Another injury up front for UK as it ‘likely’ loses Eli Cox for remainder of year
Mark Stoops and his staff have been steadfast in their insistence that injuries can’t be used as an excuse for the University of Kentucky’s disjointed performances in a three-game losing streak. The number of sidelined Wildcats is hard to ignore, though, and on Monday only grew larger.
Stoops during his weekly news conference announced that Eli Cox, UK’s starting right guard, will “more than likely” miss the remainder of the season after sustaining an undisclosed injury against Tennessee on Saturday. The sophomore from Nicholasville, a backup prior to starting every game this season, was a midseason All-America selection by the Associated Press in October.
Cox is the first member of UK’s offensive line to be ruled out for the season, though tackles Darian Kinnard and Dare Rosenthal have both missed snaps recently after getting “banged up” in games. Kinnard, a preseason first-team All-America selection, missed the last few snaps of UK’s loss to the Volunteers over the weekend.
“Hopefully he’ll be fine,” Stoops said Monday when asked about Kinnard’s health.
That was different from, “We’ll see,” which has become Stoops’ go-to response this season regarding players coming back from injury. That response has often been code for “not playing,” it turns out; neither Marquan McCall or Jordan Wright played against the Volunteers after having “we’ll see” status placed upon them in news conferences last Monday and Thursday.
McCall warmed up in the end zone and was in uniform against the Volunteers but was never actually considered available. Wright, listed in his usual spot on the depth chart last week and this week, wasn’t in uniform Saturday. Stoops wasn’t asked about either, specifically, on Monday, but while talking about UK’s struggles on defense in their last two games said something that didn’t bode well for their availability this weekend in Nashville.
“We’re going through a lot, we’re down three starting defensive linemen,” Stoops said. “Nobody cares. That’s not an excuse. It is what it is. Other people are down players too. When you’re inexperienced in the secondary and have three starting defensive linemen down, it’s really not a good combination. I’d like to have our best players and our best pass rushers out there, but they’re not.”
The third defensive lineman — the first two are McCall, a nose tackle, and Wright, a “Jack” linebacker — is Octavious Oxendine, a sophomore who claimed the starting job at defensive tackle after the season was three games deep; he was ruled out for the season following UK’s win over LSU. His absence has put Abule Abadi-Fitzgerald, the starter whom Oxendine overtook, higher up in the rotation again and prompted more snaps for sophomore Tre’Vonn Rybka, who’s primarily Josh Paschal’s backup at defensive end. J.J. Weaver, who’s coming off an ACL injury suffered last year, has taken on even more snaps in Wright’s absence. Oxendine won’t be back, but getting the other two healthy is paramount from a depth concern; any more injuries up front could be catastrophic.
As for the offensive line, Austin Dotson, who started four games last year, will fill in for Cox at right guard with Quintin Wilson backing him up. UK also will look to get Jager Burton, a true freshman, involved there, keeping in mind his future eligibility; he could play in up to three more games and still preserve his redshirt season.
