Five things you need to know from Kentucky’s 41-6 win over the Ohio Bobcats

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Sat, Sep 21, 2024, 3:57 p.m.·3 min read

Five things you need to know from Kentucky’s 41-6 win over Ohio University:

1. UK rediscovers the end zone. Kentucky went the entirety of its prior two games against South Carolina and Georgia and the first quarter Saturday against Ohio without scoring touchdowns.

However, in the second quarter vs. the Bobcats, Kentucky’s Demi Sumo-Karngbaye at last broke through and scored on TD runs of 1 and 2 yards.

In the second half, the gates opened and Kentucky added a 25-yard interception return TD from Maxwell Hairston, a 23-yard touchdown run by Barion Brown on an end-around and a 2-yard scoring keeper by ex-Owensboro High School quarterback Gavin Wimsatt.

By ending their streak without a touchdown at nine quarters, the 2024 Cats managed not to equal Bill Curry’s 1996 Kentucky team that failed to score a TD in three straight games — a 24-3 loss at Cincinnati, a 3-0 win over Indiana and a 65-0 loss at Florida.

Kentucky running back Demie Sumo-Karngbaye (0) runs the ball as Ohio safety Austin Brawley (0) and linebacker Blake Leake (9) try to bring him down Saturday at Kroger Field. Sumo-Karngbaye carried 12 times for 47 yards and two touchdowns.

2. The Kentucky pass protection. Against an Ohio defensive front that entered the game with only two sacks and seven tackles for loss combined in its two prior 2024 contests against FBS competition, the UK pass protection was adequate, not great.

Ohio sacked Brock Vandagriff only once, but the Bobcats were credited with five QB hurries against the Wildcats’ starting quarterback. On one sequence in the fourth quarter, Kentucky offensive linemen were called for holding on back-to-back plays as they tried to buy Vandagriff time to throw.

(Facing a first-and-30 for a first down, UK converted in two plays en route to completing a touchdown drive.)

Given at least some time to throw, Vandagriff had his best game to date at Kentucky. The transfer from Georgia completed 17 of 24 passes for 237 yards.

With all that, the Kentucky pass protection was not so secure to give one a lot of comfort as the Wildcats return to SEC play next week at Mississippi.

3. A career high for Key. Kentucky wideout Dane Key caught seven passes for 145 yards.

It was the second 100-yard plus receiving day for the former Frederick Douglass High School star as a collegian. Last season, Key had seven catches for 113 yards in UK’s 33-27 loss to Tennessee.

4. UK players set two Wildcats career records. Maxwell Hairston’s 25-yard jaunt to a touchdown after intercepting Ohio quarterback Nick Poulos was the third pick six of the West Bloomfield, Michigan, product’s UK career.

That tied 1970s star Dallas Owens for the most interception return TDs in school history.

Kentucky place-kicker Alex Raynor, meanwhile, cashed in field goals from 30 and 34 yards.

Going back to the end of last season, Raynor has now made 12 straight field goal tries. That broke the previous UK record for most consecutive made field goals, 11, which was achieved twice by Austin MacGinnis.

5. Tracking Stoops. With UK’s win, Mark Stoops is now:

▪ 11-0 vs. teams from the Mid-American Conference;

▪ 20-2 vs. teams from the Group of Five conferences;

▪ 4-8 vs. the team Kentucky plays immediately after facing Georgia.

After starting his UK career 0-6 in the week after playing the Bulldogs, Stoops has subsequently won four of the past six such games.