Photo by Jeff Houchin
Saturday in the Bluegrass provided more than an ordinary day of football at Kroger Field. In fact, the Kentucky Wildcats honored 16 seniors ahead of their final home game of the 2018 season. The Wildcats went out in style, edging past the Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders, 34-23.
Adding more emotion to the early kickoff was sophomore edge rusher Josh Paschal, as he was announced during warmups to be one of Kentucky’s starters on defense.
Paschal’s start was his season debut after being diagnosed with Melanoma skin cancer earlier in the summer. His initial recovery was expected to last just a few weeks. However, the timeline lingered on for the first 10 games of the season.
Paschal’s return to Kentucky’s front seven brought along high enthusiasm that the unit would show signs of improvement, however that was far from the case.
Though their performance wasn’t exceptional, senior safety Mike Edwards certainly was.
Edwards returned an interception 66 yards for a touchdown and forced a fumble on the game’s first two opening drives.
Running back Benny Snell then capitalized on the fumble recovery with a touchdown run, extending Kentucky’s quick start to 14-0.
A field goal later in the first quarter had Kentucky out 17-0 early.
In the second quarter, Middle Tennessee would score 10 points to Kentucky’s lone touchdown by CJ Conrad en route to a 24-10 half-time score.
Coming out of the half, Snell & the Wildcats didn’t waste any time piling onto their lead. His six-yard TD run extended the Kentucky lead to 31-10.
Following that drive, Kentucky would however go cold as Middle Tennessee added two touchdowns for 13 points. When it mattered most, though, senior place kicker Miles Butler nailed a 32-yard FG to put Kentucky up 34-23 with 4:01 remaining.
Sacks by Josh Allen and Jamar “Boogie” Watson resulted in a MTSU turnover on downs and sealed Kentucky’s eighth win of the season.
Allen finished the game with a career-high 15 tackles and two sacks. His second sack not only helped capture the win but also moved him into first place in the program’s all-time sack list. He broke the single-season record for sacks as well.
Edwards finished his final home game with 12 tackles, an INT & FF.
For what was most likely Snell’s final game at Kroger Field (anticipation of entering the NFL draft), No. 26 carried the ball 26 times for 116 yards and two scores.
Quarterback Terry Wilson completed 10-14 passes for 121 yards and a TD. Wilson added 27 net yards on five carries.
Conrad was the team’s leading receiver, catching four balls for 51 yards and a score.
Kentucky was surprisingly out-gained in their win over Middle Tennessee, an issue they’ll desirably need to fix as they head to Louisville for their season finale next Saturday.
Kickoff with the Cardinals is set for 7 P.M. EDT.
