This Kentucky football freshman could provide Benny Snell flashbacks with early impact
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Preview: South Carolina at Kentucky
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Kentucky football fans might have felt some deja vu during the second quarter of the Wildcats’ season-opening win over Southern Miss.
For one drive in the lightning-shortened victory there was a freshman running back wearing No. 26 finding open holes again.
But new Wildcat Jason Patterson did something even Benny Snell, UK’s all-time leading rusher, did not do by making an immediate impact in his first game as a Wildcat while wearing the jersey number.
“I think just the opportunity he had in the spring to get a lot of reps, he made the most of it,” UK coach Mark Stoops said of Patterson. “He’s one of those guys that he’s pretty serious. He’s locked in on his daily goals, and he works hard daily. Kind of puts his head down, keeps his mouth shut and works hard.
“He’s worried about just getting better. I don’t mean that in any selfish way. He just wants to help the team and he wants to get better. I love that attitude.”
Patterson totaled four carries for 28 yards in the 31-0 victory. All four carries came on one second-quarter possession that ended in a Demie Sumo-Karngbaye touchdown run.
Snell set the standard for what a successful freshman season for a running back looks like at Kentucky with 1,091 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns in 2016, but even he had to wait longer than Patterson did to make an impact. Snell’s only touches in his first two games as a Wildcat came as a kickoff returner. He did not record his first carry until Week 3 when he tied the program record with four rushing touchdowns in a win over New Mexico State.
But Snell joined a UK roster that already had established contributors Boom Williams and Jojo Kemp at running back. Patterson arrived to one with a gaping hole at the position left when Ray Davis went to the NFL.
Kentucky signed Ohio State transfer Chip Trayanum as the presumptive Davis replacement, but Trayanum was sidelined during preseason camp by a hand injury. Even before Trayanum’s injury, UK coaches acknowledged they were likely to approach the position as a committee at least early in the season.
Former N.C. State transfer Demie Sumo-Karngbaye, who split time between running back and slot receiver in his first season at Kentucky in 2023, opened the season as a starter, but Patterson was listed second on the Week 1 depth chart. Sumo-Karngbaye impressed with eight carries for 59 yards and one touchdown in the opener, but Patterson’s drive might have been the best from a running back in the game.
“Jason I thought showed his physicality and vision,” Stoops said after the game.
With Kentucky leading 10-0 and having just advanced the ball past midfield, Patterson’s first carry went for 12 yards on first-and-10. The next play, he rushed for 11 more yards. A 4-yard carry followed before Patterson’s momentum finally slowed with a 1-yard run to the Southern Miss 2-yard line.
Sumo-Karngbaye then checked into the game to finish off the drive with a 2-yard touchdown run.
The productive debut for Patterson should not have come as a surprise to anyone paying attention to coaches’ comments since spring practice.
The 5-foot-10, 206-pound Sneads, Florida, native immediately began receiving praise after enrolling in January. By the end of spring practice he was already receiving first-team reps, and his momentum carried over into fall camp.
“I remember in July, used to be in my office, he would have his pads on just getting catches on these jugs machines here at about six o’clock at night,” offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan said. “And so that’s a guy, he doesn’t say a whole lot.
“... We always know what those upperclassmen guys are, the guys that we do a lot of media coverage with, but it’s those younger guys who can step in and know what they’re doing with a little bit less experience that are going to be game changers for us.”
Despite the strong early impression and apparent availability of carries, Patterson’s lunch-pail mentality was evident on media day, the last time freshmen were available for interviews.
“It means nothing, because this is potential that has not been done yet,” he said of his growing hype. “I haven’t completed anything yet. That’s why I gotta continue to work. Keep my head down. Don’t listen to outside noise. Get into me and just stay focused.”
Patterson is aware of the Snell comparison though.
The two backs bring different styles. Snell thrived on running through contact, almost never going down on the first hit while Patterson’s big runs against Southern Miss came from hitting the open hole.
But UK’s decision to give Patterson the No. 26 jersey will continue to link the two.
Only two offensive players have worn No. 26 since Snell’s departure after the 2018 season. One, Torrance Davis, first wore the number as a linebacker and did not actually appear in a game the one season he was listed as a running back for the Wildcats. The other, Ramon Jefferson, was a transfer who totaled just 30 carries in two seasons at UK.
No freshman running back had recorded a carry in the first half of a game for Kentucky since Snell in 2016. Patterson needed just one game to break that streak and probably would have received even more carries if the opener had not been ended with just less than 10 minutes remaining in the third quarter.
With Trayanum expected to miss multiple games, Patterson’s role is likely to grow moving forward. Since Snell split time with Williams and Kemp in his first season at UK, some of his freshman records could be within reach should Patterson seize the featured role.
Patterson did not choose the No. 26 jersey when he arrived at UK — he simply found it hanging in his locker — but he looks poised to embrace its history.
“It was given to me,” Patterson said. “So maybe it was a sign.”
Next game
South Carolina at Kentucky
When: 3:30 p.m. Saturday
TV: ABC
Records: Kentucky 1-0 (0-0 SEC), South Carolina 1-0 (0-0)
Radio: WLAP-AM 630, WBUL-FM 98.1
Series: South Carolina leads 20-14-1
Last meeting: South Carolina won 17-14 on Nov. 18, 2023, in Columbia, S.C.
This story was originally published September 3, 2024 at 6:30 AM.
