Stoops revealed that Kentucky has submitted paperwork for five juniors to the draft advisory board. He did not say who the players are, but the most important is right tackle Darian Kinnard, who could be a Day 2/3 pick if he enters the draft.
Stoops did say that Kinnard has not made up his mind on if he’ll leave for the pros or return for a senior season. One could surmise the feedback Kinnard gets from the advisory board will play a big part in his final decision.
Other notable juniors who could consider going to the NFL include running back Chris Rodriguez Jr., defensive end Joshua Paschal, linebacker Deandre Square, defensive tackle Marquan McCall, safety Yusuf Corker and linebacker Jamin Davis. Getting most, if not all of these guys back would be massive for the 2021 Cats.
No. 24 N.C. State faces Kentucky in Gator Bowl
By The Associated PressDecember 21, 2020 GMT
LOCATION: Jacksonville, Florida
N.C. State: LB Payton Wilson, 3 1/2 sacks, leads team in tackles
NOTABLE
Kentucky: Mark Stoops is set to become the first coach to lead the Wildcats to five consecutive bowl appearances. The Kentucky defense has allowed opponents only 30 scores in 40 red zone trips this season.
N.C. State: The Wolfpack enter the game on a four-game winning streak. This is the sixth bowl invitation in Dave Doeren’s eight seasons as N.C. State’s coach.
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The 2020 college football bowl season figures to be like none other, with COVID-19 issues causing some squads to opt out and bowl games having to be canceled because of a lack of participating teams.
Still, there are 28 bowl games left to keep us entertained between now and the Jan. 11 College Football Playoff National Championship presented by AT&T at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida (8 p.m. ET, ESPN/ESPN App).
Here are the players and storylines to watch in each of those bowl games:
College Football Playoff
No. 1 Alabama vs. No. 4 Notre Dame
Friday, Jan. 1, 2021
4 p.m. ET, ESPN/ESPN App
Here is how Twitter reacted to the announcement of the Wildcats vs the Wolfpack:
We re @taxslayerbowl bound
We will play @PackFootball in the Taxslayer Gator Bowl on Jan. 2 at noon in Jacksonville, Fla., on @espnhttps://t.co/wKr4iHnZwv Kentucky Football (@UKFootball) December 20, 2020
Kentucky vs. NC State in Gator Bowl, sources told @Stadium Brett McMurphy (@Brett McMurphy) December 20, 2020
Excited to have @PackFootball and @UKFootball returning to Jacksonville for this year s TaxSlayer Gator Bowl on January 2, 2021 at Noon #TaxSlayerGatorBowl#HTT#BBN#BowlSeason
The weird year where the Cats go 4-6 and get to the Gator. https://t.co/SJ97cEsoMY Kyle Tucker (@KyleTucker ATH) December 20, 2020
Time, date and TV
About Kentucky
â¢Â Kentucky s wins came over Mississippi State, Tennessee, Vanderbilt and South Carolina, which combined for eight victories. Three of the four opponents played 10 games, and winless Vanderbilt played nine.
â¢Â The Wildcats played, and lost on the road to, No. 1 Alabama (63-3); Georgia (14-3), which was No. 5 at the time; Florida (34-10), which was No. 6; and Auburn (29-13), which was No. 8.
â¢Â Head coach Mark Stoops fired offensive coordinator Eddie Gran and quarterbacks coach Darin Hinshaw after the regular-season finale against the Gamecocks, the Courier-Journal of Louisville (Ky.) reports. New offensive coordinator Liam Coen will not coach in the bowl game as he remains with the NFL s Rams through their NFL playoff run.