Freshman Beau Allen named Kentucky football's backup QB on first depth chart

Louisville Courier Journal

LEXINGTON — Freshman Beau Allen opens Kentucky football's first game week as the Wildcats' No. 2 quarterback.

Kentucky coach Mark Stoops said the school is still waiting to learn the status of Auburn transfer Joey Gatewood, who was widely assumed to be the team's backup if eligible. Gatewood has applied for a transfer waiver to allow him to play right away instead of sitting out the normal year required by NCAA rules.

"There’s no agreement, no gentleman’s agreement," Stoops said, refuting reports that Kentucky and Auburn had agreed to hold Gatewood out against his former team in exchange for him being eligible to play the rest of the season. "I’m waiting to hear back from the league because it’s SEC to SEC school. We’re waiting to hear back from them."

Stoops declined to specify if Allen had won the backup job or was only listed as the No. 2 quarterback because Gatewood's status for the opener is uncertain.

Allen, the former four-star recruit and Lexington Catholic star, has received consistent praise from UK coaches throughout preseason practice.

He graduated from Lexington Catholic a semester early to enroll at UK in the spring, enabling him to participate in UK's coronavirus-shortened spring practice.

"Beau is really doing a good job," Stoops said on a recent episode of his radio show. "He makes some mistakes, but he’s one of those unflappable guys. Very calm. He’s got a great presence about him. Anticipates things really well. Throws the ball very efficiently. Very high on Beau."

Allen and former Bowling Green star Vito Tisdale were the only true freshmen listed on Kentucky's first two-deep depth chart, though several other members of the highly touted 2020 signing class are expected to contribute this season since the NCAA has ruled no player will lose a year of eligibility by playing due to the pandemic. Tisdale, who Stoops said missed the last week of practice, is listed as the No. 2 nickelback behind senior Davonte Robinson.

"He was having a really strong camp," Stoops said of Tisdale, who is expected to return to practice Monday. "Hopefully he’ll be back at full strength this week. We’ll need him out there.

"It is good to have a young guy that is that versatile and can play multiple positions. We probably overloaded him at times with moving him around in the different spots, but we can kind of zero in and hone him in on one specific position now this week and get him game ready."

Elsewhere on the depth chart, sophomore Kenneth Horsey was named the starter at left guard, taking over the spot vacated by former All-American and Detroit Lions draft pick Logan Stenberg. Sophomore Bryce Oliver was listed as the starter at the open wide receiver position over redshirt freshman DeMarcus Harris. LSU transfer Kelvin Joseph was listed as the starter at one cornerback position, opposite senior Brandin Echols.

Junior offensive tackle Naasir Watkins, UK's top reserve lineman last season, was missing from the depth chart due to an injury, Stoops said.

You can see the full week-one Kentucky football depth chart below:

OFFENSE

QUARTERBACK

3 — Terry Wilson (6-3, 202, Sr.)

11 — Beau Allen (6-2, 207, Fr.)

RUNNING BACK

10 — A.J. Rose (6-1, 214, Sr.)

24 — Chris Rodriguez (5-11, 224, So.)

or 20 — Kavosiey Smoke (5-9, 201, So.)

WIDE RECEIVER (X)

85 — Bryce Oliver (6-1, 215, So.)

86 — DeMarcus Harris (6-1, 183, RFr.)

WIDE RECEIVER (Y)

89 — Allen Dailey (6-3, 208, Jr.)

6 — Josh Ali (6-0, 193, Sr.)

WIDE RECEIVER (F)

18 — Clevan Thomas (5-11, 193, Jr.)

19 — Akeem Hayes (5-8, 155, So.)

WIDE RECEIVER (Z)

6 — Josh Ali (6-0, 193, Sr.)

81 — Isaiah Epps (6-2, 189, Jr.)

TIGHT END

83 — Justin Rigg (6-6, 263, Sr.)

88 — Keaton Upshaw (6-6, 234, So.)

LEFT TACKLE

67 — Landon Young (6-7, 321, Sr.)

78 — Nick Lewis (6-9, 320, So.)

LEFT GUARD

68 — Kenneth Horsey (6-3, 300, So.)

75 — Eli Cox (6-4, 293, RFr.)

CENTER

52 — Drake Jackson (6-2, 292, Sr.)

60 — Quintin Wilson (6-1, 294, So.)

RIGHT GUARD

79 — Luke Fortner (6-6, 300, Sr.)

61 — Austin Dotson (6-6, 313, Jr.)

RIGHT TACKLE

70 — Darian Kinnard (6-5, 345, Jr.)

77 — Jeremy Flax (6-6, 356, Fr.)

DEFENSE

DEFENSIVE TACKLE

92 — Phil Hoskins (6-5, 315, Sr.)

59 — Kordell Looney (6-3, 290, Sr.)

NOSE GUARD

95 — Quinton Bohanna (6-4, 357, Sr.)

50 — Marquan McCall (6-3, 379, Jr.)

DEFENSIVE END

4 — Josh Paschal (6-3, 278, Jr.)

96 — Isaiah Gibson (6-3, 302, RFr.)

DEFENSIVE END/OUTSIDE LINEBACKER

15 — Jordan Wright (6-5, 233, Jr.)

13 — J.J. Weaver (6-5, 241, RFr.)

MIDDLE LINEBACKER

44 — Jamin Davis (6-4, 234, Jr.)

42 — Marquez Bembry (6-3, 232, Jr.)

WEAKSIDE LINEBACKER

5 — DeAndre Square (6-1, 224, Jr.)

6 — Jared Casey (6-3, 221, RFr.)

STRONGSIDE LINEBACKER

31 — Jamar “Boogie” Watson (6-3, 244, Sr.)

47 — K.D. McDaniel (6-2, 250, RFr.)

NICKELBACK

9 — Davonte Robinson (6-2, 213, Sr.)

7 — Vito Tisdale (6-1, 200, Fr.)

CORNERBACK

1 — Kelvin Joseph (6-1, 192, So.)

32 — Jamari Brown (6-1, 201, So.)

34 — Jalen Geiger (6-1, 195, RFr.)

14 — Carrington Valentine (6-0, 200, Fr.)

27 — Joel Williams (6-1, 204, Fr.)

STRONG SAFETY

23 — Tyrell Ajian (6-0, 190, Jr.)

21 — Quandre Mosely (6-2, 185, Sr.)

FREE SAFETY

29 — Yusuf Corker (6-0, 197, Jr.)

30 — Taj Dodson (6-1, 198, RFr.)

CORNERBACK

26 — Brandin Echols (5-11, 178, Sr.)

27 — Cedrick Dort (5-11, 182, Jr.)

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SPECIALISTS

KICKER

96 — Matt Ruffolo (5-11, 205, Sr.)

12 — Chance Poore (6-2, 208, So.)

PUNTER

93 — Max Duffy (6-1, 190, Sr.)

94 — Colin Goodfellow (6-2, 233, Sr.)

Long Snapper

51 — Cade Degraw (5-11, 210, So.)

Punt Return

6 — Josh Ali (6-0, 193, Sr.)

Kickoff Return

28 — Zach Johnson (5-10, 193, Sr.)

Holder

93 — Max Duffy (6-1, 190, Sr.)

94 — Colin Goodfellow (6-2, 233, Sr.)

Jon Hale:jahale@courier-journal.com; Twitter:@JonHale_CJ. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today:www.courier-journal.com/jonh.