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Posted by catmandoo (Member # 1284) on 09-19-2014, 02:23 PM:

Jason has improved his game since last season and is going to be special player by the time he graduates.

Florida was going to have to come up with a miracle on fourth down. The Gators had just suffered a four-yard loss on third down of the game’s first overtime on Saturday, thanks to sophomore Jason Hatcher’s clutch tackle for loss of Kelvin Taylor.

As it would turn out, Florida did produce a miracle, or at least a blown delay-of-game call did so. But that third-down play ended up being the biggest of the young Hatcher’s career. The defensive end/linebacker hybrid is finally coming into his own during his sophomore campaign, and his production is backing it up.

Hatcher leads the team in tackles for loss this year, with 4.5, and recorded three solo tackles and a sack against the Gators.

The 6-3, 242-pound Hatcher has been used in multiple defensive packages this year. At times he plays with his hand on the ground and uses his speed off the edge to be a pass-rusher. Other times, he drops back as a linebacker.

“It was more to learn but I do enjoy it,” he said of the versatile role he plays in coordinator DJ Eliot’s defense. “It kind of keeps offensive linemen and OCs (offensive coordinators) on their feet and on their toes a little bit. Plus I feel like that just kind of utilizes some of my specialties.”

It’s been a long time coming for Hatcher. The sophomore barely even made it to Kentucky to begin with: At one point during his recruitment, he told Tennessee coaches, “You lose to UK, you lose to everybody because UK finishes last in the SEC every year.”

But when head coach Mark Stoops and his staff arrived, everything changed for Hatcher, and he decided to be part of the Kentucky football rebuilding process.

“It’s not really something I have to explain when I go home,” Hatcher said. “When people ask me, ‘Why Kentucky?’ now they kind of see that.”

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