MONDAY MEMORIES: Isaiah McMillian makes most of season-opening opportunity

Monday, Sept. 7, is Labor Day in the United States and, while many Americans enjoy a day off work, the day is about celebrating the contributions, achievements and dedication of American workers. On Saturday, Kentucky football put in some serious work to open the Will Stein era with a victory against Youngstown State, so the Cats' Pause created the "Monday Memories" series to highlight a few more important performances from Wildcats that didn't get highlighted over the weekend. Across college football, and really college sports in general, there's a saying of teams needing to have a "next man up" mentality. It's one of those cliches that has been used so much, it practically means nothing. But, the original intention was that, if one player were to go down, a team can't throw in the towel or drop its energy, it simply has to roll with whoever is in. And, whoever is coming in, has to be ready for that moment and make the most of it, regardless of the circumstances. On Saturday, as Kentucky football dominated Youngstown State 45-13 at Kroger Field to kick off the Will Stein era with a victory, Isaiah McMillian embodied that idea to a tee. A true freshman cornerback from Katy, Texas, McMillian was given the nod as a starting corner against the Penguins as anticipated starters Hasaan Sykes and Terhyon Nichols were both 'OUT' due to injury. With that opportunity, McMillian finished with a team co-leading seven total tackles, leading the team with five solo tackles. He looked strong in open field and did more than just bring a few guys down, also logging one tackle for loss and a pass breakup in the winning effort. Throughout the game, McMillian seemed to be everywhere and, while the defensive performance as a whole left a little to be desired for fans, McMillian didn't. As notable as the showing was, though, Stein would say postgame that he wasn't surprised at all. "When he got his opportunity in practice, he played the exact same way," Stein said. "Our second scrimmage, I think he had an interception, he had two fumble recoveries, he had like seven tackles. I'm like, 'Dang! Let's play this kid. He can go.' He's smart, he's tough, dependable, and (I'm) really proud of him stepping up when his number's called." Ultimately, McMillian's Saturday showing embodied much of what had been said about him throughout the fall camp, with the Katy High School product drawing plenty of praise from important figures, including defensive coordinator Jay Bateman. "I think he's had a really good summer," Bateman said after UK's first scrimmage. "He's more confident. I can kind of get after him a little bit, he responds. I like him, his dad's a college coach, he knows what this is about. I think he's got a pretty bright future, man." McMillian had dealt with some injuries during his final year at Katy, but Bateman noted that he had "legit track speed" and has put on plenty of weight and size for his collegiate debut. His father, Charles, is currently a high school coach in Texas, but previously held coaching roles at Texas A&M, New Mexico and TCU. Bateman wasn't the only one to praise McMillian preseason though, as cornerbacks coach Allen Brown joined in as well. "He just grew a ton," Brown said. "He got his mind right and he learned the scheme pretty fast, he's a super smart kid." After UK's second scrimmage, Brown again praised McMillian, alongside Grant Grayton and Demarcus Gardner, for helping the Cats to establish "competitive depth" even with the absences of Sykes and Nichols. "We were a little dinged up, but now we built competitive depth, which is a huge thing," Brown said. "You don't just got depth, but you got guys that you can rely on because of the amount of reps that they've gotten because of those guys being a little dinged up." Since then, McMillian's rep quantity has only gone up and he seems to be paving his way to a strong future in college football, making the most of his first game as a college athlete. While Stein would comment postgame that Sykes is expected to return for week two against Alabama, there's little doubt that McMillian will continue to feature for Kentucky football this season.