Kentucky football: Five things to know about the Eastern Kentucky Colonels

Five things to know about the Eastern Kentucky Colonels, UK’s opponent on Saturday at 3 p.m. at Kroger Field:

1. Walt Wells has plenty of UK connections

A 55-year-old native of Nashville, Walt Wells is in his fourth season as head coach of the Colonels. After going 3-6 in his debut season of 2020, the COVID season, Wells has gone 7-4 in 2021 and 7-5 last season, including a trip to the FCS playoffs where the Colonels lost to 52-41 to Gardner-Webb in the first round.

He did miss two games last season (Eastern Michigan and Bowling Green) after suffering a heart attack on Sunday, Aug. 28, 2022. He was saved by Thomas Bowling, EKU’s director of football operations, who just happened to be in the office that day. Wells returned to the sideline three weeks later.

Wells took over after Mark Elder was fired after the 2019 season. Before arriving in Richmond, Wells had spent two seasons as quality control assistant with Mark Stoops at UK. Before that, he was on Butch Jones’ staff for two seasons at Tennessee.

An offensive lineman at Austin Peay, Wells was an assistant coach on Roy Kidd’s staff at EKU from 1997-2002, then with Dave Elson and Willie Taggart at Western Kentucky from 2003-2012. He followed Taggart to South Florida in 2013 before joining Doug Martin at New Mexico State in 2014. He returned to EKU as a member of Dean Hood’s staff in 2015.

Wells has a pair of former UK football players on his staff. Maxwell Smith is the Colonels’ quarterbacks coach. C.J. Conrad coaches EKU’s tight ends.

“I think it is unique, Walt and I have a really good, strong relationship,” Stoops said Monday of his friendship with Wells. “We’re both extremely busy running our jobs, and so it’s not like we get to spend as much time socially as we used to. When he was here, obviously he was a guy I talked to quite a bit, the role that he was in and the experience that he had, I just got to visit with him a bunch. We became good friends and, try to catch up here and there.

“We had lunch, I want to say one time in the offseason with a couple of mutual friends. We always enjoy seeing each other. And then I saw him at the Heart Ball, when I introduced him there. He’s just a really good person.”

‘It’s going to be different.’ Ex-UK football standout will soon seek to beat the Cats.

2. EKU experienced a rough opener at Cincinnati

The Colonels suffered a rough start to the 2023 season, losing 66-13 at Cincinnati last week in former Louisville coach Scott Satterfield’s first game as Cincinnati’s coach.

Led by former Florida quarterback Emory Jones, Cincinnati scored on all six of its first-half possessions for a 42-7 halftime lead. Jones completed seven passes of 20-or-more yards in the first half alone.

Jones finished the day with 19 completions for 345 yards and five touchdowns. He also rushed for two touchdowns. Former Florida wide receiver Xzavier Henderson caught seven passes for 149 yards and a score. Running back Corey Kiner rushed for 105 yards on just 13 carries. The Bearcats ended up with 667 yards of total offense. EKU finished with 302 yards.

Colonels quarterback Parker McKinney completed 13 of 24 passes for 177 yards and one touchdown with two interceptions. Joshua Carter led EKU in rushing with 68 yards on seven carries. Wide receiver Jaden Smith made five catches for 81 yards.

3. Quarterback Parker McKinney a ‘handful’ for Kentucky

A 6-foot-3, 208-pound senior from Coalfield, Tennessee, Parker McKinney was the Atlantic Sun Offensive Player of the Year last season after passing for 3,956 yards and 33 touchdowns with just eight interceptions as EKU reached the FCS playoffs.

McKinney threw for at least 300 yards in nine of EKU’s 12 games. He was 20-of-29 for 352 yards and four scores in the Colonels’ 40-17 romp over Charleston Southern. He threw for five touchdowns and 310 yards in a 56-53 win over North Alabama. He was 37-of-57 passing for 454 yards with five touchdowns and one interception in Eastern’s loss to Gardner-Webb in the playoffs.

“He’s a playmaker,” UK defensive coordinator Brad White said Wednesday of McKinney. “He does a great job of extending plays. He knows where to go with the ball. He’s all kinds of savvy in that regard.

“Even when he runs the ball on the zone read, I think people don’t realize how fast he is. He will run away from defenders. If he’s got a one-on-one, he can make a defender miss. He’s far more athletic than people give him credit for. And then when he’s pitching the ball around, he knows where to go with it. The ball placement is good. He’s going to be a handful.”

Parker McKinney is a star at Eastern Kentucky. Will playoff success follow for the Colonels?

4. EKU has two players on Senior Bowl Watch List

The Colonels placed two players on the prestigious Senior Bowl Watch List — McKinney and offensive lineman Josiah Ezirim, a 6-6, 320-pound senior from Hilliard, Ohio.

Ezirim started the Colonels’ final eight games in 2022 at right tackle and was named fourth-team All-ASUN by Phil Steele. He played defensive tackle as a freshman and sophomore before moving to the offensive line in 2021.

Along with McKinney and Ezirim, three other Colonels were named to the United Athletic Conference’s preseason team. Offensive lineman Payton Collins, defensive lineman Ryan Jackson and defensive back Franky West Jr. were also recognized.

Collins is a 6-7, 305-pound left tackle from Columbus, Ohio, who was the ASUN Offensive Lineman of the Year last season. Jackson is a 6-2, 290-pound junior from Mount Juliet, Tennessee. West is a 5-11, 190-pound senior from Bloomington, Illinois, who transferred to Eastern from Illinois State. He started nine games last season for EKU and was the highest-graded FCS defensive back in 2022 by Pro Football Focus.

5. EKU is in the United Athletic Conference

After a long history in the Ohio Valley Conference, Eastern Kentucky joined the Atlantic Sun in 2022 before the football program moved to the new football-only United Athletic Conference for 2023.

A rebrand of a partnership between the ASUN and the Western Athletic Conference, the UAC consists of Abilene Christian, Austin Peay, Central Arkansas, Eastern Kentucky, North Alabama, Southern Utah, Stephen F. Austin, Tarleton State, Utah Tech and the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.

EKU’s stated goal is to transition from an FCS program to a FBS program. The NCAA has been in the process of making those transitions more difficult, upping the fee from $5,000 to $5 million in 2024-25. The NCAA has also had a moratorium on single-sport conferences.

Could recent history repeat itself with another close EKU-UK football game?

For Kentucky football, Saturday’s game against EKU is about working out the kinks

How Kentucky and Eastern Kentucky football teams match up — with a game prediction

Mark Stoops’ frustration shows what he truly thinks of his Kentucky football team