Chip Trayanum is the big back UK is counting on to “carry the load” this season. (UK Athletics Photo)
Kentucky offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan spent spring practice evaluating the personnel he would have to work with this season and despite a lack of proven depth feels good about the running backs he has starting with Ohio State transfer Chip Trayanum.
“Chip is a guy who has played a lot of football. He is a 6-2, 230-pound back who is similar to the physical-style back that Kentucky football is used to,” Hamdan said. “He played defense and special teams at Ohio State before getting back to running back. He is a guy we are looking to carry the load.”
Demie Sumo-Karngbaye, a 6-0, 210-pound senior, provided some depth and versatility last season after transferring from North Carolina State.
“Demi has played here and done good things. He is a bit undersized but he is versatile and can line up at receiver and running back,” Hamdan said.
True freshman Jason Patterson made a big impression on Hamdan in spring practice.
“You are never fired up about playing freshmen but we need three guys to carry the load and be able to play at a high level,” Hamdan said. “We are also going to rely on the quarterbacks to carry the football but we think we have three running backs who can do the job.”
2 Responses
I know the talking heads think 7‐5 would be a good year for the Cats, but I believe this "could" be a special year. The defensive line needs to heal and the team has to stay healthy as a whole. There’s plenty of experience and talent to go with A LOT of want too. I’m looking for the Cats to "knock down" another door. Go Cats!
We should win in the trenches on offense and defense. Our offensive line has been our downfall the last couple of years. On defense our secondary killed us too. We should be one of the best offensive lines in the SEC this year. We have tons of depth and experience. Me personally I believe 8-4 is the floor and 10-2 is the ceiling. We have the toughest schedule we’ve had in a long time especially with Louisville being another top 25 game on the slate. We have 9 tough games but I think we have the defense to finally stop the pass. We have had a great run defense but a terrible pass defense. With an improved secondary and not losing to many guys on the defensive side of the ball we should maintain a top 5 defense. I’m anxious to see how 3 groups perform this year. The running backs, The quarterback, and the secondary. We are proven at all the other positions. Landing Wallen from Michigan and Story from Alabama were huge for our secondary. We should finally be able to get off the field on 3rd and whatever. No more 3rd and 12s and then a easy pass over the middle for a first down. We have the personnel to finally blitz the QB more. Our front 7 is the best in the country to me. Hayes will miss the year but besides him we should have everyone back and healthy. Weaver, Jackson, and Pop from Georgia are going to be a nightmare for opposing teams. If we can stay healthy we will have a dangerous defense. Oxendine, Walker, Silver, Rybka are one of the best defense lines in college football this year. I think Brock is a major upgrade from leary. He will actually have time to throw the football, and with one of the best receiver rooms in the SEC we should easily get over 200 ypg. Chip is going to be wrecking ball. He is going to have a great line to run behind. He is a big running back. He is bigger than some of the linebackers we will go against. I think the tightend room will finally have speed and power and experience at all the right places. Brown and Key are ready to take the next step in their careers. This should be very bad for the opposing team. I don’t buy into preseason projections because they are usually biased. I know last year’s team as bad as it was, was a couple plays away from winning 9 games. 2 years ago with Levis we had the worst line I’ve ever seen in the SEC. We still won 7 games. If Levis didn’t get hurt we would have beaten South Carolina, Ole Miss and Vanderbilt. That would have been a 10 win season. We are definitely knocking at the door and this is the year that we finally breakthrough. If we can’t get it done this year, then I doubt it happens under Stoops. This is going to be his prove them year. He has all the right pieces to make a run. Walker will be gone after this year alot of defensive lineman a lot of offensive lineman too. Brown will probably be gone after this year and depending on the year he has maybe Leary will be gone as well with Chip the running back. I think this year is going to be a test to see if Stoops can get it done or not. If we only win 6-8 games with this team, then it’s never gonna happen for Stoops. We should have win at least 9 games with the team barring Injury.