Josaih Hayes, Justin Rogers ready to fill Marquan McCall's big shoes

Coming off his best performance to date as a Wildcat, Marquan McCall was quickly sent to the sideline against Florida with an ankle injury. A pair of former highly-touted recruits, Josaih Hayes and Justin Rogers, were called into action and filled in admirably. Now they must take their game to the next level against LSU.

“Without a doubt, we’re going to miss him a lot, but like coach said, next man up,” Hayes said this week. “We’re going to taker that approach into Saturday.”

McCall will be sidelined for 4-6 weeks as he nurses that ankle injury. The senior’s absence puts more pressure on Hayes and Rogers, but they aren’t feeling it.

“There hasn’t been any pressure at all. Before the season started, Coach Stew told me, Justin, the whole D-line that we’re going to need everybody in this room. He meant it,” said Hayes.

Entering their second season in Lexington, McCall and Hayes were huge recruiting wins in the 2020 class. Rogers was the No. 52 player in America and Hayes was a top 200 player when he surprisingly picked Kentucky over Ole Miss on National Signing Day.

Different Prep for Hayes, Rogers as the Starters

Rogers had three tackles and Hayes had 2, including a half TFL, while filling in for McCall last week. It’s a familiar situation for the Cats. When Quinton Bohanna was sidelined with minor injuries last season, White saw McCall take his game to another level, particularly in his preparation. Rogers felt extra heat this week.

“It’s been different,” said the former five-star recruit. “They expect more out of me but I understand where they’re coming from, so I just gotta do what I gotta do for the team.”

Kentucky is not asking Rogers and Hayes to do anything extraordinary against LSU. Their assignments will not dramatically change, but practice is a little bit different when you know your number will be called.

“You try to tell every backup to prepare like a starter. That’s gotta be the mindset, but when you know going in that you’re going to be called upon and be those guys, you probably did prepare a little bit more,” said defensive coordinator Brad White.

“Now, you might have a few more butterflies or nerves. They don’t have to do more than they did last week. They just have to do their assignment, focus on the technique that coach (Anwar) Stewart has taught them and just play. Don’t let the moment get too big. I thought they did some good things last week, obviously some things we need to improve on, but it’ll be good. It’ll be a big moment for both of those guys.”

If they rise to the occasion and play like former top 200 recruits, Kentucky’s defensive line will be in good shape against LSU.