Seth McGowan (Vicky Graff Photo)
Kentucky felt it upgraded its running game with the additions of transfers Dante Dowdell of Nebraska and Seth McGowan of New Mexico State, and both had impressive opening-game debuts Saturday in a 24-16 win over pesky Toledo.
McGowan scored on a 6-yard run in the fourth quarter, and three minutes later, Dowdell got loose for a 79-yard touchdown gallop that certainly proved he’s more than just a short-yard specialist.
Dowdell finished with 129 yards rushing (his first collegiate 100-yard game) on 14 carries — 9.2 yards per carry — and McGowan 78 yards on 18 carries — 4.3 yards per run. Dowdell had the most rushing yards by a UK player in a season opener since Boom Williams had 135 in 2015 against Louisiana Lafayette. Dowdell’s 79-yard jaunt was UK’s longest run since Chris Rodriguez went 79 yards against South Carolina in 2020 and the second longest in a season opener behind Mark Higgs’ 85-yard touchdown run in 1987.
“They are good players. I’m glad you saw that today, and I’m glad we had an opportunity to get them in the open field,” Kentucky coach Mark Stoops said about his two backs. “Dante, that was an impressive run after the long drive that Toledo had to cut it (UK’s lead). You can see the big guy we talked about in the off-season. Yes, he’s a big boy, and he’s powerful, but he showed great speed there again to take it for a 78-yard run.
“I think both of them, both of those guys, need reps. In the scrimmages, they were really limited. They both played a lot of football. They are running backs, and they are going to take a lot of hits through this year. I think the footwork and footing of our field, hopefully they will continue to improve and get more comfortable because they did slip a few times as well.”
Kentucky’s 220 rushing yards were its most in a season opener since 2018, when it had 299 yards against Central Michigan. Kentucky also had two players rush for at least 75 yards in the season opener for the first time in that same game when Benny Snell and A.J. Rose did it.
“It’s magic. I was very excited and anxious to see what the people and nation were going to do to come out and support us,” McGowan said after the win. “The fans did a phenomenal job, and I think we did a pretty good job today, but there is definitely a lot to improve on, and that’s what I am looking forward to the most.”
Despite the 220 yards rushing, Kentucky had only 305 total yards, and the wide receivers had only 11 yards total between them.
“I think most of our basic fundamental scheme was actually efficient and just took a little bit for the guys to get the first game jitters out of the way. Towards the middle of the game, we started clicking, and chemistry is definitely there; we just have to be better with communication,” McGowan said.
There was no need for communication on Dowdell’s scoring run that came one play after Toledo cut the lead to 17-9 with 9 1/2 minutes to play.
“That was huge, especially for the offense and energy,” McGowan said. “We ground and pound, and we wait on that big one. A lot of the conversations with our coach were just telling us that we need to be consistent and continue to hit our points.”
4 Responses
I didn't see an upgraded running game.
43 rushes for 225 yards, but 1 rush was 79 yards, leaving 42 rushes for 146 yards, or 3.5 yds/carry. Last year's opening game, the running game averaged 6.2 yds/carry with 3 rushers over 7 yds per touch.
These runners were Demie Sumo-Karngbaye, Brock Vandagriff, and Jason Patterson. Barion Brown rushed 3 times for 4.7 yds per run, and Jamarion Wilcox 4.0, all above this year's average, but for that one spectacular run of 79 yards that essentially was necessary for UK to win a game that it should have dominated.
I hope basketball presents a more promising future in 2 months.
Time for Stoops to go. If Barnhard won't do it, then it is time for Barnhart to retire.
I agree, Professor. For a couple of guys that are supposed to be Power Runners, they really struggled to push anyone back or even break tackles. The running game was decent, but 11 yards passing won't help you win many games.
Agree…..there was no upgraded running game evidence in the game I watched. There was one outstanding run and a couple of other good ones. Shocker….we still aren't able to open up running lanes in the middle yet we were supposedly the heavier and faster team. The run defense was what we expected and very stout but the pass D still very leaky. Why is it that our wide receivers can never get open but our opponents are always shown the welcome mat?
We're in for a long football season.