Mi'Quise Humphrey-Grace's first quarter is what Big Blue Nation's dreams are made of. Humphrey-Grace transferred to Kentucky after three seasons at South Dakota in hopes of showing he has what it takes to get to the NFL by doing big things in the SEC. What he just did is about as big as it gets, especially against Alabama.
An interception returned for a touchdown, and a huge forced fumble rudely welcomed Keelon Russell to the SEC. Russell looked rattled by a player who was never supposed to be there.
After a Kentucky punt, Alabama had a chance to strike first. However, Russell looked like a quarterback making his first-ever college start in a hostile road environment. He took an intentional grounding penalty to avoid a sack, and then, thanks to an elite-level play from Humphrey-Grace, had his first collegiate INT returned for a touchdown.
Russell made a fantastic play to get into Kentucky territory for the first time, but it was Humphrey-Grace yet again making a huge play. As Russell was moving to avoid a sack, Humphrey-Grace stripped the Alabama quarterback in another great play, and the Cats recovered the fumble. It was the first time since 2009 that Alabama had turned it over on their first two possessions.
Kroger Field was beside itself, and Kentucky was dreaming of a huge upset at the time thanks to a player not a lot of people envisioned playing at this level.
Mi'Quise Humphrey-Grace's rise is what makes sports special
Coming out of high school, Humphrey-Grace was an unranked prospect with only two college offers. Even after totaling 15.0 tackles for loss and 9.5 sacks as a senior at Princeton High School in Cincinnati, South Dakota and Navy were the only programs interested in signing the big man.
He would head to South Dakota where he was asked to redshirt his first season. Thanks to college football's redshirt rules that allow players to play in up to four games before being ineligible to redshirt, Humphrey-Grace would play in three games and nab three tackles.
In his second season with the Bison, Humphrey-Grace would start one game and totaled 34 tackles with 7.5 tackles for loss, 5.5 sacks, and six passes defended. Then the hard work really started to pay off.
Humphrey-Grace would start all 14 games as South Dakota made its way to the FCS semifinals for the first time in school history. Along the way, Humphrey-Grace was named the 2024 Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC) Defensive Player of the Year after leading the Missouri Valley in tackles for loss (17.0) and sacks (9.5).
He would then choose to commit to Kentucky, and in his first year, flashed the ability that allowed him to go from an unranked high school player to the SEC. The big man would have 31 tackles, 3.5 sacks, and a forced fumble. Through just the first quarter against Alabama, Humphrey-Grace had 1 sack, 1 INT, 1 forced fumble, and a touchdown. Not bad for a player who only had 2 college scholarship offers.
Few people would say that they could have predicted this, but Humphrey-Grace is making huge plays on national TV against a college football power in the SEC. That is what football dreams are made of.
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