University of Kentucky senior Marquan McCall will miss the Wildcats’ football game against LSU.
McCall, the Wildcats’ starting nose tackle, suffered an ankle injury early in UK’s win over Florida on Saturday. Head coach Mark Stoops said that McCall will “be out for a little bit” during his Monday news conference.
Sophomores Josaih Hayes and Justin Rogers played a lot of snaps against Florida after McCall went down. Hayes was listed at the No. 1 spot on UK’s depth chart for LSU, and Rogers was the backup.
Hayes got banged up a bit toward the end of the Florida game, Stoops said, but he’s good to go against LSU.
“With him playing so many reps and taking a little hot, he got a little bit ineffective late when he got hurt, but he’s got to learn play through some of that,” Stoops said before praising their level of play when pressed into action against a top-10 program.
McCall was trying to make a tackle downfield on the first play of the Gators’ second possession of the game when he fell awkwardly into a teammate. The senior lineman immediately gestured toward the Kentucky bench that he needed assistance. After spending a couple of minutes on the ground, he hobbled off the field with help from UK trainers.
With McCall out of the game, Florida scored on the possession to take an early 7-0 lead.
McCall immediately went to the UK injury tent, and trainers re-wrapped his left ankle. It was originally expected that he would be able to return to the game, but he was downgraded to “questionable” by the start of the second quarter. The game was tied at 7 by that point.
Florida led 10-7 at halftime, and McCall was not in uniform for the second half while wearing a walking boot on his left foot. The Wildcats ultimately prevailed, beating the Gators 20-13 to earn a victory over Florida in Lexington for the first time since 1986.
The 6-foot-3, 379-pound McCall is a key part of Kentucky’s defense and was a third-team preseason All-SEC selection in the annual Phil Steele college football yearbook. He started three games as a junior last season and is one of the highest-ranked UK recruits over the past few years.
McCall recorded just one tackle at South Carolina, but his effort anchoring the middle of the defense against the Gamecocks was arguably his best game as a Wildcat. UK won that game, 16-10, and the Gamecocks gained only 216 yards in the contest.
This story was originally published October 4, 2021 12:16 PM.
Discover more from Today Headline
Subscribe to get the latest posts to your email.