Kentucky wide receiver Dane Key immediately burst onto the scene upon his arrival to campus. Three games into his freshman season, he’s officially budded into a hometown star that’s a huge reason as to why the No. 9 Wildcats are 3-0 top open the 2022 campaign.
He’s really good. I mean, he’s a good player. He’s getting better. We’ve had a lot of confidence in him. I told you that all the way back from last spring,” head coach Mark Stoops said of Key after Saturday’s victory. “He just handles himself very well, and he’s been consistent, so he’s got to stay that way. And we can’t have the young guys taking dips, you know, we want them to continue to progress. And I have confidence that he will.”
Key notched season highs on Saturday against Youngstown State with six catches for 90 yards, including a three-yard touchdown reception in the second quarter. He has recorded a touchdown catch in each of the first three games of his collegiate career, becoming the first Wildcat to do so since La’Rod King accomplished the feat in 2011.
Key’s three touchdown catches already ties the UK freshman single-season record, equaling the mark of three by Derek Abney in 2000 and Tommy Cook in 2001. While it’s nice to see his name attached to a record so early, the freshman is solely focused on improving moving forward:
“It’s a great feeling but we didn’t play how we wanted to today so there’s a lot to come back and work on,” Key said. “We really started off slow today. We just need to come out with the intensity like we come out with in practice when we’re playing our defense like we do in practices and just come ready to play from the first quarter, the first whistle to the last whistle.”
