College football final: Kentucky 41, Ohio 6

Coming off a 13-12 loss to then top-ranked Georgia, Kentucky faces a nonconference opponent when the Ohio Bobcats come to Kroger Field for a Saturday game. The SEC Network has the telecast starting at 12:45 p.m.

Kentucky is 1-2 on the season, with a win 31-0 win over Southern Miss and a 31-6 loss to South Carolina, plus the loss to Georgia. Ohio is 2-1 after a 38-22 loss at Syracuse, a 27-20 win over South Alabama and a 21-6 victory over Morgan State.

Jon Hale, Mark Story, Ryan Hermens and yours truly will be in the press box high above Kroger Field on Saturday. Follow us on X/Twitter at @jonhale_hl, @markcstory, @ryanhermens and @johnclayiv.

Or you can follow a Kentucky football X/Twitter list by clicking here.

Final: Kentucky 41, Ohio 6

Kentucky snaps a two-game losing streak and improves to 2-2 on the season. Ohio dropped to 2-2.

Kentucky returns to SEC play next week with its first road trip of the season. Mark Stoops’ club will be in Oxford to take on the Ole Miss Rebels at noon. Ranked No. 5 in the latest AP poll, Ohio was to play host to Georgia Southern on Saturday night.

Final stats

Quick recap of the Kentucky victory

Gavin Wimsatt directs a scoring drive

UK quarterback Gavin Wimsatt directs a 59-yard TD drive on 11 plays. Wimsatt threw a couple of nice passes, completing a 25-yarder to Anthony Brown-Stephens and a 20-yarder to Fred Farrier. Wimsatt scored the TD himself from 2 yards out. Kentucky 41, Ohio 6 with 3:45 left.

Kentucky answers Ohio’s score

Kentucky answers Ohio’s score with a score of its own. Six-play, 56-yard drive. Dane Key two catches for 30 yards. Barion Brown scored from 23 yards out on a jet sweep. Cats 34, Ohio 6 with 11:38 left at Kroger Field.

Brock Vandagriff is now 17-of-24 passing for 237 yards.

Dane Key has seven receptions for 145 yards.

Ohio gets on the board

Ohio is on the board. After Kentucky’s failed fourth-and-1, the Bobcats drive 51 yards in five plays for their first score of the afternoon — 1-yard run by Rickey Hunt. Kentucky up 27-6 with 14:43 left in the game. Ohio’s two-point conversion attempt failed.

End of 3Q: Kentucky 27, Ohio 0

Kentucky failed on a fourth-and-1 at the Ohio 46-yard line, turning the ball back over to the Bobcats. And Ohio drove down to the Kentucky 1-yard line as the quarter ended.

Stats through three quarters

Maxwell Hairston takes it to the house

That was quick. First play after the Raynor field goal, UK’s Maxwell Hairston returns an interception 25 yards for another score. That extends the Cats’ lead over over Ohio to 27-0 with 5:12 left in the third quarter.

Hairston returned two interceptions for touchdowns in Kentucky’s 45-28 win at Vanderbilt last season. With three pick sixes he has tied Dallas Owens for the school record.

Alex Raynor sets school record

Kentucky kicker Alex Raynor sets a school record with his 12th consecutive made field goal. His 34-yarder puts Kentucky up 20-0 over Ohio with 5:18 left in the third quarter.

UK drove the ball to a first down at the Ohio 18-yard line, but the drive stalled. A pop-pass to Barion Brown gained just two yards. Then Brock Vandagriff and Dane Key failed to connect on a pair of throws to the end zone.

Jon Hale wrote this week that Raynor was on a record-setting pace.

Halftime: Kentucky 17, Ohio 0

Kentucky had a chance to extend the lead at the end of the first half. UK marched to the Ohio 28-yard line with 19 seconds left, but Brock Vandagriff was sacked. He also fumbled. Kentucky recovered, but did not have a timeout remaining. Thus the clock ran out before the Cats could line up for a field goal.

Excellent first half from Vandagriff, who was 10-of-13 passing for 164 yards. Wide receiver Dane Key caught four passes for 109 yards, his second career 100-yard receiving game.

Kentucky outgained the visiting Bobcats 270-112 in the first half.

First half stats

Kentucky hits a big fourth-down pass and extends lead

On a fourth-and-7 from the Ohio 38, Brock Vandagriff hits Dane Key for a 36-yard gain. One play later, Sumo-Karngbaye scores his second TD of the afternoon, this time from two yards out. Kentucky 17, Ohio 0 with 4:07 left in the first half.

Earlier in the drive, Vandagriff completed a 42-yard pass to Key on a nice second-reaction play. Vandagriff did a good job of avoiding the rush, then finding Key for the completion.

Kentucky got the ball when J.J. Weaver recovered an Ohio fumble after the Bobcats had reached the UK 5-yard line. It was the Cats’ first fumble recovery of the season.

Jon Hale wrote this week about UK’s bad luck recovering fumbles.

Kentucky finally finds the end zone

What’s lost is now found. Kentucky scores its first touchdown in nine quarters. Runs of 21 and 23 yards by Jamarion Wilcox highlighted a 7-play, 80-yard drive with Kumo Sumo-Karngbaye scoring from a yard out. UK 10, Ohio 0 with 14:39 left in the first half.

End of 1Q: Kentucky 3, Ohio

Kentucky has now gone nine straight quarters without scoring a touchdown. The first quarter did end with the Cats at the Ohio 16-yard line, facing a third-and-9.

UK running back Jamarion Wilcox rushed for 63 yards on just three carries in the first quarter. The redshirt freshman had runs of 21 and 23 yards.

First quarter stats

Kentucky takes a 3-0 lead

Kentucky drives to the Ohio U 10, but drive stalls. False start penalty didn’t help. Alex Raynor boots a 30-yard field goal to give Wildcats a 3-0 lead. Cats still without a touchdown since season opener. There’s 5:48 left in first quarter.

Ohio starting quarterback ruled out

Ohio starting quarterback Parker Navarro is out for the Bobcats. Navarro was listed as questionable coming into the game. Through three games, Navarro was 50-of-73 passing for 547 yards and two touchdowns with four interceptions. He threw three interceptions in Ohio’s win last week over Morgan Stat.e.

Nick Poulos is expected to start behind center for the visitors. A 6-foot-6 junior, Poulos has thrown just four passes this season, completing two for 25 yards. He transferred to Ohio from El Camino College in California.

Where to watch, how to follow Saturday’s Kentucky football game vs. Ohio University

Kentucky vs. Ohio prediction: Will the Wildcats’ offense finally find passing success?

How Kentucky football and Ohio match up — with a game prediction

Meet the person Mark Stoops calls ‘invaluable’ to Kentucky football

‘We can’t buy a bucket.’ Why there’s hope for one bad UK football stat to correct itself.

Could Alex Raynor leave Kentucky as program’s best kicker after Georgia performance?

Hopes and fears for Kentucky football fans about UK’s game vs. the Ohio Bobcats

‘What are you doing?’ It’s been a rough start for former UK quarterback Will Levis.