Kentucky looks to build upon Demie Sumo-Karngbaye's strong start

It’s hard to nail down any major positive takeaways in a 31-6 home loss as a two-score favorite, certainly when talking about an offense that failed to find the end zone and totaled just 183 yards including 44 through the air. Kentucky laid an egg against South Carolina, no other way to spin it.

It’s why Mark Stoops called it an all-systems failure on Saturday afternoon.

“That’s 100% on me and on us. No excuses,” he said. “They beat us in every facet and we didn’t respond. We didn’t play very good and we didn’t coach very good. We have a lot of work to do.”

If there is one thing for the team to build upon, though, it’s the production it is getting out of senior back Demie Sumo Karngbaye. He started the season with a 59-yard, one-touchdown effort in the opener against Southern Miss, then followed it up with a 70-yard performance to lead all rushers in the loss to South Carolina.

The play of the N.C. State transfer was truly the only positive thing Stoops had to say after the game.

“Yeah, Demie is a guy that has been very steady,” he said. “He works hard, he ran the ball very tough today and had some tough yards. I think we were efficient at times running the ball down downhill.”

It ain’t much, but it’s something in a 25-point beatdown.

A few days later after letting the dust settle a bit, UK offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan dove a little deeper on Sumo-Karngbaye’s productive start to the season, particularly with starting back Chip Trayanum out due to injury.

Racking up a combined 129 yards and a touchdown on 25 carries, Hamdan wants the veteran playmaker’s teammates to display similar effort and toughness. He’s stepped up when others simply have not.

“He’s been tremendous since I’ve been here. When Chip went down, he had a huge role, and I think one thing you can take away from that game was how hard he ran,” Hamdan said. “That’s a guy who — the lights weren’t too bright. He stepped in there and played tough.”

How did he respond to open the week following an embarrassing team loss? By once again giving it his all.

“Then he’s back out here on the first day of practice (this week) going 100 miles an hour. That speaks volumes about him,” Hamdan added. “He’s everything you want from a toughness standpoint. We’ve just got to keep building on guys like that.”

Sumo-Karngbaye was put in a tough spot in fall camp and has done nothing but deliver in the weeks since. Can others do the same moving forward?