Kentucky nearly at 100 percent as it prepares to ring in 2021 with a bowl game
As of Monday afternoon, a couple of delayed flights are the only thing standing in the way of Kentucky being completely clear of COVID-19 issues heading into its matchup with N.C. State in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl.
That game is scheduled for noon Saturday in Jacksonville, Fla. UK’s players, including those who arrived late Sunday night, will undergo another round of testing prior to making their way south, but the team appears to be in as good a shape, virus-wise, as it has been in quite a while.
“I wanna say there was 157 results we have back at this point, and we’re 100 percent clear at this point,” head coach Mark Stoops said during a Monday news conference. “Let’s hope it stays that way.”
Since the Gator Bowl is on Saturday, Kentucky’s preparation for the Wolfpack will be akin to how it approaches a regular game week. The Wildcats won’t spend the week in Jacksonville due to the pandemic, so their practices will take place where they normally do on campus.
“It’s not a normal bowl experience,” Stoops said. “It’s an away game. So for them, it’s a grind, it’s work. It’s going back and forth from home, cutting into their break, again, at a time when they’ve been mentally challenged.”
Efforts will be made to try and keep “bowl week” more lively than a regular game week, though. Stoops had a team dinner planned at Malone’s on Monday, which follows a group outing to Malibu Jack’s for pizza and games prior to the their brief holiday break. Experiences like that fostered camaraderie and familiarity in past seasons and postseasons, and players throughout the 2020 season suggested the inability to bond similarly this year affected their performance as a team.
Still, in spite of challenges mental and physical, Kentucky remains in rare company in terms of players choosing to forego any part of the 2020 season. Kelvin Joseph, a cornerback who declared for the NFL Draft prior to UK’s win over South Carolina, is one of only two players to leave the program; reserve defensive back M.J. Devonshire on Dec. 17 announced that he was entering the transfer portal and has opted not to return for the bowl game.
Contrast that with teams like Florida, which as of 3 p.m. Monday had five starters — among them their top three receiving threats — opt out of its Cotton Bowl game against Oklahoma, or Georgia, also with four opt-outs heading into the Peach Bowl (three of whom who were All-SEC selections). Kentucky’s most important players — Josh Allen, Benny Snell, Lynn Bowden — under Stoops have yet to dodge a postseason game, and in the midst of a pandemic that streak is set to continue.
“It’s a testament to the work that we’ve been doing for three, four, five, six years, and trying to really create a very positive culture within our program,” Stoops said.”
Quarterbacks
Terry Wilson, who started all but one game for the Wildcats this season, will start against N.C. State.
Wilson did not start against Georgia due to a wrist injury. In his nine starts he was 112 of 179 passing for 1,095 yards and seven touchdowns with four interceptions. He rushed for 410 yards and five TDs on 98 carries in the regular season.
“Terry’s our starter,” Stoops said. “I wanted to use this opportunity to continue to develop our young guys. I sure would like to play them. I’ve talked about them with the quarterbacks and Terry. But I want to win the game, too. If Terry’s playing really well, we’ll ride it out.
“We’ll see how it goes. It’s really like that every week. I expect Terry to play well but I know our other guys are preparing extremely hard as well.”
Joey Gatewood started in place of Wilson in the Georgia loss and was his immediate backup through much of the season. He was 17 of 35 for 109 yards with an interception in seven games. True freshman Beau Allen was the only other quarterback to see the field in 2020; he appeared twice, accumulating 40 yards on 3-for-7 passing.
Etc.
▪ Stoops singled out true freshmen Andru Phillips and Carrington Valentine as players whom UK is excited about as it prepares to replace some outgoing starters in the defensive backfield. Valentine’s a redshirt freshman who played in nine games this season and picked up more snaps as the year went along. Phillips appeared in four games, predominantly on special teams.
▪ The broadcast team for Saturday’s game — Anish Shroff, Tom Luginbill and Lericia Harris — features a commonwealth connection. Luginbill was a quarterback at Eastern Kentucky in 1995 after transferring from Georgia Tech. He spoke highly of his time in Richmond during a radio interview in 2014.
“I look back at this place, and I’m being serious, I’d trade it all to do five (years at EKU),” Luginbill said. “All of it.”
Gator Bowl
Kentucky vs. N.C. State
When: Noon Saturday
Where: TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville, Fla.
Records: UK 4-6; N.C. State 8-3
Series: Tied 1-1
Last meeting: UK won 27-2 on Oct. 31, 1970, in Lexington
TV: ESPN
