A 43-year-old UK record could fall this year. Here's what it will take.

Kentucky's spring practices started around the same time as the NFL’s annual combine where some of the country’s best running backs put on an explosive show this year.

The Cats' offensive coordinator made sure UK's star rusher, Benny Snell, who has set nearly a dozen school records in his first two years on campus, was paying close attention to the combine.

“If you think you’ve arrived any second of the day, as an athlete, you’re done,” Eddie Gran said he told Snell in March. “You’re toast.

“So I just said, ‘Listen, don’t think you’ve arrived. Somebody’s chasing you every day in California, and Texas, and Georgia and everywhere.’”

This season as the top returning running back in the Southeastern Conference, many players will be chasing Snell, who had 1,333 yards and 19 touchdowns last season.

And Snell will be doing some chasing of his own: Record chasing.

The 5-foot-11, 223-pound junior-to-be from Westerville, Ohio, needs 1,412 yards to break the 43-year old school rushing record set by Sonny Collins (3,835 career yards).

In Kentucky history, only Moe Williams (1995) and Artose Pinner (2002) have amassed that many yards in just one season.

It will be a tight climb for the junior, who would need to average around 118 yards per game in each of UK’s 12 regular-season games this year to get there.

In his two seasons at Kentucky, Snell has averaged about 93 yards a game, but his first season included shared carries with Boom Williams.

Last season as a sophomore — when Snell broke the school rushing touchdown record — he averaged 109.8 yards per game in the regular season.

Because of a controversial ejection in the Music City Bowl, Snell had a season-low 15 yards on six carries. A full game that day might have made this season’s chase less cumbersome.

But Snell has shown he’s capable of putting up the numbers needed to become the school’s all-time rusher. In the Cats’ final five regular-season games of 2017, Snell averaged 155.4 yards.

If he stayed on that pace this season, the junior would have the record by UK’s ninth game of the season against Georgia.

There’s still a lot of ground to make up between now and then.

Snell is doing his part, including spending this offseason working on his speed, which has included diet changes and extra footwork drills.

“I feel like I’ve definitely gotten faster,” he said before the Blue-White Spring Game. “I’ve maintained my muscle so I can use it well when I’m out there. … I’m glad with my results.”

He’s also working to become a smarter runner.

“I’m trying not to take as (many) hits,” Snell said. “I’m trying to know different people’s positions so I can know as a runner where the blocks set up, which way I should hit the hole. If I know everybody’s role, then I can do my role even better.”

Snell, who will be running behind an offensive line with veterans back at every position, also is taking the role of leader seriously, especially now that quarterback Stephen Johnson is gone.

“I am the one. I am the one,” he said when asked about UK looking for leaders on offense. “I want to take that role and when it comes down to the get down, all the pressure will be on me.”

Kentucky Coach Mark Stoops doesn’t mind Snell declaring himself “the one” on that side of the ball.

“I love that,” Stoops said. “I agree. He’s been around, proven himself two years in a row and he has a chip on his shoulder and that’s contagious.”

While there are big dreams to chase starting Sept. 1 against Central Michigan, Snell will be tracking some easier to reach records throughout the season.

The junior needs just 88 yards to best former UK backfield mate Boom Williams. Snell is some 225 yards from moving into the top five all-time for UK running backs, topping George Adams, who had 2,648 career yards and 25 touchdowns when he played from 1981 to 1984.

The Cats' head coach called his junior star highly motivated no matter what Snell is chasing.

“Benny is always sitting on G, waiting on O,” Stoops smiled. “He's ready to go, and he's always wired and has a great strong mentality.”

This story was originally published May 22, 2018 at 11:13 AM with the headline "A 43-year-old UK record could fall this year. Here's what it will take.."