Mark Pope’s Kentucky basketball team made its presence felt at Kroger Field on Saturday, showing up to back Will Stein and the UK football program for Kentucky’s first football game of the season.
The day started with Pope at the Cat Walk alongside new UK athletic director and Champions Blue CEO J Batt, where the two greeted the football team as it made its way through the crowd and into the stadium for the Week 1 matchup with Youngstown State. Pope was right there dapping up the full squad as the atmosphere built outside the stadium.
From there, Pope didn’t just stick to the sidelines. He took a golf cart tour through the tailgating scene and even got in on a little football of his own, tossing the ball around with kids in the parking lot. He even had a small QB1 moment, uncorking a pass to a tight end up the left seam for a score.
It didn’t quite match Kenny Minchey’s day, of course - he went for 300 yards and four touchdowns - but Pope showed enough touch to make the throw look natural.
When it came time for kickoff, the men’s basketball roster had turned out in full force. Malachi Moreno, Milan Momcilovic, Zoom Diallo, Alex Wilkins, Kam Williams, Braydon Hawthorne and Justin McBride were among the Wildcats in attendance.
The basketball group also got to spend time with some familiar Kentucky football faces who were back in town ahead of the NFL regular season, including Josh Hines-Allen, Wan’Dale Robinson and Chris Rodriguez Jr.
UK Sports Video shared a few clips from the visit, including one that featured Diallo’s now-familiar “Eat what you kill, shorty!” line as he headed out of the stadium. Another video showed Pope addressing the team as they ran out into the heat that Thursday morning.
“We’re on a mission,” he said.
Kentucky football delivered against the Penguins, and the basketball program will look to bring that same edge when its own season gets going. Big Blue Madness is set for October 2, which is now less than four weeks away.
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Will Steins first Kentucky team wasted little time showing what this offense might look like, and the season opener against Youngstown State offered plenty for fans to like. The Wildcats rolled to a 45-13 win, hit the end zone on their first three drives and paired that early efficiency with a ground game that piled up 205 rushing yards.
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Kentucky Faces One Big Health Question Before Alabama
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One of the clearer signs of progress is along the line and in the front seven, where Malachi Wood is expected to return after being held out by a calf bruise and Alex Afari is gradually being reintegrated into the team. The bigger question remains in the secondary, where Kentucky could use more clarity before a matchup like this, especially with Nichols still not fully settled on a return timeline. [Read more 🡒]