Ahmad Wagner and Bryce Oliver 'close' to returning vs. Vanderbilt

Kentucky’s pass offense lost two of its best weapons prior to the Tennessee game. When Lynn Bowden was in trouble, he could not simply throw it up.

Ahmad Wagner and Bryce Oliver are Kentucky’s two most-talented jump ball receivers. In a game that Tennessee won thanks to a few 50-50 receptions, Wagner was sidelined by a leg injury and Oliver missed the game after injuring his toe in practice.

“I hope both of them will be back this week. We’ll see,” said Stoops. “I was told that both of them were close, both of them were better today, so hopefully they’ll be out there.”

One person who did unexpectedly return to the sideline is Marquez Bembry. The junior college transfer injured his knee in the spring. On Saturday the outside linebacker did not play, but he was in uniform for the first time.

“He’s working his way back in there, he really has. He’s been practicing a couple weeks. We’re close to getting him into a game. He’s getting there,” Stoops said. “We have actually explored because of the need — we have some good depth at outside and we need some help inside — we’ve actually been repping him at inside (linebacker). That can help us in the future for next year. Now you’re talking about a big guy, a big strong guy that can move in there.”

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