Kentucky QB Terry Wilson wants to wear Jared Lorenzen's No. 22 in season-opener
Kentucky quarterback Terry Wilson wants switch jersey numbers for the Wildcats’ first game of the season.
Coach Mark Stoops confirmed Thursday at SEC media days that Wilson wanted to wear No. 22 in honor of former QB and the school’s all-time leading passer Jared Lorenzen instead of his usual No. 3 against Toledo on Aug. 31.
Lorenzen died earlier in July after he was hospitalized with multiple health problems. He was 38.
"He was a terrific person and father,” Stoops said of Lorenzen. “That was a big loss to us and when Terry called me right away and asked me what I thought about that, my immediate response was that’d be a great idea to honor him, to recognize him, to wear his number in the opener so I’m all for that."
Wilson brought up the idea of honoring Lorenzen in a tweet after Lorenzen’s death.
Rock the deuce deuce for the first game ?
— Terry Wilson (@TerryTouchdown3) July 4, 2019
Stoops also said that Kentucky was working on other ways it could honor Lorenzen throughout the season. The Hefty Lefty was a four-year starter for the Wildcats and threw for over 10,000 yards in his college career.
[Join or create a 2019 Yahoo College Fantasy Football league for free today]
A memorial fund for Lorenzen’s children has already raised more than $65,000. The Xfinity Series NASCAR team JD Motorsports announced Thursday that it would run decals honoring Lorenzen for the rest of the season. The team ran a logo honoring Lorenzen on the hood of one of its four cars on Friday night in the Xfinity Series race at Kentucky Speedway.
- - - - - - -
Nick Bromberg is a writer for Yahoo Sports.
More from Yahoo Sports: