UK football’s path to a bowl game back on track after taking care of Ohio
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Game day: Kentucky 41, Ohio 6
Click below for more of the Herald-Leader and Kentucky.com’s coverage of Saturday’s Kentucky-Ohio football game at Kroger Field in Lexington.
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Kentucky football snapped a two-game losing streak with a 41-6 win over Ohio on Saturday. Here is a look at what the victory means for the rest of the 2024 season.
A needed confidence boost
While Mark Stoops and his players understandably were proud of the performance last week in a 13-12 loss to then No. 1-ranked Georgia, it was still difficult to get too excited about a team that had been held without a touchdown in back to back games for the first time since 1996.
Against Ohio, the passing attack finally showed some of the promise on display in the lightning-shortened opener against Southern Miss. Combine that with another strong showing from the running backs, and there is now at least reason to be optimistic about Kentucky scoring enough to beat SEC opponents.
Of course, the challenge increases exponentially next week in another matchup against a top-five team as UK makes its first road trip of the season at Ole Miss. Moving the ball against Ohio does not guarantee success against the No. 5-ranked Rebels, who did not surrender a touchdown in their first three games this season. Ole Miss won those games against Furman, Middle Tennessee and Wake Forest by a combined score of 168-9.
The path to bowl eligibility
The Week 2 loss to South Carolina dealt a significant blow to Kentucky’s hopes of besting the 7-6 record from the last two seasons, but by beating Ohio the Wildcats at least remain on track to reach a ninth consecutive bowl game.
Kentucky is now four wins from bowl eligibility with home games against Auburn, Vanderbilt and Murray State remaining as well as a road trip to Florida. The three SEC games in that group might be considered toss-ups depending on UK’s form coming off a bye week after the Ole Miss game, but Stoops’ team could be favored in each.
The margin of error remains razor thin if UK is to keep the bowl streak alive, but beating Ohio ensured Kentucky can reach postseason play without beating a currently ranked team. For UK to reach seven regular season wins again, it might need to continue its five-game winning streak against archrival Louisville, which was ranked 19th in the Associated Press top 25 this week.
The other chances for a marquee upset will be in road games at No. 5 Ole Miss, No. 6 Tennessee and No. 1 Texas.
This story was originally published September 21, 2024 at 3:59 PM.
