Dane Key showing why he is a special player

Dane Key celebrates with his family and friends after Kentucky’s 26-16 win over Florida Saturday night.

Maybe it was only fitting that freshman receiver Dane Key was standing next to coach Mark Stoops during Kentucky’s postgame locker room celebration after Saturday night’s 26-16 win at Florida.

Kentucky had a lot of stars in its second straight win over Florida — something that has not happened since 1976-77 — but one of the biggest plays was turned in by Key.

The former Frederick Douglass High School standout had three catches for 83 yards, including a 55-yard scoring pass in the first half after Florida had grabbed a 3-0 lead. Kentucky’s offense had been stagnant before quarterback Will Levis unleashed a bomb that Key caught in traffic for a touchdown.

That led former UK/NFL receiver Keenan Burton, who will go into the UK Athletics Hall of Fame later this season, to note on Twitter that Key is “special”  just two games into his collegiate career.

“Somebody reminded me when we won here in 2018 that Lynn Bowden had the big play (on a touchdown pass from Terry Wilson),” Stoops said. “We needed it right there.”

“We were not moving it clean. Dane went up and made a competitive play.”

By competitive he meant he took the ball away from the Florida defender and held on while hitting the ground. The ball almost came loose but Key secured it.

That enabled Key to become the first UK player to have a touchdown catch in his first two collegiate games since Derek Abney in 2002, who had two scoring catches in his first career game against South Florida.

“It’s plays like that we need to make,” Stoops said. “We were struggling. This place was rocking. They were coming off a huge win.”