Content by – Paul Novielli for SPORTS VIEW AMERICA … Please check us out on X , INSTAGRAM, & FACEBOOK … Photo Galleries at Facebook.com/SportsViewAmerica & SVA PHOTOS
Photo by PAUL NOVIELLI – Texas
When Will Stein took over at Kentucky, he said he came here to win.
Not three years from now. Not after multiple recruiting cycles. He said he came here to win now.
A lot of fans probably chalked that up to coach speak. Maybe it was just a young, hungry coach trying to get a fanbase fired up about a new regime.
Will Stein believed it.
Last week, Kentucky took Alabama to the mat for 42 minutes before eventually losing by 28 points. After the game, player after player said they felt like they let an opportunity get away from them.
Still, plenty of pundits wrote the Cats off, and plenty of fans wondered whether this whole idea of winning right now might be a pipe dream.
Coming into Saturday’s game, Kentucky was a 17-point underdog against No. 9 Texas A&M.
But something strange was happening around the program.
Everything was quiet.
There wasn’t a lot of hype. There wasn’t a lot of talk coming out of practice. There wasn’t much noise at all.
Why?
The Cats went to work.
Kentucky Takes Control
The game was a slugfest through most of the first half.
Texas A&M struck first on a two-yard touchdown run by Carsyn Baker, but Kentucky answered fast.
The Cats went 75 yards in six plays, finishing the drive with a touchdown to Henry Boyer on a beautifully designed play just before halftime.
Then Kentucky came out of the locker room and took control.
The Cats scored 21 points during a second half in which they controlled the game for long stretches.
Kenny Minchey connected with Kenny Darby for a 42-yard touchdown. Kentucky then put together an 83-yard drive capped by a four-yard CJ Baxter touchdown run.
Later, after Kentucky’s defense stuffed Texas A&M on fourth down at the Aggies’ own 32-yard line, the Cats made them pay again.
Baxter punched it in for his second touchdown of the game.
Kentucky led 28-7.
Texas A&M didn’t go away quietly. The Aggies responded with a 13-play, 75-yard touchdown drive to cut the lead to 28-14, and for a moment it felt like momentum might be creeping back toward the A&M sideline.
Kentucky responded.
Again.
The Cats drove 41 yards in six plays before Adam Zouagui, who had missed a field goal in the first half, banked a 52-yarder off the left upright to put Kentucky ahead 31-14.
Texas A&M scored again with 3:45 remaining, but by then it was too little, too late.
Kentucky had already done the damage.
This Wasn’t a Fluke
Kentucky didn’t sneak out of College Station with a lucky win.
For the majority of the game, the Wildcats dominated the No. 9 team in the country on its home field.
Kenny Minchey, who struggled against Alabama, bounced back in a huge way. He finished 14-of-18 for 252 yards and two touchdowns, looking much more like the quarterback Kentucky expected to see when the season began.
The running game was just as impressive.
Kentucky rushed for 156 yards and two touchdowns, led by Texas transfer CJ Baxter, who finished with 87 yards and two scores on 19 carries.
And then there were the wide receivers.
After being relatively quiet through Kentucky’s first two games, the receiver room finally broke loose.
DJ Miller entered the game without a catch this season.
He left College Station with five catches for 96 yards, averaging 19.2 yards per reception.
True freshman Kenny Darby also had a breakout performance. Despite dropping what could have been another wide-open 42-yard touchdown, Darby still finished with two catches for 64 yards and a touchdown, including a beautiful open-field move after the catch that turned his reception into six points.
Early in the game, Texas A&M held a massive advantage in time of possession, 17:06 to 7:36.
By the end, that gap had almost completely disappeared.
A&M finished with just a 30:25 to 29:35 advantage.
From late in the second quarter on, Kentucky controlled possession and, more importantly, controlled the football game.
Kentucky Left Points on the Field
Some people will call this an upset. Some will call it a fluke.
It wasn’t.
Kentucky dominated this game and still left around 10 points on the field.
If anything, this could have been worse for Texas A&M.
The players seemed to understand that after the game.
“In the locker room we were excited about the dub, but I heard guys talking about, let’s go back and let’s see what we can get better at,” Baxter said afterward.
That’s a pretty telling statement.
Kentucky just went on the road and beat the No. 9 team in the country, and the conversation in the locker room wasn’t just about celebrating.
It was about what they left out there.
It was about getting better.
It was about another gear this team believes it can reach.
Will Stein had tears in his eyes during his postgame press conference while talking about what the win meant to the program. He also made it clear that this is how he expects Kentucky football to play.
The preparation showed.
The physicality showed.
The confidence showed.
Stein also acknowledged that Kentucky still has “a lot” to clean up and talked about getting back to the film, getting back to work and continuing to improve.
That’s probably the part Kentucky fans should be most excited about.
Maybe Winning Now Isn’t a Pipe Dream
This win changes the conversation around Kentucky.
There are games coming up that, if Kentucky continues winning, could lead to conversations Big Blue Nation probably wasn’t expecting to be having this early in the Will Stein era.
Sometimes a team goes on the road, upsets a Top 10 opponent and gets every possible break along the way.
This wasn’t that.
Kentucky walked into the largest stadium in the SEC, in front of an announced crowd of more than 105,000 people, and dominated the No. 9 team in the country for the majority of the game.
That matters.
Can this team go on a run and have a special season?
That’s still to be seen.
It’s one game.
But this game showed us something.
Will Stein is here.
He’s here to win.
And Kentucky football isn’t talking about waiting three years to compete with the SEC and the rest of the country.
If Stein has his way, they’re coming now.
Paul Novielli – Founder & Host – Bleed Blue Network
