Mark Stoops addresses Kentucky's banged-up running back room: 'We'll be all right.'

Kentucky’s running game was arguably the lone bright spot of last weekend’s 31-6 loss to South Carolina. Between Demie Sumo-Karngbaye and true freshman Jason Patterson, those two racked up 115 yards on 27 carries. Kentucky’s offensive line couldn’t stop a nosebleed in the passing game, but it stayed strong long enough to allow the backs some room to operate.

Well, one of those two will sit out against No. 1 Georgia this Saturday due to injury. UK’s availability report from Thursday night listed Patterson as out, although no explanation was provided as to why. He’ll join fellow running back Chip Trayanum, who has still yet to play a game this season due to a hand injury, on the sidelines.

Losing Patterson isn’t a killer, but it’s not ideal to see such a promising young talent already missing out on snaps. Especially when the passing game has not met expectations early on. Patterson has carried the ball 14 times for 73 yards (5.2 yards per carry) through Kentucky’s first two games.

With another ball carrier banged up, head coach Mark Stoops might have to dip into the backups against the Bulldogs. Sumo-Karngbaye will likely receive the bulk of the responsibility once again, but Stoops did mention two other young running backs as possible options.

“We’ll be all right with Jamarion (Wilcox) and Demie, and we’ll go from there,” Stoops said following Thursday’s practice. “If not, we’ll throw it around. Tovani (Mizell) will be back as well if we need him.”

Wilcox, a redshirt freshman, has struggled to get into favor with the coaching staff since arriving last year. He’s slowly working his way into the rotation though, and even took a couple of carries in the season-opener against Southern Miss. The talent is there with Wilcox, it’s just never been harnessed and released properly. But his opportunity is coming — it sure sounds like he’ll be taking snaps against Georgia.

Mizell is a much more interesting situation. He and Patterson were the high school running backs brought in from the 2024 recruiting class. But Mizell missed all of his senior season with a torn ACL and still wasn’t 100 percent going into the season. That being said, Stoops makes it sound like Mizell will be the third-string option.

“He’s still coming on,” Stoops said about Mizell. “He’s not 100 percent. He’s 100 percent healthy, but you know what I mean. It’s hard to be as effective as you once were as a runner — it just comes with time.”

Georgia gave up just 46 rushing yards on 23 carries (2.0 YPC) against Clemson during its Week 1 win and then 116 yards on 40 carries (2.9 YPC) last week in a win over Tennessee Tech. The Bulldogs won those two games by a combined score of 82-6.

Down two of its top rushers, Kentucky will need a huge effort from Sumo-Karngbaye to stay alive on offense against Georgia.

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