Kentucky brings home Governor’s Cup after another big win during historic season

Just hearing the words “nine wins” made Josh Allen light up in the days leading up to the rivalry game against Louisville.

“That sounds perfect,” the senior linebacker said. “It will be unbelievable to leave a legacy of nine wins.”

On Saturday, the No. 15 Cats officially cemented that legacy with a 56-10 victory over Louisville in the regular-season finale behind a huge game from quarterback Terry Wilson.

Wilson, who had plenty of help from a potent UK offense, completed 17 of his 23 passes for 261 yards and three touchdowns. The sophomore quarterback added 10 carries for 79 yards and another score.

“It’s been really good to see it all come together and get the Governor’s Cup and bring it back home,” Coach Mark Stoops said after guiding UK to nine victories, its best regular-season mark since 1977. It’s just the second time the Cats have won nine regular-season games in the past 68 years.

The 46-point victory was the largest for UK in the series since it started again in 1994.

And the victory is part of a larger legacy of this senior class that has taken Kentucky to what is soon-to-be three straight bowl games after being recruited to campus when the stadium was blah and the practice facility was simple schematics.

“What better way to end the season with a bunch of guys who bought in four years ago when we really wasn’t winning,” Allen continued. “That would be history, going down to Louisville and getting that win would be extremely important for our program and these seniors.”

Kentucky amassed 604 yards of offense, including 343 on the ground, and held the Cardinals to 305 total yards.

“Coming out and dominating like we did tonight,” junior linebacker Kash Daniel said, “there’s no better feeling.”

Kentucky dominated behind huge nights from Wilson, running back Benny Snell and wideout Lynn Bowden, who combined to help UK go up 35-10 at halftime, the most points for the Cats in a half since the 2016 win over New Mexico State.

The Cats, who will learn their bowl destination and opponent a week from Sunday, opened their scoring with a 7-yard touchdown run for Snell out of the direct snap and then went up 14-0 seven minutes later on a 3-yard surge from Wilson.

Louisville (2-10) responded with a 75-yard touchdown run by quarterback Malik Cunningham a few seconds later before Snell struck again.

The junior charged through a huge hole on the right side of the line and then through a Louisville defender to grab his second score of the game, this time from 24 yards out, to give UK a 21-7 edge early in the second quarter.

Louisville added a 32-yard field goal from Blanton Creque to stay within striking range 21-10 with nine minutes to go in the first half before the Bowden show started.

First, he collected a 28-yard pass from Wilson for a score and then the sophomore waiting patiently all alone in the middle of Louisville’s end zone to catch a 13-yarder from Wilson with 31 seconds to go in the half.

“That was probably the easiest touchdown I’ve had this season,” Wilson said of the strike. “That’s Lynn, he gets open for us. I did a good job on expanding the play, he was wide open.”

Being wide open made it more worrisome for Bowden, who said he worried he might not catch the ball.

Wilson completed 14 of 16 passes for 208 yards and two touchdowns and then ran it eight times for 31 yards in the first half.

“Really put it away at the end of the first half,” Stoops said of Wilson. “Played some really good football down the stretch, late in the second quarter. With us getting the ball to start the third quarter, I know that was big.”

After being picked off in the third quarter, Wilson went back to throwing strikes. He found Josh Ali with a 32-yard dart for the sophomore wide receiver’s first career touchdown. It gave the Cats a 42-10 lead.

The Cats threw in a 75-yard run of their own early in the fourth quarter when A.J. Rose busted a 75-yard scoring run and then seven minutes later, true freshman Kavosiey Smoke added a 37-yard touchdown in his first game action of the season.

The underclassmen were especially motivated to get that ninth regular-season victory for this senior class, with Daniel pointing out that while the contributions of this group on the field are notable, fans don’t see all of the work the seniors put in behind the scenes.

“To be a part of that is truly special and it’s something I’ll never forget for the rest of my life,” said Daniel, who led the UK defense with eight tackles, including two for a loss. “The guys I play with, I love every single one of them. I wish the seniors didn’t have to leave after this season because this is the most fun I’ve ever had playing football, this season so far.”

Chris Oats added five tackles. Jordan Jones and Allen had four tackles apiece, including 1.5 for loss for Jones and a sack for Allen, who also was credited with a quarterback hurry.

This story was originally published November 24, 2018 at 10:28 PM.