Kentucky Football Countdown: 36 days till kickoff

Kentucky football season is almost here. Only 36 days away from kickoff against Miami (Oh.), let’s continues KSR’s countdown.

This fall Adrian Huey will wear No. 36 for the Wildcats. A member of the class of 2021 from Nashville, Huey was one of Steve Clinkscale’s final commitments before he departed for Michigan. The 5-foot-11 cornerback will try to crack the rotation this fall. His UK bio includes a couple interesting pieces of information.

• One thing most people don’t know about him is that he is a rapper known as “Lu Huey”
• His dream job is to be a YouTube star

A friend of KSR used to rock No. 36 for the Cats, Jay Dortch. A frequent flyer on the Depth Chart Podcast, the Paducah Tilghman product started his career as walk-on. He worked his way onto the field as a starter in the late 80s, wreaking havoc on opponents as an outside linebacker in the Wildcats’ notorious Wide Tackle Six.

Impressive Numbers

Kentucky rushed for a season-high 362 yards against Louisville in 2021. During UK’s current three-game winning streak in the Governor’s Cup, the Wildcats have rushed for 1,219 yards (a.k.a. almost a mile), averaging 406.3 yards on the ground per contest.

New UK Hall of Famer Keenan Burton had 1,036 receiving yards during his junior campaign in 2006. It was the third-best receiving season in school history, until Wan’Dale Robinson transferred to Kentucky.

Boom Williams ranks second in school history in career yards per attempt by averaging 6.91 yards on 366 carries. Lynn Bowden is just ahead of Boom with 7.42 yards per rush. Five of the top six players in career yards per carry played for Mark Stoops, including a pair of players on this year’s roster, Chris Rodriguez (6.57 ypc) and Kavosiey Smoke (5.61 ypc).

To explain the UK runners’ success under Stoops, look no further than the Big Blue Wall. They ensure Kentucky’s backs aren’t getting touched until after they’ve picked up a couple yards. The architect of the Big Blue Wall, John Schlarman, was a streak-snapper. Shortly after he was diagnosed with cancer, his offensive line paved the way for the Cats to rush for 7.4 yards per carry in The Swamp to defeat Florida for the first time since 1986. Schlarman received a proper sendoff in Knoxville. The Wildcats won 34-7, Kentucky’s first win in Knoxville in 36 years.

Improbable Kentucky Football Record

In 2002 Derek Abney had 136 punt return yards against Mississippi State. That’s not the crazy part. In the 45-24 UK win, Abney returned TWO punts for touchdowns. The second score created a JP Sports highlight for the ages. After breaking free, he received a little help from his teammates around the 10-yard line, who willed Abney into the end zone. Abney’s score tied the NCAA record with six return touchdowns in a single season.

In his four-year career (2000-03) Abney had 8 total return touchdowns, six off punts and two off kickoffs.