Last December Kentucky got a commitment from the transfer portal in Ohio State running back DeaMonte “Chip” Trayanum. Coming off two years at Arizona State (2019-21) and the most recent two at Ohio State (2021-23), the 5’11” 227-pound back was looking for more opportunity on the field. Once publicly looking for another school, Kentucky reached out and reeled him in pretty quickly as they do most players from the Buckeye state. A chance to be the presumed first option at running back for a school in SEC probably didn’t take much convincing either, so around mid-December he made his decision to come to Kentucky.

“AGTG (All Glory To God). Let’s Work BBN!!” he said in a tweet on December 12th, announcing his decision.

Eight months later and around three weeks before Kentucky’s season finally began, news came out of Fall Camp that Chip would not be available for the start of the season, suffering from a hand injury, and expectations of him being sidelined for the next 3-4 weeks.

Kentucky would start another year off without their RB1, awaiting his Wildcat debut for what felt like forever away from the first game. That would hold up true as he’s missed the first four games of the season, but that wait finally seems to have concluded as Mark Stoops announced on his weekly Monday night Coaches Show with Tom Leach that he would be suiting up for the trip to Oxford with a chance to receive some snaps.

Tom Leach asked about his availability, and Coach Stoops responded with, “We’ll see. We weren’t in pads today.” He continued with, “He’s cleared to go. We’ll see what type of strength he has in that hand. It was operated on, so, we’ll see how he comes along and what he’s like here throughout the week.”

Mark didn’t go in depth on his availability, confirming if he was back to one-hundred percent or just eighty, or whatever the case may be, but said we’ll know more as the week of practice plays out. Until we know more of just how available he’ll be, I believe Demie Sumo-Karngbaye’s reps will just be reduced only by a small volume. We know what it’s like going against a Southeastern Conference defensive line, and it’s nothing casual for some taking the hits over and over again. I’m sure the staff doesn’t want to have him back for just one game and then re-injured for the following few, so I’m sure it’ll come with caution.

During Chip’s absence, Demie Sumo-Karngbaye and Jamarion Wilcox have both stepped up totaling in 274 rushing yards and 3 touchdowns (in 4 games) for DSK and 133 rushing yards (in 3 games) for Wilcox. I think on Saturday that will shift to more of DSK & Chip, as they take on a hostile environment against the nation’s 6th ranked team.

Before coming to Kentucky, Trayanum played in all 12 games in 2023 for OSU, totaling for 373 rushing yards and 3 touchdowns. Over his four-year career he compiled for 1,157 rushing yards, 13 touchdowns, and 227 total carries.

Kentucky will kickoff at 12:00 ET/11:00 CT at Ole Miss, facing the 4-0 Rebels and looking for an upset. This football program still to this day has never won an SEC West road game under Mark Stoops. A dark cloud of a stat that has been a mockery of the coach and program for many years now, it almost ended in their trip down there in 2022. While I’m not predicting this one to be as close as that edition, I will be in attendance in case they try to do the remarkable.

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