During Kentucky’s 31-6 home loss against South Carolina on Saturday, there were struggles the entire game on both offense and defense, but one of the brighter spots was the run game led by senior Demie Sumo-Karngbaye.
He rushed 17 times for 70 yards against the Gamecock defense that includes former co-SEC Defensive Linemen of the Week Kyle Kennard and Dylan Stewart.
In a game that saw the Wildcats record only 44 total passing yards, Sumo-Karngbaye broke through for a few solid runs including two that gained 11 yards.
Replacing a star running back like Ray Davis is no easy task, but through the first two games of the season, Sumo-Karngbaye has performed well and given the offense good plays when it needs them.
“Demie is a guy that, again, he’s been very steady, he works hard, he ran the ball very tough today, and had some tough yards,” Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops said after the game.
Sumo-Karngbaye is in his second season with Kentucky, having transferred following two seasons at NC State.
After only playing on special teams in his freshman season, he was the Wolfpack’s second-leading rusher in 2022 and scored four total touchdowns.
As the second back behind Davis last season, he rushed for 139 yards, caught 14 passes for 69 yards and totaled two touchdowns.
During the second quarter on Saturday against the Gamecocks, Sumo-Karngbaye and freshman Jason Patterson combined for eleven carries in a drive that resulted in a field goal.
“I thought we ran the ball extremely well on that drive,” offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan said.
Following the tough loss, Sumo-Karngbaye has been doing his best to stay hopeful for the future and felt it is good to encourage his teammates, especially quarterback Brock Vandagriff, to do the same.
“What are you going to do from this loss?” he said. “Are we going to dwell on everything that we did bad, or are we going to focus on the things that we did good and capitalize on those things?
“Just keep that optimistic mindset.”
Sumo-Karngbaye and the rest of the Wildcats will look to pull off a major upset against No. 1 Georgia on Saturday, Sept. 14, at 7:30 p.m. ET at Kroger Field. The game can be viewed live on ABC and ESPN+.
