Mark Stoops says Chip Trayanum and Courtland Ford could make debuts this week

 

The Kentucky Wildcats are still licking their wounds after an embarrassing 20-13 loss to Vanderbilt over the weekend.

It was a game in which Kentucky committed 12 penalties and squandered multiple opportunities to take control of the contest.

Offensively, UK was able to move the ball and see some success in the run game against Vandy. Four players rushed for more than 25 yards, including Brock Vandagriff, who recorded 37 yards on nine carries. As a team, Kentucky would average 5.3 yards per carry while gaining 164 total rushing yards.

The collective effort has been fine, but the offense is still struggling to find an overall identity. In the past, UK has had the the luxury of a flagship rusher in the backfield, but that hasn’t been the case through six games.

On his Monday call-in show, Mark Stoops provided a positive update on Ohio State transfer RB Chip Trayanum.

Stoops stated he’s hopeful Trayanum could see his first action of the season on Saturday when the Cats travel to the Swamp to take on the 3-3 Gators.

This could be a huge boost for Kentucky, considering most people expected Trayanum to be one of Bush Hamdan’s most productive options before the season began.

Adding the 5-foot-11, 227-pound back to the mix could at least provide the Big Blue Nation with a jolt of excitement heading into Saturday’s game.

On Mark Stoops’ radio show, it was also noted that offensive lineman Courtland Ford is closer to a return himself, which would add some much-needed depth in the trenches. That’s especially true after starting right tackle Gerald Mincey was a disaster against the Dores, committing multiple holding penalties. Ford was challenging Mincey for that starting spot but wound up being sidelined most of this year due to injury.

Stoops also threw in a nice little nugget of good news by revealing UK received a big-time commitment on Monday and the player will be announcing soon. That turned out to be 3-star safety Dyllon Williams, who committed to the Cats after being previously committed to the Missouri Tigers.