Chris Rodriguez is everything Rich Scangarello thought he would be and more

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Chris Rodriguez has 46 carries for 348 yards and four scores in three games against South Carolina. (Vicky Graff Photo)

Offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello had seen video of running back Chris Rodriguez from the 2020 and 2021 seasons. He got to watch him during spring practice but the new UK coordinator had never seen him in person in a game until last week.

After being suspended for four games, Rodriguez came back to run for 72 yards and one touchdown on 19 carries and caught three passes for 40 yards in the 22-19 loss.

“It was exciting. I mean the guy is everything. I knew what he was, but to see it live and to just watch his presence, he’s just one of those physical guys and he just has great feel,” said Scangarello.

“He’s a really good pass-catcher and it was underrated when I got here. I’ve known that about him and I thought he did a nice job in the pass game catching some balls. He had a good feel and is doing some good stuff.”

“Overall, I just like his demeanor and everything about him. He’s just such a good football player. He’s going to have a long career.”

That long career is meant for what he can do in the future in the NFL. For now, UK needs even more from Rodriguez Saturday night when the Cats host South Carolina.

Having coached in this offense now for a while, Scangarello knows what successful running backs in this scheme have in common.

“Guys in our offense, how they run behind their pads (have) that ability to never stop their feet,” Scangarello said. “It’s a mindset and it’s also a skill. They’ve got to have good hips, they’ve got to be powerful and they’ve got to have some feel.”

Rodriguez has been almost unstoppable in three previous games against South Carolina. He had 144 ears on 26 carries in 2021 after going for 139 yards and three scores on 14 carries in 2020. As a freshman, he had six rushes for 65 yards and one score. That adds up to 46 carries for 348 yards — about 7.5 yards per carry — and four scores.

Kentucky is averaging 367.8 yards per game — not exactly what was expected from this season. That total ranks 96th in the country and 13th in the Southeastern Conference. Only Texas A&M has been less productive in the SEC. Kentucky is scoring 28 points per game —11th in the SEC and ahead of only  Missouri, Auburn and Texas A&M.

Kentucky has not been overly productive in the red zone and three times at Ole Miss came up empty in trips inside the 20-yard line. Scangarello said Tuesday he didn’t see that as a big issue yet.

“When we played some of those early games, and even though we’re supposed to maybe beat someone handily when you’re up three or four scores, I hate to use a limited amount (of red zone plays),” he said.

“In college, you just don’t have the time to have a bunch of plays. So you have core themes. I hate putting them on film when I didn’t necessarily need to. I mean there are games, I’m just throwing fades in the corner three times in a row. At the end of the NIU game, literally. I didn’t want to put anything on there that someone would use against us. So that affects things.”

“But yeah, obviously we need to be more efficient and can’t have those kinds of things happen like what happened in the game on Saturday.”

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