ORLANDO, Fla. — An ankle injury had sent DeAndre Square to the locker room — and to the attention of the Kentucky training staff.
Back on the Wildcats sideline, the UK senior linebacker was ruled out out from returning to the VRBO Citrus Bowl.
As the Iowa offense — methodical, physical, unrelenting — assumed control of the game, all Square could do was stew.
Thing was, the Kentucky linebacker corps had already been thinned out by what UK football publicists described as a brew of injuries, COVID-19 test results and contact tracing.
So as Kirk Ferentz's Hawkeyes kept building momentum, the Kentucky linebackers on the Camping World Stadium field were a motley collection:
A true freshman (Martez Thrower); a guy only months removed from a ruptured Achilles tendon (D'Eryk Jackson); a guy bothered by a balky ankle this season (Jordan Wright); and a guy already in the transfer portal (K.D. McDaniel).
On the Wildcats sidelines, UK nose guard Marquan McCall implored Square — his fellow Detroit product — to return.
"I was ruled out (of returning), and I was kind of debating on (what to do)," Square said. "I was like, 'Okay. I am trying to wait for certain stuff to kick in,' but Marquan grabbed me. It was a timeout. ... He like yanked me and was like, 'We need you.'"
Gimpy and hurting, Square was only moments away from the game-sealing play.
No. 22 Kentucky defeated No. 15 Iowa 20-17 Saturday before 50,769 fans to claim the Citrus Bowl championship for the second time in four seasons.
If there was ever a testament to the resilient culture Mark Stoops has built at previously football-challenged Kentucky, it was on display on a muggy afternoon near Disney World.
Shortly before kickoff, UK publicists supplied the media with an "inactive list" littered with key Wildcats players.
Sidelined from the defense were star end Josh Paschal; dynamic edge rusher J.J. Weaver; talented freshman linebacker Trevin Wallace; and backup linebacker Marquez Bembry.
Though his name was not on the UK-supplied list, starting middle linebacker Jacquez Jones — seen this week in Orlando wearing a recuperative "boot" — also did not play.
Meanwhile, the Kentucky offense was without starting left tackle Dare Rosenthal; key wide receiver Josh Ali; rotation wideout Isaiah Epps; and change-of-pace running back Kavosiey Smoke.
"We started having some issues between injuries and some COVID protocols," UK's Stoops said. "It put us in a tough spot."
Even so, behind the dynamic brilliance of Wan'Dale Robinson and the rugged running of Christopher Rodriguez, Kentucky had a chance to put Iowa away early.
Instead, three Wildcats trips inside the Iowa 10-yard-line before halftime yielded only one touchdown and two field goals — and a 13-3 halftime lead.
Having left the door open to the Hawkeyes, UK watched as Iowa's physical offensive front began to grind down the Wildcats' depleted "D."
A 20-yard run off an end-around by Arland Bruce pulled the Hawkeyes within 13-10 with 3:21 left in the third quarter. A well-designed screen pass to tight end Sam LaPorta went for a 36-yard TD and gave Iowa its first lead with 10:54 left in the game.
Now, Kentucky — whose reshuffled offensive front had surrendered six quarterback sacks to Iowa pass rushers — had little choice but to throw.
Meanwhile, a UK defense that appeared gassed was tasked with keeping the Cats within one score of victory.
Toward that goal, Square talked his way back into the game.
Buoyed, the Kentucky defense would subsequently force two three-and-out punts from Iowa.
After the second, Robinson (10 catches, 170 yards) all but carried UK back to the lead. On what became the game-winning drive, the former Western Hills High School star caught four passes. The final one, with Robinson weaving in and out and making at least three Iowa defenders miss, went for 52 yards to the Iowa 1-yard line.
After an illegal procedure moved the ball back to the 6-yard line, Rodriguez roared out of an Iowa tackle attempt in the backfield and ran 6 yards for the go-ahead TD with 1:43 left.
It was now up to the short-handed Kentucky defense to stop Iowa's last chance.
Because of his ankle, Square had asked UK defensive coordinator Brad White not to put him into pass drops.
"I was like, 'I don't know that I can promise that,'" White said.
Iowa had driven from its own 25 to a second-and-5 at the UK 40, when Iowa quarterback Spencer Petras retreated to pass.
UK free safety Yusuf Corker blitzed. The senior hit Petras as he threw.
Dropped in pass coverage against his preference, Square couldn't believe what he was seeing.
"I am like, 'Whoa, there is the ball,'" Square said. "I was like, 'Okay, do I just let it fall or am I close enough to catch it?'"
At the UK 26-yard line, Square dove to the ground.
He dropped his hands beneath the ball and let it nestle there.
"It fit perfectly," Square said.
So this is the culture Stoops has built at Kentucky.
From Josh Allen and Benny Shell through Darian Kinnard and Wan'Dale Robinson, star players with NFL futures play in UK's bowls.
The new head football coach at Troy University, the outgoing Kentucky linebackers coach Jon Sumrall, came back for the Citrus Bowl to finish out with his guys.
And Square, on one good leg, couldn't be kept off the field because his team needed him.
"The way he played through that pain, I don't know how he did it," Stoops said. "It just says a lot about this team."
It does.
