DeAndre Square shares emotional moment with Chris Oats following win

Back on January 1, 2019, Chris Oats recovered a fumble as time expired to secure Kentucky’s 27-24 victory over Penn State in the Citrus Bowl.

Three years later to the day, senior linebacker DeAndre Square intercepted a pass in the final seconds to secure Kentucky’s 20-17 victory over Iowa in the Citrus Bowl.

Same game, same field, same moment. Separated by just three years, two standout linebackers and close friends came up clutch to close out wins for UK on the big stage.

The two shared the field together in Orlando back in 2019, with Square finishing with six tackles and one sack and Oats finishing with three tackles and a fumble recovery. This time around, though, both players were in Orlando, but only Square was able to play. While Square racked up six tackles, one interception and 0.5 tackles for loss, Oats roamed the sideline in his motorized wheelchair.

With Oats out indefinitely after suffering a stroke in May of 2020, the linebacker duo shared an emotional moment on the field following Kentucky’s hard-fought victory at Camping World Stadium.

Both signing with Kentucky back in 2018, Square quickly established himself as a stable cornerstone of the defense, while Oats’ bright football journey was tragically put on pause just two years into his time at UK.

Keyli Chisesi of Go Big Blue Country captured the linebackers’ emotional moment during the postgame celebration:

He may not have been out on the field with Square today, but the senior linebacker was grateful to have Oats in attendance to share the moment together. Fighting through pain — he returned to the game late after being declared out with an injury — he got the game-clinching turnover, just like his brother did three years ago.

“It meant a lot,” Square said after the win. “When I (saw) him out there today, I just knew that I was going to have the ball at some point. And I was planning on running to give it to him, but the ref snatched it from me, so I couldn’t do that.”

When he thought about his pain and how much easier it’d be to sit out the rest of the game, he remembered Oats on the sideline and decided to fight through for him.

“That’s another person I thought about when I just wanted to be just like, ‘Yeah, I’m in pain and I want to stop,'” Square said. “I thought about him and I’m like, ‘I’ve got to go. I’ve got to do this.'”

He did go, and like his brother, he closed out the game with a turnover for the win.

Same game, same field, same moment, three years later to the day.@d_square10 @ChristopherOats #OatsStrong pic.twitter.com/9qI6ZNPf4w

— Jack Pilgrim (@JackPilgrimKSR) January 2, 2022