Mark Stoops marvels at heads-up play by Colin Goodfellow, updates injury status

Kentucky coach Mark Stoops was impressed with the effort of punter Colin Goodfellow late in the fourth quarter Saturday. With the Wildcats leading Missouri 21-17, the set up to punt it away with 2:20 remaining, but the snap flew way over Goodfellow’s head to inside the five-yard line.

Goodfellow never gave up on the play, however, chasing it down and getting a punt off as he was hit. That drew a roughing the punter penalty, which gave the Wildcats a fresh set of downs to work with as they ran off more time on their way to a victory.

“It was just a remarkable play by him,” Stoops said in his postgame press conference. “At first, I was like, ‘I wish he would have taken the safety.’ But he made a remarkable play. The way it was explained to me, he was in the tackle box still.”

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But as great of a play as it was, it cost both Goodfellow and the Wildcats. The punter was injured on the play and had to be carted off the field and back to the locker room.

Mark Stoops revealed postgame that Colin Goodfellow was in “severe pain” as a result of the hit, but could not offer a diagnosis or timetable for return at this point.

“Unfortunately for him, he is injured,” the coach said. “He was in some severe pain. So I hope it’s nothing major, (but) I know he’s hurting bad.”

Colin Goodfellow with an absolutely INCREDIBLE play

Snap goes wild, he recovers and punts it away while getting ROCKED, drawing a roughing the punter penalty for a Kentucky first down.

Goodfellow got carted off after this. Hope he's okay 🙏pic.twitter.com/o0ptXMoIEB

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Goodfellow is in his sixth season at Kentucky, taking over as the starter in 2021. He was named to the Ray Guy watch list this preseason and is averaging 41.9 yards per punt on 26 punts this season.

His effort Saturday will be much appreciated, and is a big reason why Kentucky improved to 6-3 (3-3 SEC). But most importantly, the Wildcats will hope his injury isn’t too sever and he can return to the team soon.

Kentucky will next face Vanderbilt at noon ET next Saturday in Lexington.