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Kroger Field, Lexington, KY 11-8-25
The ‘Cats dominated the Florida Gators (3-6, 2-4 SEC) on Saturday night in Lexington. The Gators were coming off a hard-fought loss to the Georgia Bulldogs just a week ago while Kentucky was fresh off their first SEC win of the season with a win at Auburn. Cutter Boley and the offense look transformed from earlier in the season and even just a few short weeks ago. The Kentucky offense exploded for 401 total yards (168 passing yards, 233 rushing yards). The redshirt Freshman has hit his stride the past two weeks and looks to be the answer at QB in the future for years to come.
RB Seth McGowan continues to lead the rushing attack with hard and physical rushing attempts throughout the game week in and week out. McGowan picked up 92 rushing yards on 22 carries and added 2 rushing touchdowns Saturday. The ‘Cats took control in the second quarter, scoring a season-high 21-points in the quarter to give them a 24-7 halftime lead that was insurmountable for the Gators. The Kentucky defense also continued its hot streak, giving up just 7 points after a muffed punt gave the Gators a short field. The Brad White led defense has held SEC opponents to a combined 10 points over the last 2 games. The ‘Cats and HC Mark Stoops look ahead to the FCS #5 Tennessee Tech next weekend in Lexington to finish up the home schedule. The ‘Cats will then finish up the season on the road at Vanderbilt and at Louisville with bowl dreams now within reach.
The spread for Saturday’s matchup against Florida was -4.5 (Florida). The Over/Under points total was set at 44.5.
Game Predictions:
Graham Shepherd – Kentucky 27 – Florida 17 (MVP: Cutter Boley)
Lukas Witt – Kentucky 21 – Florida 17 (MVP: Kendrick Law)
Game Recap:
First Quarter
Kentucky won the coin toss and elected to defer to the second half. Florida received the opening kickoff and began their fist offensive drive on their own 25-yard line. Baugh took the first carry of the game for a short gain for the Gators. Lagway kept the ball for a scramble and a first-down gain on a 3rd-and-4 attempt where the pocket collapsed. The ‘Cats force another 3rd down after consecutive stops close to the line of scrimmage. Lagway found a wide open Brown III for a gain of 22-yards on the 3rd down play. Ty Bryant intercepted a Lagway pass for the ‘Cats and Kentucky began their first offensive drive on their own 49-yard line. Boley connected on his first pass of the game to TE Kattus. Boley found Gilmore IV for a first-down gain for the ‘Cats. Boley found WR DJ Miller for a huge 3rd-and-11 play with a gain of 14-yards to the Florida 23-yard line. The ‘Cats drive stalled on the Florida 21-yard line to force a field goal attempt. Kauwe nailed the 39-yard field goal to give Kentucky the first score of the game and a 3-0 lead with 6:42-minutes to play. Florida began their next drive on their own 25-yard line. The ‘Cats forced a 3rd down after consecutive carries from Baugh for the Gators. Lagway found Sturdivant for a first-down. The ‘Cats defense stood strong and forced an incomplete pass on a 3rd-and-5 for Florida. The Gators punted the ball away back to Kentucky. Maclin muffed the punt and Florida recovered on the Kentucky 13-yard line with a new set of downs. The Kentucky defense forced a 3rd-and-7 from the Kentucky 10-yard line but Lagway connected with Baugh for a 10-yard Florida touchdown. Florida led the ‘Cats 7-3 after the PAT with 1:12-minutes to play in the first quarter. Kentucky began their drive on their own 25-yard line after the touchback. Law caught a negative yardage pass and was hit late on the play with no penalty. McGowan took a carry for a gain of 11-yards to give the ‘Cats a 3rd-and-6 at the end of the first quarter.
Second Quarter
Boley found Rodriguez for a first-down gain of 8-yards. Boley then connected with Law for another 11-yard gain. Dowdell picked up 7-yards on the ground then a screen pass to DJ Miller picked up another first-down. Dowdell took consecutive carries for another Kentucky first-down. Boley found Hester for a contested catch and a 29-yard Kentucky TOUCHDOWN. The ‘Cats led 10-7 after the PAT from Kauwe with 12:39-minutes to play in the half. The ‘Cats went up-tempo for the scoring drive and had great success doing so. It appeared the plays were scripted coming out of the end-of-quarter timeout from OC Hamdan Florida began their next offensive drive on their own 25-yard line. Godfrey attacked Baugh for a loss of 2-yards on a first-down carry. Addison missed an arm-tackle on a one-on-one attempt to give Florida a first-down. Baugh took a carry and fumbled the ball. Cowan forced the fumble and Dooley recovered to give Kentucky possession on their own 41-yard line. McGowan plowed his way to a solid 5-yard gain on first-down. McGowan took another carry and left the ‘Cats with a 3rd-and-3 attempt. Boley found Gilmore IV across the middle for a short gain. The ‘Cats went for it on 4th-and-1 with a Wildcat formation direct snap to McGowan for a first-down gain of 4-yards. McGowan cut a carry to the outside for a 7-yard gain. Boley connected with Law on a good route for another first-down gain of 12-yards. McGowan took a physical carry for a gain of 6-yards to the Florida 21-yard line. The ‘Cats were left with a 4th-and-1 from the Gator 18-yard line. An end-around to Law picked up a first-down for Kentucky and a gain of 3-yards. Boley found Patterson on a RB wheel route for a 15-yard TOUCHDOWN for Kentucky. The ‘Cats led 17-7 after the PAT with 3:32-minutes to play in the half. The touchdown reception was Pattersons first of his career. Lagway began the Florida drive with a throw behind an open Brown for Florida. The ‘Cats defense forced a 3rd-and-4 from the Gators. Lagway’s pass fell incomplete intended for Baugh. The Gators were forced to punt with 2:47-minutes to play in the half. Doman punted for the Gators but shanked the punt for only 23-yards. Kentucky and Boley took over on their own 46-yard line. The ‘Cats had a 2nd-and-7 after the 2-minute warning. McGowan caught a 7-yard pass out of the backfield for a first-down. Law followed it up with a 25-yard reception to the Florida 19-yard line. Boley found Maclin for another chunk gain of 17-yards to the Gator 2-yard line with 1:30-minutes to play. McGowan walked into the endzone for a 2-yard ‘Cats TOUCHDOWN. Kentucky led 24-7 after the PAT with 1:26-minutes remaining in the first half. Lagway overthrew a deep pass to his WR and DB Quay-Sheed Scott picked off the pass and returned it 55-yards to the Florida 19-yard line with 35-seconds to play. Boley fumbled the ball on a designed QB run and Florida regained possession with 18-seconds to play in the half. Rayner intercepted Lagway on a tipped pass off a WR hands to give the ball back to Kentucky on the Florida 44-yard line. Boley threw a deep pass on the next play and it was intercepted back to the Gators to start their next drive on their own 21-yard line with 8-seconds to play. Lagway and the Gators kneeled the ball and Kentucky led by a score of 24-7 at halftime.
The offense sparked for 215 yards in the first half for the ‘Cats. Led by Boley with 150 passing yards and 2 passing touchdowns to 1 interception. Law led the ‘Cats in receiving yards with 4 receptions for 41-yards and McGowan led the rushing attack with 47-yards on the ground. The two teams combined for 7 first half turnovers, Florida with 4 (3 INT, 1 Fumble) and Kentucky with 3 (1 INT, 2 Fumbles). Kentucky was 4 of 7 on 3rd down and 2 for 2 on 4th down attempts. The offense showed pace, direction and a philosophy that we haven’t seen in the past 2 seasons for Kentucky. Kentucky gets the ball to start the second half and can make a statement with their first potential SEC win at home in the last 10 tries.
Halftime: Kentucky 24 – Florida 7
Third Quarter
Kentucky got the ball to begin the second half and began their first drive on their own 25-yard line. Boley scrambled on a 3rd-and-8 to pick up 14-yards and a new set of downs. Boley found Farrier along the sideline for a 13-yard gain on 3rd-and-7. McGowan took consecutive carries for a Kentucky first-down. McGowan took another carry for a 9-yard carry. Dowdell took back-to-back carries for another Kentucky first-down to the Florida 5-yard line. McGowan took a Wildcat carry into the endzone for a Kentucky TOUCHDOWN. Kentucky led 31-7 after the PAT with 7:34-minutes to play in the third quarter. The Gators picked up back-to-back first downs to begin their next drive. QB Jones Jr. took over at quarterback for the Gators. The Gators went for it on 4th-and-3 and picked up the first down. The Gators got pushed back on an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and the ‘Cats defense forced a 3rd-and-12 on the Kentucky 48-yard line. The Gators picked up a chunk gain on 3rd down then converted a short 4th down attempt for a new set of downs for their offense. Rayner sacked Jones Jr. on the following play for a loss of 10-yards. The ‘Cats defense held firm and forced a Florida punt. Kentucky ran the ball up the middle to finish out the third quarter. Kentucky led Florida 31-7 at the end of the third quarter.
Fourth Quarter
McGowan took a carry to begin the fourth quarter for Kentucky to give them a 3rd-and-3 attempt. Dowdell took a carry for a gain of 6-yards and a first-down for Kentucky. McGowan took another carry for a solid 9-yard gain. Dowdell took a carry up the middle through a huge hole produced by the offensive line for a 65-yard TOUCHDOWN for Kentucky. Kentucky led 38-7 after the PAT with 12:16-minutes to play in the game. The run gave Kentucky 211 total rushing yards in the game to go along with 3 rushing touchdowns. Dowdell picked up 104 yards on 7 carries to this point in the game. Florida began their next drive on their own 25-yard line. The ‘Cats defense held and forced a 4th down stop to give the ball back to Kentucky with 9:29-minutes to play in the game. Beau Allen entered at QB for Kentucky. Patterson took consecutive carries for a first down for the ‘Cats. Patterson continued to collect carries and Kentucky went for it on 4th-and-5 with Allen. The ‘Cats turned it over on downs and gave the ball back to the Gators with 6-minutes to play. The Gators slowly made their way down the field with Jones Jr. at QB. The ‘Cats defense forced a 4th down stop on the Kentucky 21-yard line to regain possession for Kentucky with just over 2-minutes to play. The ‘Cats ran out the clock to end the game. Kentucky went on to dominate the Gators by a final score of 38-7.
Final: Kentucky 38 – Florida 7
Game Stats:
Total Yards:
Kentucky – 401 (168 Passing, 233 Rushing)
Florida – 247 (143 Passing, 104 Rushing)
Turnover Differential:
Kentucky 4 – Florida 4
Time of Possession:
Kentucky – 31:32 minutes
Florida – 28:28 minutes
Player Stats:
Offense:
Cutter Boley – [(18 comp – 23 att) (168 yds) (2 passing TDs) (1 INT) (2 car) (11 rush yds)]
Seth McGowan – [(22 car) (92 rush yds) (2 rush TDs), (1 rec) (7 yds)]
Dante Dowdell – [(7 car) (104 rush yds) (1 rush TD)]
Kendrick Law – [(6 rec) (44 yds), (2 car) (5 rush yds)]
Defense:
Ty Bryant – [(6 totTk) (5 solo) (1 INT)]
Daveren Rayner – [(5 totTk) (3 solo) (1 Sack) (1 TFL) (1 INT) (1 BrUp)]
Quay’Sheed Scott – [(3 totTk) (2 solo) (1 TFL) (1 INT)]
Jaden Williams – [(6 totTk) (3 solo) (2 QBH)]
Upcoming Game:
The ‘Cats (4-5, 2-5 SEC) will stay in Lexington next week to finish up their home schedule against FCS #5 Tennessee Tech (10-0). Kick-off is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. EST. The game will be televised on the SEC Network +.
