Vicky Graff Photo
Running back Demie Sumo-Karngbaye caught a 4-yard touchdown pass on Kentucky’s first drive of the game at Mississippi State that turned out to be all the points UK needed in the 24-3 win.
It was the North Carolina State transfer’s second touchdown at UK but his first one receiving and he made a remarkable catch look routine on the pass from former NC State teammate Devin Leary.
“It (the catch) really fired me up. It gave us confidence to keep scoring more points,” he said. “When I came off the field, I told the boys we were just starting.”
Even though UK had lost three straight games, Sumo-Karngbaye was confident UK would win.
“The work we have put in. I have seen guys go through ups and downs since I have got here. I have seen the hard work outside of football. I have seen the pain and know they want this bad. I had a lot of confidence we were going to win,” he said.
“Really, we had a lot more attention to detail this week. Of course, you are going to have mistakes but we had a lot less penalties, no picks, no fumbles. It was a clean game.”
Leary had a very small window to put the TD pass into and it looked like it would be too high before Sumo-Karngbaye reached up to grab it before he went out of the end zone.
“I give credit to our strength staff. Every day in practice the running backs go to the strength staff and they throw us hundreds of balls to challenge us,” he said. “That is something I have worked countless times on. It didn’t feel like anything special.”
The game was physical from start to finish and that was fine with him.
“They definitely played very tough. They have some good power to them. They definitely are built well and fought a hard game but obviously we are the better team,” he said.
He’s been used at running back and receiver on offense but also is on three of UK’s special teams.
“I love just being on the field. It doesn’t matter to me where. Just being able to make an impact is what I want to do,” he said. “In high school I played both sides of the field, so special teams is my defense. I just enjoy playing football.”
Kentucky is now bowl eligible but that is not his focus with three regular-season games left starting with Saturday’s game against Alabama.
“I try not to get too big of a head on things or let anything pull me down. I am trying to stay neutral, enjoy the win and move on to the next game,” Sumo-Karngbaye said.
