‘Why burn a year unless you absolutely have to?’ New NCAA rule paid off for UK.
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UK vs. Eastern Michigan preview
Check below all week for coverage of the University of Kentucky football team leading up to its game against Eastern Michigan on Saturday.
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New NCAA legislation that allowed for players to play in up to four games and still qualify for a redshirt season was passed before last season to the delight of most college football coaches. Kentucky reaped the the rewards as much as any program.
While the rule change has the added bonus of helping veterans who get injured early in the season maintain a year of eligibility, it was particularly a boon for freshmen who previously might have arrived on campus expecting not to play right away. With four games with which to mess around, staffs can now dig into their benches and get a better sense of what they have in store for the future.
Take Chance Poore, UK’s starting kicker. He appeared in three games as a true freshman, making his debut with a successful 31-yard field goal against Missouri in the first quarter of last year’s 15-14 come-from-behind victory in Columbia. Poore attempted field goals in UK’s next two games and finished 2-for-4 overall.
A 50-percent clip isn’t good, but even if he’d been perfect it’s unlikely Poore would have overtaken Miles Butler as the starter for the rest of the season. Those reps were just that — reps — but a perfect effort against Toledo (one 46-yard field goal and five PATs) suggests Poore was readier to slide into the full-time job than he otherwise might have been.
Eight redshirt freshmen are on Kentucky’s two-deep depth chart heading into week two. Three of them played in a handful of games in addition to Poore in 2018: Chris Rodriguez and Kavosiey Smoke, both running backs, as well as backup center Quintin Wilson. Keaton Upshaw, the Cats’ backup tight end, probably would have played some too if not for a knee injury.
UK head coach Mark Stoops believes it’s a “win-win” for coaches and players.
“Right now as we’re going through the depth chart, we’re identifying guys and saying, ‘OK, they’re definitely gonna play or there are guys that are tweeners,’” Stoops said. “So why burn a year unless you absolutely have to? For many years us coaches were always in that bind, and you may need a player for a game or two but that hurts the individual and your program in the long run. I could go back and think of guys right now that we burned their year in the first year or two or three I was here when I’d love to have ’em back for their fifth year.”
Rodriguez and Smoke between them carried six times in five games a year ago. They accounted for 12 of the 28 carries by UK running backs against Toledo and collectively earned 114 yards and a touchdown (it would have been two TDs had Rodriguez not had the ball jostled out of his arm before crossing the goal line early in the second quarter).
They’re better prepared after receiving a taste last year, so much so that co-offensive coordinator and position coach Eddie Gran won’t tolerate inexperience as an excuse for blown blocks, missed running lanes and fumbles, all of which stunted otherwise productive drives in the opener.
“You’re not a redshirt freshman anymore,” Gran said. “We’ve gotta see it. ... It goes to patience. We had the same growing pains with Benny, slowing down, slow to the hole, accelerate through it and do what your eyes see. Don’t make stuff up and you don’t have to press. The good plays will come.”
Around the SEC
▪ Jake Bentley, South Carolina’s starting quarterback going back to 2016, broke his foot in the Gamecocks’ loss to North Carolina and is expected to miss at least six weeks. That means true freshman Ryan Hilinski, formerly a top-100 recruit and the No. 2 pro-style quarterback in 247Sports’ ranking of the 2018 class, is in line to start. He’ll have a chance to get three games under his belt (Charleston Southern, Alabama and Missouri) before the Gamecocks host Kentucky on Sept. 28.
▪ UK in week one ranked sixth among Southeastern Conference teams in total rushing with 176 yards on 39 carries, and was behind only Georgia (323) in the East Division. Mississippi State (261), Texas A&M (246), Auburn (206) and Arkansas (204) also ranked ahead of Kentucky. The Cats were also sixth in yards per rushing attempt (4.51).
▪ Carrying on a trend from last season, Terry Wilson was among the SEC’s most efficient passers in week one. He completed 73.08 percent of his attempts (19 of 26), third behind LSU’s Joe Burrow (85.19, 23 of 27) and Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa (83.87, 26 of 31).
▪ Missouri, which lost to Wyoming in its season opener, led the league in total offense with 537 yards in week one. Kentucky was seventh with 422 yards, again behind only Georgia (479) in the East Division.
Next game
Eastern Michigan at Kentucky
When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday
TV: SEC Network alternate channel
Records: Eastern Michigan 1-0, Kentucky 1-0
This story was originally published September 3, 2019 at 3:38 PM.
