Kentucky coach Mark Stoops said the game plan was to use two quarterbacks against Missouri, but the rainy conditions and the play of Lynn Bowden changed that.

“I think you all can see what’s going on, it’s pretty hard to take him out,” Stoops said. “Defensive coordinators are pretty bright in this league, so we’ll see.”

Stoops added that injured QB Sawyer Smith has just recently become close to 100 percent, and he got in the game briefly as Bowden went down with a leg injury, but quickly returned.

“Sawyer is getting better and it’s nice to have the option to go to both guys,” Stoops said. “Once again, tonight, the conditions made it extremely tough to get him out there tonight. Though they were loading up and playing “zero,” (Bowden) was still able to get some runs. Again, our coaches really did a good job. They’ve had a lot of stress on them, obviously, and they’ve worked extremely hard and really proud of them.”

Bowden had 204 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns.

Stoops compared Bowden’s performance to DE Josh Allen a year ago, when he said, “just show me somebody who’s better.”

“I’d say the same thing about Lynn, there’s a lot of tough players out there nationally,” Stoops said. “But I’d like to one that’s tougher than him. He is tough as nails, and it is hard for him. It’s hard emotionally. People do not fully understand what goes into that and what he has to do and the way he directs things and understands the offense. There is so many moving parts, it’s hard for people to totally understand and appreciate what he’s doing.”

Stoops said he took Bowden out late in the game because Missouri started to hone in on him and get bigger shots on the quarterback.

“Missouri, they play hard, and you have to match their physicality and mentality and I was proud of our guys,” Stoops said.