Tayvion Robinson doesn't mind less passes coming his way with Chris Rodriguez back in the lineup. (Vicky Graff Photo)
It’s not easy for a star player to be suspended for his team for four games and then come back like nothing happened.
Yet not only did Kentucky fans welcome running back Chris Rodriguez back against Ole Miss, so did his teammates.
Yes, he’s a special player. But he also handled his suspension in a classy way. He never missed a summer workout. He was with his teammates at Fan Day. He spent time on the scout team to help the first-team defense.
Receiver Tayvion Robinson, a transfer from Virginia Tech, has not known Rodriguez long. However, he was thrilled to have him back in the UK lineup even if it likely means fewer passes being thrown his way.
“He’s a special back, a special talent,” Robinson said this week. “Sometimes it may mean less targets for us, sometimes it may mean bigger plays for us. But you gotta be unselfish and do what you gotta do to win.”
Another transfer, guard Tashawn Manning of Auburn, is glad to be blocking for Rodriguez
“I was blocking. I just hear C-Rod come behind me and I just hear a clash. I don’t know what that was. Then out of the corner of my eye I just see C-Rod running past me with like four people on his back,” Manning said. “I’ve never seen that before. It was exciting to watch and it was exciting to play with him.”
No one was happier to have him back than Mark Stoops.
“I wouldn’t say you necessarily notice it on tape, but during the game, I could tell he just, with the anxiousness and being hyped up to play that game on the road and getting his feet up underneath him, I think it’s fair to say he’ll get better with a game under his belt and get some game reps and he’s obviously in great shape,” the Kentucky coach said on the SEC coaches teleconference.
“He worked extremely hard during his time off, but there’s a difference between playing at game level and just training so he did a really good job for us.”
Kentucky hopes he will do a “really good job” again. Associate coach Vince Marrow said Rodriguez didn’t even want to be in the starting lineup after missing four games but he earned that opportunity.
“I’ve seen him for what, three, four years now? But for some reason it was a little different in this game,” Marrow said. “He was running violently. I don’t think he fell backwards one time. One run he had should have been a two-yard loss. It was like a three, or four-yard gain.”
“At worst you will have second and seven or second and six when he runs. That changes the play calling you do. He reminds me of Benny (Snell) but might be more powerful than Benny. I am just glad he is on our team.”
