Cutter Boley ran for a 30-yard score on this play and threw a 45-yard scoring pass to Hardley Gilmore in Saturday's win. (Vicky Graff Photo)
A three-week turnaround has Kentucky in bowl contention going into the final two weeks of the regular season.
The Wildcats (5-5) notched their third straight win with a dominating 42-10 rout over Tennessee Tech on Saturday, ending the Golden Eagles’ quest for a rare perfect season and ending their school-record 15-game winning streak in UK’s home finale.
“It was a very good win for us, just appreciate the team approaching the week the right way,” Kentucky coach Mark Stoops said. “We had talked about it all the time to continue to play with great effort, continue to try to improve in the execution. It doesn’t matter who we’re playing. We’ve just got to continue to worry about ourselves, continue to get better. I love this team’s attitude and effort and really greatly appreciate the seniors playing for the last time in Kroger Field.”
Although outmatched by the hosts, Tennessee Tech, ranked No. 6 in the FCS Division, carried a 10-0 record into the contest and had not lost since dropping a 37-21 decision at Western Illinois last October.
“We hate losing, and that is a disappointed locker room which means the standard has changed at Tennessee Tech,” Golden Eagles’ coach Bobby Wilder. “We knew what we were facing coming into this against an SEC team, but I loved how we competed and was proud of what I saw.”
Building on last week’s dominating 38-7 blowout over Florida, the Wildcats picked up where they left off and accumulated 468 yards of offense, while limiting the guests to just 264 total yards.
Kentucky quarterback Cutter Boley had another solid performance in his eighth start of the year. Boley threw for 236 yards with one touchdown and rushed for another. Boley displayed his versatility with an impressive 30-yard touchdown run in the second quarter.
Boley was perfect on his first eight passes and threw for 154 yards in the first half. After taking a sack for a 12-yard loss in the third frame, Boley threw a 45-yard touchdown strike to Harvey Gilmore IV on the ensuing play for Kentucky’s lone touchdown in the third quarter.
Under Boley, the Wildcats have scored 30 or more points in three of the past four games.
Boley’s favorite target, Kendrick Law, hauled in a career-high 11 passes for 124 yards, including a 43-yard catch in the opening half that set up Seth McGowan’s touchdown, the first of three scores by McGowan in the first two quarters.
Law said the performance against the Golden Eagles is “just a reflection of what we do every week.”
“That’s the simplest way we can put it,” he said. “We go out there, we prepare to win, and we go out and we win. I like the progress we’re making.”
McGowan rushed for 72 yards and three touchdowns as the Wildcats complemented the passing attack with 207 yards rushing, with 113 of those coming in the first half. Dante Dowdell had a team-high 87 yards rushing and one touchdown.
“We’ve always known our identity, how powerful this team is,” McGowan said. “Everything that’s happening now is something that we’ve known since camp. We’ve just got to stay consistent and keep it and look forward to Monday.”
Kentucky, which lost four of its first five Southeastern Conference games, closes out the league schedule Saturday at No. 13 Vanderbilt. The Commodores had an open date on Saturday. The Cats close the regular season at rival Louisville the following week.
“It’s on to the next, and we’ve been handling it very much with the mindset of one week at a time, one day at a time, and, again, appreciate the effort and them preparing and taking care of business,” Stoops said. “Now it’s on to the next opponent and we’ll get back to work.”
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GAMETRACKER: Kentucky at Vanderbilt, 3:30 p.m., Saturday. TV/Radio: ABC, UK Radio Network.
5 Responses
My bold prediction of 7 -5 season may come to a fruit. I like our chances if we get by Vandy.
We have to do a better job of outside contain than we did yesterday if any hope of slowing down the Pavia train. We had a very good effort yesterday and should have some good momentum heading into Nashville.
The Cats are getting better by the day. They have a real shot at a bowl. I don't know if they will get it done, but the players are playing their hearts outs for Stoops, Hamden and White. Hamden simplified the offense for Boley and it's working. I am the Only One on here that has defended Stoops and his team All Year. I hope the Cats can finish strong. I want the same thing that the players want. To Shut Up the Whiners! The future looks bright for the Cats if anyone wants to stick around to play or coach for a bunch of fair weather fans.
This year is a work of progress. After a 4-8 season all you can do is improve. This team could have tanked out against Auburn and the season would pretty much be over. Like I always say the players are a reflection of there coach. If your coach is soft your players are soft. If your coach is a fighter the players will fight too and that is what has happened this year. We have all of our ducks in a row. Next year with Boley taking all the first team snaps from now until next season it's crazy how good Boley is going to be next year. With Hamden White and Stoops back in the fold you know what your getting. We should at the very minium win 8-9 games next year. If the team works extremely hard and we don't have a mass exodus in the portal we can be a playoff team next year. It all depends on how we good we do in the transfer portal. If we can patch up the offense and defense and retain all of our young guns the sky is the limit.
Waller can play the last 2 games And still preserve his redshirt for this year. So we should have Hardaway and Waller on the corners against Pavia and Louisville. the only way we beat Vanderbilt is if we get pressure on Pavia. To me he's the best QB in college football. Because he plays on a team with minimal talent and he makes the whole team better. The same way Cutter has done the last 3 games. Put the team on there back. Cutter will be even better at this next year. Watch the Louisville game from last year. Then watch how he has played since the Tennessee game this year. I've never seen a player improve so much in one year. It's scary to think how great he will be next year being the man heading into the year.