After some schedule shuffling, Kentucky got its bye week 6/10ths of the way through the regular season. But that’s close enough for us to still hand out midseason superlatives, for the Wildcats who have shined or disappointed so far in 2020.

Most Outstanding Player, Offense: Chris Rodriguez

Tackle Darian Kinnard has been typically brilliant, but it’s hard to single out a lineman. The most consistent Wildcat has been the sophomore running back Rodriguez. A hand-charging runner, he was expected to be part of a 3-way split of carries. But Kavosiey Smoke got hurt, and veteran A.J. Rose has been inconsistent. So Rodriguez’s 75 carries for 413 yards and 4 touchdowns represent the most consistent offensive production of UK’s season to date.

Most Outstanding Player, Defense: Jamin Davis

Davis is definitely a surprise here, but the junior linebacker hasn’t just led the Wildcats in tackles with 58, he’s 5th in the SEC. Roaming sideline to sideline, Davis has paired well with DeAndre Square and helped UK’s front stay stout despite the unexpected loss of Chris Oats. Tackles aside, Davis has a sack, 2 interceptions (including his memorable pick-6 against Tennessee), a forced fumble and a blocked kick.

Most Outstanding Player, Special Teams: Max Duffy

Easy pick here. The defending Ray Guy winner has quietly been his usually brilliant self, averaging 46.3 yards per punt, good for 4th in the SEC, and also holding opponents to a relatively meager return yardage total. Kentucky’s net average of 44 yards per punt is 2nd in the SEC to Georgia. Most of that goes on Duffy.

Newcomer of the Year: Kelvin Joseph

Yes, his Kentucky career got off to a bit of a shaky start with some flags and big plays made against him by Auburn and Ole Miss receivers. But since that time, Joseph has settled in for a fine season. He’s in a 5-way tie atop the SEC leaderboard with a trio of interceptions, and he’s one of the biggest reasons Kentucky leads the SEC in pass defense and is 2nd in the league in pass defense efficiency.

Most Outstanding Coach: John Schlarman

There’s no way to sugarcoat the fact that the very ill Schlarman is battling his most significant foe yet in stage 4 cancer. There’s also a testimonial given every Saturday by an offensive line that once again has Kentucky among the top rushing teams in the league despite the absence of a functional passing game. Those big guys are talented, but they also play with an edge that emphasizes that they would try to run through a brick wall for their offensive line coach, who is basically doing the same by showing up Saturday after Saturday and continuing to coach them up while fighting for his life.

Most Underwhelming Coach: Eddie Gran

There are plenty of factors in play with Kentucky’s failure to develop a decent passing game, but the frustrating truth is that the Wildcats offense has cost the defense victories by laying a couple of massive eggs against Missouri and Georgia. It does have to go home to Gran, who has been a wizard with some broken-down, torn-apart offenses in Lexington. Time for him to work his magic again in the season’s second half or face an uncomfortable offseason.

Comeback of the Year Award (nominees): Josh Ali, Terry Wilson

Kentucky’s offense has been broken, and there are a couple of veterans who will get the first crack at repairing it. With 31 receptions for 328 yards and a touchdown, the senior Ali is by far Kentucky’s most productive receiver. That said, he has missed massive chances to do more — with drops, misreads, fumbles, etc. Whoever is throwing the ball, Ali will get plenty of chances. If he can finish strong, he might well nab this award.

The other candidate is the much-maligned Wilson, he of the excellent win-loss record (14-6) and penchant for looking confused this season. Rumors before the game with Georgia suggested that Wilson was strongly considering opting out for the remainder of the season. Indeed, Mark Stoops and company were pretty quiet, aside from passing word that Wilson wasn’t practicing due to a minor injury, and then playing Joey Gatewood. Word circulated that Wilson was back in practice this week, but it came without any commitment to play him from Stoops.

Wilson’s legacy is very much an open book. If he did indeed opt out, there’d be reason for Kentucky fans to remember him as a QB who won in Knoxville and Gainesville, led the Citrus Bowl win and pulled out a game at Missouri. They’d also remember him for walking away from his team in midseason. But the reality is, he might be remembered as the QB who was benched for Joey Gatewood. It’ll be an interesting second half of the year for Wilson, and if he can re-emerge and play solid football, he might just eclipse Ali as the comeback player of the year.