Seth McGowan (3) rushed back from the hospital to finish the game against Texas. (Vicky Graff Photo)
Seth McGowan had a key 17-yard catch and run on Kentucky’s scoring drive that produced a field goal to tie last week’s game with Texas 13-13 and force overtime.
Nothing spectacular about the play other than McGowan had to avoid a few tacklers to get the first down and at least briefly stop the clock in the final minute of regulation play. However, what made the play spectacular was that McGowan had just returned from the hospital.
McGowan, who had seven catches for 68 yards in the eventual 16-13 overtime loss, has been UK’s best and most consistent offensive player this season but he left the game in the second half after taking a big hit. It was reported that McGowan was being taken to the hospital and would not be available to play.
The running back said after practice Tuesday that he didn’t want to leave the game but the UK medical staff wanted to get a chest X-ray, put him on a golf cart and took him to the nearby UK hospital.
“We were passing the fans and all the tailgaters. They had their TVs up. They were looking up like, ‘Damn, I’m pretty sure he was just on the screen. Seth, what’re you doing?’” McGowan said. “I was just thinking about the game. I knew I was somewhere where I couldn’t help the team. That was killing me.
“I yanked the IVs out of my arm because there was nowhere else I needed to be than with my guys.”
Talk about toughness. Talk about a team-first attitude. That’s old-school football in the NIL era when fans wonder if players really do care about winning more than money.
McGowan got a rousing welcome back from fans outside the stadium on his golf cart ride back to Kroger Field.
“They were cheering me on. That’s why I was super fired up to go out there and try to help us win,” McGowan said.
3 Responses
It sounds like Seth has the "last man alive at the Alamo" syndrome.
I looked at the injury update for this week against Tennessee. They have like 3 guys out and 3 guys who are about 50% from being ready for Saturday. Kentucky has 9 guys listed as out. 4 guys who are 50%, and 4 more who are 75% that's 17 players on the injured list…. Quitting? Idk but it's very weird that every team we play has 30%~40% the injuries that we have. This isn't just this game. It's every game. Most teams start the year maybe 1 or 2 guys banged up. We have 7 on the injured list in the first game?? What in the hell is going on at practice? I haven't seen Stellato run a route this year. He was the receiver I really thought would lead us in catches from all the games I seen him play in for Clemson. He literally catches anything around him. Like a safety net. Nope can't play him he's injured. When we lose to Tennessee we need to throw this season out the window. Quit playing the one and done transfers and start getting some of these younger guys experience. We're past the halfway point of the season. We arent winning with the transfers. We also need to start rotating the offensive line and getting guys who will be back next year as many reps as possible. I'm not saying play all of them but get as many involved as you can now. So they already have a feel for the speed of the game. I would like to see Strey, Selm, Wood, Farmer, and Wibberly as many reps as possible so they will be ready next year. Then get ,6-8 offensive lineman in the portal with at least 2 years left eligible. Next year Cutter will be much better. He needs time. You can have the best QB with the best receivers and if the QB doesn't have time it doesn't matter who's out there.
I was thinking the same thing and have been watching these lists closely for last few wks and your facts and feeling are 100% correct. We had 14 guys including 7 Out this week and UT has 7 with only 3 Out. Not a good look on the staff and possibly "want to" with some of the players.mm
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