Versatile, reliable Bowden could be Citrus Bowl wild card for Kentucky

Lynn Bowden sees the football field like Garry Kasparov sees a chess board.

The Kentucky sophomore is a savant of sorts. And he can play almost any position: king, pawn, bishop, rook.

“His IQ level is off the charts,” offensive coordinator Eddie Gran said on Saturday, describing the Cats’ leader in catches (62), receiving yards (661) and touchdowns (five) this season.

Bowden’s freshman season was a bit more one dimensional, with the former star dual-threat quarterback from Youngstown, Ohio, learning the nuances of becoming a Southeastern Conference wide receiver.

He was picking up the basics of a position he’d never played, but there were flashes of what was to come.

By year two, Kentucky has him playing all over the field and doing all sorts of game-changing moves.

“We’re able to put him in different positions,” Gran said, noting all of the receiver positions Bowden has played in 2018. “He’s playing X, Z, he plays F, he plays Y.

“He’s gone to the quarterback position. We’re able to use different personnel groupings and get him on the field and he knows where everybody is. That’s really helpful when you’ve got a guy like that.”

Football comes naturally to Bowden, no matter what position he plays. Whether it’s on kick or punt return — where he went in cold and had a game-changing punt return at Missouri — or in the slot.

He’s comfortable with the ball in his hands.

“I started playing football at 4 years old,” Bowden said on Saturday after a UK practice for the VRBO Citrus Bowl. “My mom threw me out there at a young age.”

Bowden played running back as a kid, then moved to quarterback at Warren Harding High School where he ran for 2,277 yards and threw for 1,366 yards, amassing 57 total touchdowns in his senior season.

Being a quarterback elevated his football IQ even more.

“It’s tough because you have to know coverages, know the plays, know the checks and everything,” he explained. “Gotta study the game.”

That’s why just a few days before a game, Kentucky’s offensive staff can change a formation or a personnel grouping in hopes of getting Bowden more involved and the sophomore adjusts with ease.

In the middle of a game if a coverage changes, quarterback Terry Wilson knows that Bowden is going to see it and make an adjustment.

“We’re on the same page,” Wilson said. “He knows what to do. I just have to put the ball in the right spot for him.”

After the 6-foot-1, 195-pound sophomore’s big game against Louisville to end the season, Coach Mark Stoops noted that Bowden has been “really steady.

“We know he’s great with the ball in his hands but now he’s getting open and Terry is hitting him,” the UK coach said. “That’s a lot to build on there.”

It wasn’t always that kind of relationship between the first-year Cats quarterback and his favorite target this season. Bowden said the two weren’t that close when Wilson arrived on campus from junior college.

But now?

“It’s like a peanut butter and jelly relationship,” said Bowden, a self-proclaimed PB&J aficionado. “You can’t have the peanut butter without the jelly.”

No matter which way you slice it, Bowden and Wilson have been a sweet combo for Kentucky this season, starting with a quarterback scramble leading with a 54-yard touchdown in the upset victory at Florida.

Or ending with the two touchdowns and 86 yards on six catches at Louisville a few weeks ago.

“Me and Lynn have been on the same page,” Wilson said of Bowden, who is second on the team in all-purpose yards with 1,282 this season. “He’s doing a wonderful job of getting open. He’s a student of the game. He knows what he’s doing.”

They will have a formidable opponent in Penn State, which was second in the Big Ten and No. 20 nationally in pass defense this season, allowing 186.5 yards per game with 14 touchdowns and 13 interceptions.

Kentucky will need Wilson to be on and it will need Bowden to be a few moves ahead of a Nittany Lions team that recruited him out of high school.

“When we’re in rhythm and he’s getting the ball, that’s when we’re at our best,” Gran said.

Bowden got a little uncomfortable this week when asked about that, saying he doesn’t like to talk about himself like that.

But he tries to think of himself as a “spark plug” for the Cats.

“How I go is how our team goes. If I’m energized, the team’s energized.”

Citrus Bowl

No. 14 Kentucky vs. No. 12 Penn State

When: 1 p.m. Tuesday

Where: Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Fla.

TV: ABC-36

Radio: WLAP-AM 630, WBUL-FM 98.1, WLXG-AM 1300, WLXG-FM 92.5

Records: Kentucky 9-3 (5-3 SEC), Penn State 9-3 (6-3 Big Ten)

Series: Penn State leads 3-2

Last meeting: Penn State won 26-14 on Jan. 1, 1999, at the Outback Bowl in Tampa, Fla.