5 things you need to know from Kentucky’s 24-16 season-opening win over Toledo
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Gameday: Kentucky 24, Toledo 16
Click below for more of the Herald-Leader and Kentucky.com’s coverage of Saturday’s Kentucky-Toledo football game at Kroger Field in Lexington.
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Five things you need to know from Kentucky football’s season-opening 24-16 win over Toledo:
1. Kentucky’s pass rush was relentless. Yes, Toledo is a Mid-American Conference offense.
But the Rockets have the same quarterback, Tucker Gleason, who threw for 285 yards and three touchdowns last season in a 41-17 road win over an SEC team, Mississippi State.
On Saturday, a relentless Kentucky pass rush physically punished Gleason throughout a sunny Lexington afternoon.
UK was credited with three sacks and six hurries. Gleason took far more hits than those numbers reflect.
For three quarters, the overall Kentucky defense was stout.
Over the entire game, Toledo went for it on fourth down four times — and three times Kentucky snuffed it out, including a first-half goal-line stand at the 3-yard line.
Senior linebacker Alex Afari led the way with 13 tackles, two for loss.
Sophomore pass rushing specialist Steven “Sack’em” Soles had three tackles, two sacks and two forced fumbles.
2. Zack Calzada’s debut. For the fourth time in five seasons, Kentucky’s starting quarterback in its season opener was a transfer from another school.
In his UK debut, Incarnate Word transfer Zach Calzada completed 10 of 23 passes for 85 yards with an interception. Calzada also ran 10 times for 14 yards and a touchdown.
It was not a “wow” debut for Calzada, although it was not shocking that a UK offensive unit with a new QB and without last year’s featured wideouts in Barion Brown and Dane Key struggled through the air.
This is how Calzada’s showing in his first UK game compared to his immediate predecessors:
• Last year, Georgia transfer Brock Vandagriff completed 12 of 18 passes for 169 yards with three touchdown throws and one interception in UK’s 31-0 win over Southern Mississippi in a game that ended at 11:52 p.m. (EDT) with 9:56 left in the third quarter due to stormy weather.
• In 2023, North Carolina State transfer Devin Leary completed 18 of 31 passes for 241 yards with a TD throw and a pick in a 44-14 win over Ball State.
• In 2021, Penn State transfer Will Levis made his UK debut by completing 18 of 26 throws for 367 yards and four touchdowns with one interception in a 45-10 strafing of Louisiana Monroe.
Going back to Tim Couch’s first career start in 1996, UK is now 16-10 in games in which a QB makes his first start for Kentucky.
3. Kentucky’s “Slop Index.” After three straight seasons in which UK had been plagued by undisciplined football, the Cats played a sloppy first half in the 2025 season opener but were better in half two.
On UK’s first offensive possession of the season, veteran wideout Ja’Mori Maclin was called for holding. That nullified what would have been a 6-yard run by Seth McGowan.
That set the tone, offensively, for a first half that saw Kentucky start drives on the UK 28-yard line, the Toledo 29, UK 43, UK 3, UK 47, the 50 and the UK 24 — yet score only 10 points.
A Calzada interception, thrown off the quarterback’s back foot while under duress, and a Willie Rodriguez lost fumble after a 23-yard reception that would have given the Wildcats the ball at the Toledo 27 snuffed out two scoring chances for UK.
This is how UK ranked Saturday in what I am calling the “Slop Index.”
• Penalties. Kentucky was called for only three penalties for 30 yards. Toledo was flagged 10 times for 94 yards.
Advantage: Kentucky.
• Sacks allowed: UK gave up no sacks, Toledo surrendered three.
Advantage: Kentucky.
• Turnovers: UK turned it over twice, on an interception and a lost fumble. Toledo turned it over only once, but JQ Hardaway’s pick set the Cats up for a short-field touchdown.
Advantage: Toledo.
4. Chip Trayanum’s return. A season ago, the 5-foot-11, 225-pound running back was expected to be a feature piece in Kentucky’s offense. Instead, injuries limited Trayanum to 101 rushing yards combined in only three games.
On Saturday, after transferring to Toledo, Trayanum got a chance to show his former team what it lost.
Instead, the Kentucky defense mostly got the better of its former teammate.
After running for 27 yards in the first quarter. Trayanum added only 14 rushing yards the rest of the game.
He finished with 41 yards on 14 attempts and also caught three passes for 42 yards.
In his one season at UK, Trayanum, who has also played for Arizona State and Ohio State in his career, played in only two games at Kroger Field. He ran eight times for 42 yards in Kentucky’s 48-6 win over Murray State and four times for 33 yards in UK’s 41-14 defeat to Louisville.
The Kentucky run defense, which was gashed for an average of 263.2 yards a game last year in the final five games against power conference foes, gave up just 59 yards on the ground to Toledo.
5. The Stoops numbers. With Kentucky’s victory, Mark Stoops is 10-3 in season openers as UK head man. After starting 2-2 in his first four openers, Stoops has subsequently gone 8-1.
Stoops is now 12-0 as UK head coach against Mid-American Conference teams. The Wildcats will face a second MAC foe, Eastern Michigan, on Sept. 13.
Against all teams from group of five conferences, Stoops is now 21-2 and has won the past 16 such games in a row.
Overall, Stoops is now 78-73 as Kentucky coach in games played on the field. Because UK vacated its 10 wins from the 2021 season due to NCAA rules violations, Stoops is officially 68-73.
Fashion police
For its 2025 season opener, Kentucky wore blue helmets, blue jerseys with white letters and numbers and white pants.
It was the fifth straight season in which UK wore the blue-blue-white uniform color combo in its first game.
The Wildcats have now gone 5-0 in those games.
This story was originally published August 30, 2025 at 4:17 PM.
