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Octavious Oxendine Says It’s a “Blessing” to Play for Mark Stoops and Kentucky Football

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Kentucky Football defensive lineman Octavious Oxendine celebrating
© Matt Stone/Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK

Kentucky football defensive lineman Octavious Oxendine was recruited out of North Hardin High School by Coach Mark Stoops, and he is forever thankful for that.

Kentucky Uses a “Player-Led” System

In an article by Larry Vaught in the Marshall County Daily, Oxendine was quoted saying, “I feel like it’s a blessing [to play for Mark Stoops] just cause you don’t get that many coaches that’s actually player-led like he says he is.”

Oxendine added, “In and out of everything we do is definitely player-led from the workouts to the play calling to what we just feel comfortable in what we want to do.”

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Evidently, Coach Stoops gives a lot of creative freedom to his players and his position coaches as well.

“He just lets it come down to us. It trickles right down the tree. Goes to our position coaches to the DCs, OCs, then honestly just us. Whatever we want to do is definitely a lot player-led.”

Consistency is Key

During his time at SEC Media Days, Oxendine said that Kentucky’s defense needs to be more consistent in order to be successful in 2023.

“In past years, our pass rush was definitely consistent. We had good guys like Josh Allen, Boogie Watson. J.J. Weaver came back for another year. We’ve always been good at pass rushing and we need to get back to that. I feel one thing we’ve been focused on is our pass rush.”

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Last season, Kentucky only recorded 20 sacks, with LB J.J.Weaver leading the team with 3 total. Oxendine himself had none. In 2021, UK had 29 total sacks, and Oxendine tallied 2 total sacks.

UK’s ability to cause mayhem up front was lost last season, and they need to find it again if they want to be able to compete with the SEC’s top teams.

Oxendine has acknowledged this as well, saying, “You’re going to play the best all the time, so you might as well just set up a schedule like that just to get your feet wet and see what the road is going to feel like, to see what the path is going to feel like.”

He added, “We’ll have a couple good games before we head into SEC play, so we’ll definitely see how we’re going to play during the SEC-type games.”

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Oxendine Once Chose Big Rival Over Kentucky

Octavious Oxendine also took the time to give his take on the Kentucky-Louisville rivalry, saying, “I definitely say it’s one of the best rivalries in college football just because red, blue, right down the street from each other. No NFL team.”

He also talked about how when his family moved to Kentucky from Louisiana, he had to decide if he was going to be a Kentucky or Louisville fan. Unfortunately, Oxendine chose the Cards.

When we first moved, it was a big thing for us to pick Louisville or Kentucky. We actually picked Louisville, which is crazy I’m at Kentucky. It’s just a big rivalry. I feel like everybody in the States knows about it. It’s a game everybody always wants to be at, and there’s a lot of energy behind it.

In the end, Octavious Oxendine is “blessed” to be a Kentucky Wildcat under Mark Stoops’ regime, and you can expect him to wreck havoc on the gridiron this fall.

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Louisville Football Player Charged With First-Degree Strangulation, Days After Committing Game Losing Personal Foul

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Louisville Cardinals defensive back Tayon Holloway (20) reacts to his defensive play.
Eric Canha | Imagn

On Monday, Louisville football defensive back Tayon Holloway was detained and charged with first-degree strangulation and fourth-degree assault.

This comes just days after the former four-star prospect committed a costly personal foul to put a 2-7 Stanford team in field goal range and upset Louosillve 38-35 with a walk-off field goal.

As expected, Holloway has been indefinitely suspended from the team.

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“The University of Louisville is aware of the arrest of football student-athlete Tayon Holloway,” the university said in a statement. “As we gather more information, Tayon has been suspended indefinitely from all team activities.”

Things Cardinals seem to be in a downward trend as the Commonwealth Cup nears, November 30th.

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Kentucky snaps four game losing streak defeats Murray State 48-6

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Kentucky football coach Mark Stoops talking to Murray State football coach Jody Wright.
Jordan Prather | Imagn

Kentucky gets a much-needed victory over Murray St 48-6 to snap its four-game losing Streak. Brock Vandagriff led the way for the Cats, going 12-19 for 183 passing yards and two touchdown passes to Hardley Gilmore IV and Ja’Mori Maclin. 48 Points is the most points Kentucky has scored in a game since 2021 when the Cats scored 51 points against Louisville.

The defense held Murray St. without a touchdown. For the second time this season, Kentucky’s defense has held an opponent without a touchdown.

Freshman Standout today:

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For the second time this season, Kentucky breaks the 40-point mark as three freshmen make impacts for Kentucky. Jamarion Wilcox had 13 carries and 124 yards with a touchdown in the 3rd quarter.

Receiver Hardley Gilmore IV had two receptions for 72 yards and caught the 52-yard touchdown pass from Brock Vandagriff on the game-opening drive.

Four-star quarterback Cutter Boley started the second half for the Cats, going 10-14 and passing for 130 yards with two touchdown passes in the fourth quarter, both touchdown passes to sophomore receiver Anthony Brown-Stephens.

Defense Bounces Back:

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After giving up over 475 yards of total offense each of the last three games, Kentucky’s defense holds Murray State to 256 total yards of offense while also having three takeaways from the Murray State offense

Defensive Lineman Tre’vonn Rybka led the way for the defense with five tackles and the only sack of the game for Kentucky’s defense. Jordan Lovett had two takeaways in the first half for Kentucky and one in the red zone in the second quarter. Jackson Schultz had the final takeaway, picking off Jim Ogle’s pass late in the fourth quarter.

Box Score

With the win today over Murray St., Kentucky moves to 4-6 (1-6 SEC) with two games remaining. They look to keep their bowl eligibility alive as they travel to Austin, Texas, and face the No. 3 ranked Texas Longhorns at 3:30 pm on ABC. 

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Mark Stoops Responds to Retirement Rumors, “Zero Percent Chance I Do That”

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Kentucky football coach Mark Stoops responds to retirement rumors amidst disappointing season. "Zero percent chance I do that."
Jordan Prather | Imagn

To say there is unrest in the Kentucky Football fanbase would be an understatement. With a 3-6 record overall, and 1-6 in the SEC (15th out of 16) things look bleak, and there is still a quarter of the season to go. Considering the regression from the previous two seasons as well, it’s difficult to be optimistic about the future.

Over the last few weeks, rumors have circled that head coach Mark Stoops has considered retiring at the end of the season. Optics wise it makes sense, his older brother Bob Stoops surprisingly retired from Oklahoma at just 56, and Mark, now 57, has expressed a desire to spend more time with his children.

At his weekly press conference, Stoops was asked directly if there is any chance that he would walk away from Kentucky and retire at the season. To which he responded, bluntly:

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“Zero percent chance I do that. Next question.”

Mark Stoops is still owed more than $44 million on his contract. That’s A LOT of money to leave on the table and is the reason that the decision will be Stoops’ to make, as Kentucky cannot afford the buyout.

If Stoops holds true to his word and returns next season, NIL fundraising efforts may be the most difficult it has been for him. However, he hopes it sparks motivation to donate.

“I’ve seen it at other SEC schools,” Stoops said. “I want to stay away from that. I really get tired of — I don’t want to be like I am whining, I am crying. It is reality. You have to have dollars.”

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