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Kentucky Football: Bluegrass Ties in Armed Forces Bowl
Kentucky Football: Hometown interests highlight the Armed Forces Bowl, from Navy’s triple-option offense to La Tech’s Trent Taylor, who has plenty of KY in his blood
Oct 10, 2015; San Antonio, TX, USA; Louisiana Tech Bulldogs wide receiver Trent Taylor (5) runs after a catch against the UTSA Roadrunners during the first half at Alamodome. Mandatory Credit: Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports
Kentucky Football fans have a lot to watch during today’s Armed Forces Bowl matchup between Navy and Louisiana Tech, from the Midshipmen’s triple-option offense, which the Cats will face in their own bowl game against Georgia Tech, to the electric Trent Taylor, who has some serious Bluegrass State connections.
First Navy, coming off two consecutive losses to close out the season, including that heartbreaker in what is without question the greatest rivalry in all of the sports – the Army-Navy game. The Midshipmen suffered season-ending injuries to staring quarterback Will Worth and slotback Toneo Gully – on the same play – in a loss to Temple in the American Athletic Conference Championship game.
Prior to that, Navy had been cruising with one of the nation’s best rushing attacks in the country, the same vaunted triple-option attack from yesteryear that only a handful of FBS programs run today. And it’s the same offensive system employed by Georgia Tech head coach Paul Johnson, who cut his teeth years ago at Navy. The system is Johnson’s, as Navy head coach Ken Niumatalolo served under Johnson at the Naval Academy, so Kentucky fans will get a great preview of Georgia Tech today watching the Midshipmen pound away with dives to the fullback, quarterback runs and pitches to the slotbacks – all from a myriad of formations and progressions that require absolute discipline from a defensive unit.
Arguably even more fun will be to watch the final game of Trent Taylor, a 5-8, 178-pound wide receiver out of Evangel Christian High Academy in Shreveport, LA. Taylor is electric, with 124 receptions for 1,570 yards and 10 touchdowns this season, and he’s done it against everybody the Bulldogs have faced.
He was solid against an SEC defense when Louisiana Tech opened against Arkansas back in September. Taylor had eight catches for 78 yards in the 21-20 loss. Against Kentucky’s common opponent, Southern Mississippi, the same Southern Miss that shocked the Cats, Taylor was terrific, catching 10 balls for 119 yards.
In two games against yet another familiar foe, Western Kentucky, Taylor was again brilliant, catching 13 passes for 108 yards in October before tallying 11 catches for 108 yards in the Conference USA Championship.
We suspect that matchup against WKU was extra special. After all, it’s where Dad played.
Trent is the son of Greg Taylor, who had a great career playing for the Hilltoppers. Before that, Taylor was a standout running back for Corbin High School, leading the Redhounds to the 1980 AA State Championship. Greg Taylor is a member of the Corbin Redhound Varsity Club Hall of Fame, and goes down as one of the all-time greats for a program that has won five Kentucky state championships.
Trent, and his brother who also played collegiately, both lived in Corbin for a while when they were young, before work took the Taylors to Louisiana. Had they stayed in Corbin, who knows how that might have played out – Trent might just be gearing up to play the other triple-option team, Georgia Tech.
And that’s really not far fetched. Born in Tennessee, raised in Corbin for a time, Taylor, as it turns out, was recruited and turned down offers from Houston, SMU and, you guessed it, Kentucky.
While Taylor surely would have looked good in Kentucky blue, be sure to check him out today versus Navy. Currently ranked second in the country in receptions per game (9.5), third it total receiving yards (1,570), third among active receivers in career receptions (315) and fourth in career yards (3.946), Taylor, though small in size, has big game. He might just be playing on Sundays next fall.
Taylor and Louisiana Tech take on the Navy Midshipmen today at 4:30 PM EST. ESPN will broadcast the game.
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