On Saturday, Kentucky football will face its second top five team of the season when they travel to play Ole Miss. It is a difficult matchup with one of the top offenses in the country, and now it will be even tougher with cornerback Maxwell Hairston being ruled out.
Hairston showed up on the availability report on Thursday, as questionable, but on Friday, that status was changed to “out.” Against an offense like Ole Miss, that’s a devastating turn of events.
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Hairston is not only Kentucky’s best cornerback, he’s one of the top DBs in the country. His ability to lock down one receiver would be helpful against an offense that hasn’t scored less than 40 points in a game this year.
With Hairston out, Mark Stoops will likely rely on JQ Hardaway and some of the depth pieces at cornerback to step up. Transfer D.J. Waller could see plenty of minutes, and get a chance to show what he can do.
It’s a tough game to have to miss, but the Cats are off the following week, giving Hairston time to hopefully get his shoulder feeling 100%.