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 Mont Dawson SVA & Bleed Blue Network (@ Lexington, KY 10-11-26)

How are your hearts feeling after the last two weeks, Big Blue Nation?

The Kentucky Wildcats went to overtime for the second straight week to defeat the #10 LSU Tigers on homecoming last night. It may have been a different week, but it was the same scoreline, 35-34. Just a week after going for two to win at South Carolina, the Cats would find themselves in the same situation against LSU.

LSU opened the scoring with a 24 yard field goal by Scott Starzyk, but the Cats would strike back almost immediately. On the Cats’ first offensive play, CJ Baxter would rip off a run for 77 yards down to the LSU 3 yard line. Baxter would finish what he started on the next snap, taking it in from three yards and giving the Cats a 7-3 lead. But LSU would answer with a 22 yard touchdown pass from Sam Leavitt to Zach Grace, putting the Tigers back in front, 10-7.

Kentucky’s next touchdown would come from special teams. Brock Coffman put on his Superman cape, using a great stiff arm and tiptoeing down the sideline to take the punt back 55 yards to the house! This was also the first touchdown as a Wildcat for Coffman, who made sure his first one was a memorable one! But once again, LSU would answer. Leavitt found Jackson Harris for a 10 yard touchdown, putting the Tigers back on top, 17-14.

Kentucky would get the ball back and put together a possession that mattered considerably more than just the points. In fact, it may be one of the greatest drives to end a half in UK football history! The Cats drove 75 yards down the field in a drive that took all of the final 6:11 left in the half off the clock. But getting down the field was only part of the job. Kentucky still needed to finish the drive. With fourth and goal at the 1 yard line, Will Stein elected to keep the offense on the field. Kentucky would do its own variation of the “tush push.” Kenny Minchey would get into the end zone as the half expired, giving Kentucky a 21-17 lead heading into the break.

Kentucky would start the 3rd quarter in a way it hadn’t the last three games: slow on offense. Kentucky would gain only 2 yards on its opening possession of the second half. After the punt, Ty Bryant would intercept Sam Leavitt, and Kentucky looked to be in business. They would take the ball down to the LSU 17 yard line. On 4th and 2, Will Stein would elect to go for it. Minchey’s pass would be incomplete.

The Kentucky defense continued to play well to start the second half, forcing a three and out after LSU took over on downs. The UK offense would get the ball back yet again but managed only to gain 7 yards. Kentucky would gain only 27 yards in the 3rd quarter.

Kentucky was getting chances to help itself, but getting the ball and doing something with it were two different things. And against an offense coached by Lane Kiffin, you don’t want to keep giving them opportunities to take the lead.

After the punt, that is exactly what LSU would do. They put together an 11 play, 73 yard drive that would cut the deficit to 21-20 on a field goal at the end of the third quarter. Kentucky would answer with a 10 play, 65 yard drive of their own, capped off by a 28 yard field goal by Adam Zouagui early in the fourth, increasing the lead to 24-20. But the Tigers would use a trick play to go back in front. Harris took a lateral from Leavitt and threw a 41 yard touchdown pass to Roman Mothershed, putting LSU up 27-24 with 9:42 remaining. This was the second trick play #10 LSU would use in the game to score a touchdown.

Kentucky still had time, but the opportunities that followed were enough to make the ending considerably more stressful than it needed to be, with plenty of UK fans wanting to pull their hair out.

Zouagui missed a field goal from 42 yards out. The defense would then get the ball back on a sack and fumble by Leavitt, giving Kentucky another chance to tie the game. This time, the Cats got close enough for a 26 yard chip shot attempt. That one missed, too, and with a little over 4 minutes left in the game, it started to look like the game was out of reach.

Two opportunities to tie it, and Kentucky was still down three. After the defense had worked to get the ball back, coming away with nothing was frustrating. The Cats were running out of time, and LSU had an opportunity to finish the game.

But the Kentucky defense had other plans.

After an initial LSU first down, the Cats forced a punt with under two minutes left to give Kenny Minchey and the Kentucky offense the ball with a chance to tie or win the game. With 1:37 remaining, no timeouts and the ball on their own 19 yard line, the offense would go to work and put together yet another drive to end the half against a power opponent that would change the game and possibly the season for both teams. There wasn’t much room left for another mistake.

Minchey would move the Cats down the field, giving Zouagui one more opportunity for redemption. With 12 seconds remaining, he would hit the game tying field goal from 33 yards to send Kroger Field into a frenzy. After two misses that could have cost Kentucky the game, Zouagui made sure the Cats would get to overtime and have another shot at the win.

Kentucky won the toss and elected to defend. LSU needed just two plays to score, with Leavitt running it in from 15 yards out to put the Tigers up 34-27.

The Cats would need an answer, but first they needed a conversion. Facing 3rd and 8, Minchey found Kenny Darby on a short pass. That is when Kenny Darby would show why he’s probably going to be a freshman All American. A brilliant spin move as he made the catch gave him the first down, but his legs just kept going! Fighting through multiple LSU defenders, Darby would get all the way down to the 1 yard line for a 22 yard gain that would put Kentucky in position to score.

That play deserves to be remembered when people talk about the finish. Kentucky needed eight yards to keep its chances alive. Darby gave them considerably more than that. A young man, just a true freshman from Louisiana who originally committed to play for LSU, made arguably one of the most clutch plays of the game with everything on the line.

Baxter would score from the 1, bringing Kentucky within a point. And once again, Stein would put two fingers in the air, the two fingers the entire stadium knew would go up. No second overtime again. The Cats wanted to win the game right there.

The Cats initially lined up with Willie Rodriguez in the backfield before alternating timeouts from Kiffin and Stein. Kenny Minchey would trot back onto the field with the ball in his hands yet again with the game on the line. Kentucky then spread LSU out with five receivers, giving Minchey an opportunity to evaluate the defense. He saw only four defenders in the box and elected to keep it himself. “Kenny saw a light box and ended up taking it himself,” Stein said afterward. A QB not known for using his legs would win the game walking into the end zone untouched.

A week earlier, Minchey had adjusted to the coverage before the snap and found Willie Rodriguez for the winning conversion. This time, he recognized the opportunity to run. Kentucky had given its quarterback the ability to make that decision with the game on the line, and he made the right one. The Cats had another 35-34 overtime win.

While the offense provided the finish, the defense deserves considerable credit for getting Kentucky there. The Cats were without several contributors, including linebackers Alex Afari, Antwan Smith and Tavion Wallace. Bo Barnes stepped up with 12 tackles, Grant Godfrey added 10, and Jamarrion Harkless forced the fumble that gave Kentucky one of its late opportunities. LSU finished with 410 yards, well below the 547.8 it had been averaging entering the game.

The win also added several milestones to a season that continues to give Kentucky fans reasons to believe:

• Will Stein is the first Kentucky coach to defeat two ranked opponents in his first season.
• Stein is the first UK coach to begin his first season 5-1 since Alpha Brumage in 1913.
• Stein is the first Kentucky coach to start 3-1 in SEC play in his first season.
• Kentucky has beaten two AP top 10 teams in a season for only the fourth time, joining the 1947, 1964 and 2007 teams.
• The Cats played consecutive overtime games for the first time in school history, winning both.

Kentucky had plenty of opportunities to lose this game. Missed kicks, possessions that stalled and an LSU offense that kept answering all put the Cats in difficult situations. But the defense kept getting the ball back, and when Kentucky needed its offense to finish the game, it did. In a game where old Kentucky may have lost, Will Stein and this team showed this is the new Kentucky. And as the fans rushed the field and the players danced, you had a feeling that this team, this season, may just do something incredibly special.

The Cats now turn their attention to Oklahoma, taking a 5-1 record, #15 ranking and two wins over top 10 opponents into Norman. Oklahoma is coming off a big win of its own, defeating #1 Texas 27-27 on a field goal as time expired to beat their rivals in the Red River Shootout. It was a game in which Texas was heavily favored, in a season where Oklahoma had not played particularly well.

There are things to clean up, and the schedule isn’t getting any easier. But it doesn’t look to be the impossible gauntlet it once did. Six games into Stein’s first season, Kentucky has already given itself an opportunity to play for considerably more than most people expected.

On to Norman.

Images Courtesy Mont Dawson of SVA & Bleed Blue Network.