Great Moments In Marquan McCall History
Earlier today, Marquan McCall announced his intentions to enter the upcoming NFL Draft, thus ending his time in Lexington as a Kentucky Wildcat. Best known as “Bully” to his teammates and peers, the outgoing nose guard has as much personality as he has power, which is why he was a fan favorite during his four-year stay in the Bluegrass.
“Thank you all,” McCall tweeted to Big Blue Nation on Tuesday.
No, thank you, Bully.
Let’s celebrate McCall’s Kentucky career as he moves on to prepare for the National Football League.
These are great moments in Marquan McCall history.
One of Kentucky’s highest-rated commits
When McCall picked Kentucky over a long list of major programs, including both Michigan and Michigan State, his home state schools; he became one of Kentucky’s top-rated commits in school history. The Detroit native was the type of out-of-state recruit Kentucky never got, then they got him to headline the Class of 2018. (Thank you, Steve Clinkscale.)
McCall was a consensus four-star in that 2018 class and a top-200 prospect nationally. 247Sports ranked him as the No. 1 player in Michigan and the 135th-best talent in America, regardless of position.
“Ready for a new life,” McCall wrote on Twitter to announce his decision back in May of 2017.
In May of this year, he will begin a new life once he signs his first NFL contract (hopefully a big one).
Immediate impact
Unlike most freshmen, McCall was not given much room to ease into college football. He wasn’t allowed a redshirt year to bulk up for the SEC trenches. McCall got called on early when Quinton Bohanna rolled an ankle in the 2018 season opener against Central Michigan. By Week 2 of his true freshman season, McCall had his hand in the Gainesville dirt at No. 13 Florida, his debut game. Not a bad start to a career, Kentucky won and snapped the streak.
A week later, a young McCall had three tackles, a sack, a half-tackle for loss, and a forced fumble against Murray State. He played in eight games that season as a rookie.
Fumble recovery against Tennessee
McCall played in all 13 contests his sophomore year, highlighted by the first game-changing moment of his career. Late in the game against Tennessee, the Vols were running out the clock with a four-point lead in Lexington. Kentucky needed a stop to have a chance to take the lead, and McCall jumped on a loose football to get it back in Lynn Bowden’s hands for one last try.
Unfortunately, Kentucky’s drive was stopped shy at the end zone after four chances from the 5-yard-line.
McCall did his part.
First career start
It wasn’t until Week 5 of his junior season when McCall made his first career start on the inside of Kentucky’s D-line, filling in for Bohanna. He celebrated his first start by recording a career-high six tackles.
McCall finished the shortened 2020 season with a new season-high 22 tackles, a tackle for loss, a fumble recovery, and a half-sack in only 10 games.
Return from injury in 2021
By his senior season, McCall had matured into a leader in the locker room, a far turnaround from the kid who arrived on campus as a freshman. On the field, it was finally his turn to be the guy manning the interior of Kentucky’s defensive line. For years, he waited behind Quinton Bohanna, and in 2021 he was called forward once Bohanna became a Dallas Cowboy. Bully was the full-time starter, finally.
However, the payoff year was interrupted by an injury in the first quarter of the Florida game. A midseason ankle injury for a 380-pounder can be a season-ender, but McCall quickly recovered and returned to help out at Vanderbilt, six weeks later.
A fun state: In the games McCall played, Kentucky allowed 17.2 points per game. Without him, Kentucky gave up 31.7.
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Sideline hype man
In McCall’s first game back from the ankle injury, he still relied on backup defensive lineman Justin Rogers to carry most of the load. After all, McCall and Rogers were high school teammates back in Detroit and Rogers followed McCall’s path to Kentucky (and passed him on the highest-ranked commits list).
When the sophomore Rogers brought down Vanderbilt’s QB for his first sack of the season, McCall needed three get-back coaches to keep him from running on the field in celebration.
Always hype man
Mark Stoops once said Bully brings the “energy” and the “juice” to Kentucky Football, and that it’s contagious to the players around him.
An example of that juice:
The finger wag
Anytime Kentucky’s defense made a stop in the backfield, McCall was quick to finger wag the attempt, his trademark celebration.
Lawn equipment spokesperson
McCall jumped right into Name, Image, Likeness by signing some of the first deals among college football players. He released his own clothing line through our friends at Kentucky Branded and taught us us ‘Size Matters’ for Morgan & Morgan.
But the best one is his partnership with Central Equipment. McCall’s endorsement with Central Equipment gave us Lawn Mower Bully:
And then Chainsaw Bully:
Bullying Tyler Linderbaum
Iowa’s Tyler Linderbaum was the best center in college football and he will be a top-10 pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. Some college football reporters are ready to put him in next year’s NFL Pro Bowl he’s so good. The best in a decade, many are saying.
Linderbaum was a tough draw for Marquan McCall in the bowl game, but the All-American presented a chance for McCall to show the NFL he belongs too.
McCall made the most of his opportunity and bullied Linderbaum around in a Kentucky win.
Four-time bowl game champion
Bully leaves Kentucky as a four-time champion in bowl games, just an unbelievable run of success from Citrus Bowl to Citrus Bowl. He even packed his rings from the first Citrus Bowl, the Belk Bowl, and the Gator Bowl down to Orlando so he could wear them while holding a new trophy on the winner’s stage (and to show Riley Moss all of Kentucky’s recent success).
After earning a fourth ring, McCall told KSR, “We got another one,” while flashing a handful of jewelry. “I’m just blessed to be here.”
And Kentucky was blessed to have Bully.
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