Behind DJ Lagway and Jadan Baugh, Florida snaps 3-game losing streak to Kentucky football

Kentucky football’s three-game winning streak versus Florida is no more.

The season-long struggles from UK’s offense continued and its defense faltered in a 48-20 loss in Gainesville, giving the Gators their first win in the series since 2020.

UK quarterback Brock Vandagriff threw two interceptions, both of which bounced off the hands of UK receivers. He was held to fewer than 170 passing yards for the fourth time in five SEC games. Kentucky converted just 1 of 4 fourth-down attempts.

The Wildcat offense has yet to score more than two touchdowns in an SEC game this season, but its defense has kept it close in most games. That was not the case Saturday.

Kentucky’s defense faltered on two of Florida’s first three drives but rallied in time to make red zone stops to hold the Gators to field goals from 29 and 33 yards.

The Wildcats were held scoreless in the first quarter for the second consecutive week – they’ve only scored 16 points in the first quarter all season – but finally got on the board with a 45-yard pass from Vandagriff to Barion Brown on a flea-flicker early in the second quarter.

Florida freshman running back Jadan Baugh scored touchdowns on three of Florida’s next four possessions.

The last of those touchdowns came shortly after UK wide receiver Barion Brown had a pass bounce off his hands and into the arms of a Florida defender. With Florida up 27-6, the game looked in danger of turning into a blowout, but Brown took the ensuing kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown to give Kentucky hope again. It was Brown’s fifth career kickoff return for a touchdown, breaking the previous SEC record.

Kentucky pulled within seven with a 1-yard Gavin Wimsatt touchdown run on its first possession of the second half, but Florida immediately answered with an eight-play, 77-yard touchdown drive. Florida’s touchdown on that drive came on a controversial call where it appeared Kentucky had stopped Baugh on a third-and-goal carry at the 1, but an official ruled he had extended the ball over the goal line. Replays appeared to show Baugh was short, but officials ruled there was not enough evidence to overturn the call on the field.

The Wildcats’ hopes of a comeback essentially ended when wide receiver Anthony Brown-Stephens was tackled well short of the first down line on a fourth-and-5 at the Florida 23-yard line with 10:35 remaining.

Florida added two more touchdowns, including Baugh’s fifth of the game. The final score came when UK freshman quarterback Cutter Boley threw an interception that was returned for a touchdown on his first snap of the season.

TURNING POINT

Kentucky looked on the verge of tying the game at 13 when safety Kristian Story returned an interception 63 yards to the Florida 11-yard line, but for the second consecutive week UK walked away from a possession that reached the 2-yard line without any points. This time there were no penalties or special teams miscues to blame the failure on like last week against Vanderbilt. Stoops elected to go for a fourth-and-1 at the 2-yard line, but Demie Sumo-Karngbaye was stopped short.

UK coaches were unhappy with the officials decision to blow the play dead quickly while Sumo-Karngbaye was still trying to push forward. Florida then needed just four plays to march the length of the field to take a 20-6 lead on a 10-yard touchdown run from Baugh.

MVP

On a day Florida was playing without its normal starters at quarterback or running back, two freshmen stole the show.

Quarterback DJ Lagway gave Gators fans reason to be optimistic about the future in his first SEC start, completing 7 of 14 passes for 259 yards. He added 46 yards on 10 carries. Baugh tied a school record with five rushing touchdowns while gaining 106 yards on 22 carries.

KEY STAT

Kentucky entered the game having given up just two completions of at least 40 yards in six games, but Lagway completed five passes that long in the game. Meanwhile, UK’s offense has just four passes of at least 40 yards all season.

This story was originally published October 19, 2024 at 11:28 PM.

Jon Hale

Lexington Herald-Leader

(859) 414-6776

Jon Hale is the University of Kentucky football beat writer for the Lexington Herald-Leader. He joined the Herald-Leader in 2022 but has covered UK athletics for more than 10 years. Hale was named the 2021 Kentucky Sportswriter of the Year. Support my work with a digital subscription