RECAP: Rose leads offense to victory in Blue-White Game

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- If Friday's Blue-White Game is any indication, Kentucky's potent ground game may be getting even stronger in 2018.

A.J. Rose, competing to be the rotation alongside All-SEC running back Benny Snell, rushed for 134 yards and scored three touchdowns in leading the Blue squad to a 45-32 win at Kroger Field.

"The last two scrimmages, tonight included, really felt like he took a big step," UK head coach Mark Stoops said of Rose, a third-year sophomore from Cleveland. "It was really important for him to come out tonight and back that up, which he did, and that's really good to see.

"You never know when somebody is going to put it all together. You know, that's OK. You love to see guys developing over time."

Rose had the most explosive plays of the night for the Blue squad in the offense versus defense format. He had runs of 34, 11, 27, 15 and 23 yards.

"I definitely have something to prove in myself," Rose said. "It felt good to go out there and play, feeling comfortable, and breaking some big runs... I'm really hungry right now."

Snell, who is Rose's roommate this season, loved what he saw.

"I've been waiting for my bro to do that," he said. "He brings a lot to the table."

After rushing for 1,333 yards and 19 touchdowns as a sophomore, Snell's reps were limited this spring. He carried the ball six times for 34 yards in the spring game. UK's other veteran back, Sihiem King, missed the game with a head injury he sustained the last week of practice.

The Cats appear to have many options in the backfield, but the quarterback position remains a mystery after 15 days of spring practice. Sophomores Gunnar Hoak and Terry Wilson shared top reps for most of the spring, but neither separated himself.

That carried over to the Blue-White Game with Hoak completing 14 of 25 passes for 121 yards and one touchdown while Wilson went 10 of 24 for 131 yards and was intercepted once on a tipped pass.

"There's been days when one looked has looked better than the other and vice versa," Stoops said. "It's just not fair for me to say (who leads in the competition) at this point because they're... I'd just be throwing something at the wall."

Sophomore receiver Lynn Bowden led the Blue squad with seven receptions for 42 yards. Zy'Aire Hughes, a sophomore wideout, added four catches for 56 yards and a touchdown. Sophomore Josh Ali had three catches for 23 yards and a score.

On the defensive side of the ball, the White squad got a game-high eight tackles from junior linebacker Kash Daniel, the former Kentucky "Mr. Football" from Paintsville who is looking to step into the starting job left open with the graduation of Courtney Love.

Another Daniel, Kengera, a senior outside linebacker, had two of the seven sacks recorded by the defense. Junior defensive tackle Calvin Taylor also had two sacks, while Josh Pashal, Jamar "Boogie" Watson, and Abule Abadi-Fitzgerald each added one.

The White squad forced two fumbles -- one each by Kash Daniel and Elijah Barnett -- and got an interception from senior safety Mike Edwards.

"We had a pretty good and physical spring and came out of there relatively healthy," Stoops said. "That's always a good thing. I felt like we got better. The guys really worked hard. I challenged them.... challenged them for a solid month. They've been in here every day early, working hard on the off days, lifting, watching film. Practice days, they've been attentive.

"I like where we're headed."