Transfer quarterback Joey Gatewood makes Kentucky debut against Mississippi State
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Game day: Kentucky 24, Mississippi State 2
Click below for more of the Herald-Leader’s and Kentucky.com’s coverage of Saturday’s Kentucky-Mississippi State football game at Kroger Field in Lexington.
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Kentucky quarterback Joey Gatewood made his much-anticipated debut for the Wildcats on Saturday in the team’s home game against Mississippi State.
Gatewood came into the game late in the fourth quarter with UK leading the Bulldogs, 21-2. His first pass — on the third play of the series — was intended for Clevan Thomas down the field but fell incomplete. Gatewood ran for 7 yards on Kentucky’s next play to set up a 35-yard field goal by Matt Ruffolo.
The Wildcats won the game, 24-2, thanks largely to the UK defense, which intercepted six Mississippi State passes, returning one for a touchdown and running back another to set up a quick TD strike.
Kentucky quarterback Terry Wilson was 8-for-20 passing for 73 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions. He also had 13 carries for a team-high 50 yards. Kentucky had just 157 total yards of offense on the night, but the Cats came away with their first victory of the season.
The game against Mississippi State on Saturday was the second game in which Gatewood was eligible to play for the Cats after the Southeastern Conference ruled two weeks ago that he and other players who had transferred within the conference could bypass a league bylaw and play right away, if approved by the NCAA.
The NCAA had already approved Gatewood’s request to compete for Kentucky in the 2020 season following his transfer from Auburn last December. The 6-foot-4 quarterback from Jacksonville, Fla. enrolled at UK for the spring semester and went through spring practice with the Cats.
The SEC did not rule on Gatewood’s case in time for him to be eligible for UK’s season opener against Auburn, his former team, and he did not make an appearance in last week’s 42-41 overtime loss to Mississippi.
Gatewood was a highly touted national prospect in the 2018 recruiting class and played in one college game that year — the Music City Bowl — taking a redshirt season. He played sparingly in seven games in 2019, throwing two touchdown passes and running for three more. Gatewood came to UK with three seasons of playing eligibility and — along with freshman Beau Allen — was getting most of the practice reps behind Wilson at quarterback this fall.
Allen — a top recruit in the 2020 class and former standout at Lexington Catholic — had been listed as the No. 2 quarterback behind Wilson on UK’s depth chart coming into the week that Gatewood was ruled eligible, but Allen and Gatewood were both listed on the No. 2 line coming into this week.
This story was originally published October 10, 2020 at 10:51 PM.
