Dane Key has 20 catches and three touchdowns this season. (Vicky Graff Photo)
SEC Network/ESPN announcer Tom Hart has watched Kentucky football play the last two weeks — he also worked Big Blue Madness — and he’s convinced Dane Key and Barion Brown are “two of the best” freshman receivers in the Southeastern Conference.
“And if you are two of the best in the SEC, then you are also two of the best in the nation,” Hart said. “Since day one (coach) Mark Stoops has said his first priority was building lines on both sides that could withstand the physical play of the SEC and put a team in position to win.”
“Slowly but surely they put those big dudes up front, then came the running backs and quarterbacks good enough to win. But the one thing on his Christmas list was a breakaway wide receiver. As good as Lynn Bowden was, he was a different kind of receiver. Mark knew the game was changing and he needed guys who could make plays downfield.”
“I remember more than one conversation with him talking about how he had to find guys who could stretch the defense and that would take Kentucky to a different level.”
Brown and Key are doing that. Brown has also been a game-changer with his kickoff returns and Key had what would have been a very memorable game-winning touchdown catch at Ole Miss if a penalty had not negated it. Still, he had a 55-yard touchdown catch against Florida. Brown has receptions of 38, 70 and 51 yards to go with a 100-yard kickoff return.
“These two guys are going to be really good for a long time together,” Hart said. “I know they have helped make an impact on Will Levis’ future earning and draft potential because they have let him showcase what he can do.”
Brown had a career-high seven catches against Mississippi State — he also had an 80-yard punt return touchdown nullified by a penalty — and now has 24 catches for 350 yards and two scores this season. Key has 20 catches for 322 yards and three touchdowns.
2 Responses
I really love the receiving group we currently have. All of them. The wideouts and the tight ends. We have 4 or 5 really talented wide outs. I told this to a friend a couple of weeks ago but I expect we are going to lose one or two wideouts to the transfer portal with one of them ending up in Alabama. I really believe that our wide outs are better than theirs and they will try to rectify that through the portal. I hope I am dead wrong. But it is to be expected. You have to love being in this position though. Been a while since we have had so many good receiver that teams can’t just concentrate on one.
I do think a lot of schools may try to entice Barion Brown to leave