Three takeaways from Kentucky football’s win against the Ohio Bobcats

Three takeaways from Kentucky football’s 41-6 win over the Ohio Bobcats at Kroger Field on Saturday.

1. Kentucky took care of business

After Kentucky’s oh-so-close-but-no-cigar 13-12 home loss to then No. 1-ranked Georgia Bulldogs last week, you couldn’t help but wonder how Mark Stoops’ Wildcats would perform against a nonconference opponent from the Mid-American Conference.

Turns out, for the most part, there was nothing to worry about. The Cats made their fair share of mistakes — “We have a lot of things to correct,” Stoops said afterward — but held a comfortable 17-0 lead at the half, then blew things open in the second half to win by 35 points in a game in which they were a 19-point favorite.

Bush Hamdan’s offense gained 488 total yards, the most by a Kentucky attack since UK gained 511 total yards for play-caller Liam Coen in a 52-21 rout of Louisville on Nov. 27, 2021. The offense also snapped a drought of nine consecutive quarters without putting the ball in the end zone. Brad White’s defense allowed Ohio one TD, but also scored a TD of its own when cornerback Maxwell Hairston returned an interception 25 yards for his third career pick six, tying Dallas Owens’ school record.

“I thought we had the right mindset,” said Stoops, his team now 2-2. “We were far from perfect. Made a lot of mistakes.”

Stoops took the blame for the time management mistake at the end of the first half when the Cats moved the ball into Ohio territory but failed to tally points. In the postgame press conference, the coach was kicking himself for not attempting a field goal on third down with 19 seconds left and his team out of timeouts. Instead, UK ended up drawing a delay of game penalty. Then quarterback Brock Vandagriff was sacked for a 10-yard loss and the clock ran out before Alex Raynor could line up for a field goal.

“I screwed that up,” the coach said.

2. A mixed bag for the Kentucky offense

Making his fourth college start, Vandagriff ended up 17-of-24 passing for 237 yards. Wide receiver Dane Key had a career day with seven catches for 145 yards. Barion Brown scored on a 23-yard jet sweep. And Kentucky rushed for 206 yards.

Still, Hamdan was not all that happy with the afternoon. Yes, there were explosive plays. The offense produced six plays of 20-plus yards. But the offensive coordinator lamented the number of penalties — especially holding calls — in addition to missed opportunities.

First quarter, Kentucky drove to a second-and-6 at the Ohio 10-yard line only to commit a false start penalty. After backup quarterback Gavin Wimsatt was stopped for no gain out of the wildcat formation, Vandagriff gained just 3 yards on third down and UK had to settle for a 30-yard Raynor field goal.

In the third quarter, Kentucky had a fourth-and-1 at the Ohio 46-yard line, when Vandagriff dropped the ball after on a zone rebound. The quarterback did grab the ball off the bounce but was tackled for a 3-yard loss as the Cats turned the ball over on downs.

Pass protection was the biggest offensive shortcoming. Despite the fact that Ohio’s defensive line was depleted by injuries, the Bobcats were able to consistently force Vandagriff out of the pocket. Luckily, UK’s QB was able to avoid the rush and make several nice second-reaction throws.

“I think the biggest thing is those penalties,” Hamdan said. “It just feels like there are too many times where we’re playing from behind the sticks. Again, we’ve got to take a long hard look at what’s going to put us in the best position to have success and win football games.

“I think at times there was a step up, and when that happened we were able to get the ball down the field. But there’s going to be a lot of watching (video) and making the decisions we have to make to get this offense going.”

3. Now it’s back to the SEC shark tank

After a week outside the conference, the Cats jump back into the dangerous waters of the SEC next Saturday with a noon game at the Ole Miss Rebels. That’s the No. 5-ranked Ole Miss Rebels, who were to play Georgia Southern on Saturday night.

The Cats came out on the end of the short end of their first two SEC games, but in a different fashion. Stoops’ club looked abysmal in a 31-6 home loss to South Carolina on Sept. 7. The following Saturday, Kentucky took top-ranked Georgia right down to the wire before becoming the Bulldogs’ 28th consecutive regular-season conference victim.

Perhaps the showing against the Dawgs gives the Cats confidence they can deal with a brutal remaining schedule that includes three teams ranked in this past week’s AP top 10 — No. 1 Texas, No. 5 Ole Miss and No. 6 Tennessee. All three of those are road games for UK, by the way.

“We’re accepting the challenge,” Hairston said Saturday. “Ole Miss has got a very explosive offense ... We’re going to watch film, do what we have to do. We’re accepting that challenge. Can’t wait for it.”

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