Gavin Wimsatt (Vicky Graff Photo)
Kentucky coach Mark Stoops talked about a lot of individual players this week leading up to Saturday afternoon’s game at No. 5 Mississippi.
Here is what he had to say about various players:
On offensive lineman Dylan Ray’s play…
“Dylan has progressed. We trust him. He’s obviously more comfortable inside at guard than he is at tackle. So, I think that’s the best area for him. He’s been playing very well. He’s a guy that has been reliable for us, gives us everything he has, and works extremely hard. I think there’s some cohesiveness with him in there as well. I think he’s interchangeable with some of our other guys. And I think the offensive line, in general, is continuing to improve. They’ve really worked hard, they’ve taken it to heart. I think this past week, these past couple weeks, they want to be better. They’re working hard, they care, and that’s all you can ask. So, we’ve got to make sure that we’re putting them in a position to be successful.”
On defensive backs JQ Hardaway, Jantzen Dunn, DJ Waller …
“Work in progress. Again, I like their attitude, I like the way they’re working. As they see more reps, as they see more plays, they’ll grow even more. And this week will be a real challenge for them for sure. Not only with the pace and with the scheme, they have talented players and a quarterback that’s on fire, so we’ll definitely have our hands full.”
On playing backup quarterback Gavin Wimsatt against Ohio…
“We got him some touches that we wanted to and the nice thing with him, that you saw in the game, he can throw the ball exceptionally well. I wouldn’t want to label it as a Wildcat package with him, it’s a change and gives us some variety.”
On what he has seen from freshman defensive lineman Steven Soles…
“To be honest he’s a guy that is relentless and plays extremely hard and has some really good ability to rush the passer and we need that energy and that juice. The guys up front are playing really good and he is another good addition to give some pressure.”
On having cornerback Maxwell Harriston’s experience…
“It’s very good with him and some of the other guys. Just have to clean up vision, continue to work our zones and just anticipate some things that are going on.”
On freshman tight end Willie Rodriguez’s impact…
“That’s part of it, and that’s why, with him, he’s done a nice job on the dash and securing that edge. Our other guys have to do it as well. We can’t have that strong of a tendency with him. So he is a guy that’s an every-down type of player, but we have some other good tight ends as well just, he’s been more physical, he’s been securing that edge and our other guys have to as well.”
13 Responses
Does Chip want to play FB for UK?
We lose today and we’re going to start having season ending injuries.
With all due respect, you have no clue on what is going on with Chip. None of us do. Do you actually think that he does not want to get on the field. I guarantee you he has dreams of playing in the NFL, and to get there he needs to showcase his talents while at UK. He really did not get to do that at OSU.
That’s what I want to know. How does someone go from missing 4-6 to missing 8 weeks and is still out. Over one broken bone in his hand. I remember when people used to wrap it up and play. Either he’s soft. Or has the slowest healing body I’ve ever seen. My mom is 70 and just had a knee replacement surgery and is walking after 3 weeks. These guys nowadays are powder puffs. It was really bad in basketball with calapari. I’ve never seen so many players injured for a couple games. When I was 10 I sprang my ankle before the championship game and played the next day. My ankle could barely fit in my shoe and I still played at 10 years old. People are soft nowadays. People used to play with broken wrist noses and everything and that’s when football was football. Its nothing like it used to be you have targeting now. The quarterback used to get hit on about every play. It has gotten softer and the players have gotten softer. I said that to say this Ole Miss 31- Kentucky 20. We beat the point spread but lose the game. Kiffin like other coaches has stoops number. We are very easy to shut down. Have the line play gaps on us and press us on the edges and we don’t know what to do. Kiffin will do what he always does and beat Stoops. You have one of the better coaches in college football against one of the most easily predictable college coaches. Even if we played at Kroger field they would find a way to win against us. Its what great coaches do.
We need play Gavin if we want to win this game. Actually they need to mix it up with Gavin and Brock. We don’t have the line that Brock needs soooo.
Stoops talks about the Tight Ends but hardly ever uses them for anything but blocking. They should be able to get open very easily because no one will expect them to get a pass their way. If teams had to cover the TE, it might open things up a little more.
I fully agree. Stoops may not know that a TE is an eligible receiver since he seems to know very little about offense.
Just announced that Hairston is going to be out tomorrow. Hopefully we can stop their Run but Dart will carve us up like a Xmas turkey. It will be ugly and embarrassing. What happened to the Chris Collins we were oversold on?
Huge, huge loss
OSU used him as a linebacker so he must be very capable. We lose two good to great ones this year – redshirt him, get him healthy and make him a LB for next year. That would be his roadmap to the NFL.
We are weak at def secondary anyway. But now. OMG
This season for UK football was severely rocked in the loss against USC IMHO. UK was not ready to play that football game, and it has cost them big time. I don’t think UK has the firepower to beat Ole Miss at their house. It seems UK football is always "big hat, and no cattle" when a big game is on the line. Hope I’m wrong, but their offense is woefully inadequate right now, They have a great place kicker though. Maybe the Kentucky defense can find a way, College football today is a mess.
Ray’s your 3rd best lineman every week by nfl rankings but is a backup. Does well at tackle in few games he’s played there. Maybe line coach likes the guys he recruited better. Both tackles struggle, I’d play him there more.