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Kentucky Football: Players Who Shined Against Southern Miss

By Maxwell Ogden

Sep 3, 2016; Lexington, KY, USA; Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Stoops shakes hands with Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles head coach Jay Hopson after the game at Commonwealth Stadium. Southern Mississippi defeated Kentucky 44-35. Mandatory Credit: Mark Zerof-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 3, 2016; Lexington, KY, USA; Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Stoops shakes hands with Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles head coach Jay Hopson after the game at Commonwealth Stadium. Southern Mississippi defeated Kentucky 44-35. Mandatory Credit: Mark Zerof-USA TODAY Sports /
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The season opener was one of the most brutal games in recent memory. Though the results was disappointing, a number of Kentucky football players shined.

Sep 3, 2016; Lexington, KY, USA; Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Stoops shakes hands with Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles head coach Jay Hopson after the game at Commonwealth Stadium. Southern Mississippi defeated Kentucky 44-35. Mandatory Credit: Mark Zerof-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 3, 2016; Lexington, KY, USA; Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Stoops shakes hands with Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles head coach Jay Hopson after the game at Commonwealth Stadium. Southern Mississippi defeated Kentucky 44-35. Mandatory Credit: Mark Zerof-USA TODAY Sports /

If only for a half, the future of the Kentucky football program appeared to be as bright as ever. The offense was firing on all cylinders, the defense was creating turnovers, and the special teams was smothering the opposition’s return game.

The outcome of the game was far less than desirable, but optimism states that the Kentucky Wildcats have made progress.

Kentucky jumped out to a 35-10 lead over the Southern Miss Golden Eagles, but that quickly evaporated. Southern Miss scored 34 unanswered points to pull out a shocking 44-35 comeback victory in Lexington.

Heartbreaking isn’t a powerful enough adjective to do Kentucky’s loss to Southern Miss justice.

Nevertheless, there were positives to take away from Kentucky’s season-opening collapse. A number of players were absolutely sensational, if only for a half of football against a team that should’ve been defeated.

The question is: which players excelled during the Wildcats’ struggle of a season-opener?

Next: Speed Kills

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