Kavosiey Smoke deserves more credit than just having an awesome name

Kentucky fans’ hearts sank when they first heard Chris Rodriguez would miss the first few games of the season, and for good reason. Rodriguez is within striking distance of becoming the all-time rushing leader at the University of Kentucky and serves as the perfect complement to Will Levis, the team’s NFL prospect quarterback. C-Rod will help lead one of the most highly-anticipated teams in the history of the program. Thus far, Kavosiey Smoke has stepped in and perked those little hearts right back up.

Losing Rodriguez was bad enough, but Kentucky’s prized transfer, Ramon Jefferson, who had been receiving a boatload of practice admiration, tore his ACL on his first rushing attempt wearing blue. That meant the deep stable of backs was down to two, with Kavosiey Smoke serving as RB1.

With a crucial game against Florida on the road looming, it was going to be up to Smoke to literally carry the load for the team’s rushing attack, and he did exactly that.

The redshirt senior tailback has enjoyed a solid career at Kentucky, mostly serving as a backup, but for the most part, his incredibly awesome name has garnered more attention than his play on the field. After the Florida game, that is changing, and his on-field performance deserves serious credit.

Kavosiey Smoke’s yards-per-carry is better than you think

Kavosiey Smoke’s second half against Florida, where he rushed for 71 of his 80 total yards including four runs over 10 yards a piece, helped seal the Wildcats’ big win in The Swamp on Saturday. With running back cohort, La’Vell Wright, unable to get into the open field, if it weren’t for Smoke, the outcome of this game may have looked a lot different.

Smoke now ranks as the 7th best running back in the SEC with at least 20 rushing attempts in yards-per-carry at 5.3. To be fair, the season is just two games in and many SEC teams use a running back-by-committee approach or run a lot with their QB, but stats like this show what Kavosiey Smoke has been able to do despite working behind an offensive line that struggled through their first six quarters.

And don’t think that stat is simply an aberration skewed by a single half of football. Smoke’s 5.3 yards-per-rush this season is right at his career average during his time at Kentucky. Considering the FBS average is 4.96 yards per rush, this makes Smoke better than most at his position, and while short of Chris Rodriguez’s 6.1 yards-per-carry, it is still a marker of an extremely good college running back.

Kavosiey wants all the smoke

On top of having one of the best games on the field for the ‘Cats, Kavosiey Smoke was also one of the most outspoken trash-talkers on the team. This baby gator chomp was the perfect sendoff to the fans in Gainsville as they trudged out of the stadium defeated.

Smoke reemphasized that same message later on Twitter.

them boys crocs😮‍💨 https://t.co/GvNeTq3ZKo

— Kavosiey Smoke (@_KS20_) September 11, 2022

With the offensive line finding its groove during the second half against UF, this is the type of output that could serve as a foundation to build upon moving forward. If Smoke can ride this momentum into another solid performance against Youngstown State and then parlay that into more success in the ESPN2-broadcasted matchup against Northern Illinois, Kentucky will be in prime shape at the running back position when Chris Rodriguez comes back against Ole Miss.

Most of the time, the first thing the national media says about Kavosiey Smoke is that he has the best name in college football. While that is undoubtedly true, they’re about to start talking about him leaving defenders in his smoke soon enough and helping his team win in the process.

Keep turning those haters into fans, Kavosiey.

turnt the haters into fans😮‍💨

— Kavosiey Smoke (@_KS20_) September 12, 2022