and doing so again -- even if it was a skinny one-point lead on the road against Oklahoma -- was not a welcome sight.

Arkansas
The high cost of scheduling victories: The Razorbacks will pay a total of $1.9 million in guarantees to its four visiting non-conference opponents. South Florida gets $600,000, Boise State $450,000, Troy State $425,000 and Louisiana-Lafayette $425,000. The fans figure to get zippo in the thrill department. ... Cedric Cobbs didn't waste time making good on coach Houston Nutt's leniency. The running back who was kept on the team despite legal trouble had 83 yards on just 11 carries in Arkansas' opening win over Boise State last week, as part of a stable of backs Nutt deployed. Nobody had more than 11 carries in the game.

Auburn
Like the rest of the team, quarterback Daniel Cobb was happy to see Western Carolina after playing Southern California. Cobb smoothed out some of the bumps from the season opener, leading five scoring drives in six possessions in a 56-0 Auburn win and keeping competitor Jason Campbell with the second string. For now. "We told him, 'Don't look over your shoulder. The job's yours,'" coach Tommy Tuberville said. Campbell has completed 12 of 14 throws in relief. ... Auburn will play two SEC games in the next eight days, hosting Vanderbilt and then traveling two Mississippi State for a Thursday night game. That's four games in 18 days to open the season, a high-impact stretch that will test the Tigers' resiliency. "I see two disadvantages," Tuberville said. "One, you don't get a full week to recover from injuries. ... And two, you don't get enough practice time to get better." ... How essential is Carnell "Cadillac" Williams' health to the Auburn offense? Tuberville only let the electrifying sophomore running back carry the ball four times against Western Carolina before putting him on the bench for safe keeping. Of course, two of those runs were touchdowns.

Florida
And now, the aftermath. "Obviously, there were a lot of questions and some concerns out there," Ron Zook said. "That's part of it. That's what makes the University of Florida what it is." While Zook is hunkering down and trying not to hear how much better things would be if Stevie Boy were still in Gainesville, he's taking care of a couple of personnel issues: punter Jeff Creveling and place-kicker Matt Leach might both be benched, and there could be a change at middle linebacker as well. He'd also love to see another wideout step up and take the double teams off of receiver Taylor Jacobs, who has one-third of Florida's 39 receptions to date. ... One thing about being smeared by Miami: You have to hear the Hurricanes woof, and there's nothing you can say back. The comment that might have hurt worst last Saturday came from 'Canes center Brett Romberg: "Steve Spurrier named this place The Swamp. It's not The Swamp anymore. We just call it Ben Griffin Field." ... Thanks to Willis McGahee's cleat marks, the Gators are last in the SEC in run defense, allowing 225 yards per game. "If we don't move on, this could get ugly," safety Todd Johnson told the Orlando Sentinel.

Georgia
With a key Eastern Division game at South Carolina looming, Mark Richt is calling for the Bulldogs to toughen up their running game. Georgia is 11th in the league in rushing after producing just 86 yards on 39 carries against Clemson, so Richt wants tailback Musa Smith running harder and his line, receivers and fullbacks blocking longer. "We've got to be a lot more aggressive," Richt said. ... The Gamecocks undoubtedly will be keeping tabs on the whereabouts of superb linebacker Boss Bailey, who against Clemson had seven tackles, including one and a half for losses and one quarterback sack, plus broke up a pass.

Kentucky
How's this for starters? True freshman receiver Glenn Holt has touched the ball twice in his college career and scored two touchdowns. He had a 12-yard TD reception and a 16-yard TD run in the Wildcats' 77-17 crushing of UTEP. ... The Cats have allowed 34 points so far this season, the lowest total in nine years. Hal Mumme never cared about defense, but Guy Morriss does. "The attitude used to be like we didn't exist," end Otis Grigsby said. "Now it's like we matter as much as the offense." What a concept.

LSU
Quarterback Matt Mauck continued to labor against The Citadel last Saturday, completing just 8 of 18 passes for 90 yards. For the season he's completed just 43.4 percent of his passes for a total of 224 yards. As long as that's the case, Nick Saban said the offense will remain basic -- and tailback-oriented. "We don't like to ask players to do things they're not ready to do," Saban said. The Tigers, who host Miami (Ohio) Saturday, have a long pass play this season of 17 yards.

Mississippi
Eli Manning has had a slow start to the season in general, and to the games in specific. He's completed just four of 16 first-quarter passes for 39 yards, although the Rebels are 2-0. A slow start this week at Texas Tech will be harder to overcome than at home against Louisiana-Monroe and Memphis. Then again, Red Raiders fans are saying the same things about Kliff Kingsbury, who also has struggled to start the season. ... The offensive line has been doing its job for the Rebels. Tailback Robert Williams had his second straight 100-yard rushing game, and Eli Manning hasn't taken a sack. As a team the Rebels have had only three negative rushing plays in 77 attempts.

Mississippi State
Quarterback Kevin Fant, reinstated after serving a one-game suspension for receiving an extra benefit from a booster, is happy to have it behind him. "If I knew all this would have happened, I just would have stayed home," said Fant of his decision to use a booster's credit card to hold a set of truck tires for him until his mom could pay for it. Fant said he's been called "The Michelin Man" since sitting out State's loss to Oregon. "I hate I let the team down. I apologize to Mississippi State and the NCAA," issuing perhaps the first apology ever to the sport's governing body.

South Carolina
Derek Watson is gone, but not forgotten. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported last week that the NCAA has added the Gamecocks to its lengthy list of SEC Schools To Watch, in part because former running back Watson was tooling around in a Carolina graduate's Cadillac Escalade in 1999, months after he signed with the Gamecocks. South Carolina fairly exploded over the story, saying that it was old news and that Watson had "made restitution" for use of the vehicle. Lou Holtz lobbed a couple grenades at the media along the way. ... This week Holtz is in Classic Lou Mode with a big game approaching. His take on the Gamecocks' loss to Virginia last week: "We have good speed, but we played very, very slow. Why? I don't know." ... One Holtz criticism that is no bluff: His team's third-down defense is abysmal. South Carolina opponents are converting 57.6 percent of their third downs into first downs, the highest percentage in the league. "Third down has really, really killed us," Holtz said. ... Holtz will try some tough love with quarterback Corey Jenkins, who committed multiple turnovers against the Cavaliers. "He tried to make the great play, and consequently made some bad ones," Holtz said, adding that he's been too easy on his quarterbacks. "I have not been real hard on my quarterbacks the last two years, and it was a mistake."

Tennessee
The Volunteers have the week off, which should guarantee a healthy Kelley Washington in the lineup when Florida arrives Sept. 21. Washington, who hasn't played a snap in two Vols victories while resting a strained left knee, practiced 30 minutes Tuesday, running routes at half speed. ... Tony Brown has stepped up ably in Washington's absence, leading the SEC with 15 catches. ... Tennessee could have another complication at wideout. The Louisville Courier-Journal reported Wednesday that sophomore Montrell Jones, who has six catches on the year, was charged in August with marijuana possession in his hometown of Louisville.

Vanderbilt
It was only Furman -- but then again, this is only Vanderbilt. Whatever the opponent, Jay Cutler locked up the starting quarterback job for the foreseeable future in his first career start against the Paladins. He threw two first-quarter touchdowns to Dan Stricker and then added three running scores in a 49-18 rout, finishing with 215 yards passing and 107 running. ... Vandy opens SEC play at Auburn Saturday. The Commodores haven't won a league opener on the road in 18 years.

Around the Sun Belt Conference
After Williams' sacks effectively ended the game against Tulsa, Arkansas State was flagged for excessive celebration. Roberts, who has been cajoling his team into being more emotional and enthusiastic, was thrilled. ... Idaho wide receiver Josh Jelmberg has consecutive 10-catch games and easily leads the league in receptions. But he's averaging just 7.3 yards per catch. ... Louisiana-Lafayette needs to locate a running game in time for its trip to Houston Saturday. The 0-2 Ragin' Cajuns are averaging 23 rushing yards per game and 1 yard per carry. The UL-L offense has scored only one touchdown to date in eight quarters. ... On the bright side, that's one more TD than Louisiana-Monroe. The Indians have mustered just three points so far in road games at Mississippi and Kansas State. Their home opener Saturday is against McNeese State, where coach Bobby Keasler earned 78 of his 86 career victories. ... Middle Tennessee gave another solid effort against a big-name SEC school, holding Tennessee to 26 points. The bad news: Middle scored just three, and Dwone Hicks' Heisman hopes officially vanished. Hicks has rushed for just 65 yards in two games. Middle is off this week before continuing its SEC experience Sept. 21 at Kentucky. ... New Mexico State quarterback Buck Pierce has been Mr. Everything for the Aggies, rushing for a team-high 126 yards and throwing for 328 in two games. Pierce, who is completing 67.4 percent of his passes and has yet to throw an interception, leads the league in passing efficiency. ... The 'Belt's other victory last week was North Texas' 23-0 shutdown of Nicholls State. If defense wins championships, watch out for a Mean Green repeat, because they clearly have the league's best. North Texas is allowing just 13.5 points per game, the only school surrendering fewer than 30. North Texas running backs coach Freddie Kitchens should enjoy his trip to Tuscaloosa for this week's game against Alabama. Kitchens was the Crimson Tide's starting quarterback from 1995-97.

Pat Forde covers college football for the Louisville Courier-Journal.