Five things you need to know from Kentucky’s abbreviated 31-0 win over Southern Miss

Five things you need to know from Kentucky’s 31-0 win over Southern Mississippi in a game that ended at 11:52 p.m. (EDT) with 9:56 left in the third quarter due to the weather:

1. Counting the Cats’ plays. Last season, Kentucky played at such a deliberate offensive pace that the Wildcats saw 12 of their 13 opponents run more plays from scrimmage than UK.

In 2023, the Cats never ran more than 63 plays (vs. Tennessee) in a game. Only once, in a 17-14 loss at South Carolina in the season’s 11th game, did Kentucky run more plays than an opponent, barely besting the Gamecocks 61-60.

Last year, UK ran fewer than 60 plays in 10 of 13 games and the Cats got off fewer than 50 plays twice (48 vs. Akron, 47 at Louisville).

For the first game of 2024, the UK attack, under new offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan, played faster. Kentucky had run 42 plays when the game was suspended by lightning with 9:56 left in the third quarter.

At various points, UK got to the line of scrimmage so quickly, the Southern Mississippi defense had difficulty getting lined up before Kentucky snapped the ball.

2. Vandagriff’s debut. In his first collegiate start and first game since transferring to Kentucky from Georgia, Wildcats quarterback Brock Vandagriff completed 12 of 18 passes for 169 yards with three touchdown throws and one interception.

While it is not an apples to apples statistical comparison since Saturday night’s game was shortened by the weather, Vandagriff’s debut was the third time in four seasons that Kentucky has broken in a new starting QB it acquired via the transfer portal.

In 2021, Penn State transfer Will Levis made his UK debut by completing 18 of 26 throws for 367 yards and four touchdowns with one interception in a 45-10 strafing of Louisiana Monroe.

Last season, North Carolina State transfer Devin Leary completed 18 of 31 passes for 241 yards with a TD throw and a pick in a 44-14 win over Ball State.

Going back to Tim Couch’s first start in 1996, UK is now 15-9 in games in which a QB makes his first start for Kentucky.

3. Barion’s streaks. Entering Saturday’s game, UK kickoff returner Barion Brown was riding some crazy streaks.

The Nashville, Tennessee, product had returned a kickoff for a touchdown in every season opener in which he had ever played.

In 2022, in his first game as a collegian, Brown took the opening kickoff of the second half 100 yards for a touchdown in what became a 37-13 Kentucky victory over Miami (Ohio).

Last season, Brown took a Ball State kickoff 99 yards to the house in what became a 44-14 Wildcats season-opening victory.

Against USM, Brown was also seeking to return a kickoff for a TD for a third straight game.

In Kentucky’s 38-31 upset of No. 9 Louisville in last year’s regular season finale, Brown uncorked a 100-yard kickoff return score.

Against Clemson in the Taxslayer Gator Bowl, Brown returned the opening kickoff of half two 100 yards for a TD.

Alas, Southern Mississippi only got to kick off once — to open the game. In a sagacious move, the Golden Eagles did not give Brown a chance. USM kicker Luke Stewart pooched the ball and UK true freshman tight end Willie Rodriguez wound up returning it 11 yards.

4. Kentucky extends a winning streak. With its victory, Kentucky has now won 17 straight nonconference regular-season games. UK’s last loss in such a game came to Lamar Jackson and Louisville, 44-17, in the 2017 regular season finale.

Only No. 1 Georgia, which has won 25 consecutive regular season nonconference games after demolishing Clemson 34-3 Saturday, has a longer such streak than UK.

5. Mark Stoops in openers. With UK’s victory, Mark Stoops is now 9-3 as top Cat in season openers (one of those nine season-opening wins, the 45-10 victory over ULM in 2021, has been subsequently vacated due to NCAA rules violations by UK).

After going 2-2 in his first four openers as UK head man, Stoops has since gone 7-1 in the season’s opening contest.

All-time, Kentucky is 91-37-5 in opening games of seasons.

Fashion police

For its 2024 season debut, Kentucky wore blue helmets, blue jerseys with white letters and numbers, and white pants.

Since 2015, UK has gone “blue, blue and white” in every season opener — eight of the 10 — the Wildcats have played in Lexington.

The Wildcats are 7-1 in those eight games.

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