In UK football’s one-and-done era, can Ray Davis be an all-time great Wildcat?

More than 13 years after John Calipari revolutionized the way college basketball rosters were constructed, the one-and-done era has officially arrived for Kentucky football.

With a dominant 33-14 victory Saturday, Kentucky football has now won three consecutive games against Florida for the first time since 1951. Flipping the script on a team that once beat Kentucky 31 times in a row wasn’t achieved behind a longtime program legend, though.

It came on the back of a fifth-year senior playing for his third college program that few Kentucky fans had ever heard of before he helped beat the Wildcats while playing for Vanderbilt less than a year ago.

Ray Davis is not the first recent transfer to shine immediately after joining Mark Stoops’ program, but his 280 rushing yards and four total touchdowns against Florida mean it’s time to start wondering if he can join the likes of John Wall, Anthony Davis and Sydney McLaughlin in becoming a program great with just one season in Lexington.

“I’m just blessed to be here,” Davis said after tying the program record for touchdowns in a game and finishing with the third most rushing yards in a single game in UK history. “I’m blessed for the opportunity Coach Stoops provided for me. Blessed for the coaching staff when they recruited me in the portal and they just felt I could come in.

“I had some big shoes to fill. I think today I’m slowly getting there. I think I’m slowly trying to cement myself as one of the Kentucky running backs who can become great.”

After helping Vanderbilt snap its 26-game SEC losing streak at Kroger Field last season, Davis certainly generated headlines when he transferred to Kentucky in December, but many Kentucky fans doubted whether he would even be the featured back for the Wildcats during his one season in Lexington.

Quarterback Devin Leary generated the most buzz of Kentucky’s 14 incoming transfers. Offensive linemen Marques Cox and Courtland Ford were seen as essential pieces at a position of need. Even nose guard Keeshawn Silver might have generated more excitement as a former five-star recruit replacing Kentucky’s biggest transfer portal loss.

But through five games, there is little doubt Davis has been Kentucky’s best transfer. After his showing against a Florida defense that had surrendered just 82 rushing yards per game in its first four games, it’s fair to ask if he might be one of the most impactful transfers in the country, too.

“Just proud of him, in terms of his journey of getting to this place,” offensive coordinator Liam Coen said. “I know it has not been an easy journey for him, and to see all the work he’s put in come to a head today. He dominated today.”

Davis spent part of his childhood in foster care and did not initially qualify to enroll in college as a member of the class of 2018. A year in prep school was enough to get his grades to a level where he could sign with Temple.

After two seasons at Temple, Davis transferred to Vanderbilt. His debut season at Vanderbilt in 2021 ended after just three games due to injury, but he returned to top 1,000 yards in 2022. With a Vanderbilt degree in hand, Davis entered the transfer portal again, this time signing with the team he had rushed for 129 yards against last November.

Davis rushed for at least 100 yards four times against SEC opponents last season, but his diverse set of talents still came as something of a surprise for Big Blue Nation when he rushed for 112 yards and two touchdowns in his Kentucky debut against Ball State.

Unlike recent Kentucky running back legends Benny Snell and Chris Rodriguez, Davis is more than a power back who thrives running through contact. His vision has led to impressive runs, and he is more likely to make a defender miss in space than drag him for an extra 5 yards. Davis’ rushing production has been compounded by his work as a pass catcher, having already recorded more yards receiving than any UK running back in a full season since 2016.

Davis has now totaled 594 rushing yards, 146 receiving yards and 11 total touchdowns in five games. He is on pace to shatter Snell’s single-season touchdown record (19) and just under the pace needed to break Moe Williams’ single-season rushing yards record (1,600).

“Ray has another gear where he has that ability,” Stoops said. “The first touchdown on the screen he drug somebody or ran somebody over for a good 3 or 4 yards or whatever, and then he has the ability to make people miss. And I think he is really a complete back and certainly he has been dynamic in catching the ball in the backfield.”

While the football program has not duplicated the one-and-done success of Calipari’s basketball program, it has at least become more common in recent years.

Dare Rosenthal, Keidron Smith and Tashawn Manning all started during their one season at Kentucky after transferring to the program, but none were stars. Wan’Dale Robinson broke the single-season records for catches and receiving yards in his one season as a Wildcat, but his history with the program was long as a former Western Hills High School star who initially committed to Kentucky in high school before flipping to Nebraska.

Davis has none of that history with the program, and he certainly has qualified for star status through five games.

With three plays of at least 40 yards this season, including a 75-yard touchdown run against Florida, Davis has silenced doubts about him not being fast enough to be an elite running back. He has already shown the ability to evolve after taking coaches’ public criticism of him missing holes in week two against Eastern Kentucky to refine his rushing style in the last three weeks.

There are more difficult tests ahead, starting with No. 1 Georgia on Saturday, but it’s becoming harder to omit Davis from the top tier of Southeastern Conference running backs. It might be impossible to dismiss his status among Kentucky’s great running backs due to his brief stint in Lexington soon, too.

“The mantra I had today: I’ve got to be the bad guy,” Davis said. “When I step on that field, no more being nice. I’ve got to go out there and wake the world up.

“I think today I did it a little bit. I think the world kind of knows who I am, but I’ve got to keep stacking days. I can’t be content with this.”

Next game

No. 20 Kentucky at No. 1 Georgia

When: 7 p.m. Saturday

TV: ESPN

Radio: WLAP-AM 630, WBUL-FM 98.1

Records: Kentucky 5-0 (2-0 SEC), Georgia 4-0 (1-0)

Series: Georgia leads 62-12-2

Last meeting: Georgia won 16-6 on Nov. 19, 2022, in Lexington

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