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9-11-26 Lexington, KY – Kroger Field (Photo by Mont Dawson)
The ‘Cats fell to the No. 12 Alabama Crimson Tide at Kroger Field Saturday afternoon after a strong first half. Stein and the ‘Cats took a 17-13 lead into halftime at Kroger Field with the Big Blue Nation faithful beginning to believe that their football tides had turned. Russell and Alabamas offense came alive in the second half, while the defense responded by shutting out Kentucky in the second half.
Alabama outscored the ‘Cats 32-0 after the half on their way to a big 45-17 win over Kentucky. The score does not do justice to how close the game was. Kentucky led for over 40-minutes of game time before Alabama took their first lead of the game late in the third quarter. Stein showed his aggressive style by choosing to go for a 4th down on their own side of the 50-yard line in the third quarter. A fake punt attempt failed, and it was all Alabama going forward. It was Alabama’s 9th consecutive win over the ‘Cats, with Kentuckys last win coming in 1997 led by QB Tim Couch. Stein and the ‘Cats will look to rebound with a tough road game at Kyle Field in College Station against the No. 10 Texas A&M Aggies next Saturday.
The spread for Saturday’s matchup against Alabama was –9.5 (Alabama). The Over/Under points total was set at 47.5.
Game Recap:
First Quarter
Alabama won the toss and elected to defer to the second half. The ‘Cats began the game with the ball on their own 25-yard line. The first play of the game saw Minchey find WR Nic Anderson for a first-down gain of 13 yards to open the game. Minchey dumped off the next pass to Baxter for a good gain of 9-yards. Baxter took his first carry of the game for a gain of 3 yards and a first down. Minchey was stopped for a loss on the next play and the ‘Cats were forced to punt the ball on their first drive of the game. The punt fell short of goal line but bounced into the end zone for a touchback. Alabama began their first drive on their own 20-yard line. The ‘Cats forced an intentional grounding on the first play of the drive. The ‘Cats smothered the Tide running back on the next play for another loss. Russells pass was tipped at the goal line and Humphrey-Grace intercepted the pass for a 2-yard TOUCHDOWN return for Kentucky! The ‘Cats nailed the PTA for a quick 7-0 lead to open the game with 10:11-minutes to play. The Tide began their next drive on their own 25-yard line. Russell found Coleman-Williams for his first reception of the day for a first down gain. Russell was under duress and found Brooks for a 23-yard gain. A facemask penalty pushed Alabama further into ‘Cat territory. Humphrey-Grace forced a fumble and CJ Works found the ball for another turnover to begin the game. The ‘Cats took over on their own 27-yard line with 7:09-minutes to play in the first quarter. The ‘Cats gained 4-yard on a Baxter carry and then Minchey could not connect with Miller to force a 3rd down. Minchey then threw a pass that was intercepted by Metz and returned for an Alabama touchdown. The PAT tied the game at 7-7 with 6:35-minutes to play in the first quarter. Kentucky began their drive with a Barnes rush for no gain. Alabama was called for a holding penalty to give Kentucky a new set of downs. The ‘Cats rushed on consecutive plays for a gain of 5-yards to force a 3rd-and-5. Minchey found Darby for a gain of 5-yards and a first down. Alabama was called for another holding penalty to push the ‘Cats to the Alabama 48-yard line. Patterson took a first-down carry for a good gain of 8-yards. Patterson took another carry for a gain of 7-yards and a first-down. The ‘Cats continued with Patterson on the ground for another chunk gain of 4-yards. Minchey found Rodriguez for a short gain to force a 3rd-and-1. Minchey misfired on third down to force a 4th down. Stein then chose to go for it on 4th down and the ‘Cats turned it over on downs. The refs reviewed the play and found that Rodriguez passed the line to gain for a first down. The ‘Cats continued their drive on their own 23-yard line. Patterson took another 3-yard rush for first-down gain to end the first quarter with the game tied at 7-7. The ‘Cats outgained the Tide on offense 78-21 in total yards in the first quarter.
Second Quarter
The first play of the second quarter saw Minchey find a wide-open TE Henry Boyer for a 20-yard TOUCHDOWN for the ‘Cats! The ‘Cats took a 14-7 lead following the PAT with 14:56-minutes to play in the first half. Alabama took over at their own 25-yard line to begin their drive. The ‘Cats took down Crowell for a loss of 5-yards on the first play of the drive. The Tide held on the net play to force an 3rd-and-15. Russell found Brooks for a first-down gain to push the ball to their own 40-yard line. Hill and Brooks gained another first down for Alabama. Russell found Scott for a deep pass and a gain of 32-yards. The ‘Cats were called for a roughing the pass penalty to push the ball to the Kentucky 6-yard line. The ‘Cats forced a 3rd-and-goal attempt on the Kentucky 2-yard line. Russell was stopped on the 3rd down attempt by Bryant to force a 4th down at the 7-yard line. Alabama was forced to kick a 25-yard field goal. Talty made the 25-yard field goal to make the score 14-10 Kentucky with 9:27-minutes to play in the half. Kentucky began their next drive on their own 25-yard line. Baxter took the first-down carry for a healthy gain of 7-yards. Minchey found Rodriguez for a first down gain of 3-yards. The ‘Cats were quickly forced into a 3rd-and-7 situation with 7:12-minutes to play in the half with Stein spending the first timeout of the half. Minchey was sacked on the play and Kentucky was forced to punt. Coleman-Williams returned the kick to the Alabama 33-yard line. Alabama was called for an illegal touching to force a 2nd-and-15. The Tide were then called for a false start to push then back to a 2nd-and-20. Aa failed screen attempt forced a 3rd-and-long. Russell found Pritchett for a 27-yard gain. Alabama marched the ball to the Kentucky 30-yard line. Kentucky’s defense stood firm and stopped the Tide on the next 3 plays. The Tide and Talty nailed a 41-yard field goal attempt to make the score 14-13 Kentucky with 2:09-minutes left to play in the first half. Baxter took a 1st-and-20 carry for a gain of 12-yards after a Kentucky holding penalty. Minchey then threw two incomplete passes that resulted in a Kentucky punt. Alabama began their drive at the 40-yard line with 1-minute to play in the half. The ‘Cats drew another intentional grounding penalty from Russell. The call was reviewed and Russell was ruled down for a sack. Russell threw a balloon pass intended for Brooks that was intercepted by Castell for Kentucky at the Kentucky 46-yard line. The ‘Cats drew a delay of game penalty on Alabama to give them a first down. The ’Cats fumbled the snap and lost 10-yards but then Minchey found Darby for a big gain of 24-yards to push the ‘Cats to the Alabama 29-yard line with 20-seoncds to play in the half. Baxter took a carry up the middle to set up a 39-yard field goal for Kentucky to end the half. Zouagui nailed a 39-yard field goal to push the Kentucky lead to 17-13 at halftime.
Kentucky finished the first half outgaining Alabama by a count of 147-128. Minchey led the charge on offense with 86 passing yards, 1 TD and 1 INT in the half. Baxter led Kentucky rushers with 10 carries for 35 yards. Boyer had one reception for 20 yards and a touchdown and Darby added 2 receptions for 29 yards in the half. The Kentucky defense was the story of the half, forcing 3 turnovers (2 INTs, 1 Fumble Recovery), 4 sacks and 7 tackles for loss in the half. The crowd was also electric as the ‘Cats push to the second half with upset expectations.
Halftime: Kentucky 17 – Alabama 13
Third Quarter
Alabama began the second half with the ball. The ‘Cats batted down another Russell pass to force a punt to begin the half. Coffman returned the punt for 16-yards but the ‘Cats were called for holding to push the ‘Cats back to their own 10-yard line. Minchey found an open Rodriguez for a first-down gain of 18-yards. Minchey was sacked on a third-down to force a Kentucky punt to begin their half on offense. Coleman-Williams caught the punt for Alabama to begin their drive on their own 41-yard line. The ‘Cats defense forced a 4th-an-1 on the 50-yard line. Hill carried the ball for a short gain and a new set of downs for the Tide. Russell found Coleman-Williams for a 23-yards to the Kentucky 22-yard line. The Kentucky defense again forced a 3rd-and-7 for Alabama. The ‘Cat defense held strong once again for a defensive stop to force another field goal. Talty nailed a 34-yard field goal to make the score 17-16 Kentucky with 7:10-minutes to play in the third quarter. Kentucky began their next drive on their own 25-yard line. Minchey was sacked and fumbled the ball to the Alabama defense. The Tide took over on the Kentucky 21-yard line with 5:42-minutes to play in the third quarter. Hill carried the ball down to the Kentucky 3-yard line after a 10-yard gain on third down. Crowell carried for a 3-yard Alabama Touchdown, their first offensive touchdown of the game. They lined up for a 2-point conversion attempt but was pushed back due to a false start penalty. The PAT made the score 23-17 Alabama with 3-minutes left in the third quarter. The ‘Cats went 3-and-out their next drive to punt it back to Alabama. The ‘Cats went for it on 4th down and did not convert. Alabama ran their next play for a 34-yard touchdown. Hill was ruled to have stepped out of bounds and was 3-yards short of the goal line. Hill carried in a 3-yard touchdown score and then Russell connected to Brooks for a 2-point conversion to make the score 31-17 Alabama with 24-seconds left in the third quarter. Minchey found Rodriguez for the first play of the drive and a gain of 9-yards. Alabama outscored Kentucky 18-0 in the 3rd quarter and took a 31-17 lead into the 4th.
Fourth Quarter
The first play of the 4th quarter saw the Alabama defense blow up a handoff to Baxter for the ‘Cats. The ‘Cats punted it away once again for the Tide to start on their own 26-yard line. Russell finally found some room to run on a 3rd down broken play for a big 20-yard gain. Russell finished the drive with a 5-yard touchdown pass to Scott to make the score 38-17 Alabama with 9:12-minutes to play in the game. Minchey and Darby connected on two passes on the next drive but ended with an incomplete pass on 4th down. The Tide then ran the ball all the way to the red zone and into the end zone for a 4-yard score by Brown to make the score 45-17 Alabama. The Alabama Crimson Tide went on to win the game by a score of 45-17 at Kroger Field. Alabama outscored Kentucky 32-0 in the second half of the game after the ‘Cats took a 17-13 lead into halftime.
Final: Kentucky 17 – Alabama 45
Game Stats:
Total Yards:
Kentucky – 209 (146 Passing, 63 Rushing)
Alabama– 343 (188 Passing, 155 Rushing)
Turnover Differential:
Kentucky 3 – Alabama 3
Time of Possession:
Kentucky – 27:26 minutes
Alabama – 32:34 minutes
Notable Player Stats:
Offense:
QB Kenny Minchey – [(18 comp – 31 att) (146 yds) (1 passing TD) (1 INT)]
RB Jason Patterson – [(11 car) (53 rush yds)]
TE Willie Rodriguez – [(8 rec) (49 yds)]
WR Kenny Darby – [(5 rec) (45 yds)]
TE Henry Boyer – [(1 rec) (20 yds) (1 TD)]
Defense:
Mi’Quise Humphrey-Grace – [(4 totTk) (2 solo) (1 sack) (1.5 TFL) (1 INT) (1 FF) (1 TD)]
Ty Bryant – [(10 totTk) (3 solo) (0.5 sacks)]
Jordan Castell – [(9 totTk) (5 solo) (1 INT)]
Tavion Gadson – [(5 totTk) (2 solo) (1.5 sacks) (2 TFL)]
Upcoming Game:
The ‘Cats (1-1, 0-1 SEC) will head to Kyle Field in College Station, Texas to take on the Texas A&M Aggies (2-0, 0-0 SEC) next Saturday afternoon. The opening spread for the game is Texas A&M (-14.5) with an over/under at 48.5. Kick-off is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. The game will be televised on ESPN.
