Kentucky dominates Missouri in a deluge for its biggest win of the season
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Game day: Kentucky vs. Missouri
Click below for more of Kentucky.com’s coverage of Saturday’s Kentucky-Missouri football game at Kroger Field in Lexington.
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A second straight week facing poor weather conditions and one of the league’s top defenses could have spelled disaster for the Kentucky Wildcats. It did not.
After being held scoreless for the first time under Mark Stoops at Georgia, Kentucky bounced back with a 29-7 victory over Missouri on Saturday at Kroger Field. It was the Wildcats’ fifth straight win over the Tigers and improved their record to 2-4 against Southeastern Conference foes this season.
Wide receiver Lynn Bowden made his third straight start at quarterback, and it was his finest: the junior rushed for 204 yards and two touchdowns to lead UK to its fourth victory of the season. He finished 3-for-7 passing for 54 yards.
Both teams went three-and-out on their first possessions. Missouri’s second drive took nearly 7 minutes off the clock but a third-down stop — capped by J.J. Weaver’s first tackle in a career debut — forced a 45-yard field goal attempt that went wide right. Bowden fumbled near midfield on UK’s subsequent trip but the Cats (4-4) held the Tigers (5-3) to 11 yards on four plays, forcing another punt.
UK got the scoring started after marching 86 yards on seven plays, the highlight a 44-yard bomb from Bowden to Bryce Oliver. A leap and extension over the goal line by Kavosiey Smoke capped it.
Calvin Taylor had a strip sack on Missouri’s next possession. The loose ball was recovered by the Tigers for a 9-yard loss, and Kentucky began its next drive at Mizzou’s 45. Bowden, after a 10-yard gain, appeared to injure his left leg and Sawyer Smith briefly entered at quarterback; he handed the ball twice to A.J. Rose and completed a 9-yard pass to Josh Ali that set up a fourth-and-1 play, for which Bowden returned and converted for a first down.
Bowden remained in the game, handing the ball off to Rose on the next play for a 20-yard TD that put Kentucky up 12-0 with 6:03 left to play in the second quarter.
The Cats again kept Missouri from crossing midfield and tacked on a field goal in the final minute of the first half. Kicker Chance Poore, making his first appearance since the Mississippi State game, converted on a 43-yard attempt to swell UK’s advantage to 15-0.
Missouri, instead of running down the clock, chose to try and move the ball before halftime. Tigers Coach Barry Odom used two timeouts before a third-down sack resulted in a fumble, recovered by UK linebacker Jordan Wright, with 22 seconds left. Missouri’s Jordan Elliott was flagged for a personal foul on UK’s next play and Bowden rushed for a 10-yard TD on the next, making it 22-0 at the break.
In the second half, Missouri answered an empty trip by the Cats with their first score, a 74-yard pickup by Tyler Badie off a third-and-12 screen pass. Kentucky’s next possession ended in a second Bowden fumble, but a first-down penalty set Missouri back on its ensuing drive and the Tigers went nowhere. Kentucky afterward began at its own 4 and also failed to move, but a 70-yard punt by Max Duffy sent the Tigers to their own 21.
A pass interference penalty assessed to Jamari Brown extended a 12-play Mizzou drive that ultimately amounted to nothing; a fourth-and-2 pass from the Cats’ 17 landed in the turf.
It looked like UK would respond with a three and out but Duffy for the first time kept the ball and took off for a 26-yard gain. A personal foul by Jamin Davis didn’t negate the first down but brought ball back to the Cats’ 33. UK scored again five plays later, the last a 33-yard TD scamper by Bowden.
Next game
Tennessee at Kentucky
Saturday, Nov. 9 (time and TV to be announced)
This story was originally published October 26, 2019 at 10:49 PM.
