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When Kentucky gets inside the 20-yard line, freshman receiver Blake Bone feels like he should be able to make a scoring play.
Bone, a freshman wide receiver, said the red zone is where he feels most at home.
“That is my stuff right there," Bone said. "It is just little things. When we are inside the 20 and I am in the game, personally I don’t feel like I can be stopped there. It don’t matter who is in front of me, if the ball comes my way I am going to come down with it. That’s the mindset I have.”
Bone has two scoring catches among his eight receptions for 133 yards this season. When he caught a touchdown pass last week against Louisiana-Monroe, he did not overly celebrate, though he had indicated he might during preseason interviews.
“We have been talking about that we have to act like we have been here before. It is truly routine plays we are making, so we have to understand there is no need for all the celebration. Just celebrate with the team,” he said after the game Saturday.
So he has toned down?
“You ain’t going to tone me down, but I will be more of a team celebrator if that is what you ask me to do,” he said.
Coach Mark Stoops wants players to play with emotion and intensity, but not in a selfish or showy way.
“We just need to constantly preach being unselfish, and you know, I want aggressiveness. I want them enjoying it. We’re always toting that fine line of letting the guys be who they are. I want them excited at practice. I want them excited in the games. But we can’t be selfish,” Stoops said. “We’re not good enough to overcome foolish penalties and all those things.
“So we’ve gotta continue to work on that, and it’s a situation this week where I’m going to self‑impose a penalty on one of our guys that’s going to miss the first half of this game (Saturday night at LSU) for that very reason. So we just (have to) continue to grow.”
Stoops would not identify the player, even though there has been some speculation it could be Bone because of a brief gesture he made in the end zone.
Bone almost made another circus catch for a touchdown but barely missed being able to stay inbounds.
“I would be smiling more if I made that play. I got my hands on it, but I have to do a little bit better with my body control next time,” he said.
However, the Woodruff, S.C., native says there has been a “100 percent change and improvement” in his play from early August until now.
“I was just a lanky guy just getting opportunities that I didn’t feel as confident about,” Bone said. “Right now as season goes on and we make play after play and everything becomes routine for us, it really makes me humble inside because it shows that hard work is paying off.
“In high school, I was the guy to go to. In the state of South Carolina, I was the guy to go to against everybody. But every team has roles and I am perfectly fine with my role. When I get in, I am here to make plays. As long as I can keep doing that, I am a happy guy. I just want to make the routine plays and do my job to help this team.”
There was a certain amount of talking between Kentucky receivers and ULM defensive backs last week that Stoops obviously would not like to see again Saturday night at LSU.
“We are out for vengeance. We are trying to prove we are one of the most physical teams in the SEC. To do that, we have to lock them down. Not saying with our mouth, but let them know we are here,” Bone said.
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