Kentucky football Q&A: Transfer talk, bowl experiences and riding alligators
A lot has happened since Kentucky’s win over South Carolina on Dec. 5.
Eddie Gran and Darin Hinshaw were both fired and a new offensive coordinator, Liam Coen, was hired. Eighteen new players were signed as part of the 2021 recruiting class. One current player, M.J. Devonshire, announced his intention to transfer. And, most recently, the Wildcats were invited to play in the 2020 TaxSlayer Gator Bowl. For a month mostly free of actual football, there was plenty to keep fans on their toes.
With toe-tapping comes questions. Let’s try to answer some.
(Questions edited for clarity.)
@GSteketee: Is anyone sitting out to avoid injury before the NFL combine?
Continuing a trend from throughout Mark Stoops’ tenure, the answer is “no,” at least as far as we’ve been told. And based on how committed UK’s players seemed to the 2020 season despite the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s not terribly surprising.
In truth, I did expect at least a handful of players to intentionally sit out the bowl game because they were given about a week off following the South Carolina game and then another few days off over the Christmas holiday weekend. Getting that small taste of family and home life, I figured, would be enough to lead a few of them to say, “I just spent the last five months dealing with strict COVID-19 protocols, and now I gotta go back? Nah.”
As it turned out, those samples were not as tempting as I imagined. They instead served more as recharge stations and seemed to have energized the team for its final go-around. The only players who’ve opted out are Kelvin Joseph, who left prior to the South Carolina game, and Devonshire, who chose not to return to the program following the end of the regular season.
There are seniors whose NFL stock, I think, would not have been affected one bit by sitting out of the bowl game (guys like Drake Jackson and Landon Young). There are others who might benefit from one last film-making opportunity (a player like Quinton Bohanna, for example, who had injuries hamper him down the stretch).
Playing when one doesn’t necessarily “need” to was ingrained into the program a few years ago by Josh Allen, Mike Edwards and Benny Snell, and while I’d certainly never fault a young man for making what he thinks is the best business decision, it’s always pleasant to see players willing to ride with their guys one last time.
@ScottyHarrison1: Will we win? Is Gran calling the offense? Will he bring out the whole playbook?
There were, understandably, several questions about the offensive play-calling. How about some early rapid fire?
1. Eddie Gran is no longer with the team. Based on some recent tweets, he has spent part of his newfound free time with family and in the woods.
2. As far as the approach, I suspect Kentucky’s offense will look more similar than not to what it looked like in the regular season. There will be wrinkles, and certainly the potential for spice is greater in the finale than elsewhere, but none of the most vital parts — the players — have changed. Terry Wilson is the quarterback, A.J. Rose and Chris Rodriguez are your running backs and the offensive line is as big and blue as it has been the last couple years. If anything, UK might lean more heavily on the run than it did throughout the season due to N.C. State’s susceptibility in that department (the Wolfpack on average have given up 4.1 yards per carry this season).
3. Coen might have sneaked in a play or two to Marrow, but I have a hunch he has been kept busy enough by the L.A. Rams’ recent woes to not have time to communicate much with his future employer.
By the sounds of it, you pretty much hit the nail on the head. And I’m with ya: it sucks.
Thankfully, the majority of Kentucky’s players have gotten to have a few normal bowl experiences. This is the program’s fifth straight appearance in the postseason but its first amid a pandemic. From the onset, I believed completing the season at all would be remarkable, and Kentucky was able to play every single game on its revised, all-Southeastern Conference schedule; not every team in the league is able to say that.
Here’s hoping that, by next December, we’re talking about bowl week in a more typical manner. But let’s appreciate that there’s a bowl of any sort to speak about this year.
@steveperryky: Any transfer rumors you have thoughts on?
I try to avoid speculation on rumors as much as possible, at least in public; I’ll leave that to others, except to say that it’d behoove Kentucky to add some experienced depth in the trenches.
I will say that Bryan Hudson, who recently announced his transfer to Louisville from Virginia Tech, did legitimately consider joining the Wildcats. The former Scott County High School star told the Herald-Leader that it was “a very tough decision.” He would have been a great pickup for UK, but it seems like there will be a big opportunity for him to play a more versatile role on U of L’s offensive line next year than he might have at Kentucky. Plus, he has two older sisters on its campus as well.
Another local name that keeps getting thrown around is Wan’Dale Robinson, Kentucky’s 2018 Mr. Football winner out of Western Hills High School. Robinson, a sophomore at Nebraska, has not announced that he’s transferring, but if he were to I’d hazard a guess that he’d hear from Kentucky — to whom he originally committed — the second after his name hit the portal. He’d provide an immediate lift to a receiving corps in need of a pick-me-up.
@NateInSports: Will watching the game get me 15 percent more back on my 2021 refund?
1.) I heard it might happen if, at halftime, you write “Gator Bowl” on your bathroom mirror, cut all the lights, turn around and say “TaxSlayer” three times.
2.) I think the TaxSlayer is riding a gator; he’s gonna need all the assistance he can for a tax season that’ll be more perilous than normal. Also, apparently, riding alligators does not appear to require as much practice as preparing for the Gator Bowl.
@copiousnotes: Why is this happening?
My former colleague Rich Copley asked his question via a gif, so in turn I’ll answer with this one.
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
This story was originally published December 30, 2020 at 7:51 AM.
