Mark Stoops assesses Chris Rodriguez's performance in season debut

Kentucky football finally got superstar running back Chris Rodriguez into game action against Ole Miss after he missed the first four games of the season due to suspensions for various reasons. Boy, did he make a difference for a Wildcat running game that struggled mightily to start the season.

C-Rod rumbled for just 72 yards and a touchdown in his return, which isn’t too impressive on paper. However, on seemingly every play, he was able to churn his way to a couple extra yards and was never taken down by the first tackler. Particularly, one fourth down stands out. Rodriguez met several Ole Miss defenders ahead of the line to gain, but willed his way past it with second, third and fourth efforts.

Special, special talent out of the backfield for the ‘Cats. Head coach Mark Stoops was sure glad to have him back, and sang his praises for the senior RB during a press conference this week following C-Rod’s first game back.

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“Chris Rodriguez had his first game. Thought it was good. I think late in the game, I felt like, you know, his legs were a little bit — he was a little winded I guess. Or not in game shape, you know. You could run all the hills you want, run it, run sprints. Until you get in there and get in the games, with the energy and amped up and all that — just getting a feel for it was was good. And he responded well, you know. He handled it.”

Stoops also explained that adding a weapon like Rodriguez in the running back room required some adjustments from new UK OC Rich Scangarello, who had slowly been focusing the offense around the passing game, given the talent at QB and little production out of the RB room to date.

“It’s a kind of an adjustment period too for Rich just to know…right here, we got this guy, here’s how we can use him in the right spots. I think he knows that he’s, you know, watched a ton of film. And we had them all spring, all summer. And when things were unknown, you know, I mean, we’ve been working with them. So, it was obvious having him against Ole Miss gave a better shot to win that game.”

Despite the gut-wrenching loss, getting Chris Rodriguez back and seeing him perform just like he did last year, is a terrific sign for the Kentucky offense going forward.