The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
4. Snell goes big at Kentucky
Sophomore has already set the Wildcats’ TD mark.
Kentucky running back Benny Snell set the school record with his 28th touchdown lastweek— and he’s still a sophomore.
LEXINGTON, KY. — Benny Snell has carried the football a lot for Kentucky this season and wonders if he’s done enough.
The Wildcat sophomore has achieved several program milestones.
Snell’s 116yards rushing on 17 carries in a 44-21 victory at Vanderbilt pushed him over 1,000-yard mark for the second consecutive season, making him the fifirst player in school history to do so. His three touchdowns also gave hima school-record 28 inhis career, breaking the old mark of 26 shared by Sonny Collins and Moe Williams.
He has topped 100 yards rushing in each of the past three games, demonstrating more intensity and durability than his breakout freshman season.
“I’m fifinding the little holes, making cuts that I probably wouldn’t havemade last year,” said Snell, the South- eastern Conference’s No. 2 rusher with 1,013 yards. “Just being a smarter runner.”
Snell’s growth has helped Kentucky (7-3, 4-3) become bowl eligible for a second consecutive season. Most importantly, he’ shelping the Wildcats’ offffffffffffense click as it enters the season’s biggest test Saturday at No. 7 Georgia (9-1, 6- 1).
The Bulldogs are eager to rebound from last week’s 40-17 loss at No. 6 Auburn , which rushed for most of its 237 yards out of the wildcat scheme. Snell has thrived on the direct-snap formation — he rushed for 114 yards and two TDs against Georgia in last season’s 27-24 loss — and appears to have found another gear with 472 yards and nine TDs the past three games.
Bulldogs coach Kirby Smart credited Kentucky’s success to offensive coordinator Eddie Gran showing different looks to the formation. In acknowledging the praise, the OC noted Snell’s more deliberate approach
after an overanxious start. “He’s a little more patient and his technique has been phenomenal the last three weeks,” Gran said. “Fromhis alignment to his fifirst step, just everything. He’s always been physical and runs with great passion.
“What he’s done is a great job of fixing the little things. ... Where you align, patience on what we’re doing schematically, he’s done that.”
With a SEC-best 205 carries, Snell is proving he can carry a heavy workload.
He showed that twoweeks ago against Mississippi with nine carries for 77 yards on a late go-ahead TD drive. The possession included consecutive runs for 21 and 13 yards that left him temporarily winded before he quickly recovere dto rush three more times, including the 1-yard score. Snell fifinished with 176 yards on 28 carries, just four fewer attempts than his season high at South Carolina.
“I feel like I’m the most durable back in the SEC,” he said. “I feel like my body can take a whole bunch of carries and other backs can’t do that.”
Even so, Kentucky coaches are involving other backs to keep the 5-foot-11, 223-pound Snell fresh. Speedy junior Sihiem King has shown promise with 63 carries for 307 yards, including 15 attempts for 69 yards and two TDs at Vanderbilt. Senior quarterback Stephen Johnson hasn’t hesitated to run either, gaining 348 yards on 79 carries.
But the Wildcats obviously depend on Snell to start the ground game. After teaming with Stanley “Boom” Williams to form Kentucky’s fifirst 1,000-yard rushing tandem last season, Snell has taken the lead role and become Kentucky’s ninth back with 2,000career yards. He needs just two yards to pass Artose Pinner (1999-2002) for eighth place on the program’s alltime list.
The added responsibility has taught Snell that yards and TDs don’t have to come all atonce— although his current run shows he can do it.
“I felt like I always needed to score, I always needed to make a play,” Snell said. “In the wildcat I’d catch the ball and would just run, I wouldn’t take my zone step and let the blocks lead. I was seeing things fast andwould just want to score, score, score and I noticed that you can’t do that.
“I’m just trying to be a student of the game.”