Even as They Say Farewell, Seniors Have Work to Do

If you’re trying to keep from getting emotional this week, it’s advisable to unfollow @UKFootball on social media.
 
Ahead of Senior Day, the account is posting a series of graphics honoring the players who will play their final game at Kroger Field on Saturday. At the top of each one is a quote from the family of the 16 seniors.
 
That’s where things might get a little dusty.
 
“Your dedication to your family and friends as well as school and the UK football team is inspiring,” Josh Allen’s mom said.
 
“I know your mother is looking down from heaven, smiling and saying, ‘You made it, son. I love you!’ ” Bunchy Stallings dad said.
 
“If I had a chance to do it all over again, I would have a son just like you a million times,” George Asafo-Adjei’s mother said.
 
“You did it the right way,” said Darius West’s family.
 
“To witness you grow into the person you are today has been a blessing and an incredible journey,” C.J. Conrad’s family said.
 
The messages are all coming from people who have known these seniors for their entire lives, giving some insight into the quality of the young men who make up this class. Mark Stoops might have only had the privilege of coaching them for four or five years, but that’s been more than enough time for him to build the same kind of affection and appreciation.
 
“I’m very proud of a lot of these guys for the work they’ve done, and I’ve seen a change, so they’ve been very good group, special group, not perfect like none of us, but they’ve really done a good job,” Stoops said. “… Special group. The individual stories of some of these guys, many of you have written about it and talked about it and seen it. Where they come from, what they’ve done, the things they’ve overcome. It’s truly amazing.”
 
Those individual stories are too numerous and too long to tell in one place, but the young men behind them have come together at Kentucky to write a single story as a group. It’s one of shared belief, persistence and tireless work, as this senior class has played an instrumental role in lifting a program from irrelevance to three straight bowl bids and now a national ranking in their final season.
 
“I feel like this senior class, we have done a lot,” Allen said. “We did a lot for this program and it’s only right to go out with a bang. We decided coming here that we were going to do something special and I feel like we had something special when I saw these guys the first time I was here. Just to get to the point where we are today is just amazing.”
 
Others might have doubted it could happen, but not this group. Even before the transformation of UK’s football facilities, these seniors knew what they wanted to do.
 
“I came here with a vision,” Conrad said. “Coach Stoops gave all of us seniors kind of what was going to happen. We were at the old facility. … There wasn’t turf on the field and the stadium wasn’t renovated or anything like that, so we had to buy into a vision and we did that.”
 
That doesn’t mean it came easily.
 
For the redshirt seniors, their first two seasons brought hot starts that ended in disappointment. The experience ended up being one they called on when things got tough as they grew into team leaders.
 
“If you needed to spark your team, there were 16 guys who were there when we were losing,” Derrick Baity said. “So 16 guys, 16 different opinions and mentalities and we put it together, like, that’s not going to be us.”
 
That sort of attitude is exactly what the Cats need again coming off back-to-back losses to send them to 7-3 entering their home finale against Middle Tennessee on Saturday at noon.
 
“We know as seniors we have an opportunity to do something that hasn’t been done here in a really long time, so that’s been our goal,” Conrad said. “We know that we have been disappointing the last two weeks and we understand that and we really want to finish strong because we feel like we are changing this program and we want to change it for the younger guys.”
 
Conrad and his fellow seniors talk in present tense because their work is unfinished. Saturday might be Senior Day, with an emotional ceremony taking place pregame, but it’s also the first of three final chances these seniors have to put on Kentucky jerseys. They’re not about to let any of them go to waste.
 
“It’s just going to be a lot of emotions going on before the game,” Allen said. “I’m going to have all my family there, have all my family and friends in the stands and fans, so it’s going to be a real emotional moment. But at the end of the day, we still have a game to win.”