Kentucky wants to celebrate scoring runs against everyone. (Vicky Graff Photo)
Kentucky coach Mark Stoops says you “can’t miss them” when talking about South Carolina edge rushers Dylan Stewart and Kyle Kennard, who combined for six tackles for loss and four forced fumbles in the opening win over Old Dominion.
They shared Southeastern Conference Defensive Lineman of the Week honors for their play. Kennard, a fifth-year senior, had four tackles, including 3.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 quarterback sacks. The 6-5, 253-pound Georgia Tech transfer also forced a fumble to set up a short scoring drive.
Stewart, a true freshman, had four tackles with 1.5 sacks, two forced fumbles and a quarterback hurry. The 6-3, 248-pound Stewart’s strip sack inside the Old Dominion 10-yard line set up the game winning score late in the fourth quarter.
“One is a very mature, older player that is an impact player in Kyle Kennard, and then with Dylan Stewart, the five-star freshman, a big-time player, very disruptive. Those guys are very good players,” Stoops said “They’re athletic, they get off on the football, they attack, but they also have a nice feel.
“When they (Old Dominion) tried to bait them up field and run some draws and things of that nature, they read it well and retraced well, so they’re good football players.”
Kentucky hosts South Carolina at 3:30 Saturday afternoon on ABC-TV in the SEC season opener for both teams.
Stoops wants his team to be able to run the ball no matter who is playing defense or what the situation might be.
“I thought that was a point I made Saturday morning in one of our meetings with our team that I wanted to be able to run the ball when the whole stadium knew we were going to run the ball,” Stoops said. “I think we got going in the run game but we’re going to continue to improve and we need to.
“And we have to continue to challenge them. I felt confident in our running backs with no problem and I felt confident in our O-line.”
One Response
This will be a good test for the O line. As good as these two guys are, Georgia will be better. Our running backs will have to step up and provide help in slowing these guys down enough to give Vandagriff time to work through his reads and find the open man. Stoops needs to realize that if this team is going to be competitive it will have to have a strong passing game. You just aren’t going to run on the better SEC teams.