‘Last time being with my brothers is going to be hard.’ Departing Cats prepare for final game.

For several players, the Citrus Bowl will be their final time playing in a Kentucky uniform. Most say it hasn’t hit them quite yet.

“I really kind of don’t like thinking about it, you know,” said running back Benny Snell, who is leaving early for the NFL Draft after the bowl game.

“I am living for the moment, you know what I’m saying? But, yeah, I’ve been enjoying every moment I can with my teammates, with my coaches. … I’m living my dream still. I’m still living it, you know, so I’m enjoying it.”

The reality started to hit senior C.J. Conrad as he packed up his Lexington apartment before going home for the holiday break.

“It’s a weird feeling knowing I’m not coming back to Lexington with the guys after this,” the tight end said. “I’m going back home. It’s weird to think about.”

It likely will hit the Kentucky secondary hard. That group will have five seniors — most who have been in the program for four or more seasons — all saying goodbye together.

“Last time being with my brothers is going to be hard,” said senior safety Mike Edwards, who said that position group has discussed it a little bit.

“All five of us seniors, and it’s our last game together,” he added. “We came in with each other, so it’s a big time for us and we’re going to try and get a win.”

Getting that win is the primary goal for Josh Allen, a senior who came back for his final season and has opted to play in the bowl despite being a likely high first-round NFL Draft pick.

“I told myself from the beginning of the season that I was going to play the whole season,” Allen said. “I’m going (to) finish with my team and make history, break records.”

Putting best face (hair) forward

Kentucky’s offensive line looks a little different this week.

No, the players didn’t put on extra pounds eating fruit cake and other holiday goodies during their brief trip home before the Citrus Bowl.

Several of the Cats’ players are sporting alternative facial hair this week in preparation for Penn State.

“The previous two bowl games we’d see a lot of the offensive linemen do funny stuff with their facial hair and this is what I came up with,” center Drake Jackson said on Saturday, stroking a thin beard that skips his chin and flows straight into a mustache. “It’s kind of fun just to see what we can do.”

When the other offensive linemen weren’t there to defend their facial follicle adjustments, Jackson decided to describe them in detail.

“Logan Stenberg did a little mustache because he was so embarrassed by his disgusting chin hair,” Jackson said laughing. “Mason Wolfe did the handlebar, like the Hulk Hogan mustache.”

And while it has been fun to change things up, Jackson offered that it wasn’t a look he plans to bring with him into the new year.

“This isn’t going to stay for long because it’s been getting a lot of looks in public,” he said.

Close connections

Before the start of bowl week, tight end C.J. Conrad lamented how difficult it has been to find tickets for family members wanting to attend the Citrus Bowl.

But he couldn’t imagine how difficult it must be for the 16 players on the Cats’ roster from the Sunshine State.

Who are the UK players returning home this week (and likely looking for tickets if you have some)? Wide receivers Josh Ali, Akeem Hayes, Bryce Oliver and B.J. Alexander; defensive backs Chris Westry, Cedrick Dort, Stanley Garner, Jamari Brown, Clevan Thomas and Derrick Baity; linebackers Jordan Wright and Chris Whittaker; defensive linemen Abule Abadi-Fitzgerald and Davoan Hawkins; offensive linemen Nick Lewis and Kenneth Horsey.

▪ There aren’t any Kentuckians on the Penn State roster and vice versa, but there are still a few connections between the two teams.

Freshman inside linebacker DeAndre Square and Nittany Lions sophomore cornerback Donovan Johnson were teammates at Cass Technical High School in Detroit.

Kentucky offensive coordinator/quarterback coach Darin Hinshaw was wide receivers coach at Memphis from 2007-09, the same time as Penn State defensive coordinator Brent Pry coached the defensive line there.

Other coaching connections include UK wideouts coach Michael Smith coaching at Kansas State from 2009-10 with PSU offensive coordinator Rickey Rahne and UK defensive backs coach Steve Clinkscale coaching at Illinois in 2012 under current Penn State co-defensive coordinator Tim Banks.