‘We left a lot on that field.’ Despite messy start and finish, Kentucky prevails.
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Kentucky’s offense took advantage of multiple big gains over the final 30 minutes to more than make up for a middling first half against Toledo in a 38-24 victory to open the season Saturday afternoon at Kroger Field.
Six Wildcats scored in all, including five who reached the end zone. UK surrendered 10 points and 116 total yards to the Rockets out of the break after trailing Toledo for much of the first half.
If not for a touchdown run by Toledo’s backup quarterback — prompted by a fumble — right outside of the final minute, UK would have notched its second-largest win in a season opener under head coach Mark Stoops, and its largest one against an FBS team.
It still covered the spread; the Wildcats were an 11.5-point favorite coming into the contest.
“It’s always a good thing when you walk in and you win by 14 points and you’re frustrated in a lot of ways, but that’s okay,” said Stoops, who’s in his seventh season. “We’re striving to be the best we can. We left a lot on that field, but we also did a lot of good things.”
Kentucky’s young secondary was tested immediately. Toledo used a 39-yard pass completion to Danzel McKinley-Lewis from Mitchell Guadagni to set up a 5-yard touchdown run by Bryant Koback, a sophomore who originally signed with UK out of high school but transferred following his first year on campus.
UK’s first response was futile: AJ Rose rushed for four yards, then lost them all, and Terry Wilson threw a third-down pass out of bounds. After stopping Toledo’s second drive, UK followed up with a 97-yard march to the end zone. Chris Rodriguez and Kavosiey Smoke combined to carry the Cats the bulk of the way down the field after Rose limped to the sideline for brief treatment. A pass interference penalty in the end zone drawn by Ahmad Wagner — who last season drew three such penalties on just four targets — set UK up at the Toledo 7-yard line.
Rodriguez on UK’s first play of the second quarter appeared to get across the goal line before coughing up the ball, but the Cats’ first score of the 2019 season officially came on a fumble recovery by Justin Rigg, his first career score.
Guadagni ran unscathed for a 21-yard TD to put Toledo back on top soon after Rigg scored. The teams traded three-and-outs before UK drove 56 yards in 59 seconds to tie the game once more. A false-start penalty kicked off the drive but Wilson hit Lynn Bowden for a 29-yard gain to alleviate the error. Rose rushed for 21 yards and then again for 11 yards to score his seventh career TD (sixth rushing).
“We just take it one drive at a time,” Rose said. “After we come out for a drive, we learn from our mistakes and try to make adjustments and go out there and make plays. That’s what happened today.”
Kentucky moved backward to open the second half but Josh Paschal forced a fumble and Yusuf Corker recovered it in Toledo territory to give it right back to the Cats, who turned the game’s first turnover into three points — Chance Poore connected on a 46-yarder, a new career long for the redshirt freshman, to put UK ahead for the first time, 17-14.
The lead didn’t change hands once Kentucky snatched it. Bryce Oliver, a redshirt freshman who impressed in the Blue-White game, reeled in a 32-yard TD pass over a Toledo defender for his first career catch to make it 24-14.
Smoke and Josh Ali both scored the second TDs of their career in the fourth quarter to swell UK’s advantage to 38-17. Carter Bradley, who replaced an injured Guadagni in the third quarter, rushed for a 7-yard score with 1:02 remaining after a second fumble by Rodriguez.
Kentucky’s only other turnover also led to points; a fumble by Bowden after a catch in the third quarter turned into a 46-yard Toledo field goal to bring the Rockets within 24-17.
“It’s just awful, that last touchdown, because of the offense, that they even had a chance for that,” Wildcats co-offensive coordinator Eddie Gran said. “Because the defense came out and played lights out in the second half. Our two turnovers, you didn’t see how good our defense played in that second half because we screwed it up so bad.”
Wilson finished 19 of 26 for 246 yards and two TD passes without an interception. Bowden had 77 yards on six catches and Smoke led the Cats in rushing with 78 yards on seven touches.
DeAndre Square starred for the defense, finishing with 11 total tackles (seven solo) and an interception. Corker, a cornerback, had seven tackles.
It could have been cleaner at the end, but Stoops is always grateful for a “W.”
“(I’m) never going to apologize for winning a football game,” Stoops said.
Next game
Eastern Michigan at Kentucky
7:30 p.m. Saturday (ESPNU or SEC Alternate)
This story was originally published August 31, 2019 at 6:02 PM.
