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Eli Cox got to see more than he wanted of Vanderbilt running back Ray Davis last season when the Commodores stunned Kentucky in Lexington last year.
Cox was UK’s starting center and watched Davis easily go over the 100-yard mark against a solid Kentucky defense as he gained 129 yards on 26 carries to spark the upset.
Now Davis is at Kentucky where Cox, who has moved to guard, will be blocking for him this season.
“I think Ray brings a great veteran presence to the running back room,” Cox said at SEC Media Days. “He’s new to Kentucky, but he’s obviously played a lot of college football. He has a lot of snaps and carries under his belt. We lost C-Rod (Chris Rodriguez), who was our No. 1 back for years, so adding Ray was really important for us.”
Davis ran 232 times for 1,042 yards last season and had 29 receptions for 169 yards and three touchdowns. His average of 100.9 all-purpose yards per game ranked sixth in the SEC.
“He’s one of the tougher backs in the SEC to tackle for sure,” Kentucky senior defensive lineman Octavious Oxendine said. “He’s low to the ground, strong, quick.”
Kentucky coach Mark Stoops said it didn’t take you “five, 10 minutes to spend with a young man like that” to know he wanted him to come to Kentucky after he put his name in the transfer portal.
“Just a great young man and very talented player. And very tough. I felt like he fit our mold,” Stoops said.
One Response
Davis could be a difference maker if our O line and quarterback/receiving play are solid. Play calling will have as much to say about this as well. We aren’t going to scare Georgia, but we can be better than South Carolina and possibly Tennessee.