Presented By High Expectations 4 Golden Season 8 Inside: 2 0 2 1 F O O T B A L L FOOTBALL 2022©2022 The Coca-Cola Company. “Coca-Cola” is a registered trademark of The Coca-Cola Company.You can enjoy FREE * grocery delivery, 2X Fuel Points and more for as low as $59/year. *$35 order minimum. Restrictions apply. Subject to availability. Delivery time not guaranteed. Official Grocery Partner of UK Athletics2022 Kentucky Football Yearbook is published by the University of Kentucky Athletics Department. University of Kentucky Athletics Director: Mitch Barnhart Communications and Public Relations: Susan Lax, Matt May, Tony Neely 546 East Main Street First Floor Lexington, KY 40508 859-226-4540 UK Sports Marketing Powered by JMI Sports Brandon Baker, Seth Boyle, Curtis Burch, Randy Carter, Devin Jones, Adair Mattingly, Seth Poteat, Kim Ramsay, Lance Reed, Chad Ruhl, Kim Shelton, Brad Tucker Design & Publishing Managing Editor Jai Giffin Creative Director Jamie Barker Production Assistance Laura Doolittle, Lisa Roberts2022 Wildcats 18 ...............................Tyrell Ajian 20 ..........................Brenden Bates 22 .....................................Eli Cox 24 .....................Izayah Cummings 26 .............................Jalen Geiger 28 ....................Colin Goodfellow 30 ......................DeMarcus Harris 32 .......................Kenneth Horsey 33 ...........................Jacquez Jones 34 .................................Will Levis 36 ....................Tashawn Manning 37 ........................JuTahn McClain 38 ................Octavious Oxendine 40 .....................Tayvion Robinson 42 ...................Chris Rodriguez Jr. 43 ............................Justin Rogers 44 .............................Matt Ruffolo 45 ........................Tre’vonn Rybka 46 .......................DeAndre Square 47 ....................... Keaton Upshaw 49 ................Carrington Valentine 50 .........................Trevin Wallace 51 ................................J.J. Weaver 52 ...........................Jordan Wright 53 .......................Kentucky Roster 55 .....................Returning Players 66 .........................Player By Class 67 .......................Cats on the Map 2022 Coaching Staff 70 .........Head Coach Mark Stoops 74 .....................Assistant Coaches This is Kentucky 77 ........................SEC Dominates 78 ..........Joe Craft Training Facility 80 .................Player Development 82 .............University of Kentucky 84 ...................................Housing 86 ..............................#WeAreUK 88 .Name, Image & Likeness (NIL) 90 ...............................Academics 92 ...Kentucky Football in the NFL 2022 Opponents 94 ...........................Miami (Ohio) 95 .....................................Florida 96 .....................Youngstown State 97 .......................Northern Illinois 98 ..................................Ole Miss 99 .........................South Carolina 100 .......................Mississippi State 101 ................................Tennessee 102 ...................................Missouri 103 ................................Vanderbilt 104 ....................................Georgia 105 .................................Louisville The University 106 ..................UK Sports Network 108 .............President Eli Capilouto 110 ...................AD Mitch Barnhart On the Cover (From the Top L-R): Tayvion Robinson, Will Levis, J.J. Weaver, Chris Rodriguez Jr., Jordan Wright, Carrington Valentine, Tyrell Ajian, Eli Cox, Tashawn Manning, Matt Ruffolo, Octavious Oxendine, Jacquez Jones, JuTahn McClain, Brenden Bates, Jalen Geiger, Keaton Upshaw, Trevin Wallace, Kenneth Horsey, DeAndre Square, DeMarcus Harris, Izayah Cummings High Expectations The return of leadership and maturity could lead to a special season in the Bluegrass. 4 Golden Season Ten significant wins in Commonwealth Stadium/Kroger Field’s first 50 years. 8 Contents @UKSportsNetwork 34 @UKFootball The Return of Leadership and Maturity Could Lead to a Special Season in the Bluegrass By Tom Leach “Voice of the Wildcats”@UKSportsNetwork 5 W hen it comes to preseason hype, Kentucky football coach Mark Stoops typically falls into the un- der-promise and over-deliver model, with 10-win seasons in two of the last four years for a program that had not had a double-dig- it win season since 1977. Stoops is bullish on this season’s Kentucky squad, so fans should probably take notice. “The best teams I’ve been around and that we’ve had here have had a very business-like approach, not too high and not too low. They have a maturity about them and that’s what I like about this team, that approach. Lead- ership is something that we work at and I feel we’re in a really good place with that this year. They’re hungry and they’re working extremely hard,” praised Stoops, who begins his 10th season at Kentucky just two wins away from passing Bear Bryant as UK foot- ball’s all-time winningest coach. Many of Kentucky’s best teams have had at least one common theme -- above average play and leadership from the quar- terback position. You can go all the way back to Babe Parilli in the 1950s to make that point. Derrick Ramsey was the driving force in a 10-win season in 1977 and Bill Ransdell provided similar leadership on Jer- ry Claiborne’s best team in 1984. There was Tim Couch leading the Wildcats to a 1999 Outback Bowl bid and Andre Woodson lift- ing the Cats to a top 10 ranking in 2007. Stoops believes he has that kind of quarter- back in second-year starter Will Levis. Last season, Levis completed 66 percent of his passes in the Wildcats’ 10-win season, culminating in Levis guiding the team down the field for a game-winning touchdown in the final minutes of the Citrus Bowl against a top 20-ranked Iowa team. Levis, who threw 24 touchdown passes last season, will look to add to that total in 2022 while working to limit his interception rate (13 last season). “When you have a quarterback with the experience that he has and the talent that he has and the leadership traits, that gives you a lot of confidence. It’s a great starting point, “ Stoops told me. “The sky’s the limit for him. I don’t want to put any unrealistic expectations on him and we don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves but I’ve been on record saying I think he’s one of the most talented quarterbacks out there. The way he operates our offense, I think he’s as good as anybody in the country. He is extreme- ly consistent in his daily approach to being great and that rubs off on people.” Levis will have to adapt to a new offen- sive coordinator for the second straight year but Stoops believes there’s enough similarity in the approaches of new hire Rich Scan- garello and the playcaller he replaced, Liam Coen, that Levis should be fine. According to some NFL draft analysts, Will Levis could be the first UK signal-caller taken in the first round since Tim Couch was the first overall pick in 1999 and just the third in school history (Babe Parilli was a first-rounder in 1951). That’s impressive company for Levis if he can meet those expectations at season’s end. Scangarello, who comes to Lexington after serving as quarterbacks coach for the San Francisco 49ers, knows what traits an NFL quarterback should possess and he likes what he sees so far in Levis. “He’s got a lot of them,” Scangarello said when asked to list Levis’ best qualities for success. “He can make every throw that’s required to play at a high level. He’s big and he’s athletic, he’s got some real toughness in his mindset. He’s got a great work ethic and he’s smart and detailed so it’s easy to work with someone like that, to help them to be the best version of themselves. That’s always my goal with any quarterback and the more talented and more disciplined and the smarter they are, the further you can take it and we’re going to see how far we take it with Will.” Levis clicked with Scangarello from the start and both are eager to see what Levis 2.0 can look like. According to some NFL draft experts, Will Levis could be the first UK quarterback taken in the first round since Tim Couch was the first overall pick in 1999.6 @UKFootball “A big part of the offense is finding the receivers that are best at the routes we’re go- ing to run,” Levis explained. “You want to find those routes that we’re going to key in on and perfect. We found a couple of guys like Dane Key and Chris Lewis that can go down the field and make plays and be good at those contested catches across the middle. DeMarcus (Harris) is good at that as well. We really like Tayvion Robinson in the slot since he has a good feel for that position. He ran similar (routes) at Virginia Tech.” Another Robinson, Wan’Dale, was one of the college game’s most impactful trans- fers last season when he returned home to the bluegrass region from Nebraska. He caught a school-record 104 balls en route to becoming a third-round pick of the New York Giants. It’s not fair to expect Tayvion Robinson to duplicate those numbers but he’s part of a wide receiver room that fea- tures some promising first and second year players who will get a chance to a shine and a deep corps of tight ends. Scangarello likes the potential he inherits, particularly when it comes to Robinson. “Very intelligent with a real good foot- ball IQ. Every team needs a good separator, that can do good things in the red zone and short yardage and two-minute (situations) and when you need plays. If you have one, it helps your offense. If you have two, you can be really good and if you have three, you’re going to be great. I think (Tayvion) is one of those guys,’ said Scangarello on a post- spring practice appearance on “The Leach Report” radio show. As of press time, the status of Chris Rodri- guez to start the season is a question mark because of an off-the-field issue but when he returns, C-Rod will headline a talented group of running backs. JuTahn McClain is a name to watch there along with veteran Ka- vosiey Smoke and redshirt freshman La’Vell Wright. Look for Scangarello’s offensive sys- tem to feature a fullback in certain situations. Plowing the row for those guys and pro- tecting Levis is a Big Blue Wall that features only one starter (Kenneth Horsey) back in his same spot from last year. Returning start- er Eli Cox moves to center to replace NFL draftee Luke Fortner and Auburn transfer Tashawn Manning is penciled in at right guard. The bigger question mark is the two tackle spots with Jeremy Flax likely holding down the right tackle spot that Darian Kin- nard owned for several seasons. Left tackle is more unsettled with Deondre Buford, Da- vid Wohlabuagh, Jr. and five-star freshman recruit Kiyaunta Goodwin in the mix there. On defense, coordinator Brad White has developed a reputation for fielding units that are solid and consistent. UK has ranked in the top four of the SEC in total defense in each of his three seasons as defensive co- The Big Blue Wall will return Kenneth Horsey (above) at guard and Eli Cox (below), who will move to center this season.ordinator and the Wildcats have ranked fourth, fifth and fourth in scoring defense during that stretch. “The technique piece is a large part of coaching, the communication aspect might be the largest--just communicating what you want to get done. The problem-solving piece is big as well,” White said. He said communication might be at the top of that list, to get guys in the right spots play in and play out, but being right more often than not on the personnel matchups is challenging for any defensive coordinator these days. “That’s part of putting the pieces of the puz- zle together but that makes it fun.” White came to UK from the NFL like the last two offensive coordinators and Scan- garello was immediately impressed with what his offense was facing this spring. “I love his defense. It reminds me of the trend of the NFL right now. Not everyone understands and not everyone can teach it. It has a lot of intracacies, very detailed and ‘pro driven’,” said Scangarello, noting he saw some of these concepts with the 49ers last season. “He throws a lot at you, he’s got smart players and he knows how to use them.” A lot of the versatility in a 3-4 scheme like the one White uses comes from the second line of the defense and his side of the ball is loaded with experience at the linebacker positions. DeAndre Square and Jacquez Jones are returning starters there with youngsters Trevin Wallace and D’Eryk Jackson flashing tons of potential last sea- son. On the outside, J.J. Weaver and Jordan Wright have already forged reputations for making timely big plays and the experience there should give White even more of an opportunity to deploy those linebackers in creative ways. Think back to the 2018 sea- son when Matt House was defensive coordi- nator with White coaching the outside line- backers. They utilized Josh Allen in various roles to create havoc, rushing the passer on one down and covering a tight end 20 yards downfield the next. The losses of Josh Paschal and Bully Mc- Call on the front wall create a big void but Octavious Oxendine was coming on strong last season when he went down with an in- jury and the Wildcats needed to figure out a way to be at least two-deep at every position on the defensive front. The defensive back- field has some question marks, especially at the safety spot that had been anchored by Yusef Corker for three seasons. A stronger pass rush, though, will help the secondary and that’s an area in which the Wildcats aim to improve this fall. The Cats were ninth in sacks, 11th in tackles-for-loss and tied for last in takeaways. The latter category some- times comes down to a little good fortune, too, as UK led the league in turnovers forced in 2020. @UKSportsNetwork 7 Octavious Oxendine (above) will anchor the defensive line while J.J. Weaver (below) returns as part of an experienced linebacking corps.Next >