Coming off a loss to Ole Miss a week ago in a game they could have won, Kentucky made a quarterback change. Starter Zach Calzada, who had been ineffective, hurt his shoulder. As a result, Mark Stoops and offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan made the switch to Cutter Boley. In his second career start, the Lexington Christian product did some very good things. In addition, a strong running game helped lead the way. Let’s break it down as Kentucky races past Eastern Michigan 48-23.
Boley Leads A Strong Attack
A Great Start
If you are the Wildcats, you couldn’t have asked for a better start. On the game’s first play, Daveren Rayner picked off a Noah Kim pass, setting UK up at the EMU 10. Two plays later, Seth McGowan took it in from four yards out, and it was 7-0 Kentucky less than a minute into the game.
On the Cats’ next possession, Boley led the Cats 79 yards in 11 plays. One of the highlights of the drive was throws to Willie Rodriguez and Josh Kattus. Obviously, someone on the staff was reading our previews, as we’ve said time and time again, throw to the tight end and good things will happen. In the end, McGowan’s second score, this one from 12 yards out, made it 14-0.
A 38-yard Rudy Kessinger field goal got the Eagles on the scoreboard. Boley marched the Cats down the field again, finding Rodriguez on a three-yard strike, and it was 21-3. For Kentucky, it was the first touchdown pass of the year. Following another Kessinger field goal, Boley found Kattus on a four-yard TD toss, and things were looking great up 28-6.
Same Old Situation
We talked at length last week about Kentucky’s final two minutes of the half troubles. Most of the time, it’s on offense. However, it happens on the other side of the ball. Saturday was one of those times. With less than two minutes to go, Kim found Terry Lockett Jr. on a 64-yard strike, and it was 28-13.
The Cats went three and out, but Kendrick Law hit the punt returner early, giving Eastern Michigan great field position. A 50-yard field goal from Kessinger made it 28-16 at the half. Two-minute struggles bit the Cats again as they went from a comfortable lead to giving Chris Creighton’s club all the momentum.
A Good Break
Jacob Kauwe’s 51-yard field goal “doinked” off the upright and through, giving the Cats a 31-16. Then, EMU made the questionable decision to go for it on fourth and eight at their own 27. It failed to give Kentucky great field position. McGowan’s third TD run of the night, this one from eight yards out, put UK up 38-16. With that, the Big Blue Nation could breathe a sigh of relief.
Another Kauwe field goal and a six-yard run from Jason Patterson put the Cats up by 32. Kim scored late, and that was your game as Kentucky races past Eastern Michigan 48-23.
Looking Ahead
With the Kentucky going to 2-1. They have their first bye week of the year before embarking on one of the most difficult stretches in recent memory. On September 27th, they travel to South Carolina, followed by a trip to Georgia on October 4th. After their second bye week, they’ll host Texas and Tennessee.
Of course, the trip to Columbia could be a little more interesting. The Gamecocks got blasted at home by Vanderbilt, and to make matters worse, star quarterback LaNorris Sellers was knocked out of the game.
With the loss, Eastern Michigan falls to 0-3 on the year. They’ll host Louisiana next week in search of their first win.
Final Thoughts
We said in our game preview that Kentucky should be able to run the ball. That’s exactly what happened as the Cats rang up 252 yards on the ground. McGowan led the way with 104 while Patterson added 80. Another thing we talked about is Boley throwing to the tight ends. As it turned out, five of his twelve completions were to them.
Overall, Boley went 12-21 for 240 yards and two touchdowns. The Wildcats had 492 yards of total offense. That broke a streak of nine straight games of being held under 400 yards by FBS teams.
If there was one disappointment on Saturday night, it was the defense. Giving up 461 yards to the Eagles is not good, no matter how you slice it. Kim threw for 330 of those.
However, at the end of the day, all that will be remembered is a Wildcat win. Thanks for checking out our recap as Kentucky races past Eastern Michigan 48-23.
Main Photo: Jordan Prather-Imagn Images
