Lynn Bowden is entering the 2020 NFL Draft

~ Tyler Hart ~ Leave a comment

Lynn Bowden’s final game at Kroger Field was last Saturday against Louisville and his final game in a Kentucky uniform will be in the Belk Bowl on December 31.

The star wide-out turned QB this season, announced this afternoon on social media that he will forgo his senior season and enter the 2020 NFL Draft.

As a wide receiver, Bowden totaled 114 receptions, 1,303 yards, and six touchdowns in two years and three games.

As a QB, Bowden totaled 151 rushing attempts, 1,235 yards, and 11 touchdowns in seven games.

Hard to believe his time at UK will only last one more game.

Thank you for everything, Lynn.

Benny Snell Jr. Shining for the Pittsburgh Steelers

~ Tristan Pharis ~ Leave a comment

While Kentucky’s running game is strong with Lynn Bowden Jr. under center, Benny Snell Jr. just started in his second consecutive game for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Before starting last week’s game against the winless Cincinnati Bengals, Snell missed nearly a month due to a new injury.

Snell was named the starter upon his return, as Pro-Bowl running back, James Conner, has yet to return from a shoulder injury.

Snell was run for 98 yards on 21 carries against the Bengals last week. This past Sunday against the Cleveland Browns, Snell ran for 63 yards on 16 carries, including his first NFL touchdown.

Not to mention, he brought back the spinning mouthguard.

After winning both games with Snell as the starting running back, it’s safe to say Steelers head coach, Mike Tomlin, is a fan of “Benny Snell football”.

Former Star Recruit, Joey Gatewood, Transferring to Kentucky

~ Tyler Hart ~ Leave a comment

YAHTZEE!!!

Less than a week after Kentucky stomped Louisville to go 7-5 and finish bowl eligible for the fourth straight year, the Cats pick up a massive transfer.

Former Auburn QB, Joey Gatewood, announced this evening that he will be transferring to Kentucky.

Man he looks good in blue and white.

Gatewood, who was recruited as UK’s “missing piece”, was the No. 3 dual-threat QB and ranked 39th overall in the 2018 class.

Gatewood is the highest-rated QB to commit to Kentucky since Tim Couch and is one of the highest-rated players to ever commit to the program.

The 6-5, 230 pound, quarterback was initially compared to Cam Newton due to his size and even draws a resemblance to Newton’s herky-jerky jukes when he runs.

As for his passing game, Gatewood is a pre-snap, read quarterback, which results in a lot of quick two-step dropback tosses, usually on quick hitch routes or slant. However, Gatewood has the arm to exploit mismatches with the deep ball.

It’s no doubt that Gatewood has the talent but next season, I expect Stoops to save his eligibility go with Terry Wilson and Sawyer Smith as the main options at QB.

However, if there were an to be an injury or neither have fully recovered, Gatewood could file for an eligibility waiver which has been granted to many top QBs in recent years. Not to mention, Beau Allen is on his way.

Stoops continues to recruit the kind of players I never thought we would see wear the blue and white.

The future looks mighty bright!

Former Cat Jarred Vanderbilt is Showing Out

~ Tristan Pharis ~ Leave a comment

Former Wildcat, Jarred Vanderbilt, is on one of the NBA’s premier teams, the Denver Nuggets.

However, with the team being so talented, Vanderbilt has struggled to get any meaningful minutes in his first two years and has played seven games in the G-League the last two seasons and has shown out, particularly this season.

Just this past Saturday, Vanderbilt stuffed the stat sheet with  24 points (10-17 FG, 2-3 3Pt, 1-3 FT), 9 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 assist and 1 block

Thus far in his three-game G-League stint, Vanderbilt is averaging 17.5 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 1.5 apg, on 61.1% FG and 50% 3P.

Not to mention, one crazy circus shot

Keep it up Vando! 😎

Lynn Bowden is the Man

~ Tyler Hart ~ Leave a comment

We already know this, but I need to harp on it just a little bit more.

With Terry Wilson getting knocked out for the year against Eastern Michigan and Sawyer Smith getting injured against Mississippi State then furthering those injuries against South Carolina, Lynn Bowden was all we had left.

Through five games, Kentucky was 2-3, no QB’s, and the only thing we were saying was “please, just makes a bowl somehow.”

Then, Lynn Bowden showed up.

We all know Lynn should’ve played against South Carolina and I think Kentucky would be 8-4 if he had started at QB a game earlier, but who cares at this point.

With seven games left, the season was in Lynn Bowden’s hands…he did not disappoint.

Bowden was a QB in high school, so there was some hope. But, we’d really have no passing threat. Which proved to be no problem at all.

This season, Bowden had 151 rushing attempts, 1,235 yards, and 11 touchdowns. Playing QB, he has rushed for 1,136 yards, and 11 touchdowns.

Bowden has played only seven games at the QB position this year and is top 20 on the rushing list. Where would he be if he had been playing QB all year?

Bowden has the least amount of attempts in the top 20 (151), with the second being 168 by Travis Entienne, who is the RB at Clemson.

In these seven games with Bowden at QB, Kentucky has won by an average of 25 points. The closest margin being four points, which was the 24-20 win against Arkansas, Bowden’s first game at QB.

The top five on the rushing list are Chuba Hubbard, Jonathan Taylor, AJ Dillon, J.K. Dobbins, and Jaret Patterson.

In seven games:

  • Chuba Hubbard: 998 yards
  • Jonathan Taylor: 1,106
  • J.K. Dillon: 1,058
  • Jaret Patterson: 1,100
  • Lynn Bowden: 1,136

The best part of it all? He ran for 284 yards and four touchdowns against Louisville and kicked their ass.

The Cats went 5-2 with Bowden at the helm, beat Louisville, and finished 7-5 to be bowl eligible for the fourth straight season. Pretty freakin good if you ask me.

Lynn Bowden is the man.

Kentucky Basketball Has A Special Opportunity to Make History

~ Tristan Pharis ~ Leave a comment

If the month of November showed us anything about college basketball, it showed us that it’s going to be a weird season.

In just four weeks, three No. 1 teams have already been beaten, and Kentucky has been on both sides of that.

Not too long ago, the Cats put on an impressive performance and beat a No. 1 Michigan State team in impressive fashion, but then turned around and lost to Evansville a week later.

With Louisville being named the No. 1 team, Kentucky could very well have the opportunity to redeem themselves and make history in the process.

Since 1949, there have only been seven instances where a team has beaten the No. 1 ranked team twice in the same season (Sports Reference).

  • Pittsburgh (2009)
  • North Carolina (1998)
  • Missouri (1990)
  • Oklahoma (1990)
  • Duke (1965)
  • Georgia Tech (1955)
  • City College of New York (1950)

If the Cardinals are able to win out till December 28th, they will come into Rupp as the No. 1 team and the Cats would have the chance to become the eighth team on that list.

In that span, the Cardinals have to play No. 4 Michigan, Pittsburgh, and Texas Tech, which is no easy task.

Whether or not Louisville comes in as the No. 1 team, it will most likely be the first time both teams will be ranked since the 2016 season, which is the also the last time Louisville won in the series, 73-70.

Let’s make history and beat those Dirty Birds on the 28th!

Nate Sestina Has a Message for the BBN

~ Tyler Hart ~ Leave a comment

Kentucky basketball finally got its whole squad back last week for the first time in a month. But, that was short lived.

On Wednesday, it was announced that Nate Sestina broke his left hand/wrist in a layup at the end of practice, and was going to miss approximately four weeks.

The roster was already thin, especially at the four and five spot, but with Sestina out, it gets even thinner.

The good news is that Sestina could be back as soon as the Louisville game, which is December 28.

The Cats will be without him for some big games. Tonight, they play their first game without him against UAB.

Sestina has a message for the BBN:

“I’ll be back soon.”

Kentucky and UAB are scheduled to tip at 7 p.m. EST on the SECNetwork.

Could the No. 1 team in the country be playing in Rupp Arena on December 28?

~ Tyler Hart ~ Leave a comment

I honestly thought there was no way possible that Stephen F. Austin could pull off the upset we saw last night, but they did it somehow.

Three different teams have been No. 1 in the country and all have been beaten.

Two of those upsets being historic and we are still in November.

WHAT IS HAPPENING?

As much as I want to gloat over Duke’s loss, I really can’t knowing that Kentucky just lost to a worse team just a few weeks ago…BUT DUKE GOT BEAT SO AMERICA WINS!!

With that, things get kinda interesting.

Louisville is currently the No. 2 ranked team in the country and with the Blue Devils going down last night, the Cards will be the new No. 1 barring anything unforeseen.

Louisville will have challenges however as they play Michigan and Texas Tech in the span of a week. But, it’s not crazy to think that the Cardinals could walk into Rupp Arena on December 28 as the nations best team.

Can you imagine how crazy that game would be? Talk about a very hard ticket to get.

I am really nervous about the football game this weekend and neither team is ranked. I honestly don’t know if I could handle Louisville coming to Lexington as the best team in the country.

L’s down baby.

NBA Cats are Absolutely Killing it from Three this Season

~ Tristan Pharis ~ Leave a comment

John Calipari loves his dribble-drive offense, but consistently the biggest knock on his teams is their inability to shoot from the perimeter.

However, there are some former Cats in the NBA dispelling that notion.

  • PJ Washington: 1.4 3PM-3.0 3PA; 46.3% 3P
  • Karl Anthony Towns: 4.9 3PM-9.0 3PA; 44.4% 3P
  • Devin Booker: 2.3 3PM-5.3 3PA; 42.9% 3P
  • Shai Gilegous-Alexander: 1.6 3PM-3.9 3PA; 40.3% 3P
  • Patrick Patterson: 1.3 3PM-3.2 3PA; 39.6% 3P
  • Kevin Knox: 1.4 3PM-3.5 3PA: 38.3% 3P
  • Tyler Herro: 2.0 3PM-5.3 3PA 38.0% 3P

Based on game averages, NBA Stats

Since its inaugural event in the 1986 season, the NBA three-point Contest has featured three former Cats and one winner (Kyle Macy 85′, Antonie Walker 03′, and Devin Booker 16′, 18′ (winner), & 19′).

Could we add a few more to that list this season?

Where Was Kash Daniel in the Second Half?

~ Tyler Hart ~ Leave a comment

Saturday night, Kentucky football became bowl eligible for the fourth year in a row under Mark Stoops in a 50-7 thumping of UT Martin.

The starters got their minutes in the first half and we also saw some potential stars in the second half, giving us fans a little glimpse at what is to come in the future.

However, there was one player that did not exit the tunnel for the second half of play. That player being senior linebacker Kash Daniel.

The radio broadcast called it a “non-medical” issue and Stoops did not address it, leaving the fanbase to speculate.

Kash did reveal on a call with Kentucky Sports Radio on Friday that he has suffered two concussions this season.

The Kentucky native did have a controversial play in the Florida game at the beginning of the season where he appeared to intentionally twist quarterback Kyle Trask’s ankle. Daniel was suspended for the first half of the Mississippi State game the following Saturday.

This is an odd occurrence, especially with Senior Day coming this week.