Kentucky RB Chip Trayanum 'champing at the bit' to make season debut

Kentucky running back Chip Trayanum is expected to make his season debut sooner rather than later. Will that be as soon as this Saturday on the road against the Florida Gators?

Trayanum was listed as questionable during Wednesday night’s first Availability Report of the week. Head coach Mark Stoops said last week that Trayanum suffered a setback in the recovery of his broken hand, which has kept him off the field all season long. While we’ll have to wait and see what the Availability Report says tonight and in the coming days before we know for sure, but it certainly sounds like Trayanum is trending in the right direction to lace ’em up.

During his post-practice interview with the media on Thursday, Stoops once again mentioned Trayanum’s setback but added that the 5-foot-11, 225-pound tailback is eager to finally take the field for the Wildcats.

“Chip has been champing at the bit,” Stoops said. “He wanted to play. A few weeks back, thought maybe he was going to get ready and had a little setback. I think he’s really wanting to get going. And we would love to see him, however, he does have an issue that he’s coming back from. The other two guys are playing pretty good football. We will see. We’ll see how it goes.”

Of note, Kentucky’s social media team posted several pictures on Wednesday night to X/Twitter, one of which showed Trayanum running with a ball while in practice pads. That’s typically a good sign (and an intentional one) for someone looking to return from injury.

Kentucky has leaned heavily on Demie Sumo-Karngbaye and Jamarion Wilcox through the run game so far this season, which has resulted in plenty of production on the ground. But adding a veteran such as Trayanum into the mix should only boost the Wildcats’ rushing attack. If he does ultimately take the field on Saturday, it’ll be interesting to see just how much he’s involved in the offensive game plan.

Kickoff against Florida is set for Saturday, Oct. 19 at 7:45 p.m. EST on the SEC Network.

Watch the latest Mark Stoops press conference on the KSR YouTube Channel.