7/31/2017 football Edit

Southern Miss game will mean a little more to Bunchy Stallings

Justin Rowland • CatsIllustrated

Publisher

Justin Rowland has been CatsIllustrated.com's publisher since 2015. He covered college football recruiting at programs nationwide for 15 years prior to that.

Based on conversations with Kentucky football players at media day on Sunday, most of them had been pretty well schooled. When asked about the game they're most excited about on the 2017 schedule, most pointed to Southern Miss because it's "the first game."

For Bunchy Stallings, the Southern Miss game is important because it will mark the end of a long offseason. But also because it's a homecoming.

Bunchy Stallings was effective at guard last year, but it's back to his old position in 2017 (UK Athletics)

A much needed homecoming, you might say. Stallings lost his mother to cancer just weeks ago, and his tight-knit family members have leaned on one another heavily during the time since.

Stallings, who attended Hoover (Ala.) Spain Park in high school, is excited about the opportunity to return to his old stomping grounds when Kentucky travels to Hattiesburg to take on Southern Miss to start the 2017 season.

“It’s a homecoming game," Stallings told CatsIllustrated.com this week. "I’m from 45 minutes away from Southern Miss so I know I’ll have a lot of family there. It will be the first time a lot of them even get to see me play college football. For me, it’s like, make it or break it. Because I know I want to do good and I know I want to put a smile on my family’s face. So it’s about me just going out there and playing hard, just trying to make the best decisions for the team.”

Stallings said there's a chance that upwards of 100 of his relatives and friends from back home could attend that game at USM.

The game will also be significant for Stallings because it will mark his first game starting at center for the Wildcats. Although Stallings got extensive game experience as part of a regular rotation at guard last year, and played well, stepping into a new position where he will be calling the shots, and every play beginning with him, will be new.

How different will it be?

“I would say more comfortable because I’ve played center all my life," Stallings said. "It’s a lot more comfortable for me to play center than any other position. Last year was my first time playing guard ever. But, I mean, I know how to play from right to left guard so it wasn’t a big deal but at the same time me playing center is going to be a huge difference because I’m more comfortable. I like to be in control. I like to get the best out of the people that are around me. I’m going to try to get more input into the offense, as much as I can, with me playing center.”

Stallings said he's comfortable being the vocal leader of the line, the player calling out to other linemen and pointing out things the defense is showing.

What did he learn from former Kentucky center Jon Toth, who started at his new position for so long?

“The biggest thing I learned from Toth is being patient between the snaps, changing up the snap counts and things like that," Stallings said. "He really helped me out with that because I’ll get down just ready to snap the ball. That patience part and being able to see the field it really helped me out and I appreciate him.”