By Collan McCoy: Sports Writer

For Kentucky fans of a certain age, Florida was the archenemy, the final boss, the immovable
object. For Mark Stoops, Florida wins are as common as poor games coming out of a bye
week. 

After Saturday, Mark Stoops has now beaten Florida five times in his career. For comparison,
the only SEC opponents that Stoops has more wins against are Missouri (seven wins), South
Carolina (seven wins), and their next SEC opponent, Vanderbilt (eight wins). 

The most impressive part of the win may be the manner in which the cats pulled it off. After
losing to the Gators 48-20 in the Swamp last year, the Wildcats were able to outscore them 38-7
on an all-around team showing.

The defense was one muffed punt away from pitching a potential shutout against the Gators
offense, led by highly touted Sophomore Quarterback DJ Lagway. The Gator punt at 2:22 of the
first quarter was muffed by returner Ja’Mori Maclin, giving the Gators the ball at the Kentucky
13-yard line, which set them up for a two-play drive and touchdown.

From that moment on, it was all Kentucky, holding the Gators to just 7-15 on third down
conversions with the UK secondary picking the ball three different times by three different
defensive players and coming up with one fumble recovery. Kentucky also had four turnovers on
the evening coming in the form of three lost fumbles and an interception.

The offense looked more in sync as the offensive line only allowed one sack on the night to the
backup quarterback Beau Allen. Seth McGowan rushed for 92 yards and two touchdowns, while
Donte Dowdell rushed for 104 yards and one touchdown that came on a 65-yarder in the fourth
quarter. 

Redshirt Freshman Quarterback Cutter Boley also threw two touchdown passes to Jason
Patterson and JJ Hester. This was in addition to a first quarter field goal to round out the wildcat
scoring at 38-7 in a game that didn’t feel even that close. Boley had 18 completions on 23
attempts, completing 12 in a row in the first and second quarters.

The Wildcats are back in action next week on November 15th at home against undefeated FCS
opponent Tennessee Tech after the Golden Eagles beat Eastern Illinois 21-9 earlier on
Saturday.

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By Collan McCoy – Sports Writer

The Wildcats sought to avenge their loss in Austin from last year but fell short in a thrilling SEC overtime battle 16-13 to Texas.

Kentucky (2-4) put up a fight against the No. 21 Longhorns in a Saturday night thriller, outgaining Texas 395 yards to 179. Late field goals by both teams sent the game to overtime, where the Longhorns came out on top.

The story of the game was Kentucky redshirt freshman Cutter Boley. Boley passed for 258 yards on 31 completions in his fifth career start. He also was the team’s leading rusher with 45 net yards on 14 attempts. Preseason Heisman favorite Arch Manning had 132 yards on 27 attempts.

Running back Seth McGowan was the leading receiver for the Cats out of the backfield with 68 yards on seven catches. With McGowan’s 45 rushing yards, he accumulated 113 total yards for the game.

Kentucky’s defense also outplayed the Texas defense, holding the Longhorns to just 179 total yards compared with 395 for the Cats. Coming into Saturday night’s contest, Texas was ranked fourth in FBS defensive efficiency, while Kentucky ranked 40th.

The Cats play the Tennessee Volunteers next Saturday at 7:45 p.m. and will be looking for their first SEC win of the season and their first victory over the Volunteers since the COVID-shortened 2020 season.

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Press Release Per UK Athletics

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Kentucky senior running back Seth McGowan has earned honorable mention Player of the Week by the Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award, it was announced Tuesday.

The Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award is presented annually to the nation’s most outstanding Division I offensive player who graduated from a Texas high school or plays at a four-year college in Texas. McGowan is a native of Mesquite, Texas, where he was a standout at Poteet High School.

Each week during the regular season, an Earl Campbell Tyler Rose National Player of the Week will be selected leading up to announcing the 16 semifinalists in November and up to five finalists in December. The recipient of the award will be announced in January.

It marks the second consecutive week a Kentucky player has received national recognition after safety Ty Bryant earned an honorable mention nod from Paycom Jim Thorpe Award a week prior.

McGowan turned in his first 100-yard rushing performance at UK and the second of his career in the Wildcats’ 48-23 victory over Eastern Michigan. He hit the end zone for three rushing touchdowns, making him the first Cat to do that since Ray Davis against Florida in 2023. He finished with 104 yards on 18 carries.

Through three games, McGowan’s six rushing touchdowns leads the Southeastern Conference and ranks second in FBS. He is the first UK player with at least 75 yards rushing and a touchdown rushing in each of the first three games of the season since Derrick Locke in 2010.

The Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award is named in honor of Earl Campbell, who graduated from John Tyler High School in Tyler, Texas, before playing at Texas. In his senior season, Campbell led the nation with 1,744 rushing yards and 19 touchdowns, becoming Texas’ first Heisman Trophy winner. He was drafted by the Houston Oilers, where he earned Rookie of the Year honors in 1978 and went on to lead the NFL in rushing three times. Campbell earned NFL MVP in 1979 and was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1991.

UK (1-1, 0-1 SEC) has a bye this week and will visit South Carolina for its next outing on Saturday, September 27. Kickoff is set for 7:45 p.m. ET on the SEC Network.

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LEXINGTON — Cutter Boley might just be the future of Kentucky football.

The freshman quarterback put on a show Saturday night, guiding the Wildcats to a 48-23 win over Eastern Michigan inside Kroger Field. Boley stepped in after Zach Calzada’s injury last week and didn’t disappoint, throwing for 240 yards and two touchdowns on 12-of-21 passing.

Boley seemed most comfortable with his tight ends, finding Josh Kattus and Willie Rodriguez for big gains. He hit Kattus for a touchdown with just under two minutes left in the first half to give UK a 28-6 cushion.

There were some unnecessary risks with Boley. Boley took a couple hard hits late in the game, with the Wildcats choosing to keep him in the game despite a three possession lead. 

The Wildcats didn’t just get it done through the air. Seth McGowan hit the ground hard, running 18 times for 104 yards and three touchdowns as Kentucky racked up 252 rushing yards.

Defensively, Kentucky struggled in the first half. Eastern Michigan had success moving the ball, piling up 461 yards, including 330 through the air by the end of the night. But the UK defense stood tall on fourth down conversions, turning back three conversion attempts in the opening quarter. Later in the second half things seemed to come together better for the Wildcats. 

Overall, this was a good morale booster for the Wildcats and much needed experience for Boley as they prepare to hit the road and face South Carolina after a bye week. 

The win improves Kentucky to 2-1 for the season.

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