VAUGHT: Stoops to give Chance a chance

By LARRY VAUGHT

Quarterback is not the only position where Kentucky coach Mark Stoops apparently is contemplating a change Saturday afternoon when the Cats play at Missouri.

Stoops said after last week's win over Vanderbilt that true freshman Chance Poore would have been UK's field goal kicker if the Cats had taken another 3-point try after Miles Butler missed a kick.

"I told you after the game he was going in for the next kick, so once again, Miles was the starter, I believed in him, and I still do, but he (Chance) was going in to kick," Stoops said Monday.

Will Poore take the first field goal attempt at Missouri even though he has yet to play in a game this year?
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"We'll see how the week goes. We'll see," Stoops said Monday.

Butler is 3-for7 on field goal tries this year and 25-for-25 on extra point tries while taking over the jobs that Austin MacGinnis, UK's all-time leading scorer with 359 points, had the previous four years.

Poore was ranked as the No. 1 punter/kicker in the 2018 recruiting class by ProKicker.com.

Miles missed a 43-yard field goal in overtime in UK's only loss at Texas A&M and does not have the length strength that MacGinnis had or Poore seems to have.

While Stoops won't say if Poore will be the field goal kicker, but I've been told Butler will handle extra points -- which makes sense based on his accuracy -- and Poore will kick field goals -- which makes sense because he has a stronger leg.

Poore could kick against Missouri, Georgia, Tennessee and even Louisville and still redshirt due to the NCAA's new rule this year. That would mean he would not kick against Middle Tennessee or in a bowl game.

But as long as he doesn't participate in more than four games, and it doesn't matter which four, he could still redshirt and have four years left as UK's No. 1 kicker.