Vicky Graff Photo
It’s unusual for Landon Young to show his frustration no matter what happens. He handled a season-ending knee injury before Kentucky’s 10-win season in 2018 even started. He’s constantly involved with charitable endeavors and is always helping someone.
However, it’s game week and Young voiced some displeasure earlier this week about Kentucky being an underdog at Auburn to open the season and being picked to only finish fourth in the SEC Eastern Division in a preseason media poll.
“We’re always underrated and that’s been true since the day I got here,” Young said. “UK always gets the shaft media-wise of how good we are and I think year after year we’ve proved to them that we’re a better team, but we still get that discredit. I like it though. It feeds us.”
Young was just getting started.
“We go out there every single week and prove to somebody that we’re a lot better team than what they have us out to be, but also, it gives us a little bit of fire. I’d much rather see an underdog win. We have nothing to lose and everything to gain,” Young said.
“These teams want to protect this view that the media has of them and this high rating that the media has of them. To the media, we’re crap, so what do we have to lose by going out there and giving everything and beating these teams?”
Actually, Young wants to do more than just beat Auburn.
“We just want to make sure when we go out there, we dominate and that the other team knows it,” the senior offensive tackle said. “We want them to make sure they know that they have to earn every single blade of grass on that field when it comes to our offense. If they’re going to stop us, they have to earn every single blade of grass.
“We’re going to go out there and be the most physical team that there is, period, and we want to prove that we’re the best. That’s something we have been focused on this week is having the mindset to got out and be the most physical team out there.”
Just getting to play a game is a blessing no matter if UK is the underdog. Young contemplated putting his name into the NFL draft before deciding to return to UK for his final year months before COVID-19 disrupted everything.
“I’m excited that they at least gave us a chance (to play),” he said. “At the end of the day it’s God’s will and we have to be able to continue to do the protocols and make sure that we are safe as possible because our lives are a lot more important than the game right now.”
