Wildcats rack up AP All-American honors

The Associated Press released its NCAA FBS All-American teams on Monday. Three members of the Kentucky Wildcats made the list. Seniors Josh Allen and Jervontius “Bunchy” Stallings were named to the first-team, while Benny Snell was named to the third-team.

Allen is now the consensus defensive player of the year, so it was a no-brainer to list him as a linebacker on the first-team. In his senior campaign, Allen dominated for this historic Kentucky defensive unit with 18.5 tackles for losses, 14 sacks (UK single season record), 5 forced fumbles (leads nation), 2 fumble recoveries, 6 quarterback hurries and 84 total tackles (most on the team).

After a shaky junior season where he lost his position at center, Bunchy Stallings was the leader of an offensive line that carried the Wildcats to many of their nine wins this season. He was named as a first-team All-American guard alongside Beau Benzschawel from the Wisconsin Badgers.

Along with Josh Allen, Benny Snell is one of the (if not the) best to ever do it at his position in Lexington. He rushed for 1,305 yards and 14 touchdowns in the 2018 season, while also posting a career-high in receptions with 17. Snell is 107 yards away from being Kentucky’s all-time leader in rushing yards, and he already holds every touchdown record in the history of the program.

Kentucky’s two players on the first-team All-American list is tied for third most in the country behind Alabama (4) and Clemson (3). The three total players selected is tied for fourth behind three of the four playoff teams in Alabama (6), Clemson (4), and Oklahoma (4).

This has surely been an exciting year for fans of the Wildcats. But I think it will take some time before Big Blue Nation really understands how special this group has been.