Five stars: The Kentucky football players ready to build on a big 2018
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2019 College Football Preview
Watch for the Lexington Herald-Leader’s 2019 College Football Preview special section in the print edition on Sunday, Aug. 25. Click below to view all the stories for that section that have been published on Kentucky.com.
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The following five University of Kentucky football players have made significant contributions up to this point in their careers. Here’s a reminder of what they’ve done, and why they can continue to be names you’ll remember heading into 2019.
Lynn Bowden: Expect the junior, a preseason All-SEC selection (third-team all-purpose) by the media, to meet and, likely, exceed expectations as the focal point of the Wildcats’ offense. He had a team-leading 745 yards and five touchdowns on a 67 catches (a sophomore record at UK); only four receivers in the league had more grabs than he did in 2018. His 16th reception this fall will make him the 17th player in school history to total at least 100 catches, and 45 more yards would make him the program’s 30th 1,000-yard receiver for a career.
Quinton Bohanna: The junior nose guard is one of seven defensive linemen who’ve started a game; he played in 12, starting the final six, and is feeling more spry after a nagging ankle injury held him back his first two years on campus. A fully unleashed Bohanna could be a scary proposition for SEC offenses; defensive line coach Derrick LeBlanc believes the 6-foot-5, 350-pound anchor of the defense is as intelligent as they come, and center Drake Jackson has called him a top-five lineman in the conference.
Kash Daniel: If you don’t know who Kash Daniel is, you probably aren’t a Kentucky football fan or much of a college football fan, period. The Paintsville native is the team’s leading returnee when it comes to tackles (84) and heads up an inside linebacker corps that’s as deep as any in the conference. He and longsnapper Blake Best have each played in 39 games, the most of any Wildcat on this year’s roster; a chunk of Daniel’s appearances last season were with his left hand in a cast.
Jamar “Boogie” Watson: He’s not as physically intimidating as UK’s more famous, basketball-playing “Boogie,” but Watson packs plenty of punch in his 6-3, 242-pound frame. His quarterback pursuits were overshadowed by Josh Allen’s gaudy 17 sacks a year ago, but Watson’s five ranked second on the team. He has played in 25 of the Cats’ last 26 games (he missed last year’s bout with Murray State) and started seven games last season. Fair or not, the junior will still have to live in Allen’s shadow early in the season, but continued physical and on-field growth should lead to his own name being one people remember in due time.
Terry Wilson: While he tossed fewer total passes than the All-SEC candidates in front of him, it’s noteworthy that Wilson’s completion percentage (67.2) lagged behind only Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa (69%) and Georgia’s Jake Fromm (67.4%) in 2018 — and that was without any FBS playing experience. Wilson won 10 games as UK’s starting quarterback last season, a distinction held by only two other Wildcats, Babe Parilli and Derrick Ramsey. He has a solid shot at replicating what Stephen Johnson did as a junior college transfer and put together consecutive winning seasons. Turnovers were concerning — he lost four of nine fumbles, both team highs, and had eight interceptions compared to 11 TDs — but having a year under his belt should help.
