Welcome to the Big Blue Insider.
Dick Gabriel with you on a Tuesday edition of our program. It is game week and as I see it, only three more days, three plus because yeah, here it is a little after six o'clock, so you're looking at tomorrow, Thursday and Friday, and then that gets us to Kentucky Southern miss on Saturday. It's a game you will hear
right here on six point thirty WLAP. It's a seven forty five kickoff, which means five point thirty pre game for us, and tonight you're gonna hear from and you may have heard him from him last night on a BBN radio on the State Wide Show. Logan Stenberg joins our pregame coverage along with Christy Thomas and Jeremy Jarmon.
They had him on for a few minutes last night.
We'll go a little bit longer with him tonight and make a deep dive on these football Wildcats through the eyes of the former UK All American offensive lineman. I've already talked a lot of football with Logan so far. I think you're gonna really like him, and a good combination with him and with Jeremy Jarmon lineman from both sides of the football, and Christy Thomas will referee, so you'll hear them as we kick off our coverage of
Kentucky football this year. Also, it is game night tonight because the volleyball Wildcats opened their season really in just a few minutes over in Louisville and the American Volleyball Coaches Association Classic. It is a round robin event, well not a round robin, but it's a doubleheader, I should say, with the Wildcats taking on Nebraska. That's right, one of the top programs in America, and Kentucky has played in Nebraska before in the nca Tournament. So and Craig Skinner,
of course was an assistant coach at Nebraska. That's where
Mitch Barnard found him. That's one of Mitch Barnart's characteristics is he likes to hire up and coming talented assistants and give them the opportunity because he was an assistant ad for so long before he got his chance to be an athletics director out of Oregon State, so he appreciates hard working assistants, and Craig Skinner certainly fit that build and look at the job he's done at Kentucky, as the Wildcats have won or shared seven straight SEC
championships and this will be their toughest task yet this season with Texas and Oklahoma joining the Southeastern Conference. When you talk about tough as the Wildcats open up tonight with Nebraska, and Kentucky has opened with tough teams many times in the Craig Skinner era, and not all of them have been wins, but practically all of them have paid off down the road with great experience for his team,
and he expects that to happen tonight as well. But more than anything, he appreciates the facts, the fact that the eyeballs on volleyball have grown exponentially every year.
This sport is exploding.
We've broken a tenants record at the final Championship last year. Again, I mean the thousands if you or watching our sport just shows the credit to all the people involved that have gotten the sport to where it is and where it continues to grow.
Tonight's match is on the deuce on ESPN two.
That's a big deal for the opener of the season, and I know a lot of it has with a programming schedule, but that's why they scheduled it. When they did, you know, there's no college football, there's no pro football. You're going up against baseball. But women's volleyball has grown so much. You're coming off an Olympics year when the US team medled in part thanks to former Wildcat Every Skinner, So lots of people are going to be tuning into
this one. And what you're going to see when you do is a sport that has done away essentially with a lot of officials what they call the down officials. They're the officials at either end of the court that decide whether balls are in or out. And they're going to do it more with technology with computers now and cameras, and that could take over very quickly in this ward to volleyball.
You know, all kinds of new technology that's happening with it. And for US and three other teams be invited to an event like this is pretty special for our program to kick off the season. So the first serve and the last serve of the season will be in the Young Center here in Kentucky, so supporting our sport.
How about that the final four is in Louisville, So if the Wildcats can work their way to the final four once again, as they did in twenty twenty and twenty one the COVID Long season when they won the national title. What an advantage that would be, and it could be an advantage obviously for U of L, which plays the nightcap this evening against Wisconsin. So you've got four really good programs in those Midwest powerhouses of Wisconsin and Nebraska showing up tonight in the city of Louisville,
where the final four will be. As Craig said at the end of the season, Kentucky recruits Craig Skinner and his assistants recruit Louisville really.
Really well.
They've gotten some great players, primarily libro's defensive players. Not too many bigs out of the city of Louisville, but it's vital for Kentucky to get in there and take them away from the Cardinals obviously. And one of the players that Skinner got out of Louis's Eleanor Bevin, who is probably the best libro in the country. She has been the Libro of the Year. She was Liberal the
Year as a freshman and is tremendous. Went to Mercy Academy and excited to be going back to World Stomping Grounds.
We're really excited. It's my hometown, so a ton of people are coming, so I'm really excited. And then we've played Nebraska like a lot over the last three years, so a familiar team. Hopefully the first year are being at the first game, probably be a little bit of nerves on both sides, maybe not be the cleanest volleyball, but it's a really good opportunity for our program, so we're excited.
One of the players who needs to play big tonight, literally assuming she's in there, because Aaron Lamb is one of Kentucky's bigs and she was in the lineup out of the lineup last year back in played I think her best volleyball toward the end of the season when they needed her the most. And now she's a senior six ' to three from Minnesota and has to hold her own tonight against these bigs from Nebraska, and obviously she's excited.
I mean, it's huge to the spot. You see the sport grow in the past couple of years, like it's timber ben and it's been amazing to be a part of. I'm so thankful for that. Kentucky gets the opportunity to compete, especially early on such high level team, such a well done event. It'll be really really good for this team start off playing those teams like that, like Craig usually schedules. But yeah, super excited and glad that they could do that.
That's Aaron Lamb and her swing.
She got the kill that locked up the SEC championship at Arkansas last season. It was a huge match, fifth set and she closed out the match. So she needs to be big literally and figuratively. Tonight, we soccer has already opened its season. Volleyball opens tonight officially, and of course football on Saturday coming up in a few minut we're gonna hear from Mark Stoops at seven o'clock. You will hear the Kentucky Nebraska volleyball match right here. While
we're on Kentucky football. Will Levis down in Nashville doesn't have to look over his shoulder at Malik Willis. He was a quarterback drafted by the Titans the year before they drafted Levis, and he and Levis were sort of in a quarterback battle when will first got there.
Levis obviously wins the battle.
Some people wondered would Willis just keep plugging away and eventually take over if Levis doesn't perform properly. Well, the pressure is still on Levis, but not from Malik Willis. The Titans have traded him for a seventh round draft pick to my Green Bay Packers.
How about that?
Willis a highly tatted QB coming in, but he goes for a seventh round pick because Green Bay can't decide or didn't get good play from their backup quarterbacks. The Packers didn't get anything we're seeing from Michael Pratt and Sean Clifford. Pratt's a rookie, Clifford in his second season. And here's the coincidence. Clifford was the guy you might recall this at Penn State who was the reason Levis
transferred to Kentucky. Levis couldn't get past Clifford on the depth chart for whatever reason, and so he decided for a new start at Kentucky. And look how that's paid off. Well. Clifford had a nice career at Penn State, drafted by the Packers, but did not play well. And I watched a little bit of the preseason obviously, and he was not impressive. And so when you think about this, they're going into their opener and the Packers trade for a
backup quarterback. So Lev's former teammate at Penn State now with the Packers, Sean Clifford. He's looking over his shoulder.
How about that?
Caitlin Clark still making headlines. Twenty first game of the year with at least fifteen points and five assists. That's almost routine anymore. She made four to three pointers totals eighty five. She's tied the rookie record in the WNBA set by the Dreams Ryan Howard in twenty twenty two.
How about that.
But the biggest story seventeen thousand, six hundred eight fans in Atlanta. As Clark took on Ryan Howard in the Atlanta dream they set a record for the highest attendance for a WNBA game in Georgia. It's the fifth time this year that a team's attendance record has been broken with the fever as the Visitors and d has already won fourteen games. Now they're third in the East, seventh overall in the league's standings. That's their highest regular season
win total since twenty sixteen. So not only is Caitlin Clark packing them in, but they're winning games. By the way, Howard had sixteen points for Atlanta teena, Charles at twenty eight for the Dream and they're struggling the early ten and nineteen on the year. So Howard and Charles they need some help up. Next, Mark Stuups talks about his team. Bottom of the hour Logan Stenberg newest member of the
UK Radio Network. And then after that we will head to Louisville for coverage here on the radio of Kentucky Volleyballs, the Wildcats take on Nebraska and the Coaches Association Classic. We're back in a minute around six thirty WLAP. Welcome back to the Big Moon Cider coming up game day on Saturday game night, I should say, really and if you need information about how to get in, where to go, what to bring all that stuff. UK Athletics dot Com is the website for you. They've got a parking map
where if you have a permit. If you have no permit, they have a parking map for you with some suggestions on where you can park. If you are a non reserve disabled parking person, they'll tell you about that as well. The clear bag policy is covered. If you've got to find your seats, if you need a snack, if you need a beverage. A reminder that they do sell alcohol at football games now and there are rules about that.
So maybe familiarize yourself with that little bit of information about the new lighting and ribbon video boards during timeouts and breaks, if you want to get on the video board instead of using a hashtag, and this is really popular, fans like to get up there in the pregame. There are dozens and dozens of photos that they put on.
The video board.
Well, now you scan a QR code to add photos and text. They will be monitored, so you're not going to sneak anything on there. But yeah, use the QR code.
Now.
Farm Road and parts of the Orange Lot you've seen this if you've driven by, are under construction for the twenty twenty four season. I park in the Orange Lot a lot of you do. So Farm Road and parts of the Orange Lot are not going to be accessible all year long, both for vehicle and foot traffic. So that's going to cut down on some of the available
tailgating area. So you can't get there too early. Well I guess you can, but think about that if you like to tailgate any Orange lot, your options are going to be not severely limited, but somewhat limited. This season, the non reserve disabled lot has been.
Relocated to the William T.
Young Library lots at the corner of Woodland and Columbia, and there's a shuttle that will pick up there.
It's free.
So there's a lot to consider, as you know, when you go to the ballgames, and you can find out how and the best ways to do it at Ukathletics dot Com. Can also find out about Mark Stoops and his team, and of course the UK coach getting his routine underway. He likes the routine of gameweek, what coach doesn't.
And when it comes to the media, he does his new news conference, he does his radio show on Monday nights, but then it's game prep after that, and he's talked a lot of course, and every coach does this about continuity. You know, I was talking the other night about how it seems like every baseball season we talk about dominating the routine play like routine ground balls. But routine is important for every sport. You know, how you set up and shoot your free throws, how you set up your practices.
If you're a football coach and the little things you have to do to make sure everything is covered, and Soup said, they've been working hard on that, specifically, any problems they might run into with the new offensive coordinator, with the new language, a new verbiage. You've got the microphone and the helmet. You've got the iPads sort of tablets on the sidelines.
The teams can use now.
And get used to that as being part of your sideline routine. But anytime you bring in a new offensive coordinator and a new way of playing, this uptempo style that Kentucky's going to employ, you've got to make sure that everything you do at the very beginning is going to be routine.
You're going to run.
Into problems, but if you can take care of the little things, you're ahead of the game.
We've really tried to head off all those issues, you know, if we you know, running the problems. We do have timeouts for a reason. Obviously, we want to save them for two minute situations at the end of the half in the games, if you should you need them, but also we want to make sure we don't waste place. We have worked the communication, the new communication, you know, over and over again all the way from spring all the way through camp. We've practiced it. We've practiced live
in the stadium. You know, we we try to anticipate those things and head them off before they happen. You know, nothing you know is ever perfect. We're going to I have to be, but you know we will say, you know, we're going to go out there with a confidence that we are going to be able to operate smoothly.
And of course, so much of that revolves around avoiding penalties, pre snap penalties, having people lined up in the right place, having the right people on the field for the right formations. There are always problems and you can only rehearse so much. But you've just got to be ready to deal with the little things. Let the big things take care of themselves.
I mentioned new offensive coordinator Bush Hamden. He's going to be in the press box, not on the sideline, as Liam Cohen often was in his two stays at Kentucky. Coen also spent some time in the press box, but Hamden will be up there exclusively, and Stoops likes that.
I love the way he operates, I like the way he thinks, I like the way he anticipates his calls he is in the box, so he could write down his notes and have his thoughts and his ideas handy and at his fingertip. So I think it also helps with the communication to be able to see the defense, see the big pitcher, and possibly adjust at times as well.
It should be a good night for football.
We may get a little wet at some point on Saturday, but as we always do, we're going to get a weather forecast from my man Chris Bailey from WKYT.
Before the week is up. I may get Bill Mechacall as well.
Nobody tailgates more enthusiastically than Bill mex so we may have battling weather forecasts. We'll see if we can make that happen this week here on the Big Blue Insider.
In case you're.
Wondering, of course, a college football beginning Saturday with Georgia Tech's upset over Florida State. The SEC schedule actually begins Thursday night. Arkansas Pine Bluff plays at Arkansas, Murray State plays at Missouri, so the Racers don't have far to travel. But that's a future Kentucky opponent opening up against an SEC team. So that's some of the video that UK asses and coaches will be studying guarantee they'll be flipping
back and forth between those two games. Oklahoma plays its first game as an SEC team on Friday night at seven o'clock against Temple. Those owls go to Norman, Oklahoma. Virginia Tech on Saturday plays at Vanderbilt. Chattanooga plays Saturday at twelve forty five. That's a noon Vandy game. Chattanooga plays Tennessee at twelve forty five on Saturday as well, But the big one, Clemson at high noon takes on the Georgia Bulldogs at high noon in Mercedes Benz Stadium
in Atlanta. That is a noon start, so you have a chance to put your feet up and check out Kirby Smart's dogs on the Kentucky schedule in week three on Saturday. So some interesting SEC games coming up to help prep you for the Wildcats and the Golden Eagles of Southern Myths. Before we hit the break, Aaron Judge
just an incredible season. He could get sixty three three home runs, that would be the American League record, and really, when it comes to performance enhancing drugs, some people would look at this as the record for home runs, but he's just phenomenal, hitting three thirty three, fifty one home runs, one hundred and twenty two runs batted in, and he still has thirty one games to go. He's gonna be the MVP. And what's amazing is on April twentieth, he
went zero for four with four strikeouts. It was Aaron Judge Bobblehead day at Yankee Stadium and they booed him. But his batting average dropped at like one seventy nine three days later bottomed down at one seventy four. But since then, in one hundred and six games since then, and he adjusted his approach at the plate. Obviously, he's batted three seventy on base percentage five hundred slugging percentage eight twenty eight ops, which is on base plus slugging
one point three two eight. That's phenomenal, and forty eight home runs. Next closest Shoaiotani with thirty six. He's kept this up for four months, phenomenal and by the way, those strikeouts, he's cut him down in the last eight days twenty seven played appearances since he struck out, So whatever he did, whatever he's doing, and he's a bottle it and sell it if he can up next Logan Stenberg, former Kentucky All American lineman. Now remember the UK Radio
Network team. Then it's UK Volleyball against Nebraska here on the six thirty WLAP. Welcome back to the Big Blue Insider, Logan Stenberg making the media rounds now is on with Darren Hedrick last night. We've got him tonight a little bit longer, a little more time to spend with Logan, our newest member of the UK Radio Network team. He's going to be on the pregame show with Christy Thomas and Jeremy Jermys.
So we have linemen from.
Both sides of the football and guys who played in the NFL. Jeremy of course with a wash and back then Redskins and I was injured when he was traded to the Denver Broncos, which forced his retirement a little prematurely. Logan spent three seasons with the Lions, spent some time in camp with the Bears and the Bucks, and now he is part of our radio crew and had a chance to talk some football with Logan. Logan, congratulations, welcome to the party.
Big thanks for having me Meam Pump to be here.
Other than challenging Jeremy Jarman about who's tough or offensive and defensive lineman. What do you hope to bring to the pregame show.
I just hope to bring a little offensive line insight, kind of break down the offense, you know, to simple terms where people can understand what the main goal is.
You know.
I just want to make it fun and accessible for everybody.
This is a great time for you to be joining because there is a big question mark hanging over the offensive line, Isn't there?
Not in a bad way.
Because I thought they took a step forward last year, But there's going to be a lot to look at, isn't there.
I agree, and I think that we've got a lot of young guys backing up some veterans. I think it all starts with Eli Hawks up front at center. I mean, I think if he is a good year, they offensive line will have a good year. I think we're booke ended pretty well at left and right tackle. I'm just excited to see what those boys can put together this year.
You've been busy off playing pro football now that you've retired, I don't know how much you've had a chance to watch this team or if you've got a chance to see him much last year. But let's start with Eli. What do you think he brings to a position that as you know, there have been some really talented centers at UK over the years.
Yeah, I think he's very similar to one of my good friends, Luke Portner currently in Jacksonville playing center down there. And I think that they're just smart, witty guys. They can they understand the offense. They grasp that, they know exactly what the plan is and how to get it done. And the thing that is underrated at center is they're good at getting everybody else where they need to go.
He's good at calling the plays, getting the guards and the tackles where they need to be, and really kind of running the ship up front.
And it's more than just calling out od or even defense, isn't it if the nose guards over the center or if he's not. I mean you can clearly see that. But what other things does the center have to point out?
Yeah, I mean we could go on for hours about that. Identifying defenses. We can go into you know, oh, the nose has his right hand down or is left hand down, he's a shade or he's a three of us. So there's a lot that goes in, and you know, each week is a little different because the coaches will come in and game plan make it simple for the guy so everybody can grasp it and really hit home on
the main goal. But you know, when he gets up there, he's got a play and the first thing he's doing is he's identifying the mic, what what linebacker are we working to And then basically off of that one point, it tells the rest of the offensive line what's to do. It tells the right guard and the right tackle, Oh, I've got plus one or my it's one at that point, and then so on and so forth on the backside. So it's really more than just saying an even for sure.
And I mean, of course, depending on what defense they're in, identifying that mike. Linebackers could be pretty hard sometimes.
You know.
I heard a story not long ago when Eli Manning was a rookie and he came to the line of Scrimmers who were playing the Ravens, and he yelled something about.
Whatever ray Lewis was.
I think ray Lewis was fifty two, and it was only fifty two is the mic? And ray Lewis said, no, Eli, I'm not the mike, He's the mic. I don't know often that happens in the NFL, but I'm guessing it doesn't happen much in college, does it.
There's there's a lot of test match being played up there at the at the line of scrimmers, that's for sure, and I was like trying a little light on that this year. I'd like to highlight those guys more than they usually are. Well.
Speaking of Cox's brother from another mother, Marcus is I guess in his seventh year at O tackle and as you well know, being a former interior lineman, there's there's no substitute for experience, and that's going to be huge for Kentucky literally.
Isn't it.
Oh yeah, the Northern Illinois guy, I think he is going to be a bright spot on that offensive line. Like you said, experiences everything, and he's got plenty of it. I think he's going to add a little bit of astiness to that west side as well with Jagger and I think they're going to have a big year together. I'm looking forward to watching them double guys into the ground.
Jagger had some problems last year with penalties and a few situations. Uh, do you believe that he's worked through that? I mean, where there's only one way to find out, but that's it's vital for him, I think to have his best year this year, obviously, isn't it.
Yeah. I may not be the one to talk about penalties, but I truly believe that there's a fine line you have to walk, and I think he's going to find that line this year. I think he's figured out, like you know that there I need to be a aggressive I need to finish guys, but within the confines of the game. And I struggled with that as well. And one thing that coach Suit's always told me is it's a lot easier to say WHOA than giddy up? So I think that's a good thing to have sometimes.
Yeah, I've heard that before from coaches talking about aggressive penalties. You know, it's one thing to line up off sides or something like that, but it's another just to be a little too aggressive, isn't it.
Of course. I mean if there are mental mistakes, then I think that is a direct reflection of coaching. To be honest with you, not having your guys ready or prepared or confident in what the scheme is going to be and what you guys want to do now, if it's aggression, I mean I'll take one a game.
Oh yeah, no question.
We're talking to Logan Stenberg, former UK All Conference and All American offensive lineman's joining us now on the UK Radio network as part of our pregame coverage and as he said, he's going to be highlighting maybe a little more than we have in the past, the offensive line play.
But that's vital.
You've got two new starters, it looks like, with Jalen Farmer a transfer coming in, and Gerald Minci another transfer. Tell me about the process, of course, you started as a red shirt freshman and started from then on, but working new faces in to a unit that has to has to perform as one, tell me about the challenge there.
Yeah, and that's all off season work. That's training camp. You know, you you spend all off season getting your your test pieces all in one room, and now you got to figure out how they form together and work together. And you know, oh, well he worked well at right guard. Oh let's put him at lest guard. Let's try this out. And it's really just a trial and error at that point.
That's what they've done this past six weeks in camp, and I have full faith in the coaching staffs where they figured it out, and I think there's gonna be no hitches at all. I think those guys are probably comfortable next to each other, and I'm excited. I'm glad you mentioned Farmer. I'm excited to watch him. I heard he's got a little nasty streak in him, so I think these guys are going to be one of the be reckoned with. I'm pretty excited for it.
Of course, Eric Wolford is back as the O line coach. You did not play under him, but do you know, do you.
Know him at all? And what do you know about him?
I know Wolf's pretty well and I'm excited that he's back. I know it was, you know, semi controversial getting them back here, but I'm glad he's here. I think he's a great asset to this coaching staff and not only an incredible recruiter, but a great coach makes it. You know, one thing that coaches do is they have to take their players, realize what they can handle, and then teach it to them in that way, and I think he's
great at doing that. He understands people. He reads people well, he knows when they get it, when they don't, and how to modify it.
Zach Enzer was well like, well respected. In fact, he had just signed a contract extension when Wolford became available, so that's when he was let go. Of course, financially, he's taking care of it for a while. But a different style of O line coach, and that matters, doesn't it?
It does? And I think he's close then, yinser. Uh, of course, I'm very biased. I don't think any coach will ever be as good as coach Swarman. Yeah, but I think he is the best closest we can get. He's in your faith. He loves on the guys. But you know, Henna, he's gonna coach you hard and if you can't take that, you can't play on his offensive line, which is something I think is vible.
I covered John Schlarman as an athlete, as a player from the day he came to campus, so I knew him pretty well, uh, just as a media person, and that's something I think logan that people don't remember or don't know about John is that he was as pleasant and nice and gentlemanly as could be off the field, but as a player and a coach, he had that fire, didn't he?
Oh? He did well. He was undersized, you know, he's an undersized guy, and he wanted to play. He loved the game, and more importantly, he loved Entucky. So he wanted to be out there and he knew that the only way they were gonna put him out there is if he had that Knean streak in him, and he definitely did.
And he coached that way, didn't he?
Of course, yeah, he coached the way he played. He demanded a lot from us, but like I said earlier, he loved the stuff even harder. So he was a great name to play for.
I'll tell you what, being down there on the sidelines each game watching him come off the field as a player. I don't know if you ever saw a video, but the heavily bandaged and you know, bracketed knees. I don't know how he played out there, but it was all desire and drive. One last question before the break, a friend of mine media person told me he thought maybe that the UK offensive line needs to forge its own identity and move away from the big blue wall label.
How do you feel about that. Do you think it's still something that they need to aspire to.
I don't care what name we put on it. Let's let's be honest here, Dick. I just want those guys to go out there and win football games. Yeah, and I think it truly starts up front with the offensive line and the defensive line play. We can call him the big teleteby's for all I care. Let's just go out there and win games.
Well, Frank Kersey did football one oh one with me back in the day, and he said, every game begins with the old line. Everything revolves around the old line. You know, how long you have the ball, how long your opponent doesn't have the ball. So I learned early on about the importance of it. We're talking with Logan Stenberg, former UKL American offensive lineman. He is now a member
of the UK Radio Network team. He'll be on the pregame show with Christy Thomas Jeremy Jarmo will come back and talk more Kentucky football in just a minute with Logan on the Big Blue Sider here on six thirty WLAP.
Welcome back.
We're talking with Logan Stenberg, former Kentucky All American offensive lineman, NFL veteran and now a member of the UK Radio Network team. He'll be pregame show with Christy Thomas and Jeremy Jarman. All right, now, you're Oklahoma drill you against Jeremy?
Come on? Who wins?
Oh? It's me every day? And I think Jeremy would say the same. You know, he's had a couple of years on him here, so I think I've got him.
I think maybe right now you probably do too.
But you need to learn from him when it comes to radio experience, because Jeremy is a natural. As you know. We're talking, of course, about the Kentucky offense as the Wildcats open up with Southern Miss new oc new quarterback. Let's start with bush Ham Dan. Changing coaches is a way of life in football at whatever level. But this is a Kentucky offense where each of the last three years they've had to learn new verbiage. How much of a challenge is that logan and it seems like they've
had quite a while to get that done. Going back to the spring, do you expect that to be an issue?
I don't see that to be an issue. We've had plenty of time in the offseason to get all that ironed out. One thing that I'm super excited with Bush is I heard him say that if he could run the ball fifty times a game, he would, and like you said earlier before the break, controlling that line of scrimmage, controlling the ball and time possession of huge. I think if we control the ball and we beat them up front,
it's going to be a long game for them. If we get to run at forty fifty times a game, I'll be loving it.
I feel a lot better if and this is not a reflection on any other running back, but if Chip train and were healthy, because he appears to be the guy who can get you a yard and a half or two when you really need it. How concerned are you about the power run game.
I think we're getting lucky that it's only is it a two week we think, yeah, okay, we're thinking two weeks. I think Sumo's going to hold it down. Fine. I think it's going to be good. It's it's not going to be a Parle medal, But I am excited to have him back. I think he's going to be a big, big asset for us this year.
Well, Demi on the edge gives you a lot, though, doesn't he He's got the speed.
Oh yeah, he's definitely got the breakaway speed. And then when we get chipped back, he'll be He'll be the ground and pound kind of guy.
And he thoughts on Rock Vandergriff because he was a five star guy coming out of high school, lost in a close battle to Carson Beck for the starting job at Georgia.
But we're not sure what we're going to see, are we.
I like him. I think he's composed. I've lost my practice a couple of times. He puts the ball where he wants to put. He's got a great throw. I think that the switch up with Gavin as well is going to be off. You know, a lot of people are scared about running two quarterbacks, but I'm not subscribing to that whatsoever. I think if you can effectively do it, it just makes it so much harder for that defense to game plan.
Well that's a great plus, But why are you confident they can do it.
I'm confident because we've done in the past, even just due to injuries. I mean, I think when we had win, nobody could. Nobody could game plan against the lyn They knew we were going to run the ball. They stacked the boss with eight nine guys and we still ran effectively.
Yeah.
So I think that we're going to be able to game plan all these teams and do what we want to do upfront.
For sure, you block Berlin Bowden, What what was it like when you suddenly had to change the offense so dramatically.
When's one of those guys, He'll make you look good now? So it was it was pretty easy to block for Lynn, believe me. I mean we could go sweet to the right and he would do a reverse run to the left, sideline hurdle of guys and score. And so it was pretty easy blocking Prownd. He just found a whole win.
Yeah, and he could throw it better than most people thought. And of course, you guys win the Bell ball on a touchdown pass. It was highly unexpected. Tell me a little bit about the white outs for this Kentucky team. How special are they and what do you expect from them this year?
Yeah?
I think Barry, ar and Dane are gonna have a big year. It's obviously a pivotable year for them going into their junior year. I expect a lot out of them and I think that the experience is going to really bode well for them in this offense. They're going to have better route running, better awareness, and I think it's going to be a big year.
I know how much they really liked a new wide receivers coach, Takeuill Schwartz. We had a chance to talk to him, the media did the other day. Younger guy, but as I understand it, logan really demanding, I unlike Wolford, and apparently they're leaning into that, aren't they.
Yeah, you know, I think coach Steps liked a certain guy on his coaching staff. I think he hits the mold pretty well. And you mentioned his age. I think that having a young guy in the receiver's room is always big. To be able to relate to them, be able to get them to buy into the system. It's huge and I think he's going to be super successful at that.
Let me ask you a question that people were asking the guys who went to media day down to the SEC media.
Did you ever do that, by the way, go to Birmingham or.
Did you we went down? I think we were in Hoover. We went down one year.
Do you enjoy it?
It was good? It was kind of my first like open to the media side, so I was a little nervous, but enjoyed the process and they make it easy for you, so it was a good time.
Well, one question that people were asking the Kentucky players down there was what is it like to play for Mark Stoops? What would you say if somebody asked you that question why you were a Wildcat or now as we.
Ask you tonight.
He's a player's coach. I mean, if you give him effort and you play hard, you do what you're supposed to do, you know he'll take care of you. There have been plenty of week that we have been playing and everybody's banged up, and he's like, guys, take the pads off, we're good. We're just gonna do a walk through, take care of your body, get home early, go to bed.
So he understands the grind in a full twelve week season and hopefully even longer, and he's definitely gonna have those guys ready to play and take care of them.
What was your reaction when it looked like he was leaving. I mean, in a way, I wasn't surprised because he has built something special at Kentucky where a lot of people said that could never happen, and he's done it, so that didn't really surprise me when I heard these rumors.
What was your reaction, I was.
The same way. I wasn't surprised at all. I mean, he's built an incredible culture around this team, one that has not been here. I don't know, Dick, You've been covering way longer than I've been alive. I don't think that it's ever been like this, and that's something special. I mean, there's not a lot of coaches walking the street right now. They can build a program from the ground up, and I don't want that to be overlooked. I think we have something special in Mark Stoops here UK.
Well, Rich Brooks had success, but not as long as Mark Stoops. And by the way, Brooks thinks the world.
Of Mark Stuops. You know how Mummy had it going.
For a couple of years and then it all fell apart, same with fran Kersey, but no to sustain it is what's incredible about what Stuops has done. But now Logan, the job's so much tougher with the SEC expanding. I don't know if you would I'm sure you would have liked the challenge of facing Oklahoma and Texas, but I do believe doing away with divisions and all this stuff just makes it that much tougher on the Kentuckys of
the world. The Georgia's and Alabama's can handle it a heck of a lot easier, don't you think.
I completely agree, And I think that it's all about depth in that situation. I think that the depth problem will be fixed here shortly, especially at the nil and all that, And I mean, that's what the fans need to do. They need to buy in. We need to be able to have depth, and we don't need true
freshmans backing up our starters all the time. And I think slowly, within the next two or three years, we're going to see that change in that gap from in Alabama Georgia versus the Kentucky is going to slowly shrink when you can start, you know, paying players and getting guys to come over. And I think that that's really just going to change the whole landscape of college football.
He is Logan Stenberg, former Kentucky All Conference and All American offensive lineman and now a member of the UK Radio Network. Listen for him on our pregame show with Christy Thomas and Jeremy Jarman. Follow him on X or Twitter, whatever you want to call it at lb Stenberg, ste n b E R G. Hey, thanks for the time and looking forward to seeing you Saturday. Good luck to you break a leg.
Big thanks man see Saturday.
Now I do it.
For now, We're going to make way for UK Volleyballs. The Wildcats take on Nebraska over in Louisville and the Coaches Association Classic.
That's a good night in the garage.
And the.
Man Mass
Masses sang